”Show Me the Money 2021” Rev. Dr. Howard-John Wesley

0:02 Beloved, grace and peace be unto you. From God who loves us as Father and Mother and Jesus Christ who alone is our resurrected, our risen, our reigning, and our returning Redeemer. I'm excited to share some good news with you today through the Word of God. Won't you bow with me in prayer as we open our hearts, our ears, and our lives to receive the seed of God's Word.

0:25 Lord, here we are in December by the gift of your grace and your mercy. you've kept us through a year Lord where a lot of things came our way that we never could have anticipated but because that protective hedge that was around Job is yet around us we give you thanks pray now oh Lord that you would speak to our hearts and our minds that we might continue to be the soil that bears the fruit of the seed of your word be glorified in the teaching the hearing, and the living of your word. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.

1:04 If you're like me, when COVID began and the doors of the church closed and we had to begin worshiping virtually, it took a lot of adjusting, getting used to worshiping through a phone or a laptop or even on the television screen. And part of that reason is if you were like me, I was raised in church. I was raised by some parents who were not only dedicated disciples, but some committed Christian church folk. And we went to church every Sunday. Not every Sunday, every Sunday. Because in a Wesley household, my father would tell you, he didn't care what time you went to bed on Saturday night. He didn't care whether you wanted to go to church or not. come Sunday morning, everyone who woke up under my father's roof was making their way to church. We went to church so much that my friends didn't have sleepovers at my house on Saturday nights because they knew come Sunday, everybody was going to church. We went to church every Sunday and we would be in church from eight in the morning to almost eight at night. Now I know you're wondering how that could be because I didn't say we went to worship. I said we went to church and church was an all-day affair. Started with Sunday school. Then you went to morning worship.

2:30 You had dinner after church. Then you had afternoon worship where another church came to visit. And then at 6 p.m. we had BTU Baptist Training Union. We were at church all day on Sunday from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. I've been in church all my life. I've watched a lot of things, seen a lot of things. And one of the things that's always caught my attention about church is how they raise their offering. I've been in a lot of churches, in a lot of worship services, and I've seen a whole lot of tactics used on how to raise money. I've been shocked by some of the prophetic promises preachers make about what will or will not happen based upon how you give. I've witnessed some sad tactics used to either scare people or embarrass them into giving, rather than simply encouraging them to be prayerful and obey the guidance of the Holy Spirit. I've been horrified by some of the gimmicks used, the teachings employed, the emphasis on money. I've been in worship services where there was more emphasis on giving than there was on surrendering your life to Jesus Christ.

3:50 Been in services where the offering was an extended time of begging, where an offering was taken out and ushers would come back in and the preacher would say, we need some more. Been in places where there were ATMs in the sanctuary. Not a cross to be found, but a teller machine right down front. I've heard and learned all those offering songs. If you're old school, you know the one, you can't beat God's giving no matter how hard you try. And Terrence, I just believe that I've heard just about every passage of scripture used to somehow encourage and push us into giving all that we have. I remember Exodus 36 where Moses is lifting an offering and the people bring so much that Moses has to tell them to stop. And I heard a preacher preach a sermon from that called Your Miracle for God. I remember what happened to Ananias and Sapphira in Acts chapter 5 when they refused to give and they were struck dead by the Holy Spirit. I remember Acts chapter 20 when Paul says to us, it is better to give than it is to receive. I've memorized Luke chapter 6 verse 38 that when you give it'll come back to you, good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over. I remember 2 Corinthians 9 that God loves a cheerful giver and who among us has not heard enough of Malachi chapter 3? Will a man rob God but yet you've robbed me in tithes and in offerings.

5:27 One of the scriptures that is used to encourage and promote giving comes to us in the New Testament about this widow that Jesus sees in the temple as she gives. Her story is recorded in Luke chapter 21. But this morning, this evening, I want to read Mark chapter 12. If you will turn to the end of Mark chapter 12, I want to read in the New International Version about this widow and her giving. Mark chapter 12, beginning in verse 41.

6:00 Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting 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 only a few cents, Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, truly, I tell you, this poor widow has put in more into the treasury than all the others. They all gave out of her wealth, but she out of her poverty put in everything, all she had to live on. Now, most readings stop there, but I'd encourage you to journey into chapter 13, beginning in verse number one. As Jesus was leaving the temple, one of his disciples said to him, Look, teacher, what massive stones, what magnificent buildings.

