This Is Going to Be Good

1:03 It's been estimated that 90 to 95% of people after turning 30 will never sprint again for the rest of their lives. Not jog, not run fast, not shuffle towards the door when someone's holding the door open for you. You know that moment? Like when someone, they open the door for you, but like you're too far away, so you have to kind of awkwardly like... but 90 to 95% of us after turning 30 will never sprint, truly sprint like you do when you're a kid for the rest of your life. I wanna make the case today that spiritually speaking, you should never let that happen to you, that in the race of faith, you should protect your top end to be able to flat out run to bring God glory as you keep your eyes on Jesus, running the race of faith with endurance.

1:55 If you have a Bible, make your way to Luke chapter 10. I want to give to you a message that I'm calling, This is gonna be good. This is gonna be good. Come on, in faith, come on, touch your neighbor and tell them, this is gonna be good. This is gonna be good. Let me say as you're making your way in Scripture that it is a tremendous privilege and an honor for me to be here in the house back at Calvary with my familia, worshiping God together with you. I love this church, love the height six, love this ministry and the fruit of this ministry, our ministry that God's doing. We bring greetings from Fresh Life Church in Montana where in January we will hit 20 years of ministry, if you can believe it. Watching God work as he builds his church and we just, we love this congregation. It holds such a special place in our hearts and it is always a joy to be back here.

2:53 And I especially am grateful that they asked me to participate. And I love, of course, coming in and preaching a message or preaching about a new book I've written or whatever, but it really is so special to get to join into the series and to get the chance to kick it off. So here's what that means. That means if I blow it today, Pastor Nate and Pastor Skip will pick up the pieces, okay, as we move forward in our series. But let's read together from God's Word. Luke chapter 10 starting in verse 25 And behold A certain lawyer stood up And tested him If you underline stuff Underline what was the lawyer's purpose In standing up to talk to Jesus He was trying to test Jesus Someone say bad plan Saying teacher what shall I do To inherit eternal life And he said to him What is written in the law What is your reading of it So he answered and said, You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.

4:01 And he said to him, You have answered rightly. Do this, and you will live. You can underline that. Do this, and you will live. But he, the lawyer, wanting to justify himself, said to Jesus, And who is my neighbor? Then Jesus answered and said, A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho and fell among thieves, who stripped him of his clothing, wounded him, and departed, leaving him, I would underline this part, half dead. He was half dead. Not all the way dead. He was half dead. Now, by chance, as it happened, a certain priest came down that road. And when he saw him, he passed by on the other side.

4:59 Likewise, a Levite, when he arrived at the place, came and looked and passed by also on the other side. But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was. And when he saw him, he had compassion. So he went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. And he set him on his own animal, brought him to an inn and took care of him. On the next day, when he departed, he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said to him, take care of him. And whatever more you spend, when I come again, I will repay you. So, Jesus said, which of these three do you think was a neighbor to him who fell among thieves?

6:04 And he, the lawyer, said, the one who showed mercy on him. Then Jesus said to him, go and do likewise. And we thank you, Lord, for your word, for the raw, unbridled power of it. We thank you. Your word is a fire. Your word is a light. Your word is a lamp. Your word is like a river. God and we stand to receive not to judge, not to presume but to listen to quiet our hearts and to lift your name high, to lift your word high we ask that your will would be done in our hearts, in our lives and in our midst thanking you for all that you've done through the many years of this ministry thanking you God for the faithfulness of Pastor Skip and Linnea, to watch you working through Pastor Nate and Janae and the entire staff and team many great things around the world through this body of believers.

7:01 It's really incredible. And we believe, Jesus, that all you've done in the past is just getting, you're just getting started for what you intend to do now. As you saved the best wine for the end of the wedding feast, and the best things you intend to do are still on the way. We believe in faith. And we declare it in your name, Jesus. And we pray together saying, amen, amen, amen, amen. Come on, let's thank God for his goodness today.

7:32 You know, I graduated from high school here in Albuquerque and lived in the state for a decade. And so it was crazy to me when the other day I was listening to a podcast while on a run and I came across information that I had never, like I had to stop and like Google it. Have you ever heard something like that can't be true, right? So I Googled it like right then, like, is this true? Because what they were saying on the podcast is they were saying, well, you know, New Mexico had a part to play in America entering World War I. And I was like, wait, what? Like, budke? 505, World War I against Germany?

