The Church of Eleven22 - Wk 5: One True God

Episode Date: November 11, 2018

We BRING to God our FIRST and BEST because God FIRST loved us by giving His FIRST and BEST in Christ.

Amen and amen. How we doing, church? Everybody good? You look great. Hey, you're going to need your one notebook, okay, because we're going to be all over the Bible today. Deuteronomy and Matthew and Proverbs and Exodus, all kind of over the place. So it's on page 35 if you go there. And then also you need, I know your campus pastor told you about this, but you need your commitment card, get it out, put it in your hand, smell it, love it, just get close to it because you're about to put it in a box here. In about 45 minutes, you're going to go one of these boxes down front or in some of the the campuses, they're kind of towards the back. I think they're in front of all of them, and then some also have them in the back too. And what we're going to do is we're going to be committing to God. We've been praying about this, working on this for at least five weeks. Some of us feels like five months. And so what this is all about, man, this is an exciting day to be here, because this is one of those days that can change all the days to follow. You know, there are those kind of days. Like if Braveheart doesn't paint his face blue and yell freedom, they don't, they're not free, right? If Peter doesn't preach on the day,

of Pentecost, then we're not sitting here. I remember the day we gathered in P.D.'s living room as a team and said, all right, we're going to do this thing. We are going to plant the church of 1122. That was a day that changed it all. I believe years from now, we will look back, and this weekend will be a weekend that changes all kind of things, not just for us sitting right here, but for generations to come, that's what this thing is about.

It is about us saying, the Lord our God, the Lord is one, and we will love the Lord our God with all. So that's what we are going to be doing. And the number one goal is that every single one of us would play along. Every single one of us, 100% of the people that consider 1122, you're home. Regardless of the amount of the commitment that you make, that's not the point. The point is whose hand that you put it in. When you say, Father, here, I am being obedient to do what you have called me to do.

That's what matters. Now, we're not going to spend a whole lot of time today talking about the what we are doing. over the next two years. It's all listed here in the first like 15 pages of your notebook, so you can go through that, or you can watch the first week of this series. We covered all that. But we're doing this for the one name that deserves our worship and praise,

because there is one name under heaven whereby we must be saved. We are called to be one church. We're going to keep being a movement for all people to discover and deepen our relationship with Jesus Christ. We are called to reach one more, just like Jesus would leave the 99 and come after the one. We are going to continue to go after that one more, which means we're going to plant 150 churches around the world.

It also means we're going to continue to plant campuses all over Jacksonville. We're going to do at least two campuses in the next six months. Our next campus that we plant here at 1122 will be at Baker County Correctional Institution. Amen. We're moving in. Amen. You know why? Because we're a movement for all people.

And every single one of those men that are incarcerated right now, first of all, you know, all, but by the grace of God, there go why. And they need the gospel because they are a part of all, and all means all. And then the next campus after Baker County is, I just signed some papers this last week with my dear, dear hunting buddy, Tony Sleman, and we are moving into Fleming Island. It's where our next 1122 campus is going. So hopefully those of you in Mandarin are going crazy right now because we'll have some more seats for you.

In fact, we need about 400 of you to start going to Fleming Island. So it's going to be led by our very own Todd Hickox. There's a picture of Todd and his wife and his little girl. And I think Todd right now is in a deer stand in Kansas. So you know he is well qualified to be a campus pastor for us, all right? So we're at one church to reach one more and especially one more generation. That means a big build out here at San Pablo, all the space we're sitting in go to kids and students, an evaluation of all of our campuses.

And then within that one more generation, there's a particular group. group of people that we feel like God is calling us to reach and to serve, and they're usually overlooked and underserved, and it's families that have children with special needs. Amen? Because all means all. Last week, a couple thousand of us gathered together for this event called Advanced Commitment Night. It was over in the Hobby Lobby next door to us here at San Pablo, and it was for our leaders to go first. And as I was getting ready, I don't know how you would know this about me, but before our preach, I'm not like real good with people. I'm not saying I'm good with people. I preach, but before I preach, I don't really want to, like, be around people.

And it's not because I don't want to talk to you. I don't want you to talk to me. That's what is going on. You understand? And it's because nervous isn't the right word. It's just this thing that I'm about to do right now that I am doing right now, I take it very, very, very seriously to, like, speak on behalf of God. Like the Bible warns us, Jesus says many of you should not presume to be teachers,

because if you screw this up, it would be better for you to die in the ocean. The book of Revelation says if you add anything to or take anything from this word of mine, may the things in the book happen to you. Have you read the book? There's some shady stuff happens in the book. You understand? This is a big deal. So I get all like, I don't even let my staff talk to me.

I just sit in this little room back here. Well, I go over to this advanced commitment night. There's nowhere to hide. I'm just amongst. And I'm like, I don't like it. So I'm trying to not make eye contact while simultaneously be very appreciative for our leaders that show up. It's a weird place to be. And so I go find this little corner to hide in.

And then I look up and there's this kid, this kid named Henry. He was like 21. And Henry is a part of our church family. And Henry is a young man with special needs. Got autism. And the prognosis on him early on was like he'd never walk and talk. And now he's walking around talking. And he serves here.

And he keeps, he wants to serve wherever you can get an earpiece where people can talk in your ear. That's where he wants to serve. So he used to serve in parking and then he served on our EMI team. And now he's serving in production. And he's very, very focused, man. if you tell him that one of these cards have to be on every seat, there will be a card on every seat. He's very, very focused.

