Participants:
Series Code: NP
Program Code: NP190427A
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00:17 [ "Baba Yetu" begins ]
04:55 >> Please bow your heads with me in prayer. 04:57 Father God, we come humbly bow to the foot of the throne, just 05:01 thanking You for another wonderful Sabbath day, the last 05:04 Sabbath day that we'll be in these pews and this church and 05:07 this way, Lord. We ask that, in this month of 05:09 April, as You have begun the renovation of this church that 05:13 You renovate our hearts, Lord, that You change us, that You 05:16 grow us, that You create in us a new being through Your son 05:19 Christ Jesus. And, Lord, this morning we want 05:22 to praise You. We want to celebrate You. 05:24 We want to honor and glorify You this last Sabbath of this school 05:27 year, Lord. We thank You. We love You. 05:29 In your son Jesus' precious and holy name, we pray. 05:31 Amen. [ "How Great Is Our God" 05:35 begins ] 10:06 Amen. You know, our God is such a 10:10 wonderful and great God, and as I'm looking out there in the 10:13 crowd, I'm seeing just a little movement, but in this next song, 10:17 "He Reigns" -- it's a new song -- I would love to see you 10:20 guys actually praise the Lord in a way that says when I'm down, 10:24 when I'm having a hard time that the Lord is there, and I have a 10:28 promise that no one else really knows unless they know God. 10:31 And so this next song is a new song, and it says we sing the 10:35 praises to our king, for He is the king of kings, and he reigns 10:38 forever. Do you believe that? 10:40 >> Together: Amen. >> Okay, well, will you sing 10:43 with me as we sing this song, "He Reigns"? 10:46 [ "He Reigns" begins ] 10:58 All right, church. Here we go. 11:01 We sing the praises. 14:17 Amen. 14:35 "He Reigns" one more time. Let's hear it. 15:47 Amen, church, amen. [ "Oh, Draw Me, Lord" begins ] 18:12 [ "Lord Have Mercy" begins ] 20:55 At this time, I invite you all to come forward before the 20:59 altar. This is the time to lay your 21:01 burdens before the Lord. So come forward as we ask the 21:04 Lord to have mercy on our hearts and souls. 22:11 One more time, sing "Lord, have mercy." 22:55 >> I want to pray with you. Plunge into our teaching today. 22:58 Oh, God, we're gonna be on our way too. 23:02 Just a few hours left. You're gonna go with us. 23:08 That's what Joshua assured us. Because of that, we're not 23:13 afraid whatever lies before us. You'll be there by our side. 23:18 Open up our minds as we think on this, these words, our 23:24 Lord Jesus himself. In his name we pray, amen. 23:30 Have you ever had a conversation with a very, very wealthy 23:35 person? Oh! 23:37 My friend Taurus Montgomery -- he's not the very, very wealthy 23:40 person -- but he told me about an interview. 23:42 He's a pastor of Our Harbor of Hope church. 23:44 Sits on our pastoral staff. He told me about an interview 23:48 with Abigail Disney. She's the granddaughter of 23:52 Roy Disney, who's the brother of Walt Disney, and the two of them 23:56 put together the Walt Disney Company. 23:58 So she's an heiress of that Disney fortune. 24:03 So, thecut.com is a website that carried this interview just about a month ago. 24:10 Fascinating because this is an exposé of a very wealthy person sharing her mind and heart. 24:17 Now, we don't know -- She was asked and she wouldn't answer the question how much she's 24:23 worth now, but what we do know is that she gave away -- She's given away $70 million since she 24:29 turned 21. That's a lot of money to just give away. 24:32 So you can imagine what's left. Anyway, Sarah McVeigh does this interview. 24:38 It's powerful. Let me just read a few lines. You can check it out later. 24:42 The website's on your study guide. You can investigate. 24:45 So, here's the opening question. "Growing up, did you know you were wealthy?" 24:50 Answer, Abigail -- "At least when I was young, my parents were really showy people. 