Show Me the Money, Rev. Dr. Howard-John Wesley

0:40 I want to present the word of God in a different way than as normal. I'll let you determine at the end of this whether it fits in the category of sermon or not but I do believe it's a word that glorifies God. I'm going to invite you in this season as we enter into this place of thanksgiving to come to the culmination of one year and the commencement of another. I want you to hear two verses of scripture from the 21st chapter of the book of Matthew. If you are navigating your Bibles or on your devices to the first book of the New Testament, the first gospel, for those that have neither, it will be on the screen for you. And we invite you to stand as you're physically able to hear the reading of the Word of God from Matthew chapter 21, beginning in verse number 18. I'm reading out of the New International Version of the Bible.

1:35 The New International Version of verse 18 and 19 of chapter 21 of Matthew reads, Early in the morning as Jesus was on his way back to the city, he was hungry. Seeing a fig tree by the road, he went up to it, but found nothing on it except leaves. Then he said to it, May you never bear fruit again. and immediately the tree withered. That's enough right there. Do me a favor. Share the subject of the sermon with your neighbor. Tell him, neighbor. Oh, neighbor. Oh, neighbor. Show me the money. Show me the money. You may be seated in the presence of the Lord. Show me the money. Anyone who reads all four Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, when you take a step back and look at Jesus, you'll find out that Jesus does some really strange things.

2:52 Jesus acts in some peculiar ways. Jesus does things that really leave us scratching our head, wondering what lesson he was trying to teach. Whenever you see Jesus doing something strange, I would argue with you that there's always a powerful lesson about God in that strange act. He does strange things. He finds out that his best friend Lazarus is dying. And rather than dropping everything he's doing to go see about his friend, Jesus doesn't even whisper a prayer of healing over Lazarus. The Bible says he does a strange thing. He stays where he is, hanging out with the disciples, and lets Lazarus die. To prove a point, God is able.

3:43 The Bible says that one day he sets sail with his disciples, knowing a storm is coming. Jesus goes to the back of the boat and takes a nap, while a storm rises that scares even Peter and them, who are experienced sailors. They wake Jesus up, Jay, don't you care about us? And Jesus wants to give them a lesson that as long as I'm with you, no storm can take you out. He does some strange things. He meets a man at the pool of Bethesda in John 5 who's been laying sick for 38 years. And Jesus has the audacity to ask him, Do you want to be made well?

4:30 He wants a man to understand that your healing requires your participation. The Bible says they brought to him a woman caught in the act of adultery. Some Pharisees are overly obsessed with her sexuality. They bring her to Jesus and rather than addressing the Pharisees, he looks down and starts scribbling in the dirt. While he's riding in the dirt, the Pharisees walk away. Jesus wants us all to know that all of us got some stuff in the dirt. And when you start seeing your dirt, you'll stop judging somebody else's. He does some strange things.

5:18 One of the strangest things Jesus does is right here in Matthew 21. You find another version of it in Mark 11. Jesus is out and about in Jerusalem. It's the morning. He's hungry. He finds out that the Waffle House is closed. So while he's walking, he sees a fig tree.

5:40 He sees the leaves on the fig tree, so he goes up to it, expecting to find some fruit. Only to be sorely disappointed that the tree has no fruit, and Jesus gets so angry. He curses the fig tree. Well, make sure you see this. Jesus, our loving Lord, our sacrificial Savior, the one who said, come unto me, all you who labor, and I will give you peace, that same Jesus curses a fig tree. He never cursed the Pharisees. He never cussed out Peter. He didn't even cuss out Judas. Why would Jesus be so upset about a fig tree with no figs that he would curse it and cause it to die? It's a strange thing to do.

6:37 To understand why Jesus curses a fig tree, you need to know something about fig trees that Jesus knew. Fig trees are very rare. In the sense that they bear fruit before they blossom with leaves. If one sees a fig tree, you'll find out that the fruit always comes before the leaves. The figs are there before the leaves are there. And when a fig tree is going out of season, the leaves fall off before the figs do. Don't you miss this? The figs show up before the leaves. And when it's out of season, the leaves fall off before the figs do. Now, if I ain't lost you, that means that whenever you see leaves, figs ought to automatically be on the tree. Why is Jesus upset?

7:31 Because he's hungry. He's gotten so hungry, he's angry. And hunger plus anger is hangry. Jesus is hangry. He sees a tree and it's got leaves. And because the leaves are there when the fig is there, he goes to the tree expecting that the leaves indicate fruit. Only to get there and find out ain't no fruit, but there are some leaves. And Jesus says, I'm upset because this tree is guilty of false advertising.

8:04 If it's got leaves, it ought to bear fruit. If it has the appearance, it ought to bear fruit. If it has the external signs, it ought to bear fruit. If it draws the hungry, it ought to bear fruit. And maybe, just maybe, the lesson Jesus is pressing is that there's some things when they have leaves, they ought to have fruit. If it has a cross on the top of the building, it ought to have some fruit. If it's got membership packed in for multiple services, it ought to have fruit. If it's got a choir shouting and members lifting up praise, it ought to have some fruit. If it's got all them members and all those services, it ought to bear fruit.

8:54 And shame on the church that has all the appearance, but don't bear no fruit. Every now and then, you've got to examine fruit. Jesus teaches in Matthew 7, you will know a tree by the fruit it bears. Not its leaves, not its membership size, not its budget, not how many worship services they have, not how excellent the music is. What you ought to judge is the fruit. So today I want to do something that's very rare in church. I want to take you on a journey of looking at the fruit of this tree called Alfred Street Baptist Church. And I'm going to do it for three reasons.

9:47 Number one, because last week was our 216th church anniversary. And we shouted and gave thanks to God for God's provision and protection and presence for 216 years. but you got to know that's more than just leaves. That we have more than just a 216 year history.

10:08 A church that is too steeped in its history will be stopped by its history. We've got more than those leaves. And I want to take a moment to be transparent with you because that's one of our core values in this church, transparency. If you don't get anything else from this sermon, make sure you get this. Anything done in the name of God should not have to be done in secret. Anything that brings God glory is not done in darkness. Anything that honors the true and living God does not have to be hidden from those connected to it.