7:00 Do you see all of these great buildings? Reply Jesus. Not one stone here will be left on another. Everyone will be thrown down. you're probably familiar with this widow she comes into the temple she gives two small copper coins worth probably about a few pennies she puts it in the offering and Jesus says to his disciples that this woman has given more than the wealthy why because she gave of everything that she had and if you're like me you've heard someone use this passage to teach you that as a giver we ought to be like this widow that it's not about the amount it's about the percentage of sacrifice because what God honors is our sacrifice that we ought to be like this widow that we hold nothing back when God asks of us we should give everything the church would be better if we had more men and women who acted like this widow and brought everything that they had and held back nothing and gave it all sacrificially to the Lord because Jesus commends this woman.

8:18 Yes, there's a commendation of the widow and what she gives, but on the other side of the coin is another perspective that is too often missed when we look at this widow. Come back to the temple with me. Jesus has entered Jerusalem a few days ago and Mark since he's been there he's been in constant debate with the Pharisees there's this continual going back and forth where Jesus is highlighting how they have used the law to destroy the people and not build up the kingdom of God every interaction Jesus has with the Pharisees is meant to highlight their hypocrisy and how they've used religion to abuse the people of God. That's what happens before we get to the end of Mark 12.

9:17 And at the end of Mark 12, this Jesus, who's been in constant debate with the Pharisees, now goes into the temple. And the Bible says he decides to choose a seat where he can sit down and watch people put their offering into the temple treasury. We want to make sure you catch this. Of every seat Jesus could have chosen, of every place he could have sat down to worship, of every empty pew Jesus could have occupied, Jesus intentionally chooses the seat where he can watch people give their offerings. The Bible says that he sees a whole lot of wealthy people come and put their money in. He sees this widow come and she gives everything she has left in the offering. She gives it all and Jesus commends her and says she's given more than anyone else.

10:18 now if you are a poor Bible reader you will think that because the chapter ends the lesson is over but let me tell you just because the chapter ends does not mean the story is over as Bible students we must learn to read not only what happens before but what happens after the woman gives and afterwards Jesus is leaving the temple on his way out one of his disciples says master Look how magnificent all this is. Look at these magnificent buildings. Look at the temple. Look at how glorious it is. Look at how grand it is. Look at how magnificent this building is. And Jesus' response is that not one stone of this building is going to remain. It's all going to come crashing down. Jesus says to his disciples what you think is magnificent is actually something that is doomed for destruction and I want you to connect the two that Jesus' prediction of the temple's destruction is directly connected to what he's just seen in the temple at offering time that there's something Jesus has witnessed about the temple and money that has now made him say, this thing ain't going to last.

11:43 This does not glorify God. This does not honor God. Jesus has seen something in how religion handles money that has left a bad taste in his mouth and has now said all of this is coming, crashing down. That this will not last.

12:04 The Lord is watching offering. And could it be that the same disgust Jesus had when he saw what happened to the temple is the same disgust God has at how he watches some of our churches handle our money? What has Jesus seen? he's witnessed a widow a vulnerable woman without a husband in a society that only valued women who were married a widow who lives in poverty give everything she has around wealthy people who have more money than they can count and yet the widow is still in poverty okay you missed it she's a widow in poverty, worshiping around wealthy folk, and she's still in poverty. Okay, I'm going to say it one more time. She's a widow who's almost broke, but she's worshiping around people who've got more money than they can count, and the widow is still broke because the religious institution is not taking care of the poor right in their own midst. What has Jesus seen? A woman in the midst of a religious system that tells her, even though you don't have much, you've got to give everything you have. A system that has identified a vulnerable, impoverished woman and said, in order to be right with God, you've got to give everything you have. I wonder what gimmick was used to get her last two pennies.

13:49 I wonder what prophetic promise was made of what would happen when she sold into this ministry. I wonder what encouragement they gave her. I wonder what song they sang at offering. I wonder how they pushed her. I wonder how they embarrassed her. I wonder how they tricked her. I wonder how they manipulated her. What kind of religious system will identify the needy, the vulnerable, and the poor and tell them, now you've got to give everything while we commend the wealthy who gave of abundance and still had more. I wonder what that church was doing with their money.