24:55 The money didn't really change them until later. Actually, they were really proud 25:00 of being humble people, an oxymoron, I know. They wanted to raise us with the 25:05 sense that we weren't any better than anyone else." Well, good for you, mom and dad. 25:09 "Did you have a moment, though --" So the interviewer is kind of pushing into this. 25:14 "Did you have a moment in your life when things started getting lavish and you realized, 'Oh, 25:19 I'm super rich?'" Abigail -- "When I went out to college, Michael Eisner came in 25:23 and reinvigorated the Disney company, and then the stock price, which was basically my 25:28 family's entire net worth, was 10 times more and then 20 times and then 50 times what it had 25:32 been when I was growing up, so all of a sudden we went from being a comfortable 25:36 upper-middle-class people to suddenly my dad has a private jet. 25:42 That's when I feel that my dad really lost his way." So we're listening in on this 25:48 wealthy person. "And that's why I feel hyper-conscious about what 25:52 wealth does to people. I've lived in one family as a child and then I didn't even 25:57 recognize the family when I got older." So, now, the interviewer pushes 26:01 in more. "Well, in what ways did your dad change, other than having a 26:05 jet?" Now, she replies. "Actually, having a jet is a 26:08 really big deal. If I were queen of the world, I would pass a law against private 26:13 jets because they enable you to get around a certain reality. You don't have to go through an 26:17 airport terminal. You don't have to interact. You don't have to be patient. 26:21 You don't have to be uncomfortable. These are the things that remind 26:25 us we are human." "So when did you stop riding the private jet?" 26:32 Okay. "Well, the moment for me when I decided I couldn't fly in the 26:36 plane anymore was about 20 years ago. I had to fly out to California 26:40 for a meeting, but I had to get back to New York by the next morning for a conference, and 26:44 the guy who ran our family's company put me on the 737 alone." 26:48 That's the private jet -- a 737. We're not talking just a little citation. 26:53 737 private jet. "He put me on that alone. I flew across the country 26:56 overnight by myself on that giant plane, and I was sitting there thinking about the carbon 27:01 footprint and the number of flight attendants and the other pilot on call and what it was 27:05 costing, and I just wanted to be sick by the way my parents always made fun of the fact that 27:09 I thought it was terrible and awful because they were very comfortable in what they were 27:14 doing." Well, listen. The interviewer shoots back. 27:17 "That's just the way it is with rich people, isn't it?" "Well, yeah, a lot of people go 27:22 back and forth between these identities. My parents' financial life 27:25 changed in the '80s, and I was an adult by then, and I watched them kind of relax into it. 27:30 I think of it as slouching into money." Hmm. 27:34 "They were in their 50s and they liked the shortcuts that wealth gave them. 27:38 It's very hard to say no to things like that, but what ends up happening is you end up being 27:43 surrounded by people who don't tell no ever. And as my father's drinking 27:46 problem grew, he was surrounded by people who wouldn't say, 'You have a terrible drinking 27:51 problem. You need to get some help.'" Hmm. 27:59 "Is it hard to trust someone who's interested in you for you when you're not sure if maybe 28:03 it's your money they're interested in?" "Oh, that's the worst," 28:07 Abigail Disney replies. "And I've gotten a really good radar about that now. 28:11 I can spot that a mile away what's happening." And then she ends the interview. 28:15 Listen to this. She ends the interview with these words, and you got to see 28:19 these words. Please put them on the screen for us, please. 28:23 These are her words. At the end of the interview, she 28:26 says, "They did a study at the Chronicle of Philanthropy years 28:31 ago where they asked people who inherited money, 'What amount of 28:34 money would you need to feel totally secure?' 28:37 And every single one of them, no matter what they had, named a 28:40 number that was roughly twice what they had inherited." 28:45 Her conclusion -- "So that's what you need to know about 28:49 money, right? If that is your primary measure 28:52 of success or value in life, then good luck with that because 28:56 it will never feel good." End quote. 