POCC Live
Sunday Morning Worship Preached on 6/8/2026
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104:40
Summary
Using the Apostle Paul's words to the Corinthians, this sermon challenges believers to move from a mindset of self-preservation to one of joyful sacrifice, investing their finite lives into eternal Kingdom purposes.
Key points
- •Every person has been entrusted with a 'measure of faith' and resources (time, talent, energy) that are being spent every day; the question is where they are being spent.
- •Two primary ways to waste a life are hoarding (preserving one's life for oneself like the 'rich fool') and squandering (spending resources on 'cheap counterfeits' like lust, convenience, or entertainment).
- •Spending yourself for the Kingdom of God is not the same as burning out or being wasted; it is a spiritual investment that God multiplies, much like the boy’s lunch or the widow’s oil.
- •True spiritual maturity involves moving from being a 'consumer' who only seeks to be fed to becoming a 'contributor' who pours into the lives of others.
- •A life well-lived ends like the Apostle Paul's-being 'poured out' as a drink offering, empty of self but full of eternal reward.
Scripture
Spiritual Growth
Stewardship
Surrender
Life application
Conduct a 'spiritual audit' this week by identifying one resource (time, a specific talent, or emotional energy) you have been hoarding and intentionally 'spend' it by serving someone else or investing it in a church ministry.
Reflection questions
- In what areas of my life am I currently building 'bigger barns' rather than allowing God's blessings to flow through me to others?
- What's the 'just a little bit more' finish line I am currently chasing (security, comfort, recognition)?
- Am I currently a spiritual consumer or a spiritual contributor in my local church body?
- When I feel 'spent' at the end of the day, do I feel the satisfaction of Kingdom investment or the depletion of worldly squandering?
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Full transcript
0:00Oh Lord, You are awesome You are
0:00awesome Lord, You are awesome Unlike You,
0:06oh God Lord, You are awesome Lord,
0:11You are awesome If it wasn't for
0:17Your love If it wasn't for Your
0:23praise Oh, where I'd be without You
0:29If it wasn't for your love
0:34If it wasn't for your grace
0:40I don't know where I'd be
0:46without you Lord, you are awesome
0:52Lord, you are awesome Lord, you
0:58are awesome Lord, you are awesome
1:05You are awesome You are awesome Yes You are You
1:10are awesome There's no way that you You are awesome
1:16You are awesome You are awesome You are awesome You
1:22are awesome You are awesome You are awesome You are
1:28awesome Hallelujah Jesus We worship you, oh
1:33Lord, hallelujah You've been so faithful, Lord
1:39God We thank you for your love
1:45and your blessings Your faithfulness to us,
1:51oh Lord In the morning when your
1:57mercies are new In the evening when
2:03the day is dark And
2:09in the middle, when my soul needs
2:14reminding, you're still there, you're so good.
2:20In the way, when my heart is
2:26confused, in the trusting, when my hope
2:32feels lost. And in the hardest, when
2:38I'm holding the promise, you're still there.
2:46your soul after all
2:52you're still good you're
2:57so good after all
3:03you're still your soul
3:09just lift your hands
3:14and worship Jesus we
3:20worship you oh God
3:25you are wonderful
3:31In the morning When the
3:36mercies are new When the
3:41day is up And in
3:46the middle When my soul
3:51needs reminding You're still good
3:56You're so good After all
4:02After all of these
4:06years You're still good
4:11You're so good After
4:16all of these years
4:21You're still good You're
4:26so good After all
4:31You're still good
4:36You're so good
4:41After all I'm
4:46easy You're still
4:50good You're so
4:55good From generation to generation There's no
5:01boundaries to your greatness No, I have seen, it
5:06has hurt, you're not done yet From generation to
5:12generation There's no boundaries to your greatness No, I
5:18have seen, it has hurt, you're not done yet
5:25From generation to generation There's no boundaries to your
5:31greatness No eye has seen, ear has heard You're
5:36not done yet From generation to generation
5:42There's no boundaries to your greatness No eye has
5:48seen, ear has heard You're not done yet From
5:54generation to generation There's no boundaries to your greatness
5:59No eye has seen, ear has heard You're not
6:05done yet From generation to generation There's no
6:11boundaries to your greatness No, I have seen, it
6:17has heard, you're not done yet From generation to
6:23generation There's no boundaries to your greatness No, I
6:28have seen, it has heard, you're not done yet
6:34You're
6:39not
6:45done
6:51yet
6:57You're not done yet You're not done
7:02yet Come on and just worship Him
7:08Feel so, so thankful Just think about
7:13the moment that you just needed God
7:19And how much more high He has
7:24been We love you Jesus, we worship
7:30you God You're not done yet You're
7:35not done yet You're not
7:41done yet. You're not done yet.
7:46You're not done yet. You're not
7:52done yet. You're not done yet.
7:57You're not done yet. You're not
8:03done yet. All of this year,
8:08you're still your soul. come
8:13on people of God say it
8:19after all of these years you're
8:25still good you're so good after
8:31all of these years You're
8:36still good You're so good
8:42After all of these years
8:48You're still good You're so
8:54good After all of these
9:00years You're still good
9:07You're so good. Come on and say it again. After all of
9:13these years. I'm not going to forget the goodness of Jesus. You're
9:18still good. I'm going to remember Jesus. You're so good. I'm going
9:24to remember you've been with God. After all of these years. All
9:30you have done for me. You're still good. My soul cries out.
9:36You're so good. You're still good You're
9:42so good You're still good
9:47You're so good Jesus, You're
9:52still good You've never failed
9:57You've never failed You're still
10:03good You're so good You're
10:08so good You're still You're so
10:14good After all of these years
10:20You're still You're so good We
10:26can't get used to that moment
10:32After all He's been so good
10:38to us yet Still You're
10:43so good. Come on and
10:49worship Him. After all of
10:55these years, you're still good.
11:00You're so good.
11:06come on and worship Him He's been so good
11:11He's been so wonderful Hallelujah He's an excellent God
11:17He's a good God He's a faithful God He's
11:23a mighty God Hallelujah He's still good and He's
11:29faithful oh we bless the Lord Hallelujah praise the
11:35name of Jesus Last night I was just
11:41thinking about Lord, we are going to pray tomorrow. I love seeing
11:46people receiving the Holy Ghost and receiving miracles. But a thought came
11:52to my mind and I remind the word of the Lord that
11:58says, And he said very, very, I say unto you, except you
12:03become like a little child, you shall not enter into the kingdom
12:09of God. When we think about a child, that is one word
12:15that comes to the mind. I
12:20don't even know how to say that word correctly, but
12:26to become vulnerable. And especially for us as a man,
12:31to be vulnerable feels like that we are leaving our
12:37masculinity, our strength. But I would like to invite us
12:42to pray for us, for church, for us to be
12:48vulnerable to the Word of God. I want us to
12:53pray right now so we can hear the word that will transform our life. That
12:59will do something amazing. I'm talking to every one of us right now and I'm
13:05inviting us to come Lord. Church, let us open up ourselves and be vulnerable so
13:11we can hear what God will tell the church today. Even if you
13:16need a miracle, I want to invite you. But even if you don't need a
13:22miracle, that is a miracle of vulnerability. That the Lord want to do something inside
13:27of us. I'm inviting you. Would you come and open up yourself and be vulnerable?
13:32So God can move and speak and have his way in your life, in my
13:37life. Is anybody responding? Is anybody willing to be vulnerable this morning? You know
13:43your struggles, you know the things that you've gone through and you know everybody that
13:49love, lied, said, did, whatever happened. Can you trust the Lord one more time? Father
13:55in the name of Jesus, before you we come and we want to be like
14:01a child. We want to receive your word, we want to be led, we want
14:07to be corrected, we want to be loved and we want to come to your
14:13arms and receive your love and your grace. We want to receive your forgiveness.