8:06 Archduke Ferdinand getting assassinated, unrestricted submarine warfare. I know all of the stuff about World War I, but I've never heard about New Mexico playing a part in World War I. Do you know this? So here's the story. America had wanted nothing to do with the war happening in Europe when it first broke out. America's position was it's Europe's problem. They didn't see, by and large, Germany as a threat to us. And they said, okay, they're fussing over the continent of Europe. Let them fight. Let them squabble. We want nothing to do with it. In fact, President Woodrow Wilson got reelected using the campaign. The campaign slogan was, he kept us out of the war. Let's elect him again to be president again because he kept us out of the war. And if we elect him again, he'll continue to keep us out of the war. Germany is not going to mess with America. We're a long ways away. And that's what America truly believed.

8:59 Until Mexico invaded New Mexico, right? Pancho Villa and 500 raiders crossed the border into Columbus, New Mexico, and American blood was shed. And Americans were outraged. And so Wilson had no choice but to send 10,000 soldiers and to invade Mexico as retribution, recompense for what had happened in New Mexico. Okay, so that's all going on. And you're like, that's great. with World War I? Well, Germany, through their ambassador to Mexico, Zimmerman, sent a famous telegram. It's called the, I guess, famous, right? I'd never heard of it. Famous, right? Now it's famous, because I know. It's like, well, everybody knows, you know? He sent a telegram, coded with a secret code, to Mexico saying, hey, psst, like, the tone was, psst, hey, guys, we like what we're hearing, basically. And he was trying to, like, get a big fight going. Germany said, hey, if you guys want to join our side in the world war, when it comes to the North American coast, when it comes to the continent, if you're on our side, when we take over America, we'll let you have New Mexico and Arizona and Texas. Okay? Crazy.

10:15 Crazy. But the problem was Britain was listening, intercepted the transmission, and intercepted the Zimmerman telegram, decoded it, and let Washington, D.C. know, hey, guys, Germany, here's what they're saying. They're saying they're coming. The war is coming here. They do intend eventually global domination. They're going to try and take America. Europe's just the beginning. And they're telling Mexico, if they join their side, they'll get these states divvied up. And so when the American people heard about this, they were outraged. And Wilson, of course, had no choice. And that very same year, America entered the Great War, as it's been called. Right? None of that's true. I made that all up. No, I'm just kidding. It's true. It's true. It's true. It's true. Some of your faces are like, we don't know what to believe now. Why are you telling me this, Levi? I'm telling you this because you have here an enemy, a foreign power, trying to capitalize or exploit the tension going on between us and our neighbor nation, which has everything to do with what we read here in this passage for two reasons.

11:19 Number one, because you have Jewish Samaritan bad blood, which is very much at the heart of what Jesus puts into his story. This divide, this us and them mentality that went on between the Jewish people and the Samaritan people. But you also have, I believe, the enemy who wants to exploit tension that's taking place even in our midst when our series was announced a moment ago. Jesus, people, give. And all of a sudden, the arms start crossing. Oh, it's going to be one of those sermons about money, right? All of us are holding our purses a little tighter. All of us, all of a sudden, start to get a little bit uncomfortable. And listen to me, listen to me. wants to capitalize on the tension that we feel in church when the subject of money comes up. Why? Because he wants to keep us back from the calling of God on our lives to have wholehearted devotion for the kingdom of God. And the devil knows what you need to know. There is nothing quite like your financial life to unlock the power of the faith life that God invites you to step into. For as

12:37 your treasure goes, your heart will be also. So if I were the devil, I would want to keep back any Christian I could from investing resources, financially speaking, in the kingdom of God, because then I would know for a fact that your heart would stay on earth and not go into heavenly currency with it. Now, the devil doesn't mind if you're rich. I mean, the devil wants you to be rich in every single way that doesn't count. He's fine with you gaining the whole world as you lose your soul. It was John Rockefeller. He's been called the richest American who ever lived. If you adjust for inflation and you use today's dollars to look at his fortune that he amassed, he would be worth today about $600 billion, making him by far the richest American on the planet. He wrote a letter to his son one day, trying to give him advice for life down the road when he was gone. So he would have letters to look back to, to guide him, his touching after his dad was no longer here on this earth. And John Rockefeller, in one of the letters I came across, said this to his son, the poorest person I know is the man who has nothing but money.

13:55 Is it possible that the devil wants to keep you spiritually impoverished? But not Jesus. Jesus wants you, he doesn't care if you're rich on earth. Jesus wants you to be rich towards God. Which is why, listen to me, Jesus talked a lot about money. In fact, if you go through the whole Bible, you come through it all and you take a little tally every time a verse comes that mentions finances or mentions money or mentions saving or mentions giving or mentions spending, there are 2,000 verses in this book that talk about money. Oh, pastors are just always talking about money. Well, it's our job to teach this book. What do you want us to do?