29:01 My, my, my, my, my. She ought to know. I want you to write that line 29:06 down right now. Come on. Write it down so we won't 29:09 forget it. Grab your study guides. It's the last one in this space 29:12 for a while. Grab your study guide. Pull it out. 29:15 Let's put the title slide on the screen, please. 29:17 Those of you that are watching right now on the television 29:20 somewhere or live stream or you're right here. 29:22 You can do this all on your smartphone right here. 29:25 There's our website there at the bottom -- www.newperceptions.tv. 29:29 So we're wrapping up this mini-series "How to survive the 29:32 coming economic crisis." Title of this one -- 29:34 "The New Wealth Formula." You click onto that and you'll 29:37 have the study guide, and we're ready to go. 29:39 So let's get Abigail Disney down right now. 29:41 Let's make sure we have it right. 29:43 Put it on the screen and it's in your study guide. 29:46 And, ushers, that's right. Thank you for making sure our 29:49 friends and worshipers have those study guides. 29:51 You can do that, guys, while we go ahead and start filling in 29:54 the first one. Bless you. Thank you. 29:56 Okay. Let's do that again. 29:59 Abigail Disney. "So that's what you need to know 30:01 about money, right? If that is your primary measure 30:04 of success or value in life, then good luck with that because 30:08 it will never feel good." Which raises the question that 30:12 when does it start feeling good? When will it ever feel good? 30:17 Good question. Let's examine what could be a 30:20 new wealth formula. Once upon a time, there was a 30:23 dusty, young teacher with a bunch of other young-ish 30:27 followers, 12 of them, as a matter of fact. 30:32 And he spoke words that are so radical -- get this -- these 30:35 words are so radical that they got left out of Matthew's sermon 30:38 on the mount. Problem is, everybody thinks 30:40 that's the only sermon on the mount in the gospels. 30:43 No, no, no, no. Doctor Luke said, "I got a 30:45 version of the sermon on the mount. 30:47 You need to hear this one." But we don't go to that one. 30:50 We like Matthew. But it's radical enough and 30:52 after hearing Abigail Disney, we need to go to Luke, so open your 30:55 Bible to Luke's sermon on the mount, and actually it's called 30:58 the sermon on the plain because Luke says he came down from the 31:01 mountain and then spoke these words. 31:03 Open your Bible to Luke chapter 6, please, Luke 6. 31:07 Luke 6. Let's pick it up in verse 20. 31:09 "Looking at his disciples, Jesus said, 'Blessed are you who are 31:12 poor for yours is the kingdom of God." 31:15 Matthew says poor in spirit. Luke says it's the poor he's 31:18 blessing. "Blessed are you who hunger now 31:20 for you will be satisfied. Blessed are you who weep now for 31:23 you will laugh. Blessed are you when people hate 31:26 you, when they exclude you and insult you and reject your name 31:29 as evil because of the son of man." 31:31 Verse 23. "Rejoice in that day and leap 31:33 for joy because great is your reward in heaven. 31:36 For that's how their ancestors treated the prophets." 31:38 Now I have a few "woes" I want to speak. 31:41 Oh, there are no "woes" in Matthew, but Luke has them. 31:44 Here they come, verse 24. "But woe to you who are rich for 31:47 you have already received your comfort. 31:51 Woe to you who are well-fed now for you will go hungry. 31:54 Woe to you who laugh now for you will mourn and weep. 31:57 Woe to you --" verse 26 -- "when everyone speaks well of you for 32:00 that is how their ancestors treated the false prophets." 32:04 Wow. 32:05 During her interview, by the way, Abigail Disney spoke this line. 32:08 We didn't read it. It's on the screen right now. "Money is morally neutral," she 32:12 says. "It does not, in and of itself, make you a bad person." 32:17 And, of course, she's right. Money doesn't make you a bad person. 32:21 I mean, Jesus pronounced these woes. He is not somehow indicating 32:25 that if you have money, you're evil. In fact, may I remind you, Jesus 32:29 had numerous wealthy friends, and he had a handful of wealthy followers, disciples. 32:33 We're talking about Matthew, the tax collector. We're talking about Nicodemus. 