And when I saw him, I just said, you know, I'm all worked up to preach. And I said, Henry, will you pray for me? And he just put his hand on my shoulder. We stood there for a few minutes. And then he said, what do I say? It's great. It's great. And I said, hey, man, I'm just nervous.

So you ask God to help me? And he just said, Jesus, make Jobie preach good. Amen. I love it. I love it. The best prayer I've ever had prayed over me in my whole life. I'm going to tell you this, man, so far it's been the highlight of the one initiative for me. Because we are called to be one church, to reach one more, and especially one more generation. So could we pray like Henry prayed before we dig into this? Pray with me. Jesus, I do hope you make me preach good. But God, even more importantly, we know that half of the sermon is in the heart of the hearer. And so, God, we do soften our heart. We do.

till up the burdened places of this world. God, may we put our trust in you as you do this awesome work in us. We prayed in Jesus' name and all God's people said. Amen. You see, the reason we're not going to spend any more than seven minutes on the what is because the why matters more than the what. And for us, the why is really who? The reason that we're doing this whole one initiative saying,

what's the one thing that drives everything, is because we serve the one true God. is why we're wrestling with the Shema, Deuteronomy chapter 6, verse 4, and following, hero Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one, and you shall love the Lord your God with all, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all of your might. You see, what we're going to do is we're going to walk through the scriptures and talk about the doctrine of preeminence, the doctrine of preeminence. This is why this matters, okay?

God always acts in accordance with his character and nature. God always acts in accordance with who he is. So do you know why God loves you? It ain't because of you. And do you know why God won't stop loving you? It ain't because of you. It's because God is love. And because God is love, God loves.

That's what happens. Because of who he is, that's what he does. Do you know why God judges sin? Because he is holy and he is just. And for him to overlook sin with being that God lacked integrity. And God does not lack integrity. God is one. And that's why He judged sin.

Do you know why God pours His grace on you? Because God is merciful and God is gracious. And do you know why God is first in our lives? He will be first in your life, by the way. Maybe a Savior or maybe as judge. But he will be first. Why? Because God is one.

It's just who he is. Do you know why God doesn't do leftovers? because of the doctrine of preeminence. He is one. This is not like a random verse here or there. It's all throughout the scriptures. In fact, if God is not first in your life, it doesn't matter how you reorient

all the rest of your life. Your whole life is out of order. In fact, the Bible starts this way. Genesis 1-1, in the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. Why? Because he is first. He is the uncreated creator. The gospel starts this way in the book of John.

Chapter 1, verses 1 through 3. In the beginning was the word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God and He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him and without Him was not anything made that was made. Verse 14 says, and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. And we have seen His glory as of the only son from the Father full of grace and truth. In other words, God is not waiting on you and He does not respond to you that God is the initiator because God is first. Colossians 117 says, and He is before all.

things. God is first. And because God is first and he always acts in accordance to his character and nature, God went first. Romans 5.8. But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Why did Jesus die for you? Because he is first. How many of you know it's good news that God's not waiting on you to get your act together before he sent Jesus to redeem our sent. How many of you know that before you ever came to church twice in a row, before you ever signed up for a compassion kid, before you ever prayed a prayer, before you ever did anything good at all, God had already demonstrated his love for us and this. That he's not looking at you, being like, all right, once you get your act together, if you quit cussing so much, all right,

if you quit drinking so much during the week, if you would attend a disciple group, then I would love you? No, no, no, no, no, no. That would be out of character in nature with who he is. Because he is first, he goes first, and he demonstrated his love and this. While we're all jacked up, Christ died for us. 1 John 419 says it this way. We love because he first loved us. Do you know how you and I can love one another?

It's not because you have these ewegoly feelings for someone. It's because of God's love towards us. Even if you don't believe in him, it is his common grace on his earth that he would allow us to know and experience love because he first loved us. John's going to go on to say in 1 John 410, and this is love. Not that we love him, but that he loves us and sent his son as a propitiation for our sin. And you know what propitiation means, because you're theologically trained here at 1122.

It means a payment that satisfies. This is love. Not that he's not waiting on you to love him. He loved you and sent Jesus to be the payment that satisfies on the cross. And if Jesus is the payment that satisfies, that means you cannot dissatisfy God. You know why you can't lose your salvation? Not because of your good works, but because of the character and nature of God. And Jesus has already paid for the sin.

So for anyone who believes, God cannot be dissatisfied in you. You know what's never happened in heaven? God has never been surprised. He's never been surprised by your activity. He doesn't see you here on a Sunday and be like, oh, goody, and then see you on Friday night and go, what in the name of me are you doing? Give it back. Give me back my grace.

That is not how it works. Why? Because he is first. He loves first, he went first. Therefore, as image bearers of God, what we are called and commanded to do is to put God first in our life. That we are to put God first because that is who he is. Exodus chapter 20 verses 2 and 3 says this, I am the Lord of your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. You shall have no other gods before me.

Maybe this sounds familiar to you. this is the Ten Commandments and this is the first one. You know what the first of the Ten Commandments are? The first commandment is, God says, I am first. In fact, Martin Luther says there's really one commandment and then nine other commentaries on how to live out that one commandment. This isn't just like an Old Testament thing. Jesus in Matthew chapter 6, verse 33, very famous verse, says this,

but seek first, the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be at. added unto you. Do you know what he's talking about when he's talking about these things? The things that he's talking about are the things that you and I think about and worry about and stress out about all the time too. He's talking about money. He's talking about resources. He's talking about clothing and houses. He says things like this. Why do you worry? Who among you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? In fact, doctors tell us if we do worry, we subtract hours from our life. He says,

why do you worry about what you're going to wear or where you're going to go? Why do you worry about where you're going to live? Even the Gentiles worry about things like that. And he doesn't mean non-Jewish people. He means people that don't know God. You see, what he's saying is this. He said, there's a bunch of people that claim to be Jesus followers. But honestly, when it comes to their finances and resources, they're practical atheist. And you'd be like, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, I'm not an atheist. I believe in God. I go to church. I worship with my hands up. I come to the altars. I do bunches of Jesus and stuff, but Jesus would say, yeah, but when it comes to your finances, you act like that you're in charge of everything and you don't trust your Heavenly Father.