14:47 Right? baby. We're just sort of delivering the news as it's been given to us, right? The Bible talks about money more than it talks about the subject of faith and prayer. Jesus talked about money more than he talked about faith and prayer. Listen, combined. Do you think your pastor would be doing a good job if he never talked to you about faith? Would you write a great Yelp review? Right? This church, they never talk about faith, right? But we wouldn't be doing a good job because the Bible You've got to preach about faith if you're going to preach the Bible faithfully. Can you imagine a church that they never talked to you about prayer, never told you how to pray, never reminded you to pray? Jesus said his father's house is to be a house of prayer for all nations. Wouldn't we be blowing it? It'd be like going to a doctor who never listened to your heart. You're like, you've got one job, you know? You should talk about prayer.

15:40 The Bible mentions money and giving and possessions twice as much as faith and prayer. and we deep down know faith and prayer are important things. Here's the reality. Nothing will propel you forward or keep you back in this race of faith quite like your finances. Giving is an acid test of your relationship with God. It shows the vibrancy or the lack thereof. And that is, I believe, one of the many things, one of the many beautiful things that the parable of the good Samaritan teaches us, is willing to teach us. is what we're gonna spend our time today talking about. But let's just kind of back it up here a second. Here's a lawyer, and when we think lawyer, we think like a John Grisham novel. That's not the kind of lawyer this was. It's not, may I approach the bench, your honor. He's a expert in the religious law. He spent his time thinking, writing, pontificating,

16:39 telling the people what God's law meant, what the first five books of the Old Testament Moses had to say. So he lives in Moses, okay? and then his own commentary, and the Jewish rabbis would have their commentaries on, so they would add to Moses. Moses wasn't enough, so now they're saying, well, here's what he really meant, and they're taking, you know, the commandments in the law and elaborating them. Here's how it is, and Jesus said, you guys put heavy burdens on people you yourselves don't carry, and here comes Jesus. He's just cruising around all loosey-goosey. Believe in me, he's good. Believe in me, you're good, right? Eat my flesh, drink my blood, you're good, right? You want to go to heaven? Cool, I got you. you're good, right? And the lawyers were appalled. They're like, it can't be that easy. Here we are trying to like, you know, with our phylacteries and don't eat shellfish. And, you know, like, they made it so hard to love God. You can't just have a day off. You got to have a day off exactly like this. And, you know, they, Jesus was exasperated by them constantly, right? And he didn't kowtow to their, you know, way of doing things. And they loved preference. They loved having the best seats. They loved all this stuff. And Jesus wasn't about all that. So he was like, just believe in me and we're good. Trust in me. I'm going to die on the cross for you. We're good. And so this guy, to test Jesus, right? Famous last words. Guy sort of is the alpha and the omega. First and the last, beginning and the end, right? And you're going to test him. Oh, it's like, ooh. If Job from the Old Testament could speak, he'd be like, you guys are making a huge mistake.

18:06 Because Job one time was like, God, I got some questions. And God's like, cool, I have some questions for you. Where were you when I created the heavens and the earth? By the end of that dialogue, Job was like, no more questions, your honor. You know what I'm saying? Job's like, I'm just going to be over here quietly sitting, you know, contemplating the meaning of I'm an idiot, right? So this guy to test Jesus says this, I got some questions, teacher. What do you got to do to get to heaven? That's what he said. How do I inherit eternal life? Thinking Jesus was going to say, just believe in me. Like he told Nicodemus, like Moses raised up the serpent, just look at me, lift it up. Now he's talking about the cross. And if you do that, you're good, you'll live.

18:45 Jesus does not do that. You know what Jesus says in response? He goes, well, I don't know. What does the law say? What does Moses say? Because he took the guy's line. Because the guy thought Jesus was going to go, just believe. And then he would go, but Moses says. So when the guy says, how do I get saved? Jesus goes, what does Moses say? And the guy's like, I wasn't prepared for this. He's now on his heels. He doesn't know what to do. He's like, well, I don't know, like, love God and stuff, you know? And Jesus says, yeah, that's good. That's great. Do that. If you do that, you'll live. Backhanded compliment. What is he saying? And if he says, if you will do that, you will live, he's saying you haven't done that, so you don't have life. He's creating the bad news that always is the necessary context for the good news. You can't receive salvation. You don't admit you need. This guy's biggest problem is he says he can see, but he actually was blind.