32:38 We're talking about Joseph of Arimathea. We're talking about possibly 32:44 Mary, Martha, and Lazarus. Money didn't make them bad people. 32:49 He wouldn't say they're bad, anymore than it makes you bad. But Jesus is making a point. 32:54 We better get it. Let's put Jesus right beside Abigail Disney in your study 32:59 guide and on the screen. Here we go. Abigail Disney says money is 33:03 morally neutral. But Jesus says money is morally dangerous. 33:07 Write that down. That's the point he's making. Woe to you who have a lot of it, 33:12 Jesus intones, in Luke's rendition. Be careful now. 33:14 Look out, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Whoa, you're getting -- that's a 33:17 lot, that's a lot. Look out. Paul comes along, a friend of 33:22 Jesus, almost as poor as Jesus, and Paul makes this very same point. 33:28 1 Timothy. 1 Timothy 6:9-10. 33:32 Paul writing, "Those who want to get rich --" that's the key 33:36 word, "want." If your whole goal in life is 33:38 "I'm taking this degree, I'm gonna go out into this world 33:41 because my goal is I'm gonna be wealthy. 33:43 I'm gonna be wealthy before I'm done." 33:45 If that's your goal, listen up. "Those who want to get rich fall 33:51 into temptation." Let's say you fall to the 33:54 temptation, but you do fall into temptation. 33:57 "And a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that 34:00 plunge people into ruin" like Abigail's dad, "and 34:04 destruction." Why? 34:05 "For the love --" well, that's the key word -- "the love of 34:09 money," not money. "The love of money is a root of 34:12 all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, 34:14 have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many 34:18 griefs." Money is morally dangerous. 34:21 Jesus makes the point. Paul makes the same point. 34:24 Be careful. Whoa, whoa, whoa. 34:26 Slow down. Be on your guard. 34:29 And then Jesus goes on in Luke's sermon. 34:32 Drop down to verse 37. Jesus says, "Do not judge and 34:35 you will not be judged. Do not condemn and you will not 34:37 be condemned. Forgive and you will be 34:39 forgiven." Verse 38. 34:40 "Give and it will be given to you. 34:42 A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, 34:45 poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it 34:49 will be measured to you." Scribble that down, please. 34:53 "For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you." 34:57 You ever seen kitchen measuring cups? I thought about bringing some, 35:01 but I said, "Man, everybody's seen measuring cups. There's nothing fancy about 35:05 that." Get a one cup, get half cup, one-third cup, you know all 35:08 that. Little quarter cup. What Jesus is saying is, "Look 35:11 out. Whatever cup you choose to dispense your life, that same 35:17 size cup will be used with God dispensing His blessings." Whatever measure you use, that's 35:22 what's gonna be used on you. You know what? If you are harsh and you judge 35:26 the poor -- "You know the problem with the poor, expecting me to help them? 35:29 You know what? They're a bunch of lazy bums, living off of welfare. 35:33 That's the problem with them. That's the problem with America today." 35:36 You, sir, use that kind of reasoning, guess what. That kind of reasoning will be 35:40 turned right around and it will judge you. Now you can flip the coin over 35:44 because it works both ways. You want to be hard on the wealthy. 35:47 "You know the problem with the rich? They have no idea how the rest 35:50 of us live, looking out only for themselves. Grumpy, selfish misers, that's 35:54 what they are." How do you know? You have pre-judged, and the 35:59 word for pre-judge is prejudice. The poor pre-judge the rich and the rich pre-judge the poor, and 36:06 the people in between pre-judge everybody. [ Laughter ] 36:09 Isn't that how it works? Jesus said, "Be very careful, sir. 36:13 You want that 1/4 measuring cup for you to dispense your goodies? 36:17 That's what we'll do with you, 1/4 measuring cup." The measure you choose is the 36:21 measure we'll use. Criticism. I'll tell you what, folks. 