14:19We want to receive your peace. We want to receive your healing. We want to
14:24receive you, Lord. And we open ourselves as becoming vulnerable for what you only can
14:30do. You can love. You can set us free. You can do what God, hallelujah,
14:36do, Lord, through us. Do through the body. In the name of Jesus, receive it.
14:41Receive it. Receive it.
14:44Lord
15:06Jesus.
15:29Amen.
15:55Lord
16:00I
16:05worship
16:11you
16:16because
16:21of
16:26who
16:32you
16:37are
16:44Because of who you
16:49are, I give you
16:54praise. Because of who
16:58you are, I live
17:03to bless and say,
17:08Lord, I worship you.
17:13Because of who you
17:18are, Lord, I worship
17:23you because of who
17:29you are Jehovah John
17:34My Father Jehovah Peace
17:40to you and victory
17:45Jehovah Child of Peace
17:51And I worship you
17:57because of who you
18:02are Jehovah My
18:07provider Lord
18:11Jehovah Lord
18:15you reign
18:19Jehovah You're
18:23my friend
18:28of unique
18:32cause You
18:36are Jehovah
18:40My provider
18:45Oh
19:15And I worship you
19:21because of who you
19:27are Jehovah Jireh My
19:32provider You're Jehovah's need
19:38You're Jehovah's shadow You're
19:44my prince of peace
19:50And I worship You Lord Because of
19:56who You are You're all that I
20:02need You're all that I need You're
20:08all that I need You reign, You
20:14reign, You reign, You reign You're all
20:20that I need
20:23because
20:48I worship you because you're holy, holy I worship you
20:54because you're holy, holy I worship you because you're holy,
20:59holy I worship you because you're mighty, mighty I worship
21:05you because you're mighty, mighty I worship you because you're
21:10holy, holy I worship you because you're mighty, mighty
21:16I worship you because you're mine and who you
21:22are I worship you because you're righteous, righteous I
21:27worship you because righteous is who you are I
21:33worship you because you're righteous, righteous I worship you
21:39because righteous is who you are Jehovah John
21:44Oh
22:15Jehovah's God, my
22:21provider Jehovah's blessing,
22:27Lord you reign
22:33You're my Prince
22:38of Peace And
22:43I worship You
22:48because You are
22:53my King
22:57My
23:12provider
23:29Jehovah
23:33my
23:37friends
23:41and
23:45I
23:49because
23:54of
23:58you Jehovah
24:03Shiloh When I'm in need
24:09You're my revival Jehovah Nisi
24:14In every battle You have
24:19victory Jehovah Shiloh In the
24:25storm In the battle You're
24:30my breath of peace
24:37You just say be still and we
24:43can be in your feet And I
24:49worship you because of who you are
24:55because of who you are You're a
25:01great God You're a mighty God An
25:06awesome God deserves awesome praise Hallelujah
25:12hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah I worship
25:18you why don't you worship
25:23him I worship you I
25:28worship you I worship you
25:34hallelujah praise God praise God
25:39praise God praise God praise
25:45God hallelujah hallelujah Jesus
25:50name, Jesus name, Jesus name. Hallelujah.
25:56Doesn't it feel good to be
26:01in God's house today? To feel
26:07the presence of God. Almighty God
26:13is here. Hallelujah. Amen. You may
26:18be seated for just a moment
26:24here. We just want to say welcome to all of our friends and all
26:29of our family and all of our guests So blessed and thankful that you're here
26:35today We don't we don't have visitors We only have guests here because visitors just
26:40show up and we have guests because we've been waiting expecting you and we are
26:45so glad to have you here Thank you so much for coming. And if you
26:50don't have a pastor, I'd like to apply for the job. Amen. Amen Thank you
26:56We have a very, very, very first-time guest family member. And to
27:02the Ramos family, they just had their baby, Michael Elias Ramos, born
27:07on the 30th of this past month. It's his first day in
27:13church. Coming in at 9 pounds and 10 ounces, 23 inches. And
27:19welcome, Michael, to your family here. God bless you very much. Amen.
27:26amen we're also delighted to have sister sandra do brazil amen and sister maria bartlett
27:31good to have you home and all of our guests we have so many here
27:36that are here for youth on missions that are here and we're glad they're leaving
27:42tomorrow and we'll talk about that in just a minute so excited in jesus name
27:47so today we're grateful to have all of you that are here online we have
27:52our einlon campus too and You matter to this church. You're important. We're glad that
27:57you're here. Amen. There's a connect card in the pew in front of you. You
28:01can scan it. We'd love to connect more. We can meet after service in the
28:06foyer. We have a gift for you at the Connection Center. God bless you. This
28:10is our first Sunday. And as the first Sunday of the month, it's not only
28:15our mission Sunday, but it's first Sunday evening worship live. So at 6 o'clock tonight,
28:19we'll be here at 5.30 for prayer, but at 6 o'clock tonight, we're going to
28:23have an amazing, amazing service. Tonight, we're going to be doing some really cool things.
28:28The kids are going to have a special choir. We have our choir singing. The
28:32kids have a choir singing tonight. It's going to be a night of worship in
28:36the word. You're going to be blessed. It's going to be amazing. The kids have
28:40been practicing for weeks. And And as it is known, as it is known for
28:45us that this is the first Sunday and it's from Cooper City changing the world,
28:51I just want to kind of update you since we're getting ready for the offering,
28:57the things that have been happening here and that are happening. This week, this week
29:02on Monday, we sent Sister Miriam and Ciso as a missionary to Guatemala. Last night...
29:09Last night we sent Brother Tafari and Sister Rylan today to Brazil. Two weeks ago
29:15we had a team that was ministering in Brazil. In two weeks we have one
29:20of our men going to Dominican Republic. And tomorrow we have a team going to
29:25Belize. And in a few weeks we have a team going into Italy. So we
29:30say from Cooper City changing the world. I think we ought to give the Lord
29:35a hand clap of thanks. That we get to do so many things globally to
29:40change the world. Amen. I don't know of a church that's been involved in so
29:45many things around the world as this church does. And I thank you because of
29:51your giving and because of your sacrifice and your generosity to support the things that
29:56happen locally and globally. You know that we support over 100 missionaries every month all
30:02over the world. That's awesome. That's awesome. And I don't want you to just look
30:07at the seating capacity, but look at the sending capacity of a church. Jesus said,
30:13pray that the Lord of the harvest would send forth laborers. I think that was
30:18the Lord's prayer request. And I thank God that this church is able to send
30:22forth laborers. Amen. and as we talk about god's work around the world just real
30:27quick just some highlights in greece they just had a five first time visitor six
30:32filled with the holy ghost two baptized in jesus name this just just off the
30:37hot press been in west africa a doctor came to church and this doctor had
30:42a lame leg the missionary prayed for him the doctor got healed and now he's
30:46got a leg that works praise god Nicaragua we opened up the Bible school again
30:52with 55 students thank God for that Cuba 13 people received the gift of the
30:57Holy Ghost praise God and while giving is a huge part of blessing the mission
31:03field around the world it would be fruitless without much prayer the missionary prayer calendar
31:08is available on a table before you can pick up and you can see and
31:13you can know how to pray in Jesus name you know we go by going
31:20but we go by sending we go by praying and we go by giving amen
31:24and you can give in the offering plate today you can give by going to
31:29our website or texting pocc to 77977 we're going to pray we're going to stand
31:34and we're going to pray we're going to pray for our youth on missions we're
31:39going to pray for sister in Siso that's in Guatemala. We're going to pray for
31:44our team that's in Brazil. We're going to pray for our youth that are going
31:49tomorrow to Belize. We're going to believe God's going to do great things there through
31:53all of these teams and the things that God has in store. Aren't you glad
31:58that you're part of the family of God that has a church in every country
32:02of the world? Come on. That's amazing. Every country of the world. Thank you so
32:07very much. Amen, amen, amen. So very thankful for what God is doing through this
32:13church. I know, I know, it's hard to grasp. Welcome
32:18Sister Santa Maria,
32:22welcome sister, may
32:27you feel like
32:32family at home Feel right at
32:37home. Thank you so very much. Amen. Sister Yerke and your husband, we're always glad
32:42to have you here. Thank you so much. Would you pray for this offering and
32:46pray for this service? We're going to see Brother Volan's going to bring a word
32:50in just a moment, our executive pastor, but we want to pray. Would you lift
32:54your hands all over this house? Father, in the name of Jesus. In the name
32:59of Jesus, we plead the blood of Jesus today. We're asking you, God, in the
33:04name of Jesus, that you would continue to work, continue to work through our church
33:09God reaching around the world affecting the world God our missionaries that are working in
33:14Guatemala God from here our missionaries that today arrived in Brazil our team that's going
33:19to be in Belize this week I am praying that by the power of the
33:24name of Jesus and the authority of the word of God God, you go,
33:30you go through us, you reach through us
33:35and use us to impact the world and
33:41change the world. And everybody said in Jesus'
33:47name, everybody shout in Jesus' name. Amen, amen.