19:39 And Jesus can never open eyes of someone who doesn't admit that they can't see. So the guy thinks Jesus is going to go believe, but he goes, I don't know. What's the law say? Well, you should love God, love your neighbor. And Jesus goes, if you could do that, you'd be fine and you wouldn't need me. So the guy now who's convicted guilty conscience and hasn't loved his neighbor well, thus hasn't loved God well, is spinning his wheels. And so what does he do? He tries to lower the bar. The man says to Jesus, well, what is a neighbor anyway? You know what I mean? What is a neighbor? Who really do we have to show love to is what he's saying. Because he's thinking in his head of all the people he doesn't love, but in his mind, he had the right reason to not love them. And so he's saying to Jesus, but what is a neighbor, right? Because it's very confusing. And Jesus goes, yes, I see your confusion. You're a lawyer.

20:30 You don't know what a neighbor is? How have you gotten this far in life? Jesus is thinking, you need safety scissors. I'm not going to trust you with the real sharp ones, you know? You don't know what a neighbor is? And so Jesus is actually kind of like being pedantic here to this guy a little bit, like lovingly condescending, I would say. So what he says is, let me draw you a picture with words, and I'm going to draw a couple different characters in the story, want you to point to the one that you think looks most like a neighbor, right? That's what he does. And so he says there was a guy one day, he was walking from Jerusalem to Jericho and he got jumped. Now everybody who was listening to the story would have gone, ooh, because it was a dangerous road. It was so dangerous, it was called the way of blood. Apparently, when Herod the Great finished building the temple mount, he laid off 18,000 workmen who had been brought into town surrounding nations and areas to do work on the Temple Mount construct, embellishing the temple.

21:29 And when they got laid off because there was now no more work, a lot of people ended up just staying in the area but didn't really have any opportunity. Some of them eventually were attracted to a life of crime. And so they would jump travelers traveling from Jerusalem to Jericho and steal their possessions. So almost everyone listening could think through in their mind someone who got camel jacked in that same area.

21:55 And Jesus said, when this guy was stolen from, he wasn't just stolen from, they beat him half to death. He was lying there choking on his own blood, helpless. But fortunately, a priest came by. Fortunately, a pastor, a man of a cloth comes by. And in the story, everybody is thinking, of course, the pastor's surely going to help this guy, right? help this guy because he's on his way to a very important religious obligation. You know, the people I'm going to go preach to, they'll probably go to hell if I don't go. So I cannot, I cannot deign to come down and be unclean by this man's blood. And for the greater good, so listen, listen, my hands are tied. I'm more mad about this than you are. Because if I go, these people who need to hear from me can't hear from me, so I can't do it. So this guy passes by on the other side. Then a Levite comes by. A Levite, they worked for the priests, but you know, jobs, in addition to being the worship leaders on the stage, was they handled the benevolence fund.

22:57 So the money that came in for poor people or hurting people, it was theirs to distribute. So Jesus is concocting the perfect person. If anybody on earth would do first aid for this man, it's the Levite who looks the other way and passes by and does not help the man. And then Jesus says, the plot thickens because a Samaritan rocks up to the joint, right? The The Samaritans were the sworn enemies of the Jewish people. Jesus, we're literally told in John chapter 2, the Jewish people have no dealings with the Samaritans. Hated them. Hated each other. They both thought it was their way. We worship on Mount Gerizim. You worship in Jerusalem. You have your temple here. You have your temple there. And so there was this fierce divide, fierce animosity. And so this man has no reason, has no right. If he was on fire, the Jewish people, they would not even spit on him and put him out. And yet the Samaritan, seeing the man, feels compassion.

23:54 Gets off of his animal, comes down, condescends from a high place to a low place to help and to heal this person at great cost. Then puts the man on his own animal, takes him to an inn, pays for wine, pays for oil, pays for bandages, then pays for the man to stay there, pays for two more days additionally, and then says, listen, I've got to go to a business meeting, on my way, and when I come back, if he needs anything else, I'm gone. Room service. If this man needs more bandages, you buy it. I'll pay you back. And with that picture hanging in everyone's mind, Jesus says, OK, now I want you to point to the one who's a good neighbor, because you're confused about what a neighbor is. Point to the person in the story who was a good neighbor.

24:37 the lawyer can't even say, look at the text, he can't even say the word Samaritan. We say only good Samaritan. He didn't. Look at the words. What did he say? The one who showed mercy. He can't even handle the taste of the word coming out of his mouth, of the people that he was not a good neighbor to. Thus needs salvation, which he hopes he can do enough good deeds to one day deserve.