36:25 It never makes sense to criticize. It makes no sense because you 36:28 have no idea how that wealthy person is living. You have no idea what that poor 36:33 person is experiencing. Lay off of that. Critical people have developed 36:37 the skill of judging. Usually it's their very own fault. 36:40 That's why they're so acutely able to see it in others. Like somebody once quipped, 36:45 "Before you criticize someone, walk a mile in their shoes. That way you'll be a mile away 36:51 and you'll have their shoes." [ Laughter ] Right? 36:59 Criticism. I tell you what. Forget criticism. 37:02 Just don't do it. Don't do it. Mnh-mnh. 37:05 Ah, how should I treat people? Sermon on the mount. Treat others the way you wish to 37:10 be treated yourself. You know what? If the world lived -- Seriously, 37:13 if the world lived by the golden rule, what a world this would be. 37:17 If the Church lived by the golden rule, what a world this would be. 37:21 Come on. Don't judge. Throw that measuring cup away. 37:25 Let's read that one more time, verse 38. "Give and it will be given to 37:30 you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running 37:33 over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it 37:36 will be measured to you." You remember that the -- You remember this, don't you, that 37:41 when the ancients went shopping, they were never asked, "Will it be paper or plastic?" 37:46 No, they didn't have that. 37:49 When the ancients went grocery shopping, you know what they 37:52 did? They took their outer garment, 37:54 reached down to its edges, pulled it up. 37:56 "Okay, all right, Mr. Merchant Man, use that measuring cup 37:59 right there. Give me five of those." 38:02 That's what Jesus is saying. The word for bosom, in Greek, in 38:07 NIV, nicely translates it as "lap." 38:09 It's just going into the bosom. It's just getting bigger and 38:11 bigger and bigger and bigger. And finally it's starting to -- 38:14 "Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa! You got too much in here. 38:16 Look at it, spilling over. How am I gonna get this home 38:18 now?" 38:19 That's what Jesus is describing. Give and it will be given back to you. 38:24 Pressed down, filled up. Ooh! In fact, I love the way 38:29 Eugene Peterson said in "The Message." 38:32 Fill this in, will you? So, he takes Jesus' words, does 38:35 a nice job of it. "Give away your life." 38:37 That's what Jesus is saying. You'll get your life back. 38:40 "You'll find life given back, but not merely given back but 38:42 given back with bonus and blessing. 38:44 Giving, not getting, is the way." 38:47 And then the last line. "Generosity begets generosity." 38:53 That's the line I wish you'd go home with today. 38:55 In fact, let's iso it on the screen. 38:57 Just iso it on the screen, please. 38:58 Generosity begets generosity. 39:02 We use an expression today called "Pay it forward." Isn't that we'd say? 39:06 We say pay it forward. That's what he's talking about. Generosity begets generosity. 39:11 I want you to memorize that word. You know why? 39:14 Because God is huge on generosity. Getting a little writer's cramp 39:17 right now, but let met just run a bunch of them by you. Look at these lines of 39:20 scripture. Psalm 37:26. "The righteous are always --" 39:25 what's that word? Come on, write it down. This isn't a hard exam. 39:28 You already know the answer. Every blank is gonna have that in it. 39:32 Let's see. "The righteous are always generous and lend freely." 39:35 Oh, by the way, "their children will be a blessing." Because guess what, mom and 39:40 dads. To be or mom and dads right now. Children are experts at picking 39:45 up stinginess or generosity and photocopying it into their lives. 39:50 So if you are a stingy parent and they know, if you're a generous parent, they got it, 39:56 they will photocopy that into their lives. Man, don't you want your 40:02 children to make a valuable contribution to society? Be a valuable member of the 40:06 church? Model generosity to them. All right, here's another one. 40:10 Proverbs 11:25. "A generous person will prosper. Whoever refreshes others will be 40:16 refreshed." The little measuring cup you use for others will be what is used 40:20 for you. See, everybody's coming back to what Jesus is teaching. 