14:31 How could they raise an abundance from the wealthy and not take care of the poor woman who was right in the middle of the temple? Maybe that's why Jesus said, this doesn't glorify God. because watch this, you're getting all this money, but where is it going? What are you all doing with it? How are the poor still hungry? How are you not changing anything around you? Beloved, and that is the critique of many people as they watch churches that exist today. What are y'all doing with that money? I want to come by and suggest to you and you can feel free to disagree, that God is not pleased with financial trickery in religion, that God is not honored by religious manipulation, that God is not glorified by sanctified greed, that God is not honored by a system that can beg and encourage and teach and manipulate you about giving, but never tells you what happens when you give.

15:38 why is church the only place where you are said and taught to give but you never get an account of what happens with that money or are you one of those that is content to say well when i've done right by god then that's on them what they do with it do you think that honors god for us to simply say well i've done what's right and now their leadership can do whatever they want to with the money, that doesn't honor God. If it honors God, watch this, the same people who ask for your money ought to be able to give an account of your money. If it honors God, the folk who take your money ought to be able to show you your money. If it honors God, the money that is raised ought to be able to give an account for of our stewardship that every now and then, in order to honor God, someone has to show you what happens with the money. Every year, I try to come to this vulnerable and transparent moment with a sermon we preach every year at Alfred Street called Show Me the Money, in an attempt to reveal to you what is happening with the gifts that we give in a way that honors God and allows you to know that your church is being a good steward of your gifts.

17:07 Now, before we get into show me the money, let me say a few things. Number one is that on Tuesday, we will have our annual meeting. In our annual meeting, some of the specific dollar amounts will be revealed and shown in budget to the membership of this church. It is not wise or financially prudent to talk about specific dollars in this setting. That will happen on Tuesday. But today, in this moment of sermonic teaching, I want to open up some of the books of Alfred Street Baptist Church. I want to show you the money. Let's get into Show Me the Money 2021. 21. I want to begin by thanking anyone and everyone who at some point during this year has obeyed the guidance of the Holy Spirit to give and help us spread the gospel of Jesus Christ and touch people with the transformative love of our Lord and Savior. Because of you, some glorious things have happened this year, but as always, there's room to do more.

18:07 Everyone who gave was not a member, and I want especially to thank our friends of AlphaTreat who gave. Now, I don't want to spend a lot of time on this, but roughly, as you can see, about 48% of our members gave less than $100 in this year. Now, I realize that some people can't give. It's been a rough year with COVID, and giving above $100 is not a requirement for membership. We love all of God's people. This data point, however, is a little disturbing. And rather than beg or try to encourage or push, I'm going to ask that you would pray and obey whatever God places on your heart to do. And prayerfully, the rest of this message, Show Me the Money, will encourage you to try giving as we go forward into this new year. So that being said, what did we do with the other 52% of members and friends giving? Well, in front of you right now is a pie chart that gives a transparent and honest accounting of how your money was used by this church.

19:09 As you look at this, you'll see that for every dollar you gave, 44 cent supported salaries and benefits for staff. 17 cent supported worship. 15 cent went into the Tithe the Tithe campaign. 12 cent funded the administrative cost of the operations of our church. 5 cent was used for ministries and programming. 4 cent went towards missions. and two cent was dedicated to poor saints. I want to walk through all of this, but let's start with salaries and benefits.

19:42 Your giving was used to fund the salaries and benefits of 97 employees, 74 full-time and 23 part-time women and men work for Alfred Street Baptist Church. That growing number is what it takes to support the vision God has given us and the ministry we have of almost 10,000 members and thousands of more friends of Alfred Street Baptist Church. Now, as you can assume with that many employees, we have to be diligent about HR policies and procedures to be certain of two things. One, that all employees are treated fairly. And two, that employees perform at their highest level. I've said this before and I want to say it again. Everyone cannot work for the church. That doesn't mean that we don't want to see everyone employed, but everyone cannot work for the church.

20:42 I'm going to say it one more time. Everyone is not fit to work for the church. We have high standards for excellence. You've heard me say this before, that you work hard for your money, and we can't turn around and give it to someone who won't work hard to earn it as well. The same way you work hard for your money, it's our expectation that those who are recipients of it will work equally as hard to earn it. There are a few things that are important about our salaries and benefits that I want you to know. Number one, the percentage that Alpha Street dedicates to salaries and benefits is lower than the industry norm for nonprofits. Nonprofits can reach as high as 70 percent of their income to fund their staff. Our number is 44 percent, significantly lower.