25:06 and Jesus the point of the parable of course as he says go and do likewise is we're left with the inescapable portrait of what love actually looks like the point is you can't describe it necessarily but you'll know when you see it did you know 1901 to 1909 if you wanted to write the president of the United States a letter you did not have to write an address or a name on your envelope all you had to do was doodle mustaches and spectacles? True story. Look it up. President Teddy Roosevelt was so iconic for his famous look with his famous stash and his big old grin and his goofy spectacles. The rough riders. He had extra pairs of those glasses sewn into the lining of his hat. So if he lost any, he could just pop out a new pair on his horse. So all you had to do was draw a stash and some spectacles. And they saw it. They knew where to send it. They just sent it right along long as you had enough postage on the snake. The point is, if you knew it, you see it. You know who that is without even knowing who that is. Jesus' point is, you don't know what love looks like, but you know when you see it. This is love. This is love. And that's what I think we're being invited into to step into in these days of this series. We're giving a picture of what love looks like. What does it mean to love God with all your heart? It looks like you're loving your neighbor like you love yourself.

26:28 You're doing for others what you hope they would do. Now, again, the point is not if you can do enough of that, you then are good with God, right? We don't do good to get to God. We go to God to get to good. But once we follow God, hey, this is going to be good. We are going to see goodness and mercy as the outflow of our lives. Why? Because if we really love him, we realize he's the good Samaritan and we were the one choking in our own blood. And when we were dead in our sins, God loved us so much that he sent Jesus Christ to do for us what we could never do for ourselves. The point of the story isn't go be a good Samaritan now. Class dismissed. Go do something nice. The point is not go be a good person. The point is you were a dead person and the God person came down to save the dead person by dying on the cross for us. But if you've really got the revelation of God's kindness and mercy that you didn't deserve because you were his enemy, it's going to make you want to live a life of good works out of you. Spurgeon put it this way, what the law demanded of us, the gospel produces in us.

27:32 What you could never do, now all of a sudden becomes the natural outflow of your life because you've been quickened by the Holy Spirit of God through believing the gospel that makes you want to live a life of kindness and beauty and benevolence and charity and grace to everybody you meet because you know every single person you meet is a sinner. Look, look, look, just like you. And you never think, well, they don't deserve it because you're going to remind yourself, neither did I. Newsflash, neither did I. And yet Jesus got off his animal. He got off his high horse. He condescended and came down. The incarnation, not the subtraction of divinity, but the addition of humanity. He came down and died, not just any death, the death of the cross. And so the point of the story is what love in action looks like. It always looks like giving. Listen to me.

28:24 Why do we say Jesus people give? Love always gives. You can give without loving, but it is impossible to love without giving. Whatever you love, you give to. Think about what you love. Money flows to it. It is not hard work to spend money on your passions. It's hard work to rein it in. Whatever it is in your life that money flows to, you get paid and it's like, I can't wait for this money to go towards whatever that is. That's what you love. Money and passion always flow where there's love. Love always gives. God so loved the world that he gave. So when we say we love God, if we don't live like Jesus lived and give like Jesus gave, we are in a lie.

29:16 We're not living a life of truth. So what I want to do is I want to show you from the text four choices that we must make when it comes to money. You will, you are, every day from now until you step before Christ, when you get paid, when you have resource in your life, you're going to choose one of these four. The first is you can choose to steal. The first choice when it comes to money is stealing. You think, well, I would never steal. He says, I would never embezzle. I would never. Listen, there's more than one way to steal. In the text, of course, yes, it's robbers. Robbers who jumped the guy and took all of his money. But did you know scripture connects a lack of generosity, a lack of giving, to stealing? You're like, Levi, that's kind of hard words.

30:07 They're not mine. Malachi 3, read it on your own time. It says, will a man rob God? And yet, how have we robbed you? I would never rob God. Yeah, he says, because you don't tithe. Now, again, people are like, oh, people love to go, oh, no, no. That's just a law thing. That's a law thing. Yeah, so is murder. Are you into murder?

30:30 It's getting quiet in here. But if you want to get technical, tithing predates the law by 430 years. When we talk about the law, we're talking about a universal principle. Going back all the way to Abraham. We're saved as Gentiles. We don't come in on Moses' coattails. We come in on Abraham's coattails. Father of faith. And the father of faith tithed. I always find it funny, though, when people are like, no, we're under the grace commandment now. We don't have to give. That's a law thing, right? Well, then do more, not less, than tithing. Because Jesus under the law said, you can't cheat on your spouse. But under grace says, don't even look at a woman in your heart to lust. Grace always raises the bar, not lowers it. So yeah, I would say you don't have to tithe. You can do more. You're welcome to. So grace, give all you want. Just make sure it's not less but more. Because Jesus said under the law, it's don't murder. But under grace, it's don't hate. Okay?