40:24 Proverbs 19:17. Oh, boy, look at this. "Whoever is generous to the poor 40:28 lends to" whom? Can you believe that? When you give money to the poor, 40:32 you are lending money to God. God says, "I need a loan. I need to help these people. 40:37 Can I get a loan from you? Good. You give to the poor. 40:40 I'll spot you." Whoever lends to the poor -- gives to the poor is lending to 40:47 God. Wow. Be generous, just like Jesus. 40:52 Here's another one. 2 Corinthians 9:6-7. "Remember this." 40:56 Paul writing now. "Whoever sows sparingly --" tiny little measuring cup, one 41:01 quarter -- "Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly. 41:06 Whoever sows generously will also reap generously. 41:09 You will be enriched in every way so you can be generous on 41:12 every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in 41:15 thanksgiving to God." Hallelujah. 41:18 Why does it result in thanksgiving to God? 41:20 Because when you're generous, when you pass it on, when you 41:23 pay it forward, that generosity so blesses the person that that 41:26 person says, "Wow, there must be a God. 41:28 Who would think to do this for me?" 41:31 And, by the way, by your generosity, you're saying 41:34 something about God. The picture of God that that 41:37 person gets now because of your generosity is "He must be a very 41:40 generous god." Guess what. 41:42 He is. Generosity begets generosity. 41:47 Pay it forward. If he's been generous with you, 41:50 be generous with the world. Oh, here's another one. 41:53 2 Corinthians 8:2. Oh, by the way. 41:55 This one says the poor can be generous. 41:57 Nah, can't be, Dwight. Watch this. 41:59 2 Corinthians 8:2. "In the midst of a very severe 42:02 trial --" we're talking about the Christians in the little 42:05 town of Macedonia -- "their overflowing joy and their 42:08 extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity." 42:13 Man! They made a very major, major, major gift to the church in 42:18 Jerusalem, suffering from a debilitating famine. They did it. 42:23 They had nothing, but they did it. Wow. 42:27 How could they do that? One more, one more. 2 Corinthians 9:15. 42:31 Paul says, when he's done talking about being generous, he then writes this line. 42:36 "Thanks be to God for His indescribable Gift." We were talking about with the 42:45 kids just a moment ago. How do you pay off that gift? You can't. 42:49 We're in debt forever. But it's the happiest debt in the universe because it saved 42:54 our lives. Generosity will go on begetting generosity after generosity 42:58 after generosity because of that original generosity. My! 43:05 They don't get any better than this. Generosity begets generosity. 43:08 I got an e-mail. I got an e-mail from a friend of mine the other day. 43:12 Just a few weeks ago, actually. "Hi, Pastor Dwight. Hope you're doing well. 43:16 As usual, I listened to your sermon today when I'm out on my run. 43:19 Your message about giving touches a nerve in us --" so that was a few weeks ago -- "it 43:23 really resonated with me, though, and while I'm sure you received a lot of stories like 43:27 this, I want to share just a couple examples of where this has been really true in my life. 43:32 So, when we moved --" So, this person is out of state. "When we moved, we made a 43:41 decision to temporarily stop paying tithe. You know, because both of us 43:48 didn't have a job. So why would we return tithe now? 43:50 We'll wait. Well, eventually we both have a job. 43:53 But guess what. We forgot all about paying tithe." 43:56 That's what she's saying here. "We forgot all about paying tithe. 44:00 And you know what? During that time, something was off in our lives. 44:03 Our marriage went through a time of testing that we've never had before. 44:07 I'm not implying that because we weren't tithing, God somehow removed his blessings from us 44:12 because He continued to bless us in many, many ways, but I think there's something about being 44:17 dependent on and trusting God that leads to good things in all areas of our lives." 