10:46 And too many people in church have been hoodwinked by church to believe that once you give your offering and sow your tithe, that you've done what God expected you to do and don't you worry about what the church is going to do with it. God will judge the church. You just give and giving is like giving into a black hole. You put money in the offering plate and no one ever tells you where the money goes.

11:11 Why is church the only place we give with no expectation of a return? And I want to do it so that you have some confidence in your giving. I've dealt with a lot of people who don't like church and let me tell you that most people who don't like church is not because they don't believe in Jesus most people don't like church because of two things one, an abuse of time matter of fact if you go to your job tomorrow and you invite your co-worker to come to church first question they're going to ask you What time y'all get out? Many people have a bad taste in their mouth because church abused time.

11:56 Can I tell you what the second bad taste in people's mouth is? Church and money. Many people are adverse to church because of the way that that church handled money. Money and church can leave a bad taste in people's mouths. And I'll suggest to you that how a church handles money is one of the foremost signs of that church's maturity or immaturity. How they handle money is indicative of how they view ministry. How they handle money speaks volumes about that church. How many offerings do they raise?

12:34 Are they ATMs in the sanctuary? Don't act like you ain't seen them. Machines to swipe your credit card at the altar. How long are they going to have a building fund and they built nothing? How many pastoral love offerings are we going to raise? We raise offering for his birthday, Christmas, Thanksgiving, anniversary, St. Patrick's Day. What happens with that money that people bring up to the altar while the preacher's preaching and slap it down? Where does that money go?

13:27 What happens to the money the preacher raises at the end of the sermon while he's got you hyped up before he even invites people to come to Jesus Christ? He tells you the Lord told him to tell you to bring an offering. Where does that money go? Y'all, unfortunately, I've been in the hot dog factory, and I've seen some nasty things. I've seen the conversation where the guest is invited in, says I'll preach, but after I'm done, I'll raise an offering, and you and I will split the offering 50% for me and 50% for your church, and it's never told to the members that you're giving to pay the honorarium for the preacher.

14:11 That's not transparent. That doesn't honor God. What happens to the money? So today I want to do what I pray you will appreciate, and that's be a little transparent with you and share with you where the money's going. I want you to know what happens with every dollar you give to Alpha Street Baptist Church to be transparent, for you to leave with some confidence, and more importantly, to be proud of the fruit that God has allowed this tree to bear. Let's look at the money. Now before we start, I just got to let you know I got some good news and I got some bad news. Let's start with the bad news to get that out the way. Then I'll preach some good news and I'm gonna come back to the bad news. Let me give you some bad news. Bad news is that 37% of our congregation has given nothing to the church all year long.

15:11 37% of our members give nothing. Kevin, I shared this earlier, and someone said, well, you know, maybe they don't give by check, or maybe they don't use an envelope to give online. Maybe they just put loose cash in the offering because you can't trace that. If that is so, it's even worse. Loose cash is 1% of our annual budget, which means that 37% of our membership is responsible for 1% of our funding.

15:39 37%. Another 11% have given less than $100 in the whole year. I'm not here to beat you up about that. Maybe you can't give. But if the Lord has blessed you with income above $1,000 for the entire year, then something is off with your number. Now, I know AlphaTree. Very few people in here have made less than $1,000 all year long. That means 48% of our members have given a negligible amount to support the ministry of the church. 48% have given less than 100, and most have given nothing. Now, don't look around, but that probably means that someone either on your left or your right is feeling mighty guilty right about now. Somebody's ready to put up that Baptist finger and... I'm not going to harp on that number. You know why?

16:34 Because that's not a pastor problem. That's a you and God problem. And there's nothing I'm going to say that's going to force you into giving if the Lord hasn't moved your heart. So for that 48, we're going to pray that God will move upon their heart. I'm not going to harp on that bill. But what I'm going to harp on is the amazing things that we've been able to do from the 52% of you that have said yes to God and have surrendered in your giving.

17:02 We're not going to spend time on the zeros. Let's spend time on the amazing things that have happened from those who've been faithful. The first thing I want you to know is through your giving, you employ 78 people to work at Alfred Street Baptist Church. 60 full-time and 18 part-time people receive salary and full benefits through your giving. You employ 78 people. What's important... What's important is that you know how much of our salaries and benefits, how much that is of our total budget. It's 43%. That's important so that you know where we stand according to other industry norms. For profit sometimes reaches as high as 52% for salaries and benefits. You all who work for not-for-profits know that that number is much higher.

18:00 It can get as high as 70% for salaries and benefits. Alfred Street Baptist Church is at 43. We are even underneath the number for for-profits. Why is that important? So that you know the bulk of what you give does not go into any one person's pocket. The bulk of what you give is not making anyone rich at Alfred Street. We want to be fair. We want to be competitive. We want to take care of our staff. And I'm grateful to God for the 78 who work because we've got a good staff now. There's a book out called From Good to Great. Some of you've read it by Jim Collins, and his argument is that what makes you great and not good is when you've got the right team around you. And I want you to know that Alpha Tree Baptist Church has the right team around us. Those 78 employees work hard. They do a good job.

18:53 They earn the salary that we paid them of that 43%. So 43 cent out of every dollar you give goes to support salaries and benefits of 78 people who work hard for the church. Now, I need you to know something. Because someone's looking at that number and they're thinking, you ought to get a job at the church. I want to tell you something.

19:16 Everybody can't work for the church. Let me say it again. Everybody cannot work for the church. I need you to hear that because if at some point you find yourself temporarily unemployed and laid off, and you think that since you're a member of the church, the church ought to hire you, we would love to hire every member, but every member can't work for the church. Because some people take grace for granted. Some people think that since it's a church, there'll never be any discipline. I'll never be put on a performance improvement plan. Yes, you will.