33:52As I follow you, I know everything will
33:58be alright. As I come to you, I
34:03know you'll make everything alright. The weapons
34:09may be full, but I know that He will prosper, Lord.
34:15So I was dead on those times, but my God has
34:21already won the fight. You traded joy, joy for my pain.
34:27You pulled my life out of the grave. I lay down
34:32my sorrow and shame. Raise up my voice and live for
34:38praise. Bless the Lord. Yes,
34:44hallelujah! We
34:48worship you
34:52God! As
34:56I follow
35:00you I
35:04know everything
35:08we are
35:13i
35:18will
35:23bless
35:28the
35:33lord
35:39I will bless the Lord with everything that is
35:45within me I will bless the Lord I will
35:51bless the Lord When I think I'm done, I'm
35:56gonna bless Him I will bless the Lord I
36:02will bless the Lord with everything that is within
36:08me
36:09I've
36:22been
36:35i've been set free in the name of jesus
36:41i have victory i've been redeemed i've been set
36:47free in the name of jesus i have victory
36:53i've been redeemed i've been set free in the
36:59name of jesus i have victory I will
37:04bless the Lord I will bless the Lord With
37:10everything that is within me I will bless the
37:16Lord
37:18I
37:41I've been set free, in the name of Jesus I have victory
37:46I've been redeemed, I've been set free, in the name of Jesus
37:52I have victory I've been redeemed, I've been set free In the name
37:58of Jesus I have victory I've been redeemed, I've been set free
38:04In the name of Jesus I have victory I've been redeemed, I've
38:10been set free In the name of Jesus I have victory I've
38:16been redeemed, I've been set free In the name of Jesus I
38:21have victory
38:22Hallelujah!
38:51in the
38:56name of
39:01jesus we
39:06have the
39:11victory In the name of Jesus, in
39:17the name of Jesus, Satan you have to flee. Oh,
39:22tell me, who can stand before us when we call
39:28on that great name? Jesus, Jesus, precious Jesus, we have
39:33the victory. Oh, tell me, who can stand before us
39:39when we
39:41Just
39:57like
40:12the
40:28Bible
40:44said
41:00I
41:15got
41:31the
41:47Holy
42:02Ghost
42:18down in my soul just like the Bible said I
42:24have been through the water and I've been baptized in
42:30Jesus name my soul's not happy and I'm satisfied I
42:35wouldn't take nothing for this journey I took now that's
42:41what the Bible that's what the Bible that's what the
42:46Bible says And that's why we got a
42:52victory That's why we can celebrate That's why we
42:58can do what we're doing right now And worshiping
43:04and praising and celebrating We don't have nothing to
43:10apologize for God is good
43:14victory is
43:19my victory
43:24is my
43:28victory today
43:33is my
43:38heart for
43:42safety And can
43:48you just continue
43:53to worship for
43:58one moment longer?
44:03Let's just entertain
44:08that presence of
44:13God. Lord, we're
44:18thankful for victory.
44:24How many are thankful for victory today? God, I'm thankful that we can be
44:30overcomers through your word, through your blood, through our testimony. God, I'm thankful for
44:36victory over every situation. God, I'm thankful for victory over death, hell, and the
44:42grave. God, I'm thankful for victory over every disease and sickness. God, I'm
44:47thankful for victory over every chain that binds us in Jesus' name. In Jesus'
44:53name, in Jesus' name. Oh my goodness, you should feel encouraged today. I don't
44:59know what, I don't know how you came in here. I don't know what
45:05battle you may have been fighting, but you should leave here knowing that God's
45:11in control, that he's already fought your battle, and that he's already won your
45:17victory. Amen, praise God. So good to be in the house of God today.
45:23It's so good to be worshiping with all of you. Thank you to our worship
45:27team for leading us into the presence of God. Thank you to all of you
45:31for responding to the presence of God. My goodness, it's such a privilege to come
45:36into this house today. It's such a privilege to worship Him, to feel His presence,
45:40to feel that strength and joy and encouragement and peace that we feel when we
45:45enter in here together. You know, I feel like, well, let me do this. Sister
45:50Kiana and Dajar, where are you at? Sister
45:56Kiana, where are you? Come on up here.
46:01She got baptized. Let's celebrate with her. Let's
46:07congratulate her. Let's give her another big hand.
46:13So let me just, by way of explanation,
46:18if you're new here, If this is your first time, if you're
46:24just kind of checking out a Pentecostal church, I know this may sound crazy and
46:30seem crazy what you just experienced, but let me put this in a little different
46:35perspective for you. If you were at a sporting event, all of you, I'm going
46:40to regret this. All those of you who are New Yorkers or have New York
46:45ties, who watched whatever that basketball team is in New York those last few weeks,
46:50you know when you were when you were watching those games and when if you
46:55were at those games you would see people doing all kinds of crazy thing things
46:59and you wouldn't think much of it you would just go they're celebrating they're they're
47:03enjoying the victory right that's what you would be thinking uh if you were not
47:07that any of you or any of us were ever in these circumstances but if
47:12you were at the bar If you were at the club, if you were at
47:16a party and people were drinking and they started acting crazy, you wouldn't, you'd just
47:20go, "Well, that's just normal, right?" Well, can I tell you that only God creates
47:23and everything you see in the world is just a cheap counterfeit? We're gonna talk
47:27about that in a minute. It's just a cheap counterfeit ripoff You get drunk in
47:31the world, it robs you of all kinds of things. You do all kinds of
47:36things that later you go, "Why in the world did I do that? I made
47:40my life worse. I can't believe I made that decision in that moment." You do
47:44all kinds of things that you potentially later regret. You get addicted. You have all
47:48these problems. But when you get, as Scripture speaks of, being drunk on the Spirit,
47:52being lost in His Spirit, it's a little different. What you're seeing is someone who's
47:58saying, I'm so thankful that God redeemed my life, that he saved my life, that
48:03he brought me out of all of the junk that I was in. And what
48:08you're experiencing today is the real deal. It's the original that God created. The world
48:13ripped it off, but here's the beauty of it. It's like the, I don't know
48:18if you ever heard this joke, forgive me for this. It's like the opposite of
48:22a country song. When you live to the world, it's like a country song. You
48:26lose your wife, you lose your dog, you lose your truck, you lose all those
48:29things. But when you start serving God and you get redeemed, your marriage gets stronger.
48:33He starts to bless you. He starts to return all of the things that the
48:37world has taken. So if you're new here, that's all that's happening. It's just a
48:41bunch of people who are redeemed and renewed and set free and have victory over
48:46things that used to bind them. And the reason that we're celebrating with Kiana is
48:50because she was just born into the family. She was baptized into the family of
48:55God. And that's an amazing thing. I think of church, I'm so happy to be
49:00here with you all today, and I think of church as just like a weekly
49:03family reunion. When I was a kid, I have just one brother, so a smaller
49:07immediate family, but I had a couple, there was a couple people in our family
49:11that had like 10 kids or 12 kids. So the extended family reunions were huge.