And then in Matthew chapter 6, Jesus, such a brilliant teacher, Jesus gives us the two categories of people when it comes to money and resources and finances. There are two categories of people. There are spenders and there are savers. And then somehow, in God's sovereignty, they always marry each other. Have you ever noticed that? And so how many of you by show of hands are a saver? Anybody a saver in here, all right?

A saver? Cool. See how they barely even raise their hand? Yeah, right. That's right here, okay? That's too excessive. We don't go up here. We're just right there.

That's all you need. You can see it from here. Gavee, that's enough. All right? That's you. God bless y'all. So to the savers in Matthew chapter 6, this is called the sermon on the mount. To the savers, he says this, consider the birds of the air.

Now, again, he's not preaching. indoors. It's called the sermon on the mount, because guess where it is? A mountain, all right? And I think, I think birds fly by, and he's like, look, y'all birds. And people are like, birds. And he goes, consider the birds of the air. He goes, they don't have a savings account. They get up in the morning, they work all day. They got some little cruddy nest that gets torn down. They got to rebuild it all the time. Consider the birds of the air. They don't have a 401k. They don't have an IRA. Consider the birds of the air. They work all day. Don't save a thing. And your father who is in heaven takes care of them. And how much,

much more important are you than birds? Now don't tell PETA, but did you know we're more important than birds? Crazy. Anyway, now what he's saying, he's not saying that saving is wrong. What he's saying is if you put your hope in your savings, that's wrong. You see, because ultimately what savers, the error that you can make is this, is if you're looking for a number on a bank account to provide for you a level of security that this world could never provide. And here's what I mean. Here's how you know if you're a savior.

If you go online and you go to your account, actually if you're a good one, you've probably got multiple accounts and you add them all up, and there's some number that you see here, and it makes you feel safe here. Jesus says, watch out. There's nothing wrong with saving. Actually, if you read the whole Bible,

it would say if you're not saving enough to bless your kids and you're not doing it right. So yeah, man, you should totally save. The problem is, is if you are, or putting your hope in the resources of this world, then what you're saying is, I don't trust you, God, to take care of me, I got this. But the problem is, it can never really secure you.

Remember 2008? Or you go, see, you go to one doctor's appointment, and they say, you have, and they went all of your security. So what he's saying is, so take your trust back from there and give it to me like the birds do. And then he says, because right now the spenders are like, you get them. They don't even know how to enjoy life. You never go out to eat nothing, a bunch of sorry, just wearing clothes from the 90s.

What's wrong with these people? All right? So, well, he talks to you too, any spenders in the house? Got any spenders? See, look, it's always a woo. Woo! I'm going to spend some right now. I've been checked out for 10 minutes figuring out where we're going to lunch.

I'm ready to spend. Okay, so great. So to the spenders, here's what he says to the spenders. Consider the flowers of the field. Now listen, there were literally flowers there. If you ever go to Israel with me, we'll go up there and you look. There's birds and flowers everywhere. And he goes, look at the flowers.

Do you know what they spent all their clothing? Nothing. And yet, God has adorned them more than even King Solomon. You see, the problem is not spending. The problem is when we look for satisfaction in the things of this world. Now, and I mean like ultimate satisfaction. Around here, we lovingly call that the cul-de-sac of stupidity. Not because stuff is stupid, but because you are stupid.

That's what? It's just true. It's so true. We all do it. We all do it. We think, it's so crazy. We think in our brain that a new car and a half bath is just going to satisfy our soul. We think that just another out.

Isn't it crazy how clothes can make you feel like a better human being? Listen, man, I'm into some stuff too. All the stuff I like, though, is blaze orange and cancer. camouflage, so it looks redneck, but it's some stuff. I'm going, I'm going pheasant hunting next week. A buddy of mine let me borrow his pheasant hunting jacket, and I literally put it on in my office, in between services, and I'm just looking in the mirror like, I should be on LLB. I mean, it just makes, it's crazy.

It's crazy. And the only people are going to see it are dead birds. I mean, it's crazy. But it's just true. That's what he's saying. When we look for ultimate satisfaction, you know how it goes, you put on a pair of pants, and you're like, oh, these are. And women, you do that like owl move, your head can turn it all the way around, you can see it all.

And you think pants are going to do something for you? The pants you took off and cursed to put on the pants that you think are going to bless you are going to let you down just as much as the old pants. Guess what's going to happen to all your pants? We're going to sell them for $6 at Hope's closet. And some girl's going to put them on, and she's going to look better than you, darling. How's that for you? You know why?