19:54 They'll never fire me. Yes, we will. I want to be clear. We will fire you. Well, let me be clear. I won't. I pay Lolita to. That's her job. Lolita. There and then when folk get fired by Lolita, they come to me and I go, Lolita let you go. Oh. Oh, you know, I can't contradict my church administrator, but let's pray. Because everybody can't work for the church. Let me tell you why. Here's, Jackie, what do you do for a living? I'm a contracting officer. You're a contracting officer. How many days a week do you go to work? Five? How many hours? Forty hours.

20:46 Forty hours a week. You work hard. What time do you got to be at work? Eight o'clock. Eight o'clock. You get up every morning to go to work at eight o'clock? Do you love your job or there's some days you don't like it? You love your job. Y'all, Jackie's a contractor. Has to be working at 8 o'clock. You know what that means. By the time she's got to get up, they've got kids. They get up, get the kids out, get to work. Nobody loves their job every day. She goes to work and works hard every day. Jackie and her husband have decisions to make on where that money's going to go. They've got bills, they've got kids. They try to prepare for college. And they come to church and made a decision that the money she's earned, that they've earned together, they've worked hard for it, that could go to the kids, could go to tuition, they made a decision to give it to the church in tithe and offering. They've worked hard for their money, they've sacrificed other things, they've given it to the church. And I believe it's irresponsible for me as your pastor to take money you worked hard for and give it to someone who's lazy.

21:43 To pay someone who don't want to show up on time. To give it to someone who doesn't want to work hard. You work hard for your money, the church is obligated to make certain it's put in the right place. So everyone can't work for the church because some folk are too lazy. Some folk take it for granted. Some folk feel they can get away with whatever they want to simply because we're a church. We cannot operate like that. If you work hard for your money, I make you a promise, your money's going to work hard for you. So everyone can't work for the church. We require three things to work for Alpha Street, and I want you to know this so you understand where 43 cent of every dollar you give goes. One, you've got to have a spirit of excellence. The Bible says that Daniel distinguished himself because an excellent spirit resided in him. And I don't work well with people who are content with mediocrity. I don't work well with people that just want to give you the bare minimum. I don't work well with people that are okay with errors and typos and don't have an excellent spirit inside to want to give it their best.

22:43 People with a spirit of excellence who work for the church, if you talk to them, they're not going to tell you they work for the church. They're going to tell you they work for God. Because when you know the Lord is your employer and the Lord is your evaluator, you give the Lord something different than you would give your pastor, than you would simply give a church. Those who work for the church believe they work for God. And God deserves our best. we need water walkers what are water walkers? people like Peter in Matthew 14 they get to the edge of the boat they see the water and they're not afraid to walk out and do something no one's ever done before they're not stuck in the boat they're not waiting for permission they don't need the pastor to be the only one that casts vision they hear God and see God calling them and they step out into new things and I'm so grateful that the staff around me are people who sense and see where God is calling us and they don't just sit back and wait for a pastor to say yes on everything.

23:44 They step out believing that if it's not God's will, God will save us. And you got to go the second mile. Jesus said if a man asks you to walk one mile, go two. Can't have bare minimum folk walking for the church. You work too hard for your money for me to hire someone who they get off at 5 and at 450 they're already walking out the door. You know someone like that? They won't give an ounce above what they think they're paid to do. I need people to work on this staff who believe that God's called me to this and I'm going to give it my all. I'm going to give it my best. If I've got to stay late, I just got to stay late. If I've got to work hard, I just got to work hard. If I have to do more, I just have to do more because this is for God.

24:29 Everyone can't work for the church. 43 cent out of every dollar you give goes to salaries and benefits let's talk about the other 57 before i tell you where the other 57 cent goes i need to take you back to the fig tree and i want you to understand that fig trees don't eat their own fruit no tree produces fruit for itself. Trees produce fruit for two reasons. Trees produce fruit so that those who are hungry coming by can have something to eat. The primary purpose of fruit is to feed the hungry. But beyond that, did you know fruit serves a real purpose? Fruit's real purpose is to spread the seed. The seed is in the fruit. The animal eats the fruit, and when the animal eliminates, the animal eliminates the seed and the tree gets to replicate itself so the primary purpose of fruit is to feed the hungry and spread the seed so when you are examining a church and its fruit here's what you need to ask how is it blessing and how is it spreading how is that church blessing those in need and how is that church spreading the good news of Jesus Christ that's what the fruit is all about.

25:50 So let me share with you some fruit. this pie chart may be a little difficult to read from a distance, but it's a breakdown of what happens to the other 57 cent out of every dollar you give. The largest section, the yellow, is worship, and I'll speak about that in a minute. 38% of what's left of the 57 cent of every dollar goes towards worship.

26:17 17% goes towards ministry. 12% towards administrative cost, 13% to property management, 3% to campus expansion, and 17% to missions. Worship is the largest. That shouldn't surprise you because worship is our most visible ministry. It's where we cater to the most. It's where we spread the gospel the most. It's where we see the seed going out the most and the fruit being produced the most. So 38% of what's left that you give goes directly to supporting worship. In that category are our audiovisual and our information technology costs. There's a cost involved in proclaiming the gospel correctly and having the right sight and sound for our online projection, for our recordings, for our broadcast. It's about to be 2020.

27:12 We cannot spread the gospel on 8-track. Right? We've got to use current technology. Because if you don't use current technology, you're not speaking the language of those outside the door. It's a shame to be technologically advanced Monday through Friday, but when you get to church, you've got to step back to 1970.

27:33 The gospel must be proclaimed over the right method. So we use audiovisual and information technology. We have an online presence. Praise be to God that when you can't get to Alfred Street, you can go to Bedside Baptist. You ever been to Bedside Baptist? Reverend Pillowcase? We stream our services. Communications is important. In a large church like this, our number one challenge is to make sure that you stay informed. So we've got the app, we've got social media, someone's got to manage that. The video announcements that come out every week. The emails that are sent out to you. There's a team of people that handle that. Communications for worship. Our culinary. One thing you should know about Outstreet Baptist Church, whoo, we eat. Now, there's hardly anything that goes down to Alpha Street where we don't eat.