44:22 I think she got it. "So we moved again. Now, in this move, we said, 'Oh, 44:32 we learned.' In this move, we decided we're not gonna take a break from 44:36 tithing. Things were still tight, but somehow we managed to fit 44:40 tithing in. Our transition here has been full of the same bumps that any 44:44 major move entails, but somehow each time we paid tithe, it's like renewing our connection and 44:49 commitment to God. Then, last March --" listen to this -- "last March, we realized 44:54 that because we've been tithing, for some reason, there was more money to give, and we thought of 45:01 a ministry. We called a ministry leader. We said, 'We want to make a 45:05 gift.' He said, "Really? How much?' 45:07 We told him the amount. He said, 'You know what? I was just counting my numbers, 45:11 just going over them. That's the amount exactly that we needed for this mission.'" 45:18 Are you serious? She said, "Brought us tears of joy to think that in some way, 45:24 God used our small gift to make a difference in other people's lives. 45:29 Long story short, I completely agree that there is power in giving. 45:33 It's just another opportunity to see God's faithfulness in action." 45:38 You go. You go, husband and wife. That's it. 45:42 By the way, did you notice? Did you notice -- Not a word about, "Hey, we got a windfall 45:47 from our grandparents' estate, $10,000 in the mail." Nothing, nothing like that. 45:51 None of that. They just kept going. But did you catch the 45:54 intangibles? I jotted them down here. The intangibles in that e-mail. 45:58 "We found new joy. Life is growing better. Our marriage is stronger. 46:02 We have more resources from which to give more than we had before. 46:06 There is something about being dependent on and trusting God that leads to good things in all 46:11 areas of our lives." That e-mail has nailed it on the head. 46:15 That's Jesus' point. You be generous, and generosity will beget generosity. 46:23 Give and it will be given to you. Pour it in. 46:27 Pour it in. You can't even put a price tag on some of those gifts. 46:33 Where do you get a notion like this, generosity begets generosity? 46:36 You know where we got it? We got it from the cross. One last time, put that line 46:40 please, on the screen, from "Desire of Ages." "At the cross, God's love for 46:44 the sinner is stronger than death. He will spare nothing, however 46:47 dear. 46:48 Favor is heaped upon favor, gift upon gift. 46:51 The whole treasury of heaven is open to those He seeks to save." 46:57 That's the truth of Calvary. You have access to everything we own. 47:02 Everything. Calvary is God's paying it forward. 47:07 And if you've been blessed by that paying forward, guess what. It's not supposed to stop with 47:13 you. You just keep paying it forward because generosity begets 47:17 generosity, and generosity begets generosity. That's how it works. 47:25 Starting right now. You're heading out into the world, conquer the world now 47:30 that you're finished with Andrews University. Take this with you. 47:34 Generosity begets generosity. If you will be a generous human being, wherever God places you, 47:40 you will stand out, and God will honor that standing out. So, right now we're getting 47:47 ready to walk out of this space. My. Moving out of this sanctuary for 47:56 three months. And guess what. We're being watched. 48:01 Yeah, we're being watched. You say, "What are you talking about, we're being watched?" 48:06 'Cause I got another letter just two weeks ago. Got to share this with you. 48:14 There's a prisoner in America. And he's been watching. You. 48:19 Seeing you here. He's been plugged in to this worship service in the prison 48:28 every Sabbath afternoon. He was born into an Adventist home. 48:33 He went to an Adventist academy. He's been in prison for 16 years. 48:40 He can't have access to a computer. But he can watch TV. 48:46 And they get 3ABN in the prison where he lives. He opens this up. 48:55 "May the Lord bless you and keep each of you at Andrews University through our 48:59 Lord Jesus Christ." Kind of feels like he's a part of our family here. 49:05 "Being raised Adventist has led me to understand that we are all children of God before anything 49:10 else currently. I'm working on my 16th year of incarceration. 49:13 Along this path, God has been the pillar of cloud by day and the fire by night. 