Because you spent $100 on it, she spent six. Fellas, you ain't off the hook, these golf clubs that you had to have. When you're dead and done, some other cat's going to be playing with your clubs and he's going to be better than you. So Jesus is saying, so where's your trust? Are you looking for security or ultimate satisfaction in the stuff of this world? Or are you trusting your Heavenly Father? I've told you this 10,000 times, but whenever I read this, I can only think. think about, this always comes to my mind. When I'm a little kid going fishing with my daddy,

guess what I worried about? Not a thing. Not a thing. I didn't grow up going to church. We grew up going fishing because the fish bite on Sunday too. All right. They don't Sabbath. And so we went after them. And we would go and I'd get up in the morning and I just get in the truck and I didn't worry about, I didn't worry about anything. We were driving around in 73 Chevy with three on the column. Did we worry about having bait? No, man, my dad had it. Worry about a fishing license? No. I'm not sure he did either, but I didn't worry about it. Listen to Johnny Cash ring of fire on the little system that we had. Just don't. That one little speaker out of the dashboard. He'd smoke like a freight train. I'd open that

little triangle window every once in a while not to dive smoke inhalation. Did we worry about safety? No way, man. Seat belts. Who needs a seatbelt? My dad had that move, right? Bent seat, my brother's standing next to me while I'm sitting over here, occasionally reach around, looking for a tick-tack or something in the seat, and pull the seat belt out. Daddy, what's this strap with the buckle on it? He'd be, boy, tuck that thing in. It's going to hurt somebody. You know, I mean, here's what I knew, man.

I'm with my dad. My dad's got it under control. When it comes to your finances, are you seeking first the kingdom of God in his righteousness? Or are you stiff-arming God and say, God, you can't handle it. I got this. You see, where's we put God first? Proverbs 3, 9 and 10, says,

honor the Lord with your wealth and with the first fruits of all your produce then your barns will be filled with plenty and your vats will be bursting with wine man there's so much here first of all a big problem when the Bible talks to wealthy people most of us think you wealthy people better listen to what God's saying guess what most of us in this at all of our campuses most of us are wealthy that in the global economy, if your annual household income is $34,000, you're in the top 1% of richest people in the world. That means you're rich. You're rich. I know you don't feel rich, but rich is not a feeling. If you're in the top 1%, we have an amazing amount of wealth here in this country. The problem is with prosperity, though, C.S. Lewis says it this way.

prosperity knits a man to this world and he feels that he is finding his place in it while really it's finding its place in him see that's the problem with wealth and so God says hey listen man I didn't give this all to you for you but I gave this to you so that you would give he would give through us and so he says

honor the Lord with your wealth and with the first fruits of your produce underline that word first fruits You see, first fruit's offering means the way we said it around here is that we give our first and best to God because he first loved us by giving us his best. And that first fruit, giving him first is the only way that you can give by faith. You see, it's not about amount, it's about the position and condition of your heart. And the reason is if you wait and get leftovers, what I'm telling you is that a good budget with plenty saying, God, here you take the rest, does not honor God because God is first. and he will not share his throne. So when he says here, give with the first fruit,

one of the places that this shows up is Genesis chapter 4 versus 1 through 4. If you've been around Bible study, this is the offering of Cain and Abel. One is accepted and one is rejected. The Bible says this, now Adam knew Eve, his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain and said, I have gotten a man with the help of the Lord. And again, she bore his brother Abel. Now, Abel was a keeper of the sheep, and Cain, a worker of the ground. and in the course of time

Kane brought to the Lord an offering of the fruit of the ground and Abel also brought of the first born of his flock and of their fat portions and the Lord had regard for Abel and his offering but for Kane and his offering he had no regard now it does not say how much here's what happened I mean people have asked all the time

so why was Kane's offering unacceptable and Abel's offering? acceptable. Is it that God just prefers meat over vegetables? Well, who doesn't? You know? I mean, that's obvious. I know some of you don't, but you know what? We're a movement for all people. You can come here too. No problem. More for me. So, it says that what Kane does is in the course of time after he has harvested all of his crops, he counts up what he has, make sure he has enough for himself, and he brings not the first, but he just brings an offering unto the Lord. And God says, I don't do leftovers. I don't do leftovers. I'm not first in your life. Then you keep it.

And yet what Abel does is Abel essentially works on commission. And before any other commission checks come in, when the first born, he doesn't wait until he has 10 and then picks out the weakest one and says, okay, I've got enough. He brings his first to God because essentially what he's saying is because I trust you. First fruit offering is the only way to trust God by faith. And so he says in Proverbs 3, 9, and 10, honor the Lord with your wealth and with the first fruits of all your produce, then your barns will be filled with plenty. And your vats will be bursting with wine. Now, listen, there is a heretical teaching that will be on Christian television today. You can look it up for yourself, called the prosperity gospel.

Listen, the gospel needs no adjective. It stands on its own. The prosperity gospel says this. If you give to God, then he owes you health, wealth, and happiness. Now, I don't know what they do with the life of Jesus and all the disciples who all got killed for their faith. But here's the problem. The heresy of the prosperity gospel is not that God wants to prosper you. God totally wants to prosper you.

Just not with cash and prizes. With the sufficiency of Jesus Christ in your life. Okay? Now, the problem, though, the heresy isn't even that. The heresy of the prosperity gospel is, if I go first, than I've kind of painted God into a corner and he owes me and he owes me. Now what's the problem there? God doesn't share his throne. See here's the thing. If we give to God because we really want a blessing, you know, if we think, oh, I'm going to be super

generous because I want some cotton candy and a Cadillac, then guess who your God is? That you begin to use the one true God as a means to an end and your real God is some new pants and a Cadillac. And so that's why God says, uh-uh, it doesn't work that way. way. You bring to me first and best. And is there a supernatural blessing in being generous? All right. If you just start in the natural, if you just start in the natural and you become a tither, you give the first 10% to God, I promise you, you will always have enough. And here's how. If you learn to live on less than you make, you will always have enough. Did you know all of us live on a percentage of our income? Do you know what that is for you? If not, you should know.

most Americans live on about 110% of their income. Okay, some financial advice. That's not good. You cannot sustain that for a long time. You get upside down. But when we bring to God our first and best, there is just in the natural, there's that kind of blessing, and then God always puts a little super on that natural,

and I'm just telling you, everything we have will either be cursed or consecrated. And God can do more with 90 than you can do with all 100, every single time. And so the blessing here is that we get Jesus, that he is more than enough. And so, God is first. God loves first. God went first.