28:28 From funerals to worship service to Awana to Kid Street, to crossover to higher ground. Anytime folk are on campus, the kitchen's open and somebody's cooking. We eat. We are Baptists. That's what we do. We baptize by full immersion, and we eat fried chicken after worship. That's what we do. We believe that people who serve ought to eat. If you're going to volunteer all day, the choir has to get here at 6.15, 6.30 in the morning. They're going to be here till 1.30. They got to endure this sermon three times on Sunday. They should at least have something to eat. They're still mad about that joke earlier. That's all right.

29:10 Our servers ought to eat. People who are here from 6 in the morning to 2 in the afternoon should be fed. Your children should be fed. What a shame to pick your child up from Kid Street and they're hungry and you got to hustle to find somewhere to take them to eat. They ought to be fed at church. We put a lot of money into feeding. Our deacons have costs for ministry. our music and worship arts, I pray you know the excellent spirit in our music and worship arts ministry that one of the reasons you come here is you know you're going to be exposed to phenomenal music that glorifies God.

29:43 There's cost involved. Security. Security is at its best when you don't even know it's there. We live in a crazy world and church is not always safe. We want you to feel safe. Those armed Alexandria police officers that are on campus right now, they're not free. They didn't come just because they love Jesus. We tried, it didn't work, trust me. And unfortunately, because of the message that emanates from this pulpit, we have fallen on the radar of some extreme white supremacist groups.

30:30 And we've got to protect our space and our people. Our Easter services, you all now know that we go off-site for Easter. There's costs involved with that. All that boils down to worship. That's the cost. But let me show you the fruit. You can't read the numbers, but that bar graph is the membership of Alpha Street Baptist Church. All the way on the left is 2008, when our membership was 2,537. All the way on the right is 2019, whereas today our membership is 8,965 active members of Alpha Street Baptist Church.

31:06 We have more than quadrupled in membership over these past few years. God has seen fit to average 659 new members a year. 659 new members a year. That's why you can't get a parking space.

31:27 That's 700 folk a year. Do you know what the average size of a Protestant church in America is? 70 members. The average mainline Protestant church in America is 70 members, and God has favored us with 659 new ones a year. Next year, we will cross 10,000 active members. To God be the glory. That's not the number, Siobhan, that makes me shout. This is the baptisms.

31:54 These are the folk who walked in the door, heard the gospel, and said, I give my life to Jesus. I receive him as my Lord and Savior. I die to myself, and I now live for the Lord. And in these last 11 years, we have baptized 1,690 new believers into the body of Christ who are now living their life with Jesus as their Lord. Can you help me just thank God for 1,690 new believers? Wow. We are averaging 153 baptisms a year. That's fruit. That's seed spreading. Lives are being touched.

32:45 Besides the membership and the baptisms, are the baby dedications. I mean, something's wrong with you if you don't get a little warmed over when you see me hold up a baby and they start clapping their hands. We've dedicated 84 babies this year, and we haven't even done November or December. We're going to cross 100 babies in this year alone. Someone say fruitful and multiply. Fruitful. Our baby dedication is out of the way our funerals. I'm going to let you figure that out. Love dedicating babies, a sign that God has seen fit to add to our future. Because you give and support worship, I want to tell you the story of Aria, of Clara, of Bianca, and their big sister Maya in the back.

33:46 Aria, Bianca, Clara are the triplet daughters of Chris and Ashley King. All three of them were born premature. Each one weighed less than three pounds. They spent the first two months of their life in neonatal intensive care, wrestling with all the issues that preemies wrestle with. They had an E. coli infection. They dealt with bacterial meningitis. They had respiratory issues. It was touch and go. But because you give, and because you give faithfully, we were able to bless this family. we sent two of our staffers Elijah and Barbara down there to the hospital they went down to pray with them to be with this family all three of their daughters were released in October they were dedicated at this altar in March and they're all in church with their family because you give we're able to witness these three young girls grow up to be amazing things in the body of Christ thank you for being faithful in your giving Thank you.

34:52 But Alpha Street is much bigger than this building. Over the last few years, God has given us a presence that goes way beyond Duke and Alfred Street with our online community. We have 62,000 unique viewers who are subscribed to our YouTube channel. All of our videos to date have amassed more than 6.4 million views. every weekend across all four worship services 40 to 50,000 viewers are watching our worship 40 to 50,000 people are watching our ministry then from all over we have so many international viewers who write in and tell us how they've been blessed our radio broadcast faith forward is now one of the top leading religious broadcasts in the DMV.

35:48 We have more than 10,000 people listening every week. God has given us great favor with our online community. As a matter of fact, there aren't many places I go now where someone doesn't walk up to me and say, you're my YouTube pastor. And when they say it, I ask, are you my YouTube tither? Amen. We have a great online presence, one of whom is a young lady named Gretchen. I want to tell you about Gretchen. Gretchen had never set foot in Alpha Street Baptist Church, but you could not convince her that she was not a bona fide member of Alpha Street Baptist Church. Gretchen lives in San Diego, California. She has never seen Alpha Street Baptist Church, but you could not tell her she is not a member. She watches Bible study.

36:42 She watches worship. She gives online. She supports hidden halos. In Gretchen's mind, she is a member of Alfred Street Baptist Church. We heard about Gretchen and said, well, you know, you can't really call yourself a member, Gretchen. You could say you're affiliated with the church, but you can't call yourself a member because you've never even been to the church. Gretchen bought a plane ticket. Flew herself in from San Diego, walked down the aisle, gave her name to the deacons, got the right hand of fellowship, got back on a plane, went back to San Diego, and is telling everybody, I'm a member of Alfred Street Baptist Church. She came all the way from California to join her church because God has given us great favor to be much larger than this building. I know the space constraint frustrates you at times, but let's pause and recognize that we are much bigger than this building and thank God for your giving that helps us minister to people like Gretchen.