49:15You ever have a family reunion like that? And it's these cousins that you only
49:19see, I kind of know I'm related, I'm not really sure how, it's like fifth
49:23cousin twice removed, I don't know. But every year or two we'd get together and
49:27I'd get to hear the cool things that were going on in their lives. And
49:31that was super exciting to know that I had this big family, this big extended
49:35family. That's what coming to church is like. It's like a big extended family reunion.
49:39with a bunch of people who are serving God, who share the same values as
49:43you, who want the same things as you, who are praying for you and cheering
49:47you on and have the same desires and goals. And we get together and we
49:51just encourage one another and we're excited about what God's doing in that other person's
49:56life. and we're praying for this person over here who might be struggling and might
50:00need some help what an amazing thing to be in the presence of god thank
50:04you for being here khan welcome to the family sister catherine welcome to the the
50:08local church family here so good to have all of you i know pastor had
50:12already mentioned this but summer's a weird time because we have all kinds of family
50:16members that are traveling and on vacationing and then we have all kinds of members
50:21Family members that are visiting that used to be here. So it's so good to
50:24see all of you to the Ramos family Great to see you guys. We love
50:28you all Leah it's great to see you all of the people anyone that we
50:31miss it's so good to have you back and Great we greet you and love
50:35you and thankful and we're thankful for you if you'll turn with me We're gonna
50:38go to 2nd Corinthians chapter 12 today. I want to speak to you on a
50:42topic that Spending and being spent. I'll apologize right up front. I'm sorry that it's
50:46not Pastor Hadaball the first Sunday after May of Miracles. I'm sorry that it's May
50:51of Miracles and it's me and not someone else. I'm going to do my best.
50:55all right and i'm going to try to bless you and encourage you and challenge
50:59you today and i believe that god's going to move and i have this thought
51:04that i want to impress upon you today and we're going to take it from
51:08second corinthians chapter 12 verse 14 to 15. let me give you a little bit
51:12of contextual setup here paul's writing to the church in corinth this is a church
51:16that he planted so these were like his spiritual kids So he plants the church,
51:21he goes and travels elsewhere, and he keeps getting reports that this incredibly talented,
51:26this incredibly gifted church is struggling. They're making some poor decisions and they have some
51:31maturity issues. And so Paul writes back to them to correct some of those things
51:35and to set some things in order and to encourage them and challenge them. And
51:39so here in chapter 12 he writes, "Here for the third time I'm ready to
51:43come to you. I'm going to visit you again. And I will not be a
51:47burden for I seek not what is yours but you." I love that little line.
51:51He says, "I'm not coming to burden you. I'm not coming to overwhelm you. I
51:55don't really care about your stuff. I'm not coming to seek what is yours, but
52:00I just want to spend time with you. I just want to connect with you.
52:04We say this here, we have a little turner phrase. We'll say we want more
52:08for people than from people. Kind of mirrors this passage. We're not looking to get
52:13over on people and take from people. We don't want from people. We want for
52:17people to be blessed. And this is what he's saying here. He says, for children,
52:22these, remember, these are spiritual children, are not obligated to save up for their parents.
52:26but parents for their children. And again, the parents provide. They save and provide for
52:31the children. And then in verse 15, he says, I will most gladly spend and
52:37be spent for your souls. If I love you more, am I to be loved
52:43less? Key in on that first part of verse 15. I will most gladly spend
52:48and be spent for your souls. Souls that's where I want to take my title
52:54from today spending and being spent folks as you stand here today You've been blessed
52:59with resources You've been blessed with time and talent and ability and whether you have
53:05ever consciously contemplated it or not You are spending those resources somewhere you are spending
53:10and you are being spent right now today and and what i want to do
53:16today is just encourage us to make sure that we are spending and being spent
53:20in the right directions would you pray with me today lord we love you we're
53:24so grateful for your presence for your power for your authority for your anointing that
53:29we feel in the house god i pray that you would have your way move
53:33in this service god be with us speak to us grow us to be more
53:37like you in jesus name amen you can be seated today a few weeks ago
53:41my wife and i had several guests in town and several obligations and events and
53:47various things over the course of a few days and really a few weeks that
53:51we were committed to. Have you ever had days like that? It's just like evening
53:56after evening, day after day, commitment after commitment. We had a Saturday where we had
54:01a morning event and then We rushed home and changed and got cleaned up, and
54:05then we came here to the church for the Cooper City Christian Academy graduation. And
54:09then right after the graduation, we had to leave that, and we went and had
54:13dinner with a couple that was from here, that was visiting here, had come back
54:17to visit. We spent time with them. And then the next day on Sunday, we
54:21had two Sunday services here in Cooper City, and then we went to lunch with
54:25somebody, and then we rushed home and grabbed a quick nap. Sunday afternoon naps, one
54:28of the greatest things in the entire world. And then we came back for prayer
54:33that evening. This was the day that we had the McLeans with us. And then
54:36the next day, the McLeans were supposed to fly out later in the afternoon. And
54:40so we were going to entertain them and take care of them a little bit.
54:44And what a great blessing to do so. So we had brunch with them and
54:48they were supposed to fly out in the afternoon and then their flight kept getting
54:52delayed. And so our time with them kept getting extended. But I had this long
54:56list of to-dos that I know I still had to get done that day. So
55:00while I was so thankful to spend time with them, I started feeling that pressure
55:04of going, That list of to-dos isn't going away, right? And I've still got to
55:08get that done. And their flight got delayed and delayed and delayed. And we ended
55:12up being with them until later in the evening. We didn't get home until 8,
55:169, 10 o'clock, whatever time it was. And I want to be clear, none of
55:20those things were burdens. We were blessed and thankful. Those were good things. That's Actually,
55:24exactly the kind of moments I want my life to be filled with, pouring into
55:29other people and spending time with other people. But I do remember at the end
55:33of those few days on that Monday evening, just it kind of dawning on me,
55:38you know, hospitality that we're called to in Scripture is amazing, but it's work, it's
55:42effort, and I just didn't have much left in the tank that Monday evening. My
55:47energy had been spent. My time had been spent. My attention had been spent. I
55:52didn't have a ton of emotional capacity left. Have you ever felt spent? Have you
55:57ever had a season, maybe a few days, a few weeks, a few months, and
56:01you go, God, I'm just, the tank is on E. I'm feeling spent at this
56:06point. I don't have much left to give. And yet, even though I was tired,
56:11there was something very satisfying about it because while I don't necessarily enjoy being exhausted,
56:16I knew where those resources had gone. They'd been invested in people. They'd been invested
56:21in spending time with people. They'd been spent building relationship and connecting with people. They'd
56:26been spent encouraging others. And I got as much out of that as I had
56:31poured out. They were spent that time and effort and energy was spent on things
56:36that truly mattered. and it got me thinking about this passage that paul wrote in
56:42second corinthian corinthians and i will very gladly spend and be spent for you and
56:47i love how he frames it also because he says very gladly he doesn't just
56:53say i'm spending and being spent for you he says i'm very gladly being spent
56:58it wasn't reluctance it wasn't pressure it wasn't because he had to paul just said
57:04I view life a little differently than most people do. He didn't see it as
57:09something to preserve. He saw it as something to invest and something to pour out.