31:18 So tithing then, this is my favorite line of the sermon. You're going to see your faces in a second. Tithing should be not called giving. not stealing, right? Because when God says something's his, to not give it is thus to rob him of what he has said is rightfully. If I loaned you my truck to move, when you gave it back to me, would you put a bow in it and said, I got you a gift, here's your truck? I would say, you gave me back what's mine. That's tithing. Every time we tithe, we're giving back what God has already said is his. And if you're angry at me, take it up with my boss. That's just what the Bible says. All right, the second way we decide to make money decisions is to stockpile it. To stockpile, to hoard it, right? There's a human tendency, especially if you didn't get raised with much, but you've worked hard and now there's something, there's the mentality to kind of have the stockpile. The problem with stockpiling is here's what you look like. Here's what you look like while you're stockpiling it.

32:10 You look like this guy right here, diving into a big pile of, anybody raised in the 80s like I was? I cannot think about like stockpiling money without thinking about Scrooge McDuck. The problem is when you live this way long enough, you end up looking like this. Like J.R.R. Tolkien said, resource that has been held onto, that a dragon broods on, becomes foul, becomes putrid, right? And what's meant to be a conduit in our lives, when we hold it like this, when it's mine, when this is mine, I worked for this, there's dragon sickness on it. The great serpent of old slithers up on that gold inside your life. In the text, I see the Levite and the pastor, the priest, as having the mentality of stockpiling what's theirs. I can't help this man because this was an inconvenience to me. This is mine. This is my day. This is how I planned my day. I didn't leave any margin here.

33:02 I left exactly when I needed to leave, right? So I didn't allot any extra for anybody else. I can't help this guy because of what's mine. The third is the choice to sacrifice. in the text. This would, of course, come from the Samaritan who chose to sacrifice what was his and give it freely for the sake of the person who was hurt. And the fourth and final choice, you'll see these, by the way, also in your worship guide, all written out, is to steward. You can choose to do what the innkeeper did. The innkeeper is an example to us, a template for us of what stewardship looks like. Why? Because he was entrusted with resource and he chose to steward it to honor the

33:44 okay so what I would like you to do we're going to do for the rest of the time I've written down four different declarations each one goes along with one of the four financial decisions and what I want you to do is to write down and then audit yourself this week and ask yourself which is the script of your life don't don't don't answer it quickly like yeah I'm team Jesus go look at your Wells Fargo statement and then tell us right ask yourself what is your spending say of your heart for God's kingdom all right um the first script is the script of the bandit who steal their script What's yours is mine and I'm going to take it. There can be that mentality. What's yours is mine. This should be mine. We can feel that way when someone gets a promotion. They got my promotion. They got that blessing. They got that ingrification. I should have had that. That should have been, there can be a mentality we have that what's yours is actually mine. I should have had that. I should have gotten that attention. I should have gotten tagged in that photo that got posted. I should have gotten that opportunity.

34:36 We can have lived with that kind of a mentality. The choice of stockpiling puts these words in your mouth. What's mine is mine. I'm going to keep it. I've got to guard it. I've got to hang on to it. Because, you know, I worked hard for what I have. I've got to keep what's mine. I'm a self-made man, which I would say, are you? Are you a self-made man? You growing kidneys in your garage?

35:00 You grow your own body? Well, I worked hard. I came from nothing. Other people, silver spoon in their mouth. I had to work for what's mine. I would just say this. You could have been born in Kazakhstan with no arms and legs. You've been given everything you've been given, including the opportunity to do what you've been given with. Right? So the lie is, what's mine is mine, so I'm going to keep it. The choice of a sacrifice says this. What's mine is yours, so I'm going to give it. this is what Jesus said when he came down this is what the Good Samaritan said and then where I think we want to get to the hope is we can get to the choice of the steward or the innkeeper is this what's mine is not mine so I'm going to manage it this is hopefully where we can get to in our financial planning in our spending in our saving in our giving we can say hey what's mine is not mine so I'm going to manage it alright Right?