37:49 So the next pie chart, that green one, that's ministries. And there are 80 active ministries at Alpha Street Baptist Church. Not 10, not 25, not 30, not 50, not 65, not 70. 80 active ministries with programming throughout the year, meeting relevant needs, and spreading the gospel. Our ministries fall in three categories. Some are service ministries. Those are the ministries of volunteers who basically provide the infrastructure of the church, the ushers, the greeters, parking lot attendants, choir members. Those are ministries that serve us. Beyond that, we have ministries of support. And the ministries of support are created to bring people together based on a common experience of life that they can share with one another, support one another, and pray with one another.

38:49 Let me give you an example. Next year, a single mother's ministry has begun. As a member of the church, who's a single mother, was frustrated that she didn't have other single mothers that they could relate to and talk to and share their experiences with, so she wants to create a ministry of support for single mothers. We've got a ministry that helps women who've been diagnosed with breast cancer. So many survivors in the church, they got together and said that when a woman gets that diagnosis, she needs another sister to let her know it's going to be all right, another sister to tell her what she can expect, another sister to walk her through the process and the procedures and what she's going to be feeling. So a ministry formed for no other reason than to help women who've been diagnosed with breast cancer and fibroids. That's real ministry. And then there are ministries of shepherding that are meant to help grow people in their walk with the Lord, like Awana, like Sunday School. These are ministries that intentionally grow us in our walk with the Lord. Those 80 comprise a whole lot of things from Christian ed and Sunday school, online community, seniors, our service ministries, our support ministries.

39:57 The one I'm real thrilled to tell you about today are our children and youth ministries. 18 ministries, man and woman by hundreds of volunteers, exist at Alpha Street for one reason. To make certain that we raise children who know, love and serve Jesus Christ before they make it to the college campus. Eighteen ministries, not one, not two, 18, with hundreds of volunteers for one purpose, to make certain your children are safe, to make certain your children enjoy coming to church, to make certain your children are fed, to make certain your children are growing, but more than that, to make certain they accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. And those ministries have literally saved a life. I want to tell you a story about Tay, Crystal, and Sandra. Tay is a 13 year old girl at Alfred Street, beautiful young lady. She's part of Girl Scouts and attends crossover. Her mother is Sandra. A little while ago Tay came home to find her mother Sandra unresponsive on the floor. Tay panicked and didn't know what to do. She didn't think to call 911. All she could do was call the person she knew the most and trusted who's Crystal. Who is Crystal?

41:25 Crystal's a leader in the Girl Scout troop and because you gave we can support a Girl Scout troop that Crystal volunteers with and is close to Tay. Tay TAY CALLED CRYSTAL. CRYSTAL STAYED ON THE PHONE WITH HER, TAUGHT HER HOW TO MAKE A THREE-WAY CALL TO 911. BECAUSE CRYSTAL IS IN GIRL SCOUTS, WHICH IS FUNDED BY ALFRAD STREET, SHE WAS THERE TO HELP TAY, LEFT HER JOB, AND WENT TO SEE TAY WHILE THE AMBULANCE WAS ON ITS WAY TO COME GET SANDRA. IT DOESN'T STOP THERE. BECAUSE THE GIRL SCOUTS THAT'S SUPPORTED BY ALFRAD STREET, CRYSTAL KNOWS TAY AND CRYSTAL KNOWS SANDRA. WHILE SANDRA WAS IN THE HOSPITAL, SANDRA WAS WORRIED that her 13-year-old daughter wouldn't have the normalcy of life of going to school and being fed. Crystal moved out of her house. moved in with Tay while Sandra was in the hospital to make certain that that 13-year-old girl had a normal life and someone who was taking care of her.

42:26 All because you gave. And the money you gave supported Girl Scouts that put Tay and Crystal in relationship and all of them are doing fine now because you gave. there's some new ministries coming Hannah's prayer is one if you remember Hannah prayed over her child Hannah's prayer is a ministry for couples and individuals who struggle with fertility issues couples who go through in vitro and need encouragement to understand what that journey is and everyone doesn't understand that journey but enough do and a new ministry has been formed to support and pray and care for couples and individuals who are wrestling with fertility Rise, new ministry that started. This past year, you remember, I preached a sermon called Surviving Lot, dealing with the R. Kelly situation and young women who need to be protected from sexual abuse and domestic violence.

43:27 And as a result, a new ministry got started to gather together survivors of domestic violence and sexual abuse to encourage each other, pray for each other, and support each other. And that's a real ministry now. Hidden halos. Because you give, we can show up in random places and bless people simply because we're able to do it. We showed up a little while ago at the Van Dorn Metro Station at 7 in the morning to hand out $25 Metro gift cards as people were getting on. And it's amazing how suspicious people are of generosity. Imagine the scene of about 60 Alpha Street folk all in hidden halo shirts, all of the sun, suntan variety, standing outside handing out cards and people from other ethnicities walking by not wanting to receive.

44:22 What do y'all want? What are you asking for? Nothing other than to bless you in Jesus' name. The seed is spreading because you give. because you gave we went down to the Molinari juvenile shelter which houses children who've gotten caught up early in the criminal justice system that shelter was depressing we believe that it continued to wear on the spirit of some young men and women who needed a better chance so we took money that you gave we went down to that shelter we painted it we fitted it out with new electronics we redecorated it so these children coming in can have a nice environment to believe that there is hope for their life. A 12-year-old has no business going to sleep in something that looks like a jail. They need to lay down in a place that lets them know tomorrow will be better than your yesterday.

45:15 And because you gave, we are turning young people's lives around. we've got villages all over the place now change this church putting people in connection with 10 or 12 other saints who pray with you and grow with you and villages are taking care of one another i want to share with you a story of one i'll tell you about jerome and felicia jerome and felicia are members of alpha street who relocated to richmond but they were committed to not losing their membership. So they say, we're going to come to Alpha Street once a month. We're going to watch every service online. They're active in the married couples ministry. And Felicia volunteered to be the leader of the first Richmond village.

