Incremental Change: Mastering Finances Through Faithfulness

"Good morning. Welcome to Crossland Community Church. We're a community of refuge and hope for all people. So glad you're here. Let me grab something. We're in week two of that series called One Degree, and the whole principle of it is described right there in aviation, is that one degree off, it can be a, well, it wouldn't be. It'd be a tragic mishap. Even if you missed, I mean, now you're saying all about my TV. You miss a runway by a mile or two, you've missed it unbelievably. So, golly. Here you go. You're looking at your pastor's technical savvy. It's on there? Awesome. So, in life, the same thing is true. You don't have to make dramatic changes to alter the trajectory of your life. You trust the incremental changes will ultimately and eventually change your life. You don't have to make dramatic changes to alter leads you to the place that God is leading you to, that life changes incrementally and eventually." [00:33:49] (60 seconds)


"All you need to do is to comprehend the radical difference between what you're doing and what you're not doing. And that's what we're going to talk about in a minute. But most of life is not about that kind of behavioral modification. All you need to do is to comprehend the radical difference between what you're doing and what you're not doing. And that's one degree a month this calendar year could do for your life forever. I mean, you just made 12 changes, okay? Three in each of these four categories as we go throughout this calendar year. I literally guarantee you, you are going to be in a different place than you are right now. And that's the basis of this series of messages. It is true biblically, theologically. It's true in engineering. It is very proven. It's called the one in 60 principle. If you want to look that up, online. So today's week two. Today's the way when people, their toes start to curl a little bit. You see financial, and this is not a giving sermon. This is not that. The context of this is going to be faithfulness, because that is truly the primary biblical principle when it comes to resources. The Bible has so much to say, and I know it's hard to fathom, but there are 1 ,200 passages in the Bible that deal with faithfulness. And I know it's hard to fathom, but there are 2 ,300 that deal with finances." [00:36:50] (68 seconds)


"Two major areas of our country developed dramatically. Now, not equally, mind you, but dramatically. And one is the Appalachia area, the southeastern, this pocket of the southeastern United States from about 1900 till now. If you were to compare Knoxville or Middle Tennessee or South Central Kentucky or Hazard or Ashland City to how life was in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, you'd have thought you were in a first world and third world country 100 years ago. The poverty, the dysentery, the sickness, one of the number one killers in Appalachia and in this Tennessee Valley was foodborne illness because there was no electricity, couldn't refrigerate food." [00:36:56] (45 seconds)


"What they learned was is that if you can take an available resource and you can accumulate it all in one place, then you release it necessarily in certain different ways and times. You could produce a tremendous amount of electricity with water. Truly, if you think about it, clean energy. Just capture the water, the turbine spin and it's... Now, Hoover Dam is still considered one of the engineering marvels in human history. Because of what they did to the water supply. It was released a long time in a blast. They built a big city with�否 ר ♥ and what they've done, and it's phenomenal. Now, it hasn't always been without controversy." [00:38:47] (34 seconds)


"It's exactly what the Bible would tell you about your wealth and your resources and your finances, that it's neutral, but there is a way to harness its power, just like water. It doesn't have to be a flood. If you can figure out, and, biblically, there's flooded spaces between it and the water, and there's classど, real primary pawns, if you will, that you accumulate money in. And that money, when captured, that money and byproduct of your hard labor is dispensed through specific means. You generate a power that will not only change your life, it changed the life of so many people around you." [00:40:56] (40 seconds)


"So this applies to all of us, all right? This is a principle that you will continually evaluate all throughout your life. But we got to find the why in all of this before we look at the what it is God's calling us to do. Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth where moth and venom destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven where moth and vermin do not destroy and where thieves do not break in and steal. So there is the seek first one degree principle of the kingdom of God is that we have to know where our heart is, okay, and where our wallet is, okay? We've got to make sure that the money in our hands does not replace the God that is in our heart. And if you have your heart is connected to the kingdom, then everything that's in your hands becomes a tool." [00:43:43] (57 seconds)


"No one can serve two masters, either you will hate the one and love the other, or you'll be devoted to the one and despise the other. Bottom line, you cannot serve God and money, okay? So, the principle for us is faithfulness, okay? You'll see it's the last text I'll show you. The why is because we do, why does the Bible speak so much about it? Because it seems obvious that the greatest competitor for loyalty is resources." [00:46:00] (33 seconds)


"If money is your master, it's really hard to have your heart in heaven, all right? And there's a lot of reasons we get there, and I'm going to talk about those, but this is what we've got to start with, okay? You got to make a clear choice. We can all be one degree more faithful if we choose our master wisely. You got to decide today, okay? Who's your master? Do you want money to master you, you to master it in? Is it a tool or a taskmaster? You let it be. You let it be. You let it be. You let it be. You let it be. You let it be. You let it be. You let it be. You let it be. You let it be. You literally do get to decide, okay? So when it comes to these three categories, what we're going to do is we're going to look at share, save, spend in the order because they are how they're laid out in the Bible in order as well, okay?" [00:46:42] (44 seconds)


"With the first fruits of all your crops, okay? The first fruit is the first portion of the wealth, okay? That's it. When you get a paycheck, there's the first portion. That's it. And the reason we want to be honoring to God with the first fruit, because only the first fruit has the power of redemption. Only the first fruit unlocks the power of resurrection, okay? Christ is the first fruit of all who will be redeemed." [00:49:28] (25 seconds)


"Generosity is the single greatest pathway to prosperity and financial security, period. Sharing. You just got to share with God, the kingdom, and people in need. With God, the kingdom, and people in need. That's how we do it, okay? And it unleashes, it's like in the market, place, okay? If you want to, you know, have a little bit put back for when you retire, you're going to have to invest. That's next, right? You can't go to Wall Street at 64 and say, where's my returns?" [00:51:47] (34 seconds)


"And that's what it is with generosity, because then you get God participating in your financial security, okay? And that's what we're looking for, ultimately, in using God. And that's what we're looking for, ultimately, in using wealth as a tool. So we can all be one degree more faithful if we share our resources generously, all right? I did some research, and it's truly amazing what can happen when someone begins to really just, I won't even talk about percentages, I don't care. They just begin to look for a way to distribute immediately. Now, it takes a lot of faith to live like that, okay? Because, you know, what they're always waiting for in California is the next rain." [00:52:23] (50 seconds)