35:55 How do we do that? We do that by remembering everything I have I've been given. Okay, jot that down. Everything I have I've been given. It's been given to me. The air in my lungs, the gifts, the talents, the wisdom, whether you've been given one talent, two talents, three talents, five talents, ten talents, you've been given what you've been given. Okay, it's all from him. And then lastly, secondly, there's an expectation for what I've been entrusted. to ask yourself, what was God thinking when he gave you the life he gave you? And I don't mean like, what was he thinking? I mean, what was he thinking? Right? Like, I think about this, like, God gave me certain passions. God gave me certain interests. God gave me certain abilities and relational doors have been opened up. What, I want to say this to God, like, God, what were you thinking when you gave me what you gave me, including my pain? What were you thinking? because Paul said, I want to lay hold of what I was laid hold of for.

36:54 Can you scale and grow a company? You've been given something. Use it for the kingdom. God, what were you thinking when you gave me what you gave me? And then lastly, there will be an examination for how we executed. It's called the Bema scene of Christ, standing before Christ to be judged. I was the executor in my dad's will. Yesterday would have been his 75th birthday. I had a job. intent. What if I wilded out and did stuff different? Man, how dishonoring to my dad to execute his will contrary to his last will and statement. Church, we are the executors of Christ's last will and testament. And last time I checked, it was go into all the world and make disciples of every nation, right? Last time it was preach the gospel to every creature and baptize them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. And listen, listen, listen. What was the last words the Good Samaritan said to the innkeeper, I'm coming back and I'm going to pay you for what you use that I gave to you, how you did with it. So will Jesus. He said, I'm coming back and I'm going to repay you. Listen to me. Not one cold cup of water given out in Jesus's name will be forgotten. And if you give to this ministry, let me just tell you, every single thing God has done at Fresh Life Church is fruit to your account. You supported our church plant almost 20 years ago.

38:11 And so you don't know what, you're not up there preaching in Montana. You're not up there seeing our youth conference, seeing the messages go out around the world. But it's fruit to your account. If you gave when the IPO was offered 21 years ago or whatever. You know what I'm saying? Like you invest in Dropbox, you invest in Facebook, you invest in Uber, you invest in or you wish you had, right? We get to invest in the kingdom or stand before God and wish we had. These are the choices that comes to finances. And I'm unapologetic about it. Just like if I could load you up in a time machine and get you to invest in Airbnb, I would. Spiritually speaking, this is the greatest blue chip stock on the face of the planet, the blood-bought church of Jesus Christ.

38:52 Strategy-wise, we close with this. I was, I've been running the last few years. My wife's fault. She started running. I was running not because I liked running, because I liked my wife. And so I was chasing her. And she quit running, and I'm still running. and I got shin splints, y'all, and they sucked, and I went to a running expert, and he was like going to scan my feet to see if I needed inserts or different shoes or, you know, and I was desperate because I love running, and I wanted to run, but I couldn't run because it was hurting me, and he said, I scanned your feet. Your feet are fine. I thought he was going to tell me you need like carbon-plated super shoes, you know, and I was happy to spend whatever I needed, because then I could tell my wife, I have no choice. I'm more mad about this than you are, you know. And instead, he said, no, he said, you just need to change your running strategy, because he said, tell me about your running. I said, I pretty much just, you know, I told him, he goes, I see the problem. There's no variety to how you run. You're getting hurt because you're not pushing yourself. I was insulted. I said, sir, you don't know me. I push myself all the time, right? I'm like, biggest mistake of your life, like pretty woman him, you know, left.

40:03 Thank you. He said, there's this running expert named Steve Magnus, and he said it this way. He said, your running strategy should be that it should be mostly easy, occasionally hard, and every once in a while, you've got to go see God. I was like, preach the truth and shame the devil, sir. You know, that is phenomenal. And that's God's strategy for giving. That's how you maintain your top end. That's how you don't get old and hurt a hamstring when you go to your father-son picnic and sprint, and you haven't sprinted in 20 years, and you tear your Achilles, you know? You have to maintain the ability to sprint. How? The variety of tempo training. Most of your runs should be easy. That's tithing. Tithing is the predictable cadence of an easy run when your heart's in zone two and you can keep up a conversation while you're running. It's just not even asking the question.

40:55 Every time I get paid, I want to honor God. I want to build the church. I want there to be toilet paper in the bathrooms. be preaching of the gospel funded. I want these kids in kids' church to be getting the gospel, right? You go, that's expensive. So is rehab. So is overdose death. So are caskets to suicide. I'm telling you, we come against every spirit that comes against this generation in the mighty name of Jesus. We're going to send the, this is my tithing, mostly easy. And you go, that's not easy, right? It is when you do it for a while. John Rockefeller said, I wouldn't have tithed on my first million if I hadn't tithed on the first hundred. It becomes easy. And so then you got and we occasionally make it hard.