46:10 You may not know this. We have villages in different cities, in St. Louis, in Philadelphia, in Charlotte, in Massachusetts, and in Richmond. Felicia was going to be the leader of the first village in Richmond. shortly before village was supposed to begin Felicia wasn't feeling well and Jerome forced her to go to the doctor thank God he did they found a cancerous mass on the right side of Felicia's brain it was so severe and the treatment was going to be so aggressive Felicia had to retire early from her job if you talk to her she'll tell you but thanks be to God that they had the resources to do it and she believed that since God had given her this free time, she's going to dedicate it back to the Lord. She became one of our devotional writers for our Sikh devotion that we went through in our prayer and fasting, and she's one of our online chat monitors.

47:06 If you've ever watched our service online, you know that people chime in with comments, and some comments are inappropriate. And you need somebody to hit erase. That's what Felicia did sitting at home in her bed going through treatment for cancer. She monitored service and kept everything godly. That village didn't meet. But when those 10 who are connected to Alpha Street through online because you give found out about Felicia, they decided they're going to be her partner in this anyway. They never met but showed up to pray with her. They never met but were at the hospital every day. They never met but provided for Jerome in the house. They never met but now they have fellowship dinners with one another. because even before the village began, Alfred Street had bonded these people together because they were watching online through your giving. Felicia and Jerome were in church yesterday.

47:59 I want you to know she's doing amazingly well. That treatment has worked, the mass has shrunk, and she is now going to leave village in January of 2019. Because you gave, Felicia is still filled with the joy of the Lord. Because you give. Alpha Street Baptist Church does what no other church does. We are the largest supporter of historically black colleges and universities in the entire world. No church does more for HBCUs than Alpha Street. No church does more. Our HBCU festival is the largest in the land. Last year, $11 million in scholarship. Last year, 1,800 people walked in that convention center, not knowing where they were going to college, walked out with letters of admissions.

48:56 All because Alpha Street Baptist Church gives. You may not see it because it went under the radar, but last week, Congress and the House failed to pass a motion to support HBCUs, and Alpha Street has done more for HBCUs than our own government has. To be certain that the legacy of these schools Just remain active. We are huge supporters of HBCU, more than any other church. Oh, I know what I want to tell you about the HBCU. It's grown so much, the festival and fair, which by the way is January 25th of next year, it's grown so much, Kevin, that now corporations and Fortune 500 companies want to come and attach themselves to us. We've had Google, we've had Facebook. Yesterday, I'm proud to announce that Converse signed on board. You know the shoes.

49:49 Converse is now support. and we've got an MOU, a Memorandum of Understanding, on the way from Chick-fil-A. Chick-fil-A wants to back... They heard y'all been getting them Popeye's chicken sandwiches. They want to... I want you to appreciate this. Chick-fil-A wants to partner with a black church to support black colleges and universities. What a testimony to God that Chick-fil-A wants to support a black church who's supporting black colleges.

50:23 God is great. And because you gave, we have the reputation now that would attract corporations like that who know we do business well. Most corporations stay away from church because they don't do business right.

50:44 And we've got Fortune 500s coming to us. Can we fund your aid? Yes, you can. I take money from the Virginia Lottery. If you hit the number, just tithe, and that's between you and the Lord. That's all.

51:07 Amen. We're going to put it to good work. Because of your giving, 77 scholarships went out from the foundation last year of $189,000 sewn into those pursuing graduate and undergraduate education because you gave.

51:27 We've got some administrative and property management costs. I'm not going to spend a lot of time on those. Just so you remember, administration is about 12%. Property is about 13%. So 43% out of every dollar, salaries and benefit. The remaining 57, 38% of that is worship, 17% is ministry, 12% administration, 13% property management. Church administration, everything you would think. Consultants, legal fees, lawyers are expensive, especially at this level. Printing, contracting, our office supplies, condolence and bereavements, our mortgage interest and bank fees, staff support, all that goes under our administrative cost.

52:12 Some of your money also goes towards our service contracts for our landscaping and our building upkeep. One thing I hope you appreciate about this church is how it's always clean. I hope you appreciate you've never seen something broken twice. It may have been broken on Sunday, it was fixed by Tuesday. Did you know right now we have a staff of contractors who are cleaning the bathrooms and taking out the garbage right now while you're in church? Because bathrooms have to be cleaned.

52:42 Amen. You ever been to a church and told yourself, I'll just wait till I get home? I ain't going in there. Think about how difficult that is with the number of people who come in and out of this building every week. Worship alone brings some 4,500 people every weekend. In and out. Dirt in and out. Trash in and out. Restrooms in and out. Cheerios you give your kids in church. All that's got to be clean.

53:21 And you know buildings by nature deteriorate. They don't get better, they break down. Roofing needs to be replaced. HVAC only lasts so long. Refrigerators go out. You've always come in and it's been comfortable with our climate. Think of how much wear and tear those pews go through. I mean, I tell you this, all these pews are going to have to be replaced in the next year. Don't let that usher squeeze nobody else on there. If only you knew.

53:57 All that goes under property management. But we do it because you give, and we're able to keep the building immaculately decorated inside and out. We've won beautification awards from the city of Alexandria simply because of how beautiful the landscaping is. That bears witness. That's fruit. That's seed. That people know something good is going on here. But the one I really want to talk to you about is missions, that blue one. That blue one is the money that goes outside the doors of this church. I want you to know that as of today, Alpha Street Baptist Church has sent $1.8 million outside the doors of this church. $1.8 million into the lives of those who need it most. $1.8 million to change the world, one tragedy at a time, one hurricane at a time, one new initiative at a time.