We're to put him first in our lives, and what we do with money will expose what's first in our heart more than anything else in our lives. In fact, Jesus says this. Jesus says, no one can serve two masters. No one can serve both God and money. that he talks about the number one competitor for our heart. And I know, man, there's a lot of people that try to do this. And it's like somebody getting out of a boat onto the dock, and you got one foot in the boat, and you got one foot on the dock.

You can't do that long, can you? No, those things are not staying together, and it will split you apart. And I'm telling you, you try to love God with your heart, and you try to love Him with singing with your hands up and praying prayers and all of that. If it is not reflected in your finances, then we don't love God with all. And so what we do with our money exposes what's first in our heart. Jesus said it this way, Matthew 621. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

He says that your heart follows your treasure, not the other way around. Don't believe me? Throw me your wallet. If I were to come and get your wallet and put it in my pocket, guess what would happen? You would pay more attention to this sermon than any other sermon you have ever heard in your life. and at the end of the service, wherever I went, you'd be like, anybody seen pastor? You need prayer?

No, I need my money back. That's what you would say, okay? Because wherever your treasure goes, there your heart will go also. The greatest example I've ever seen of this is my pastor, Pastor Jerry Sweat. In 2003, when I moved here, he was a fan of that team down in Gainesville, all right? His whole family was. They'd get dressed up on the weekends and they'd do this thing right here, you know, where their arms don't work.

They were lit. They were all about it, okay, to chop chop. And then guess what happened? At least two of his kids did not go down to Gainesville. They went west. They went to Florida State, all right? I don't know that I would cheer right now if I were y'all, but, you know, you'll be first in heaven. Don't worry about it, okay?

It's your last year on earth. But anyway, that's a different sermon. So after, not overnight, but he's writing these tuition checks and writing these tuition checks and writing these tuition checks. And they're not going south. They're going to Tallahassee. And over time, This with a check, started turning into one of these, and now his armworked sideways like that. That's all he does.

Why? Because where your treasure is, there your heart will go also. And listen to me, church, God doesn't need your money. He wants your heart. I mean, what's he going to do with your money? It's all his anyway. You can't take any of it with you. He's got the cattle on a thousand hills.

He spoke the stars into existence. You're 100 bucks? That's not what it's about. but he understands and knows where our hearts are and he wants our heart. Therefore, God is first. God went first. God loves first. And we're to put him first in our lives.

Malachi chapter 3, verses 7 through 12, say this. This is a prophet of God speaking on behalf of God says this. From the days of your fathers, you have turned aside from my statutes and have not kept them. Guess who he's talking about? Not just the nation of Israel then. He's talking about me and you. He's talking about every single one of us who may know God, but we have a tendency to turn aside from his statutes and not keep them.

Is that anybody with me in here? Anybody prone to wander, Lord, I feel it, prone to leave the God I love? All right, just me and a deacon on the front row. That's all right. Rest of your sinners. That's right. And then here's what he says. Listen to the voice of God.

Return to me, and I will return to you, says the Lord of hosts. This is an invitation to be reconciled back to God. but you say, how shall we return? Like, God, what's the problem here? And then look where he goes next. He immediately goes to finances. He immediately goes to that number one competitor for our heart. He says, well, man, rob God, yet you are robbing me.

But you say, how have we robbed you? Because some of you are robbing God. And you'd be like, I ain't never robbed God. I have never waited to the end of the service where everybody's down here praying and go back to the offering box and dig my hand in there and be like, free lunch on me. I've never, ever done that. And so they say, God, how are we robbing you? And it's very important what he says, in your tiths and contributions.

So there's two things. The tithe is God's consecrated unto him. It's not just a mount. It's the first. It's the first. Now, there's always some people that say, all right, is the tithe just an Old Testament concept? Are we still supposed to tithe in the New Testament? Anybody that ever wants to argue about that always want to keep more for themselves.

Jesus' standard is give it all. Give it all. Okay? So the tides should at least be like this starting block to say, God, you are first, you are best, this is my first and my best. And so what he's saying is, see, the first belongs to God. So if you have what belongs to him, that's robbing. But he also says contributions.

That's anything beyond that. So like at me and my house, we didn't stop with the tithe because Jesus didn't tithe his blood. He gave it all. And so we pray like crazy and do whatever it is that God has called us to do. and we try to be progressively more generous each and every year. And so I think there are two meanings here. One is that we can rob God by keeping for ourselves what really belongs to him because we think more is mine.

But there's this other opportunity here too. I think God may be saying, not only are you robbing me, but you are robbing yourself of an opportunity for me to bless you. When I was in college, I worked at this camp that I talk about all the time. And on the weekends, I would go stay with my grandma. She'd been a widow for a long time and lived by herself. So just on the weekends, I'd go stay where they're all summer, a couple of these summers.