21:39 And here's the grace and the miracle in that. One, it shows that we're trying to be good stewards of salary and benefit determination. Two, it shows that our staff are high and competent performers who work not only to provide for their families, but because they see their work as service for the Lord. Those who work best at Alfred Street are those who realize I'm not just here for a paycheck. I'm here to glorify Jesus. And we can now fairly compensate and still have plenty left over for the work God has called us to do. And that's not something every nonprofit or every church can say. Your giving helps 97 people take care of their homes. Your giving helps 97 people put food on the table. and because of your giving, we did not have to lay off one single person because of COVID financial concerns. And as one of those who's in that 44%, allow me to say thank you on behalf of my entire staff that your giving helps us pay our bills. Now, let me share some really exciting news about how your giving has also helped touch people with the transformative love of Jesus Christ through our outreach.

23:04 Through your giving, we've been able to bless people in our church, in our community, in our nation, and even in our global community through three efforts, Tithe to Tithe, Missions, and Poor Saints. These three together account for 21% of how all your giving was used to bless others inside and outside this church. As some of you may know, Tithe the Tithe is a vision that God gave at the beginning of COVID. And it was real simple. I felt the Lord was saying that every week we need to take a tithe, 10% of the total tithe that was raised and give it away. that God was calling us to find organizations that are helping those in need, addressing COVID, struggling because of COVID, and real simple, help them through our giving.

24:07 And that's exactly what we've done. Last year, because of you, we were able to give 1.4 million to 96 organizations. And this year, in 2021, another 1.4 million has been given to 66 organizations. We have partnered with and have donated to more than 150 programs and organizations since COVID became a reality. Never let anyone tell you that the church does nothing for the community. We've partnered with neighborhood health clinics and made certain that vaccinations were offered right here on the campus of Alpha Street Baptist Church. And 2,834 individuals have been vaccinated. We reached across the seas and gave to the Mingo Hospital in Uganda to help provide oxygen for COVID patients who had been diagnosed there in the motherland. We purchased a newly fully equipped truck for Alive, which is a food program here in Alexandria, and it's helped them increase safe food distribution in Alexandria to hundreds of more families than they were before.

25:18 Because of your giving, we've been able to partner with churches like Mount Nebo in Jackson, Mississippi, to help bring water distribution after the big freeze down south so that the people of Mississippi could get fresh water and food from that church that was sponsored by Alfred Street. We helped St. Paul Missionary Baptist Church, a historic church like ours, that had significant roof damage. And after their members had given all they could, you helped us give another $50,000 to make sure the balance was paid and that church could worship during COVID and spread the gospel of Jesus Christ in Philadelphia. But beyond that, you've helped us give to programs that aid those reentering society after paying their debt, programs that aid and assist our seniors and our veterans, organizations that bring awareness to and seek to end domestic violence and child abuse, schools and learning centers. organizations like the Donna Sounders Foundation that's dedicated to bringing educational awareness about breast cancer to community and provide daily living and medical expenses to breast cancer patients and here's an amazing testimony that after our donation and partnership the Donna Sounders Foundation received more and more donors who were encouraged by our giving and now that organization which was local because of your giving which inspired others to give now has a national platform and is serving breast cancer patients all across the nation. By the end of this year our total Tithe the Tithe contribution will exceed three million dollars. Let me pause to give glory to God and say that again, that by the end of this year, our total Tithe the Tithe contributions to organizations outside of Alfred Street will exceed $3 million.

27:18 And because we believe that brings such glory to God and strengthens the witness of the church, church council has agreed to make this a permanent part of Alfred Street Baptist Church. We're gonna continue to Tithe the Tithe every Sunday from here going forward 10 of all that is given will always be sent outside to bless others you will never know how much your giving has touched and transformed the lives of people who are in need who you may never meet but they are grateful and thankful for your giving beyond that our mission work continues locally our feed the 5000 program has blessed 384 families with resources to buy a week's worth of groceries for their families our brother's keeper gave away gifts to help 1309 children get ready for school because of your giving we were able to deliver school supplies to 21 Title I schools in the area, and that touched over 10,000 students with what they needed to be ready for the fall.