54:54 $1.8 million goes to bless those outside these walls. What an amazing testimony. By the time we get to the end of the year, that number's going to be 2,000. By the end of 2019, $2 million, excuse me, $2 million will have gone outside the doors of the church. If it was 2,000, that'd be a shame. That'd be a shame. $2 million. We do it in three ways so that you know where your money goes. Projects. We see projects that the Lord has given us an opportunity to do. Partnerships. We can't do everything, so we fund and support organizations that do. And then people. We make an investment in people directly. Projects, partnerships, people. Projects, partnerships, people. all those projects partnerships and people 85 percent is local 85 percent of that 1.8 million dollars right here in the dmv right here in prince george right here in alexandria right here in prince william right here in dc never let it be said that outstreet baptist church has members that drive in from all over and don't make an impact in the very community in which the church located 85% of 1.8 million goes directly into the homes of those right here in our local area 7% is national, 8% is international, overseas.

56:21 National, we partner with a lot of organizations that make a difference. The one I want you to know most about is Lot Cary. If you've never heard of Lot Cary, I want you to hear about it today. We are the anchor church of giving in Lot Cary. And Lot Cary, the best way to think about it, it's the sun-tanned version of the Red Cross. In times of tragedy and hurricane and earthquakes, Red Cross is where CNN is. Red Cross doesn't get to the outskirts and the deep inner city where most of us are. Lot Kerry targets communities that look like us in times of tragedy and trauma to be there and make a difference. Lot Cary is hands down one of the greatest entities this church has ever partnered with to make a difference across the world.

57:21 And we are actively involved in Lot Cary. The former executive secretary who ran it, Dr. David Emmanuel Galtley, member of Alfred Street. The new executive secretary, Reverend Dr. Emmett Dunn, member of Alfred Street. The soon-coming president of men, sitting right over there, Dean Charles Montario, Sr., Alpha Street. The president of women, Rosette Graham, member of Alpha Street. On the board with the youth, Barbara Florville, member of Alpha Street. Sitting on the board of directors, yours truly, Pastor Wesley, Alpha Street Baptist Church. We are the controlling factor of Lot Carey. We give tremendously to partner with them around the world. Siobhan, we give so much we had a board of directors meeting this past week and I showed up late. I was late. I was tired from preaching on Tuesday so I went late on Wednesday and They tried to crack a joke with me talking about it must be nice to be able to come in late from AlphaTree. So that's because our check don't bounce.

58:20 I can be a little petty, you know. Yeah, for that big check, I can come in here when I feel like it. Y'all know I'm serious too, right? Don't come for me unless I call for you. Ah. Pray for your pastor. Pray for me in Jesus' name, in Jesus' name. We still partner through Lock, Harry with First Trinity Baptist Church in Flint. Did you all know Flint still doesn't have fresh drinking water? CNN doesn't report it at all. But because you gave and you put money in the offering plate, you didn't know this, some of that money wound up in Flint. And this morning, a child had fresh drinking water because you gave last week.

59:15 Where does your money go? There's the fruit. Fresh water and flint. Brothers Keeper, amazing project. 15,000 kids got a full supply of school supplies for a whole year because you're giving. 15,000, not 1,500. You gave 15,000 students all the school supplies they needed for an entire year. 1,000 of them got vouchers for winter coats and for school uniforms whose parents could not have afforded it. There's a child who's not going to be cold going to school because you gave. Because you gave, feed the 5,000, bless 4,200 individuals with a full week of groceries, and 20,000 meals were sent to the Bahamas. Because you gave, we were able to buy the meals. And one Saturday, we called the youth ministries here, and our children sat downstairs and packed 20,000 meals because we wanted them to learn what it means to serve and to be a blessing to those who stand in need.

1:00:19 And they sent 20,000 meals to the Bahamas because you gave. We touch the homeless. Some of you may not know this, but January, February, and March, homeless men from Alexandria spend the night in Alfred Street Baptist Church. There's warm food here, a warm bed, blanket, and members who spend the night with them because we're not afraid to touch the homeless. We're not afraid to go to sleep with them. Just because they are homeless does not mean they are criminal.

1:01:00 And what a shame when you hear these mega churches in Texas claiming 30,000, 40,000 members, but when a hurricane comes, they won't even open the doors of their church to let those who need shelter come in. Thank God for a church who says that we don't just exist to shout on Sunday, but when a homeless brother needs somewhere to sleep on a Monday night, Alfred Street Baptist Church will open its doors because you gave.

1:01:27 Because 52% of you said yes to the Lord. Homeless people had an opportunity to spend the night in warmth and eat well. Holidays are coming. You know what we do. Yesterday we gave out 870 baskets to 3,000 individuals who are going to be blessed. Christmas we're going to do the same. Christmas Tree of Lights is purchasing gifts for 1,700 kids whose parents could not afford to purchase them Christmas gifts. 1,700 children are going to wake up on Christmas with something under the tree because you gave. annual Christmas dinner many of us on Christmas day will be in our homes with our families there's some elderly in Alexandria who don't have anyone to come visit them and we bring them into Alfred Street from the nursing homes from the senior citizens homes bring them to Alfred Street, give them a dinner sing carols with them, let them have a good time and send them home with a doggy bag full of food because we care about our elderly and because you gave.

1:02:37 This year, something new happened to us that we've never had before since I've been here, furlough. We made it through recession, but furlough hit us. So because you gave, we were able to give out $100 gift cards, Amex gift cards, gas gift cards, Metro gift cards, Shoppers Food Warehouse gift cards. But the thing I'm most proud of is because you gave 55 families in Alfred Street had their mortgage and rent paid so that those families did not lose their home while they were on furlough for no fault of their own. You helped provide and protect the housing of 55 members because what a shame to have all these services and your own members lose their homes because you didn't help them. starts at home.

1:03:31 We've got projects through La Cary in Liberia, in Ghana, in Haiti, and the newest one in Kenya. Let me tell you about the one in Kenya, the Women's Empowerment Center. In Kenya, if a woman's husband dies and she is widowed, there are only one of three options she has. One, she's forced to marry a brother-in-law and literally becomes a slave of her husband's family. If she turns that down, the family removes all of her possessions and she becomes homeless. And then she only has two options, begging or prostitution.