And she would do my laundry for me. And it was awesome, man. It was like fluffier and smelled incredible. I don't know how she did it. And so one day I'm driving to her house from camp, and I thought, oh, I got an idea. And I pulled into the laundry mat and with a quarter one, and I did my own laundry, thinking I was doing a good thing. And I showed up to her house, and she said, where's your laundry? And I was like, I did it.

And she got all like, country grandma sad. And she did. She said, baby, please don't ever rob me of an opportunity to serve you. See, I think a big part of it, when we withhold, not only are we robbing God, but maybe just as much that God looks at his kids and he's like, you are robbing yourself and you are robbing me of an opportunity to bless you, to bless you. And so he says, have we robbed you? And he says, in your ties and contributions, you are curse with a curse for you are robbing me the whole nation of you. Verse 10, he says, bring, bring the full tithe into the storehouse. Bring.

This is why, listen, words matter, okay, words matter. Jesus says it's more blessed to give than to receive, okay? He does. And so sometimes when we hold this stuff for ourselves, then we are robbing God for this opportunity to bless us. But part of the reason, if you've been at 1122, you realize, when do they take up the offering? We don't take up the offering.

We don't take up. We have some boxes in the back. We've got some boxes in the front. We've got all the online stuff. and you have to bring your offering to God because we don't take we bring in fact I don't even like the word give because how do you give to God how do you give somebody something that's not yours and was already theirs like imagine if you borrowed my truck right hey man can I borrow your truck yes your thing I threw you the keys and you were going to keep as long as you need to no problem and then two weeks later you call me here like

oh my goodness you got to meet me at the church I have a gift for you and you were all excited and I was excited. I'm saying, this is going to be sweet. Are you sure? I am sure. I've been praying about this. Man, I'm really just stretching. I have a gift for you. And we pulled up at the church and I walked up at the church and you go, hear the keys to a very used 2013 F-150. Fool, that's my truck. You can't give me my truck back and call it a gift. You understand? You're just bringing back to me what is already mine. So that's why we bring to God a portion of all that he has given us. And we are saying, God, you are first and you are best. So he says, bring the full tie, the end of the storehouse,

that there may be food in my house. In the temple system, that meant literally like goats and lands. Let me tell you what it is in the new covenant. This is our food. This is our food. A big reason I believe that God has blessed us in the discipleship and deepening here in our church is because of the generosity of thousands of 11-20 tours that continue to bring their first and best

into the storehouse and God, I mean, think about this. Week after week after week nourishes our soul on the declaration of His word. It's not because the sermons are good. They are delivered at like a B minus level, C maybe on my good days, moderately delivered, exceptionally received. Why? Because this is the food that we are nourished by. And so he says that there may be food in my house and therefore thereby put me to the test,

says the Lord of hosts. It's the only place in scripture I know over. where God says, you don't believe me? Test me on this one. Give it a try. Dr. David Jeremiah is a pastor, really famous pastor out in California. He was talking about tithing and generosity in his church, and he had a young couple come up to him and say, we think about it, but we're not sure if we can do this or not. And he says, all right, well, how about you do this? This is his idea. I heard it on the radio. He says, what if you do this? What if you write me a check every month and give it to me, and I will keep it on my desk. And at the end of the month, if you need it back, I'll give it to you.

But if you don't need it back, then we'll bring it into the storehouse. How you guys feel about that? And they were like, oh, that sounds great. He tore it up, handed back to him and said, why do you trust me more than you trust God? Why do you trust me more than you trust God? That is what this is about. Do you trust your heavenly father?

He says, and thereby put me to the test, says the Lord of hosts. If I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need. Doesn't say wants his need. This is provision. And I will rebuke the devourer for you that is protection. So that it will not destroy the fruits of your soil. By the way, in Ephesians chapter 5, the definition of the way a husband is supposed to love his wife like Christ loved the church, is provision and protection.

You see, all of this is rooted in God's love. So he says, bring to me first and best. Bring to me not just a percentage, but the first. You see, the truth is this, folks, everybody's tithing to something. Everybody has some amount, and you take your first, and you put it into something. The problem is, the problem when you tithe to your mortgage, when you tithe through that new car, when you tithe through whatever that thing is. It's not that we shouldn't have all these other things.

Paul says in 1st Timothy chapter 6 that everything has been given to us for us to enjoy. So if you're not enjoying it, you're not doing it right. But when we put our first to the things of this world, the problem is, is they cannot bless you like the Father can bless you. They cannot provide for you what he can provide for you. They cannot protect you at the soul level like he can. If you are looking for your satisfaction or your security and the things that are given your first, it will always let you down. And God is saying when you look to me with your first for your satisfaction and your security, I will never, ever, ever let you down. So the point is this, that we bring to God our first and our best, because God first loved us by giving us his best in Jesus Christ.

I told you about that event, the advance commitment night that we had last weekend over here at what was the Hobby Lobby, which one day will be the worship center for San Pablo. And about 2,000 leaders gather together. A bunch of folks from all of our campuses. It was pretty awesome, man. have people from all the campuses here. And we gather together and we said, okay, Lord, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. And we want to love you with all.

And they went first. And I want you to see some of the things that God has done in those leaders' life. Check this out. For me, the one initiative has been a long time coming. I feel like I've waited my whole life for this initiative to be a part of a church family who truly believes Jesus is who he says he is.