41:34 Okay, now I know it's not there. Okay, there it is. Occasionally hard is the offering. This is free will as God leads. God moves in your heart. You're stirred by something. Your cousin's going on a mission trip. You have some need, someone's car payment, a widow in the church, whatever it is. This is when it gets fun. Occasionally it's hard. You're gonna do something that's gonna be a little bit, ooh, that's gonna push me. And that's where we do it. But then listen, here's the cool part. Once in a while, you gotta go see God. He's saying you've got to run yourself into the ground. Once in a while, you've got to push it. You've got to sprint to the finish. You've got to do something crazy. Now, you do that because you've built on the foundation of the easy and the mostly the difficult runs. But this is where you have the six steps, and then we slaughter a cow, like David said, all the way to the temple. This is where we're pouring out some oil, and it's a whole year worth of extravagant. You know, some of you, you're at a place where you could do something to really propel forward the name of Jesus in the world. Really take a swing at some causes that stir your heart up for God.

42:29 Every once in a while, do something wild for the kingdom. This strategy will keep you sprinting all the way to the finish line. The data is that less than 5% of American Christians tithe. 95% of American church-going people do not tithe. The average is 3%. 3% is the amount of income that gets turned back to God through the local church, through the work of God in the world and the kingdom. Now you say, well, I would tithe. I would tithe 10%.

43:05 But I just don't make enough. If I made more, I would give more, Levi. I would say to you, the data does not back that up. The average household in America that makes $25,000 tithes 4%. But when you bump up to $100,000 a year, six-figured income, it drops down to 2.5%. And that's because most of us, when we get more money, we raise our standard of living. We don't raise our standard of giving.

43:38 God is not trying to get money out of your bank account. He has a whole heaven paved with gold. He's trying to keep idols out of our hearts. He's trying to keep us from dragon sickness. And so, Father, we thank you for your kindness and your love. Not that we get to, got to give, but that you would let us. How crazy that you would let us put our five loaves and two fishes in your hands to feed the 5,000. What a crazy thing it is. You let us put our little stone into your slingshot and you're gonna take down a giant with it? Oh Lord, thank you for giving us your life. If you're here today and you've not surrendered every bit of your heart to Christ, I'm talking to the church people with some unsurrendered parts of your life. could you just say God I want to give you all of me just raise a hand up, raise a hand up, raise a hand up God I'm in on it, I want to live this mostly easy, occasionally hard every once in a while I want to go see God, I want to trust you I want to be a Jesus people who gives thank you God thank you, you put your hands down I want to now invite anybody who's here and you've not surrendered your soul to Christ in the story, who are you?

44:50 you are the person lying in the street choking in your own blood half dead, oh you're alive physically but you're dead spiritually You can't save yourself. Bad news. Good news? You don't need to. Jesus came like the good Samaritan. And today he stands at the door of your heart and he knocks. And if you open up the door, he will come in and make your heart his home. He will give you forever to look forward to. That can happen right now. But you've got to respond. You've got to say yes. You've got to turn your faith and put it towards Jesus. I invite you into that decision right now. With the authority of scripture, if you believe, you will be saved. with heads bowed and eyes closed, for salvation. I want to go to heaven. I want to be forgiven. I want you to say this prayer with me. Church family, say it with us. No one praying alone. All of us praying together. Say this to God. Dear God, I'm sorry for my sins. I thank you for the cross. I ask you to come into my heart. Make it your home. Thank you for sending Jesus for his resurrection.

45:55 Thank you for new life. I give you mine. In Jesus' name. With heads still bowed, eyes still closed, if you just prayed that prayer, I'm going to count to three. When I get to three, I want you to shoot your hand up in the air. Why a hand being raised? In the Bible, a hand raised is a picture of a heart surrendered. So with your hand being raised, you're saying, this is my turning point. I'm a child of God. This is my new beginning. When I get to three, shoot your hand up all across the church. One, two, three. Shoot them up. Shoot them up. Shoot them up. Praise God. Praise God. Come on, hands going up all around the room. Praise God. You can put your hands down. Here's what we're going to do. We have some closing announcements, one of you who just raised your hands giving your heart to Christ, I'm going to ask that you would begin making your way towards these two doors to my right over here where some friends are going to give you a Bible and pray with you. So let's stand up real quickly. Just stand up. And if you raised your hand up, begin to move. Begin to move even now. Come to the front so we can give you a Bible and just spend a moment with you. Come now. Don't wait. Come now. Come now. Come now. Praise God.