57:14He saw his life as something to expend for the glory of God and for
57:18the good of others. And so that raises a question for all of us here
57:23today. How do we view our lives? What do we think of the resources that
57:28God has given us? What do we think those blessings are truly for? And what
57:33are we spending our lives on? What are we spending those resources on? Because whether
57:39you realize it or not, every day you are spending something. you're spending time right
57:44now as you listen you are spending time out of this day you're spending energy
57:49you have a finite amount of energy you're spending it here in the house of
57:54god and i would say that that's a good investment you're spending your attention every
57:59day you spend opportunities you spend faith the question is not whether your life is
58:03being spent i promise you it already is the question is simply what are you
58:08spending your life on today even more importantly will you let God decide where
58:14your life gets spent Romans 12:3 says this God hath dealt to every man
58:20the measure of faith God has entrusted to every single one of us some
58:25measure of faith I would say that even to the atheist he has invested
58:31a measure of faith because the atheist is is putting faith in the fact that
58:37God doesn't exist while he doesn't know for sure everyone has some measure of faith
58:42that they're going to spend somewhere everyone has some measures that they've been given not
58:47necessarily the same amount not necessarily to be spent on the same opportunities you might
58:52not have the same resources but every person has been given a measure of faith
58:57They've been given various gifts. They've been given various abilities. They have so much time,
59:01so much attention, so many opportunities. Some people may have more or less money. Some
59:06people may have more or less influence. Some people may have more or less natural
59:11talent. I'm so thankful for these singers who have all of this natural talent and
59:16ability and lead us into worship. Sometimes, I don't know if you ever have this
59:20experience, I'll be in worship and I'll just be singing right along with them. And
59:25they'll be louder than I am, so I don't really hear my own voice. And
59:29I'll think, my goodness, I'm sounding good today. It's so great. The worship is amazing.
59:33And then all of a sudden, they'll quiet down, or I'll get out of time,
59:37and I'll hear my own voice, and I'll go, oh, that's right. I don't sound
59:41like they sound. That's why I'm not a part of that ministry, right? I don't
59:45have that same talent and ability that they have. But I can assure you that
59:49you do have some kind of talent. And spiritually speaking, every person can surrender what
59:54they have to God. You might not have a luxury car, you might not have
60:00a large bank account, but you can still place everything you have on the altar
60:06before God to be spent by Him. Because ultimately, we all have some measure of
60:12gifting and ability and time and energy that we're going to invest and actively invest
60:17in something. So what am I doing with what I have? How am I going
60:22to spend the things that God has given me? And if we're honest, we all
60:25kind of face a problem with this. There's some struggles and some decisions we have
60:29to make Because God calls us to surrender our lives and to invest our lives
60:34in him and in the people around us But our natural Carnal instinct is something
60:39very different now I'm sure that you could think of a number of ways that
60:44you can invest your life unwisely But there's two specifically that I want to talk
60:49about today. I want to talk a little bit about hoarding your life and and
60:54misspending or squandering your life there's at least two ways to waste your life hoarding
60:59and misspending you can hold on to it and squeeze it tightly or you can
61:04squander and waste your life let's talk about the first one let's talk about hoarding
61:10and preserving what God gives you now I don't know if you know this and
61:15I'm not an expert on this but there's a fascinating thing about your human body
61:20your human body naturally stores calories did you know that Your human body
61:26has a scarcity mindset. It still kind of thinks that it's out in the
61:31wild and it's not sure where or when or if that next meal is
61:37coming. Did you know that? And so when you eat, you have this tendency
61:43to overeat. Not that I speak of things that I know of personally, okay?
61:49Not that any of you know any of that stuff personally. But your body has
61:54this tendency to naturally store and hoard calories because your body is designed for survival.
62:00when food becomes available your body says save some store some you might need this
62:05later eat a little bit more we don't know for sure when the next meal
62:09is coming and that's not an evil instinct it's just a survival instinct we are
62:14wired to contend with this scarcity mindset we're wired to believe that there may not
62:19be enough to go around and that I should keep more for myself just to
62:23be careful Here's where that becomes a problem. We can sometimes take that mindset that
62:29was meant for our survival but to an extreme becomes a problem. And that same
62:35instinct can show up spiritually. Because just like your flesh wants more calories, I promise
62:41you, your spirit, your carnal fleshly man is fighting for the same kind of survival.
62:46It always wants more and more and more. Just like you're always going to fight
62:52that battle to eat more and more calories, your carnal man... is going to be
62:57strong and it's always going to want more and more and more so what happens
63:01spiritually is that we say well I want more security I want more comfort I
63:06want more control I want more protection I want to call the shots for my
63:10life we always want just a little bit more how many all ever heard of
63:14John Rockefeller you know what John Rockefeller was he was a an industrialist he was
63:19one of the wealthiest man men in our country he built so many things in
63:23our country and there's a story that says at one point he was being interviewed
63:28and the interviewer asked him how much money is enough said you're already one of
63:32the richest men in our country and in the world how much money is enough
63:37do you have enough and he's reported reply was just a little bit more I
63:41don't really know how much is enough I'll tell you when I get there just
63:46a little bit more Isn't that human nature though? How much security is enough? Just
63:51a little bit more. How much comfort is enough? Just a little bit more. How
63:55much sleep is enough? Just a little bit more, right? How much dessert is enough?
64:00Just a little bit more. How much recognition? How much affirmation is enough? I don't
64:05know, but just a little bit more. I don't have an exact answer. I know
64:10it's just a little bit more. How much do I have to store away? How
64:15much money do I need in the bank? just just a little bit more right
64:20it's a finish line that is forever moving if you're not careful it never really
64:26stops moving it's a ever moving ever further out finish line i think we see
64:32an example of this in luke chapter 12 turn with me let's look at the
64:37rich fool in luke chapter 12 verse 16. it says and he told them a
64:43parable saying the land of a rich man produced plentifully and he thought to himself
64:49what shall I do for I have nowhere to store my crops I have so
64:54much that it won't even fit in my warehouses and he said here's what I'll
64:58do I'll do this I'll tear down my barns and I'll build larger ones and
65:02there I'll store all my grain and my goods and I'll say to my soul
65:06soul you have ample goods laid up for many years relax eat drink be merry
65:11but God said to him fool this night your soul is required of you and
65:15the things you have prepared Whose will they be? You're going to lose all those
65:20things. They're going to go to somebody else. So the one who lays up treasure
65:24for himself and is not rich towards God. That's the same thing that happens when
65:29you hoard treasure for yourself and you're not rich towards God. So Jesus tells this
65:33story of this rich man who was abundantly blessed. His fields produced in plentiful amounts.
65:38And the problem wasn't that he was blessed. Can I tell you God wants to
65:42bless you? The problem wasn't the blessing. The problem wasn't that he was successful in
65:48this world. The problem wasn't that he had abundance. None of that was the actual
65:53issue. The problem was his response to the blessing and the success and the abundance.