49:18 God has been the potter in rebuilding my brokenness. He's always faithful and has 49:23 never left me wanting more, except His presence." Wow. 49:29 He said, "By the way, I've been watching," and he indicates this in the letter. 49:34 "I really loved this talk that you guys are having about renovate heart and house. 49:39 It's been fun to watch as this thing proceeds, and eventually He'll see this and recognize 49:45 Himself." He says, "You know, as I watched that, I said that reminds me of 49:50 being in academy. That's so cool. Fix up this church, repair the 49:58 roof. I want to have a part. I want to have a part. 50:04 I could go on and on about the many blessings I receive in watching the program, the 50:08 healing of not just my own heart but the heart of many others around. 50:11 Watching Andrews reminds me of my own academy days as a cradle Adventist. 50:15 I want to have a part." So he put a check. Except he can't write checks. 50:20 So the state which has incarcerated him wrote the check. 50:24 And he stuck it into this letter, and I got it two weeks ago. 50:30 Says at the top of the check, "Rentovation." That's close. 50:34 [ Laughter ] "Rentovation project. Pay to the order of 50:38 Pioneer Memorial Church," and then the address. Issue date -- three weeks ago. 50:44 The amount. "I wish I could give more," he says. 50:50 The amount -- $3.53. $3.53. [ Applause ] 51:07 I don't know if they require you to put a statement in if you're giving money or what, but he put 51:11 a statement in. That $3.53 zeroed his account. He gave everything he had. 51:21 $3.53. You know what? This check is worth way more 51:33 than $3.53. This check is going to reap thousands of dollars where his 51:42 story is told, like Mary Magdalene. Where the story is told, it'll 51:47 be repeated. And generosity begets generosity, and that's how the 51:52 kingdom of heaven operates. Generosity of Calvary poured out into our hearts. 51:57 You can't dam it up. Let it out. And $3.53 later, he let it all 52:06 out. Wow. Thank you, Jesus. 52:11 This is what you meant. Generosity begets generosity. No private jet, no home of his 52:26 own. Just a prison cell and believing God honors. 52:33 God honors his gift. And Jesus said, "You give it to 52:39 me, boy. And I'll give it back to you, 52:43 pressed down, shaken together, overflowing your pockets because 52:50 you trust me." You know what? 52:53 You're so generous, I trust you. Now, that's a friendship. 53:00 In jail, in prison. Generosity begets generosity. So, today, we say goodbye to 53:10 this space -- 60 years, 3,000 consecutive -- how many? 3,092 consecutive Sabbaths since 53:17 Valentine's Day 1959. 3,092 Sabbaths this church and these pews have welcomed 53:24 worshipers from all over the world, from every class. And this has been our home. 53:32 And it'll be our home three months from now, thanks to the generosity of Andrews University 53:38 for letting us worship in the H-back. The sanctuary will be barred. 53:45 Sabbath schools, everything goes on. All the children's Sabbath 53:48 schools -- nothing is changing. "New Perceptions" goes on. It just has a whole new 53:54 surrounding for it. And our friend, he'll be watching. 54:01 [ Organ plays ] [ Congregation sings ] 57:08 >> We've been really blessed by the financial support that comes 57:10 from our viewers, and we've made a conscious decision not to 57:13 continually appeal to you for that support. 57:16 The fact is, as everyone in the industry will tell you, we're 57:19 needing to make constant upgrades to our technology. 57:22 So if God has blessed you and you'd like to further the work 57:25 of this ministry, we invite you to partner with us. 57:27 Not a single penny of your donation will go to me. 57:30 Every bit of your gift goes to the mission of blessing your 57:34 community and our world. You can donate on our website, 57:37 newperceptions.tv. Or call the number. 57:40 You know the number -- 877-HIS-WILL. 57:42 Again, that number is 877 -- the two words "HIS-WILL." 57:46 And may the God who has blessed you continue to pour into your 57:49 life the gifts of His joy and His hope. 57:52 Thank you. And I'm looking forward to 57:54 seeing you, right here, again, next time. 58:01 ♪♪ ♪♪ 58:21 ♪♪ |
Revised 2019-05-03