POCC Live
Sunday Morning Worship 6/8/2026
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104:40
Summary
Drawing from the Apostle Paul's desire to 'spend and be spent,' this sermon explores the necessity of investing our finite resources - time, talent, and faith - into God's eternal kingdom rather than hoarding them or squandering them on worldly counterfeits.
Key points
- •A Christian life is defined not by what an individual accumulates (hoarding), but by what they expend for the glory of God and the benefit of others.
- •Human nature tends toward a 'scarcity mindset,' constantly seeking 'just a little bit more' security or comfort, which creates an ever-moving finish line that prevents true kingdom investment.
- •Spending life on 'lesser things' or 'counterfeits' (like lust over intimacy or convenience over commitment) is actually more expensive in the long run because they fail to deliver lasting satisfaction.
- •Resources placed in God's hands are subject to a different economy where they multiply rather than diminish, much like the lad's lunch or the widow's oil.
- •Reaching the end of life 'poured out' like the Apostle Paul is an achievement of faith, whereas reaching the end with unused gifts and withheld obedience is the true tragedy.
Scripture
Stewardship
Sacrifice
Spiritual Maturity突破
Missions
Life application
Perform a 'spiritual audit' this week by identifying one area where you are hoarding time, talent, or treasure, and consciously choose to 'spend' that resource on someone else or a kingdom mission.
Reflection questions
- In what areas of your life are you currently operating out of a 'scarcity' mindset versus a 'kingdom' mindset?
- What are the 'bigger barns' you might be building that prevent your blessings from flowing through you to others?
- When you feel 'spent' or exhausted, do you feel the satisfaction of kingdom investment or the depletion of squandering resources on lesser things?
- Is there an 'audacious request' from God that you have been hesitant to obey because you fear running out of resources?
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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