65:58Instead of saying, God, I'll put all this back on the altar and I'll let
66:03you spend it however you see fit. He said, I'm going to pull down my
66:07barns and I'm going to build bigger ones. I'm going to store it all. Soul,
66:12take thy ease. Just a little bit more, just a little bit more. An ever
66:16moving finish line. I'll have enough eventually someday. Notice everything about his life ended with
66:20him. Everything terminated at himself. God blessed him and there's nothing wrong with being blessed,
66:25but the blessing stopped with him. the rich fool's problem wasn't that he had too
66:30much can i tell you i i think there's scripture that talks about it's okay
66:34to be blessed in this present world but it's not for your benefit and for
66:38your use solely It's supposed to be used for the benefit of others. So the
66:43problem wasn't that he had too much. His problem was that everything God gave him
66:48ended with him. It didn't flow through him to God and others. So every time
66:53God blessed him, his answer at every turn was, how can I keep more of
66:57this for myself? instead of saying how can i distribute this to the benefit of
67:02god and his people and his kingdom he said how can i keep more and
67:06because of that god came to him and said this night thy soul shall be
67:10required of thee because here's the reality you heard pastor hadabaugh talk about this a
67:15few moments ago it's not the seating capacity of the church but the sending capacity
67:19in the same way your life is not going to be measured by what you
67:23accumulate When you stand before God someday at judgment, he's not going to say, show
67:27me how big your bank account was. Show me how big the square footage of
67:31your house was. Show me how much you had invested. He's not, and none of
67:35those things are evil. Those blessings are not wrong. But life is not measured by
67:39what you accumulate. Life is measured by what you do with the things that God
67:43entrusts to you. What do you do with every resource and blessing that God puts
67:47in your hands? What are you going to do with it? How are you going
67:52to spend it? and that's where we struggle spiritually god gives us truth he gives
67:57us his word he gives us teaching and preaching he gives us blessing and encouragement
68:02and church family he gives us strength he gives us the ability and the privilege
68:08to be involved in his kingdom and sometimes those spiritual blessings stop with us and
68:13we just store it and we become spiritual consumers and we say i'm just i'm
68:18going to attend another service and i'm going to receive another blessing and i'm going
68:22to have someone pray for me one more time and that's fine you can do
68:26all of those things you hear another sermon you listen to another podcast you receive
68:30another word from god you fill another notebook full of notes and i hope you're
68:34doing that there's nothing wrong with any of those things unless it stops with you
68:38do all of those things highlight another verse gain more knowledge about his word gain
68:43more insight gain more understanding but make sure you ask every time you're blessed who
68:49am i turning and pouring this into if god blessed me with any of those
68:55things who's benefiting from what god is pouring into me because it shouldn't end and
69:01terminate with me spiritual growth doesn't terminate with me can i just share a quick
69:06little pet peeve with you it really bothers me when people make the statement, I'm
69:12just not being spiritually fed. And I would say two things to that. I would
69:18say, first of all, what you have just conceded is that you are still essentially
69:23a spiritual child because I don't expect my wife or anybody else to feed me
69:28every day. I'm thankful she does, to be clear. She's an amazing cook who provides
69:33and does all kinds of great things. But I don't wake up every day like,
69:38woman, provide every meal for me. That's not how that works. I have to fend
69:43for myself. I'm a grown man, right? I got to take care of myself. It's
69:46up to me to feed me. And not only is it up to me to
69:49feed me, but because I have kids in the house, it's up to me to
69:53feed them too, right? So if I say I'm not being fed, I've just declared
69:58I'm still a spiritual kid, right? The other thing is that you're asking the wrong
70:03question. What you're not asking is who am I turning and pouring into? You're going,
70:07I need more, more, just a little more, just the ever-moving finish line. I just
70:12need a little bit more. Everybody okay with that little pet peeve? Here's what we
70:17have to be careful of. Blessings and spiritual growth don't end with us. The rich
70:22fool built bigger barns. And if we're not careful, we can fall prey to building
70:27bigger spiritual barns. Now let me just clarify something here. I don't want you to
70:32hear something that I'm not saying today. I am not calling you to burn yourself
70:37out. I am not calling you to say I'm going to spend 20 hours a
70:42day and the work of the Lord, and I'm going to sleep three hours a
70:46night, and I'm going to fast six out of seven days a week. I'm not
70:50calling you to burn yourself out. I'm not calling you to fill your schedule more
70:54and more. I'm not telling you to just pile on more commitments, or I'm certainly
70:58not telling you to feel guilty for seasons of rest. and restoration i think you
71:02should have cycles and seasons of rest and restoration built into your day and into
71:06your week and into your month and your quarter and your year i think you
71:10should have all of that as a matter of fact that's just being a good
71:14steward of the resources that god has given you everybody okay with that please don't
71:18misunderstand what I'm saying you some of you may genuinely need a season of rest
71:23and restoration and that may be the best possible use of your time right now
71:28and that is not wasted or hoarded time so this isn't just about doing more
71:33but it is about being honest with yourself about where your life is flowing right
71:38now am I hoarding or am I distributing How is my life being spent? Because
71:44it most certainly is being spent every single day. So that's the first way that
71:49you can waste a life. You can lock it up. You can let every blessing
71:55of God end at your feet. The second way that you can waste a life
72:00is that you can squander it on the wrong things. The rich fool chose the
72:06first way. He chose to hoard and preserve. I think a lot of
72:12people choose the second way, the second danger that I want us to consider
72:17today. Because every resource that God gives you does not sit idle. It's going
72:23to get spent somewhere and very often it gets spent on lesser things. Now,
72:28have you ever noticed that worthwhile, well-made, quality items cost more money? Have you
72:34ever noticed that? Ladies, how many of you all have ever bought a knockoff
72:40designer purse? Any ladies? Let's ask the second question here that will get us in
72:45trouble. Men, how many of y'all maybe for Mother's Day bought the mom in your
72:51life a knockoff purse? Anybody? Hopefully not. Don't admit to it right here. This is
72:56not a repentance service, okay? Maybe you bought the counterfeit. And the counterfeit is kind
73:02of nice sometimes because it's always cheaper, right? It kind of looks like the real
73:07thing, but not exactly. The problem is that while that fake purse costs less, and
73:13maybe you bought the cheaper version because it saved money, it never quite responds and
73:18reacts and serves us the same way. How many of y'all have ever bought the
73:23cheaper car? You bought the cheaper car and it just didn't run and last and
73:28persevere the way you hoped it to. How many of y'all have bought the cheaper
73:33shoes? And then every day you struggle with those cheaper shoes because they're uncomfortable and
73:38they wear out. they don't last how many of you men you've ever needed a
73:43tool to work on something and you bought the cheaper tool and then that tool
73:48broke in the use of it so then you had to go buy another tool
73:52and another vehicle and another pair of shoes and then another one another one and
73:57before long you start to realize that you spent more on all of the replacements
74:02than if you had just bought the real thing right up front, right? If you
74:07had just bought the quality version in the first place. That's the problem
74:13with cheap things and counterfeits. Counterfeits are actually more expensive in the long
74:19run because they promise fulfillment and satisfaction that they just can't quite deliver,
74:24right? They don't deliver what the real thing delivers. Good things are going
74:30to cost you something. Spiritually, we frequently make the same miscalculation and mistake.
74:36We choose the shortcut. We choose the thing that's the easier path.
74:42We choose the thing that asks less of us. Let me tell you how
74:48this works. Sometimes we choose lust over intimacy because being faithful to a spouse,
74:54denying all other options, waiting until marriage, being committed to that spouse, that costs
75:00you a whole lot more. It got really quiet in here. Do you notice
75:06that? That costs you a whole lot more, doesn't it?
75:11but you can lust and give
75:16yourself to lesser things very quickly
75:22and very easily can't you but
75:27the end result of those two
75:33very thing is rubbing shoulders with
75:38the people of God and being
75:44in the presence of God where
75:49two or three are gathered it's
75:54going to cost you more
76:01but the end result is going to be so much more valuable you can choose
76:05to just be entertained all the time and to fritter your life away on lesser
76:10things or you can choose to invest your life in burden for other people and
76:15calling to other people you can choose convenience instead of being truly committed you can
76:20choose to just consume everything instead of investing it and contribute it to somebody else
76:25And that counterfeit choice will always look more attractive because it costs less of you.
76:30It demands less of you. It's easier. It requires less patience. It requires less sacrifice.
76:35It's like buying something on a credit card. It's easy up front, right? No fees.
76:40I don't know. What are all the things they sell you with? No fees. No
76:46payments for six months. I don't know. Whatever they say. But when you finally have
76:51to pay for it, when the bill finally comes due... The truth is it costs
76:56you far more than if you had just made the sacrifice and paid for that
77:02thing right up front. Because while the counterfeit costs less in the immediate moment, it
77:07delivers less in the end and it costs you more over the long haul. Here's
77:12how Jesus said this. Jesus said, what shall it profit a man if he shall
77:16gain the whole world and lose his own soul? So what if you invest in
77:20lesser things and squander your life? That's not going to profit you in the end.