So for me, I'm ready to lay down my life completely and I'm just believing the Lord to cause us all to surrender all of our finances, all of our time to just see Jesus come to be in Jacksonville fully. I think this initiative is about something that's so much bigger than me and I'm ready to see what God has more when I put him first and he's the one. What the one initiative means to me is giving towards the next generation. The seats that we sit in right now were given to us by others who went forward. and having the opportunity right now,

not to just give financially, but to give towards someone else's future, means a lot. This one commitment matters to me because it means trusting Jesus, even though I don't know what's coming next and I don't know what he has in store for me, but it's just trusting him with all I've got

and what I have to give. The Lord has shown me through our one commitment that it is not all about me, it's about the one true God. It touched our heart when we talked about the next generation because we have a level We want them all to know the Lord and to have a relationship with Jesus and that he'll be their Savior. It means totally depending on God, giving him everything I have, everything that I'm going to have because it's all his.

Our commitment is acting on the belief that Christ brings more joy than the things of this world. My commitment to the one initiative for me means that for the first time in my life that I would lay down everything for the love of God, for the love of his people, and to bring in one more. Last year, my mom was actually diagnosed with cancer. We've had job issues and just a lot that has come to our family in terms of struggle. So God has been the one thing above all things. We choose to believe his word and his promises and that those will ring true forever more in all of eternity. So the one initiative for me is taking that even more so personally in my life,

making that commitment financially and also serving with the kids because I want to see a job generation that is so committed to the Lord that no matter what the world throws at them or what culture speaks to them that he is the one thing above all things my one commitment tonight means totally surrendering my life to Christ I've always tried to do things on my own and be so independent so God is my one and for once he has all my heart all my soul and all my might Hey, my favorite thing about that video is that last lady is a mother with a child with special needs. And she did not talk about the benefits to her and her family because of this initiative. She talked about what Jesus was doing in her soul.

That's what the one initiative is about. And so if you've got your card and you do, grab it, get it out. I want to just walk you through this real quick. I'm going to give you a couple minutes to talk here. If you're here with your spouse, you should talk. If you haven't talked about this, you should talk. Or we'll do a different series afterwards. This is a two-year initiative, okay?

So over the next two years, there is one number for you and your house that will represent, this is what the generosity in our house looks like towards the Lord through the ministry of 1122. It's the big block kind of in the middle that says our two-year-one commitment. Now, this is a faith commitment, okay? We're not Verizon or to the bank. So if you write something down and something changes, then, you know, we will, talk through that. No problem, no problem. Don't be afraid. And so up here, there's kind of a worksheet that you can sort of go through to help you arrive there. It starts out with this.

This is what we or I normally give an ear. For some of you, it's zero, because you've never trusted God with your finances before. And now for the very first time, you're going to write a number there. And I say, praise God. You are going to experience what Jesus said to be true. It is more blessed to give than to receive. And I am so excited for the first time, folks. there. The next line says, our expanded annual generosity, our expanded annual generosity. And so I know that for five weeks, many of you have been praying like crazy to say, is he the one thing that drives everything? And for us, what does it look like to love the Lord of God with all? I'm just going to tell you, for some of it, you're going to write down a number that's scary. That's me in my house.

Typically, I lead the way on this stuff. Gretchen I were praying about it, and I was like, you go first with a number and she said a number and I thought okay so we prayed and prayed and prayed and she was right I can tell you honestly I don't know how in order to pull that off some things are going to have to change in my life right so if we go out to eat you got to pay from now on that's how that works you multi you add those two together and times two because this is a two year commitment two years one number for two years then down here it says gifts from stored research resources. Here's what this is. I've talked to dozens and dozens of people here at our church, and you know that God has given you this resource. It's in an account. It's in a savings account.

It's in stocks. It's a boat. It's an extra house. It's your house. It's whatever it is. And I dare you to do this to write down the five things that are most valuable in your life. And I don't mean like pictures of your grandkids. I mean the five things that financially are the most valuable. And just pray and say, God, is there anything that we've left off the table? are you asking us to transfer anything from our kingdom to your kingdom? And he may say, no, I've given you that for a different reason. No problem. Your job, my job is not to listen to me, but to listen to the real preacher here at 1122.

He's the Holy Spirit and to do what he says. And then with all of that, you write down the number that declares he is the one thing that drives everything. This is what, as far as me and my house, this is what it looks like to love the Lord our God with all. because I don't want you to act generously for a season in response to a sermon. I want us as a church to be generous in response to the gospel. See, that's different. Why? Because of the doctrine of preeminence.

The God is one. The God is first. The God went first. The God loved first. And so we bring to him our first and our best. Because he first loved us by giving us his best in Jesus. That's what this is. You see, in Exodus chapter 13,

It's the last scripture there. It says this, The Lord says to Moses, consecrate to me, all the firstborn. Whatever is the first to open the womb among the people of Israel, both man of beast,

is mine. You see, because God is first. You get down to verse 12. And God instructs Moses to tell the people this, you shall set apart to the Lord, all the first that opens the womb. All the first board of your animals

that are males shall be the Lord's. Every firstborn of a donkey, you shall redeem with a lamb. or if you will not redeem it, you shall break its neck. Every first born of man among your sons shall you redeem. And you're like, what in the heck? You're talking about donkeys and stuff. It was a picture of the gospel.

The preeminence of Christ is a picture of the gospel. It says every animal that is born unclean will be redeemed by the sacrifice of the clean. You and I were born unclean. And we have been redeemed by the sacrifice of Jesus, the perfect spotless lamb of God. And he says, so we do this. We bring our first and our best, verse 14.

And when in time to come, your son ask you, what does this mean? You shall say to him, by a strong hand, the Lord brought us out of Egypt from the house of slavery. He says, imagine this, okay? Imagine this. So you're running the ranch and your kids there, and you send him off to UNF, and he comes back with his sheepherder's license. And you're like, all right, buddy, now you're in charge. I want you to check out the books.