1:04:16 So a woman of color who loses a husband by no fault of her own has one of three options, become a slave to my husband's family, become a prostitute, or beg on the streets. the women's empowerment center was created to teach these women life skills so they can get jobs and provide for themselves one of the most flourishing industries over there is textile and sewing so because you gave we purchased sewing machines to place in that center so these women can learn how to sew and get a job and provide for themselves and not have to sell their bodies in order to take care of their own lives. Because you gave.

1:04:58 Because you gave, there's a woman in Kenya today who's not a prostitute. You put it in the offering plate, and you didn't know it wound up all the way in Kenya in a sewing machine. We sent two teams to Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria, two adult teams and a youth team. Why? Because we need our youth to understand what it means to serve. And because you gave, we were able to pay for and provide an overseas mission experience for some youth whose lives have been changed because you gave.

1:05:38 Because you gave, we've been active in Dorian, relief in Bahamas. Not just in sending funds, but we sent mental health care professionals. Because you give, we've hired a full-time Christian counselor, Reverend Latasha Morgan, who went with Jocelyn Jones. Where's Jocelyn? I saw her. There's Jocelyn. Jocelyn's health care worker as well, mental health care. Jocelyn and Latasha went down to the Bahamas to give counseling services to people who were traumatized by losing. Do you know what it's like to lose everything? You don't just need a house, you need someone to help you hold it together. And because of your giving, we were able to send them to the Bahamas, not only just with supplies, but to touch hands and to counsel and to pray with those who've been traumatized. That's real fruit. Thank you for giving. You know what we did through SEEK 2019?

1:06:39 There were $107,000 went to 34 students who were capable of graduating but couldn't because of debt that they had. So because you gave, we paid off the debt of 34 students who walked across and are now Howard University alums. Because you gave, we were able to keep the doors of Bennett College open. College faced a financial crisis and Alfred Street was the largest faith-based donor to that cause and because of your giving Bennett College is still open today and educating young women because of your gift. I want to tell you about the Cradle to Greatness Award. Last story. Because of all that you gave I don't know if you saw it but a certain somebody was inspired by our giving to Howard to go do it himself.

1:07:33 Bob Smith went down to Morehouse, paid off all the debt for that graduating class. Now, he's never acknowledged that Alpha Street inspired the act. Bob Smith has a bad taste in his mouth about church. I'm not the biggest church fan. I don't know why. I'm not even saying he's not Christian. He just doesn't really, he doesn't flow with church that much. His foundation, Cradle to Greatness, recognizes other organizations that sew into the lives of young people. This year, at the Cradle to Greatness Award, although he didn't recognize Alfred Street's inspiration, he did not want to recognize a church. He was bombarded by people sending him videos of what we'd done and the Steve Harvey to the point where this man who doesn't love church or like it was persuaded to recognize Alfred Street as the only church to get the Cradle to Greatness Award.

1:08:31 Because you give, we were able to send Elijah and Mark down there because I want you to know the vision to sow into Howard University didn't come from your pastor. It came from Elijah and Mark. So I thought it appropriate... So I thought it appropriate. I should not be the one going down. The ones who envisioned it should. So because you gave, we sent them down to receive... Where was the award at? Where's that? What city? It was in D.C. So we sent them to the award ceremony. All the way in D.C. They took uber black though, they took uber black. But to our surprise, they came back not just with a plaque, but a check from the foundation for $10,000 written out to Alfred Street.

1:09:29 So a man who doesn't like church not only recognized it, but gave us $10,000 to sow back into the lives of some other young people. Don't tell me what God won't do when we're faithful. Because you gave, $418,000 was given to members of our congregation who were in need of financial aid and assistance. Hear me, beloved. Everybody in here is one tragedy away from being broke. You are one diagnosis away from losing everything. One fire. It's all gone. But because you give every time we have communion, when 269 members of our church needed some financial help and assistance to make ends meet, we were able to sow into them $418,000.

1:10:24 We give to Christ Church. We found out that not only do we want to help our own members, but if someone walks in off the street in need, we want to meet their need. We want to have fruit. But we weren't good at helping people coming in off the street. Christ's church is. We partnered with them. The deacons voted to take 10% of poor saints and give it away to Christ's church. So now Christ's church has doubled the number of needy people in Alexandria that they can serve because you gave and we gave to them. It just keeps on going because you gave. So I close by asking this.

1:11:04 Imagine what could happen if the 48% who gave nothing decided to trust God. I'm not telling you what to give. I'm not even giving you no percentage. This isn't a message on tithing. This is a message about listening to God and connecting yourself to the great work of Alfred Street.

1:11:27 Because here's the real deal, and someone's about to get mad, you give more to organizations that don't do half of this. round 5 round 5 I joke, I know you give, Siobhan.

1:11:59 But what's it going to cost a lady to be a Delta this year? What are the dues to be at AKA this year? How much is my Kappa membership going to cost me? Since it's Alpha Street, how much the links cost? How about Boulay? Jack and Jill? Eastern Star, Mason, have I called yours yet?

1:12:27 And none of those organizations have this testimony. Nothing you belong to does more to change the world than the church you worship in. And yet you give more to other things in other places. Imagine what we could do if the 48% said yes.

1:12:51 So the sermon doesn't end with an invitation to shout. It doesn't even end with an invitation to join church. It ends with an invitation for you to prayerfully connect yourself to the work we're doing. to be proud of belonging to this church, to know that there's transparency in how we handle money, to know that what you give doesn't show up in the fuel in a private jet for your pastor. Look, I know pastors with less than this that fly private jets.

1:13:24 It shows up in sewing machines in Kenya. In fresh water in Flint. That's where your money goes. Lord, thank you for the awesome testimony of the work you've enabled us to do. For the vision you've given, not simply to pastor and staff, but members. For the opportunities you've created for us to serve, to bear fruit, and to spread seeds.

1:13:52 Lord, we don't brag or boast, but we say to God be the glory. I pray now, Lord, that you would convict our hearts, that we might hear what you've called us to give, and we would say yes. Amazing things happen when we say yes to the Lord. And thank you, God, for allowing us to see some of them today.