77:24You can gain the whole world, but you're going to lose your soul. You're going
77:28to lose the thing that is of actual eternal value. So the question is, what
77:33are you spending your life on? Where are all of your resources going? Where is
77:37the best of your attention going? Where's the best of your energy going? Where's your
77:42emotional capacity going? Where is your faith being invested? Because you have a measure of
77:47it and you are spending it and investing it every single day. Your life is
77:52flowing somewhere every single day. And folks, the truth is there's a very limited number
77:57of things that are worth the investment of your life. You're making that decision every
78:01day whether you realize it or not. But there's only a few things that you
78:06can invest in that are really going to endure. It's your relationship with God. It's
78:11your relationship with people. That's what's really going to endure. And you may just say,
78:15you know what? I don't know, this sounds difficult. If I keep investing, if I
78:19keep pouring out to God and to others, eventually the tank is going to be
78:23empty. Eventually it's going to run out. I only have a limited number of resources.
78:27And I say to you, I know we do have a finite amount of resources.
78:31I get that. And you should rest and restore and depend on God and all
78:35of those things. I know that makes sense in some ways, but here's the reality
78:39of the kingdom of God that's different than the world. What you spend on yourself,
78:44what you spend on your flesh, what you invest in lesser things, what you hoard,
78:49eventually diminishes. It reduces in value. But when you place the resources that God's given
78:54you back in God's hands, and you say, God, I will very gladly spend and
78:58be spent by you, the things you place back in God's hands start to multiply.
79:03Right? They start to reach further than you could ever do on your own. Here's
79:08the great thing about being a part of the church. When I start to serve
79:12and get invested and involved at the church, my effort goes far further than I
79:16could ever do on my own. Isn't that an amazing thing? We give to missions,
79:20and we get to reach into countries all around the world and hear these reports.
79:24We could not go to every one of those countries. If we endeavored to go
79:28to every one of those countries and do that work, we couldn't. but we invest
79:32in other people and then our effort gets multiplied and reaches far beyond what we
79:37could ever do ourselves. And what you invest in the kingdom of God never really
79:42gets lost. I want you to think about this for a second. Think about being
79:46a young boy. You're standing in a crowd. There's thousands of people around you. All
79:51you have in your hands is just a small lunch, five loaves, two fish. That's
79:55it. by every reasonable calculation
80:01in your mind that is
80:06not enough to feed all
80:11of those people have you
80:16ever felt that way god
80:21there's so many needs and
80:26i just don't have enough
80:31to meet it right it's
80:36not enough so he could
80:41have just hoarded it he
80:46could have just spent it
80:51on himself and if he
80:56had held on to it
81:01if he had protected it
81:06if he had preserved it
81:11one of the craziest most
81:17audacious requests in all of
81:22scripture can you imagine being
81:27the prophet And God telling you, go to this woman and her son
81:32and tell them to feed you before they eat themselves. That'd be a hard request
81:37to fulfill on the prophet's side too, right? It's a crazy, audacious request. But the
81:42beauty of it is the prophet obeyed and she obeyed. She spent what she had
81:46left. She placed it in the hands of God. and the amazing thing was the
81:51jar of flour didn't get used up the jug of oil didn't run dry not
81:56for a day not for a week but for that entire season during that entire
82:01famine if she had kept it it would have been gone by the next day
82:06but what she surrendered sustained her through that entire season of famine here's how jesus
82:10said it he said given it shall be given unto you good measure pressed down
82:15shaken together running over He said, whosoever loses his life for my
82:21sake will find it. If you give, it'll be multiplied, pressed down, shaken together, running
82:26over. If you lose your life, you're going to find it. In other words, it'll
82:31get multiplied far beyond what you could ever imagine. That's not just some cheap motivational
82:36slogan. That's not God just trying to inspire you to give more. That's how his
82:41kingdom actually works. He's trying to clue you in that his kingdom doesn't work like
82:46this earthly kingdom. It's not the same thing. It doesn't have the same economy. It
82:51doesn't work the same. When you spend your life on yourself or on lesser things,
82:57it diminishes. It reduces in value. But whatever you invest in placing God's hands,
83:02he multiplies and it becomes unmeasurably valuable. Here's what I want you to know.
83:08Whatever you place in God's hands never gets lost. When you spend time loving
83:14people, that's never lost time. It's going to bear fruit somewhere. You may not even
83:20fully understand it. You may not see the impact of it on this side of
83:24eternity. When you pray, and you pray fervently, and you go, God, I don't understand.
83:29You're just not answering my prayers the way I thought you would or the way
83:34I wanted you to. Those prayers aren't lost. They don't evaporate. They're held. They're stored.
83:38When you sacrifice for the kingdom, even if it costs you something very, very real,
83:43those sacrifices are watched over. God uses those God blesses his kingdom can I tell
83:47you something I heard a story one time of a church that was doing outreach
83:51and they were going out and they were doing outreach efforts and they would go
83:55out in the communities and do whatever they were doing and they said they never
83:59saw fruit from it no one that they ever talked to would show up at
84:03church none of the communities that they poured into would they ever see fruit from
84:07and then they said shortly after they started doing this people just started showing up
84:11at their church And they would talk to them and they'd go, "How did you
84:15find out about our church? Did somebody invite you? Did somebody witness to you?" And
84:19they would go, "I think we should invite and witness." But they would go, "No,
84:23we were just hungry for God and looking for a church and God just directed
84:27us here." You know why? Because God understood. He could trust those people. They were
84:31investing, they were making sacrifices and God honored that. So you never lose when obedience
84:35is offered to God, even when you don't understand why He asked that thing of
84:39you. You don't ever lose that obedience. The world's going to tell you, folks, that
84:44if you pour your life into the kingdom of God, if you pour your life
84:48into other people, that that is a life in which you are missing out. If
84:53you pour out your life into the kingdom of God, that's a depleted, depressing, repressed
84:57life. But folks, when I read about Paul at the end of his life, he
85:02doesn't read to me like a depleted man when he was writing from prison. The
85:07widow didn't look like a depleted woman when she watched that oil keep flowing from
85:13that jug. That boy didn't look depleted when the disciples collected 12 baskets of leftovers.
85:18When you pour your life out into the things of God, when you say, God,
85:24spend me and let me be spent on the things that are close to your
85:29heart, that is not the same thing as being emptied. Being spent is not the
85:35same thing as being wasted. Did you ever have this happen? Did you ever get
85:41some money in your pocket and you go out about your day? I struggle with
85:46this from time to time and I'll go, man, I had a couple hundred bucks
85:51in my pocket a week or two ago. I don't really remember where that money
85:57went. I know I spent it at some point, just not exactly sure where, right?
86:02Oh man, I don't know. That money went somewhere. It was wasted. But then I
86:07do this other thing where every month I I have some money taken out of
86:13my account and put into this investment account. And then I check the account and
86:18I go, oh man, that's pretty amazing. That money's worth more now than what it
86:23cost me in the first place. That money's actually appreciated. It's actually grown. See, spending
86:28and investing is not the same thing as frittering away and wasting. Do you get
86:33that? I can take those resources and spend them and have no idea where they
86:38went, or I can invest them and then I can watch them grow. When you
86:43spend your life in the things of God, that's not a loss. That's a wise
86:48choice. That's going to take faith from you. It's going to take you having that
86:52very gladly mindset. But go with me to one more passage of Scripture, because here's
86:57Paul at the end of his life, after he has spent his life being spent
87:02and spending. In 2 Timothy 4, verses 6 through 8, he is facing his death.
87:07He's about to die. And
87:11here's what
87:16he says.
87:21He says, henceforth
87:27there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness which the lord the righteous
87:32judge will award to me on that day and not only to me also but
87:37to all who have loved his appearing so paul didn't show up at the finish
87:42line and say i protected myself i preserved myself i hoarded i made sure i
87:47had enough i built bigger barns i squandered it he arrived at the end of
87:52life saying i've been poured out I have spent and I was spent and because
87:58I invested my life in the right things it has appreciated and there is this
88:03ever more powerful ever more valuable thing waiting for me in heaven that the righteous
88:09judge judge is going to award to me because I spent my life I emptied
88:15my life out but I didn't empty my life out on the things of this
88:20world. I didn't squander it on things that weren't eternally valuable. He says, no, no,
88:25I'm at the finish line and I'm poured out. I am spent. I am tired.