And then your son looks over your books, and he comes to you. like, Dad, I got some questions. You're killing our bottom line, literally. Like, you slaughtered 48 lambs this year, and I don't know if you know this, we're in the lamb business. So why don't we wait and maybe give, because you're giving the best ones, the first born. That's like what we can get the most for, and what are you doing? I don't understand what are you doing.

Why do you keep giving this first? I know your grandmom and granddaddy said it was a big deal, but why are you giving your first and best? I don't understand what does this mean. And he says, and you shall answer them essentially with the first. the gospel. Their dad would look at the boy and say, look here, son, there's a lot you don't understand. Me and your mama, we didn't always live here in the promised land as ranchers. We were slaves. We were slaves in Egypt. And by God's mighty right hand, he heard our

cock cry and rescued us and redeemed us out of slavery. And now all that we have is because of him. So we will always gladly, cheerfully bring our first and our first and our our best because he loved us first by giving us his best. So four years ago, after a service one day, the way we decided in my house to get first and best is on the first day of the week. The first money we spend is we bring our ties and offerings to the Lord through 1122. And so for years, I did it through the kiosk. We've got them at some of our locations. By the way, if you're a kiosk person, they're going away in a couple weeks. So switch to like online with your phone. That's what we did. but a few years ago, four years ago, it's after a service.

JP is running around with me like he would often do, and I'm standing at one of these kiosk, and I type in my stuff, and then there's the number, and I type in what we give every week. For some of you, you would think it's a lot. For others of you, you would think, whatever, God bless your ministry, all right? And so, J.P. looks at it to an eight-year-old. He's like, whoa. So he looks at me. He has eight years old, and he goes,

Dad, why do we give so much money to the church? I said, first of all, a little scooter, you don't give jack to anything. You just live under the blessing. You're at my house for free for a while, and then that is over. That's what we do. The Bible says when your son asks, what did this mean? You share the gospel. I took my backpack off.

There's a little pew back there. I sat down on this pew, eyeball to eyeball with him. And I said, hey, buddy, here's some things you don't understand. Your daddy was not always the man that you know. I wasn't always a Christian. that there was a time in my life and I was a slave to my own sin. I did whatever I wanted with whoever I wanted whenever I wanted, and I honestly did not care how it affected other people,

and I heard a whole bunch of people. But God, with a mighty strong hand through his first Jesus Christ, died on the cross for me, redeem me, save me, set me free. He did the same thing to your mama. We got to meet each other. We get to work at this church where he does that thousands of times, a year so we will happily bring our first and our best to the one that first loved us by giving us his best in Jesus Christ. And with his little eight-year-old face, he looked at me, kind of

tender, and he said, I'm glad you're my dad. That's what this is. This is, I am glad that you're my dad. I'm glad that you're my dad. The story gets better. Four years later, the students went first on their commitment Sunday. And so JP brought me his card, and he, he said, he said, he He's like, Dad, I filled out of commitment. I'm going to turn it in. And so I looked at it, and he's committing several hundred dollars on an income of zero. All right, that's the first fruit. You've got to have some fruit to get the first, but that's all right.

It's big faith. And I was like, buddy, I'm so proud of you, man, I'm proud. And honestly, he grew up seeing it. And so I'm like, man, I'm so proud of you. And I go, so how are you going to come up with all this money? and he says that it I'm sure you'll take care of me right so he says so gretchen and I are praying over our card this week and she says a number that got me a little scared my first thought was where we're going to come out with all that money I honestly heard the voice of my 12 year old saying my father will take care of me

that's what this is that's what this is so spend just a few minutes okay pray listen and write and we'll give you three minutes, three minutes. If you're here with your family, talk, feel free to talk all you need to. Pray, listen, write, and I'll come back in three minutes to tell you exactly what to do with your commitment card. Ready, go. So in all of our campuses, if we would stand, again, our number one goal is that everyone would take a significant faith step, even if you're like, I don't have much.

Hey, the cool thing is God doesn't need much. But what he wants is you, a couple fish, a couple pieces of bread, he can do miracles. And so what we're going to do, every single one of us, fill out this card, and there are boxes down front. Here at San Pablo, there are some boxes also behind you. We've got new ones to be ADA compliant. We're learning all kinds of things as we're stepping into serving families with special needs. We've got the old school boxes that we used to have. You can put it in any of them.

The closest one may be behind you, but everybody could also come up front, whatever works best for you. And I want us to consecrate this moment. I believe that we will look back on this day, and I'm telling you, generations upon generations will be affected by what God has called us to do. So if you'll take your card, and if you'll lift it up, and if you'll pray with me. Everybody put those cards up and let's pray. Our good and gracious Heavenly Father, God, we love you because you love us first. God, we thank you that you are first, that you went first, that you were not waiting on us. And Spirit of God, I pray, I pray, I pray, that we would lean into you because you did not give us a spirit of fear or timidity, but of power and of love.

of self-discipline. And God, we thank you and praise you for the churches that will be planted, for the campuses that will open up, for the men and women and children that will surrender their lives to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. And we give you and you alone the honor and the glory because you're the only one that deserves it. And God, we are also so thankful, not just for what you're going to do through us, but what you're going to do to us and in us. Because you love us, because you are love. And God, so we take this, a portion of what you have given us and we commit it into your hands knowing that you can do exceedingly more than we ever hoped or imagined for your glory and for our joy. We pray this in Jesus' name and all God's

people said. Amen.