28:32 Our Thanksgiving and our Christmas holiday food baskets are going to reach thousands of people and homes this year because of your giving. Nationally, our tithe, the tithe, has helped us address many of our primary vehicles and issues of giving, but we did donate $30,000 of relief to Hurricane Ida and $180,000 to help our sisters and our brothers in Haiti after that earthquake hit their home. We continue to give to the Lot Carey School in Liberia, and we now have a new partnership in Uganda and Ghana that's helping us end child slavery in Africa.

29:13 We also take care of our own. You know why? Because we don't want to have poor widows sitting next to wealthy families in need right here in our church. That doesn't glorify God. And that's what poor saints is for. It's our way to help families of our church in crisis. and this year we have fulfilled 196 requests and given away more than $200,000 in assistance to families in Alfred Street who find themselves in crisis. But we also want to help families in crisis outside of our church and because of that we partner with Christ Church right down the street and they have programs in place to help families who just walk in off the street in need And because of your giving, you help families in need not only in Alfred Street, but also in our local community. In total, our outreach through giving in 2021 because of you is three point six million dollars.

30:20 Can you just help me pause wherever you are and give glory to God that we've been able to give freely out of our doors? $3.6 million to God be the glory for the things God has enabled us to do because of your generosity. Well, the next big slice is worship.

30:45 God has gracefully and amazingly grown our church in outreach because of worship during this pandemic. You won't believe this, but we've had 8.7 million views on our YouTube page. 8.7 million. And there are 132 subscribers who want to worship with us online. Our radio broadcast continues to grow here in the local area. We've been blessed with 825 new members in this year alone. To God be the glory because of your giving, the good news is being spread. Your giving helps us pursue excellence in our audio visual, our music and worship arts, our security, our information technology, and our communications so that we can fulfill our assignment given to us by Jesus to go out and make disciples.

31:38 As Jesus said in Acts 1, to be witnesses of him throughout the entire earth. Because of your giving, we've been able to do that. let's quickly talk about administration and ministry programming as we come to the finish line administration is simple 12 cent out of every dollar you give helps cover all the cost of operating this church from consultants to contractors to supplies to maintenance to repair to legal services. And this year, because of your generosity, we've been able to do something amazing. We've been able to pay down the mortgage debt on our office buildings and our rental properties by over $2 million. And the good news about that is that you know when you reduce debt, you're able to operate more efficiently. Because if you're giving, we can now fully follow God's calling on this church without any life-altering debt.

32:40 To God be the glory for $2 million of debt reduction. Thank you. even though we've not been able to meet in person your giving has helped our ministries yet continue we have 55 active ministries this year that have hosted 60 virtual events that have reached and connected to over 9 000 people we've got new programming coming out this year because of your help you know that you've been blessed by cannot push it otog and versus all of which will be back next year because of your giving. New ministries have been birthed, including our business directory, which help us support entrepreneurs in our own church. During COVID, our villages continue to meet and our outreach to our seniors has also increased to make certain that we don't forget our seasoned saints. I'm especially thankful for how your giving has helped us continue to minister to our children and youth, to raise a generation that knows, loves, and serves Jesus Christ.

33:50 During COVID, all three of our youth worship ministries, Kid Street, Crossover, Higher Ground, continue to meet weekly in worship. They've been serving our community with food baskets and cards to seniors. Our tutorial ministry has not stopped. We have 132 scouts in our programs and three of our young men are on path right now to become Eagle Scouts. AWANA has resumed and it's at full capacity. And this year we received an invitation from the White House to send some of our young people to meet the president and vice president. And some of our young sisters were able to meet a sister that encouraged them, Vice President Kamala Harris. I want to pause and thank you again for all that you've enabled us to do to make certain that we don't hear Jesus say to us what Jesus said about the temple. That's all going to come tumbling down.

34:49 I leave you with this. If you're a member of our church, join us on Tuesday for our annual meeting and for all of you who worship and are friends of Alpha Street. Eyes have not seen. Ears have not heard. The good things that God has in store for them that love him and are called according to his purpose. On behalf of a grateful pastor, a grateful church, grateful leadership, I thank you again for how you've obeyed the Holy Spirit. And my prayer is that we go into this new year even stronger with a deeper commitment to make glorious the name of Jesus Christ. Thank you.