88:29I've given everything I had, but I invested it in the right things. That sounds
88:34like a good life, right? And there's laid up for me this crown of righteousness.
88:39The real tragedy is not just reaching the end of your life, It's reaching the
88:44end, not being empty for the things of God and having spent your resources and
88:49time and energy on faith on lesser things. The real tragedy of your life would
88:55be if you get to the end of your life and you have gifts that
89:00weren't used and opportunities that weren't taken and obedience that you didn't offer to God.
89:05That would be the real tragedy of your life because, folks, your life is going
89:10to be spent. The years are going to pass. The question is not whether or
89:15not your life is going to be spent. The question is what you're going to
89:19spend your life on today. Stand with me if you would. I'm going to challenge
89:24you a little bit today as we come to this altar. You may need to
89:28do a spiritual audit of your life today. You may need to audit where you're
89:32spending some resources. You may need to look at your life and say, Lord, are
89:36there some areas that I'm hoarding and holding back the things that you've put in
89:40my life? Have I in some area of my life shifted to a preservation mindset
89:46instead of spending all of my resources on you and on others? You may need
89:51to look at your life today and say, God, where am I squandering resources on
89:56things that don't really matter? Where have I been confused or naive or maybe just
90:01rebellious and sinful? And I have spent my life and squandered my life in some
90:06areas on some things that aren't really eternally valuable. how many all ever picked up
90:11your phone and you had a task to do a message to return and you
90:15pick up your phone in 10 minutes or 20 minutes or 30 minutes later after
90:19you've answered every notification and checked your social media and got your attention diverted here
90:23and there and those choices made by other people and not by you and you
90:28got to the end of it you go i don't even do the thing i
90:32picked my phone up to do Didn't even accomplish the thing I set out to
90:37accomplish right maybe I'm squandering some time Maybe I need to spend some time thinking
90:41and praying about how I'm spending my time and investing my time and energy and
90:46attention and faith and things that just don't have a ton of value and God
90:50where are you calling me to invest more fully in people and in your kingdom
90:55and in things that will truly eternally endure and God whatever you're calling me to
90:59whatever adjustments you want me to make I'm gonna surrender and paul didn't get the
91:04end of his life and say i have carefully managed it he got the end
91:08of life and said i will most gladly be spend and be spent and i
91:12have poured it out god my entire life belongs to you my future belongs to
91:16you my plans belong to you every resource that i have belongs to god And
91:20God, you can spend it however you see fit. My life is yours, my faith,
91:25my gifts, my time, my attention, my strength, my future, all of my backup plans,
91:30all the things I think I want to do. Every single thing in my life
91:35is yours, God. You decide. I'm going to put my life back on the altar
91:40today. It might be your first time. You may have come in here today and
91:44said, you know what? I don't really understand this faith thing, but I just find
91:47myself kind of empty. I've invested in the things of this world and it's left
91:51me at a place that is wanting. I'm not feeling peace. I'm not feeling strength.
91:55I'm not feeling fulfillment. Maybe it's your first time today. You can come to this
91:59altar and you can start to invest yourself in things that are eternally fruitful. maybe
92:04it's the fifth time maybe it's the 50th time maybe it's your 5 000 time
92:08of offering yourself again and saying god everything that i have is yours i'll offer
92:13it to you you get to spend me you get to spend however you see
92:18fit spend me however you choose spend me on people spend me on your kingdom
92:23but god spend me in ways that truly matter god don't let me be a
92:28hoarder that i just store more and more for myself god don't let me be
92:33a squanderer where i choose the cheap counterfeit i don't want to do that god
92:37spend me wherever you're going to get the greatest glory because someday every one of
92:41us are going to reach that place that paul was at someday every one of
92:46us are going to reach the end of our life and we're going to make
92:50a statement like paul made hopefully we get to make the exact same statement that
92:54paul made say god i've been poured out And I've invested in the right things
92:59and it is appreciated. And I have something far more valuable in front of me
93:04as I prepare to leave this life. But all I'm asking you to do today
93:08is just lay your life back on the altar and say, God, spend me again.
93:13I once again give you permission, God, to spend me however you see fit. I
93:18give every resource to you. I place in your hands. I'll trust you and God
93:23I just want to pour my life into things that truly matter. Would you start
93:28to pray with me today? God, I'm so grateful to be in your house amongst
93:33your people. God, I'm so thankful for life. I'm so thankful for the precious time
93:37that you've entrusted to us. God, I'm so thankful for all of these amazing people
93:42here today with every amazing gift that you've blessed us with in this house. Every
93:47resource that you have so lavishly, abundantly poured out on us. God, we thank you
93:52for it. We are grateful. But God, every one of those gifts belong to you.
93:57God, my life belongs to you. My time belongs to you. My faith is centered
94:01on you. And God, I don't want to store it up, God. I don't want
94:06to hoard it to myself. I don't want any blessing from God to terminate with
94:10me. But God, I want it to flow through me to others. I want it
94:15to flow through me to your kingdom. God, I want to be used to bless
94:20others. God, as you bless me, let me be a blessing to others. God, I
94:26don't want to squander it. God, if there's any area of my life where I'm
94:31squandering my time, God, where I'm investing unwisely, God, wake us up today. Let us
94:36make the adjustments we need to make. And God, I pray that one
94:42more time we can just lay our lives on the altar, that
94:47we can pour out our life before you, God, at your feet.
94:53God, that we can cry out, God, spend me however you see
94:59fit. God, I surrender to you. I obey you, God. Spend me
95:05however you see fit. My life is yours to use. In Jesus'
95:10name, in Jesus' name. ♪ I give myself away, so knows me
95:16♪ myself
95:21away
95:25myself
95:28away
95:32so
95:36you
95:40can
95:43use
95:47me
95:51myself
95:54away
95:58myself
96:02away
96:06So you
96:10can use
96:15me I
96:19give myself
96:23away So
96:28you can
96:32use me
96:36Give myself
96:41away So
96:45you can
96:49use me
96:53I give
96:58myself away
97:02so you
97:08can use
97:13me i
97:19give myself
97:24away i
97:29give myself
97:35away so
97:40you use
97:45me
97:50me to see
97:55your desires reveal
98:00in me give
98:04myself away I
98:09give myself away
98:14so you use
98:18me I give
98:23myself
98:25so
98:29you
98:33can
98:38use
98:42me
98:46take
98:50my
98:55heart
98:59take
99:03my
99:08So you
99:13can use
99:18me. I
99:23give myself
99:28away. I
99:33give myself
99:38away. So
99:43you can
99:48use me.
99:53I give myself
99:58away So you
100:04can use me
100:09I give myself
100:15away So you
100:20can use me
100:26My life is
100:31not my own
100:37to you
100:44I give myself, I give myself
100:49to you My life is not
100:55my own To you I belong
101:00I give myself, I give myself
101:06to you My life is not
101:11my own To you I belong
101:18Oh, I give myself, I give
101:24myself to You My life is
101:29not my own, nor to You
101:35I belong I give myself, I
101:40give myself to You My life
101:46is not my own To
101:52you I belong I
101:57give myself I give
102:02myself To you My
102:07life belongs To you
102:12I belong Oh I
102:17give myself I give
102:22myself To you I
102:27give myself I
102:32give myself away so
102:38you can use me
102:43I give myself away
102:49I give myself away
102:54so you can use
103:00me I give myself
103:06away I give myself
103:12away so you can
103:17use me I give
103:22myself away I give
103:28myself away so you
103:33can use me
103:38I give myself to
103:43you. My life is
103:48not my own. I
103:53was created to worship
103:58you. And I give
104:03myself. I give myself.
104:09I'll sing you
104:14a song And
104:19I give myself
104:24to you My
104:29life is not
104:34long to you