In the exploration of personal finance from a biblical perspective, the focus is placed on the concept of debt and its impact on individuals' lives. The discussion begins with the acknowledgment that popular opinion is not always aligned with truth, especially in a culture where many are not experiencing success in various aspects of their lives, including finances. The assertion is made that despite societal norms, the teachings found in the Bible offer a countercultural approach that can lead to true financial freedom.

The narrative includes a personal testimony of overcoming financial hardship by adhering to biblical principles. The speaker shares their own journey from bankruptcy to financial wisdom through the application of scriptural guidance. This personal transformation underscores the effectiveness of biblical teachings in managing money.

The conversation then shifts to the broader implications of financial stewardship, emphasizing the importance of using money not only for personal benefit but also for the good of the community and future generations. The goal is to create a legacy that enables descendants to continue doing great work for the kingdom of God.

A key biblical reference is made to Luke 14, where Jesus speaks about counting the cost before undertaking a project. This principle is applied to personal finance, suggesting that one should save and prepare for future needs and emergencies, thereby eliminating the reliance on credit. The speaker humorously refers to an "emergency fund" as "Murphy's Law insurance," highlighting the peace of mind that comes with being financially prepared.

The discussion also touches on the issue of material accumulation, questioning the necessity of owning excessive possessions. The speaker, who identifies as a minimalist, challenges the audience to consider selling unneeded items to contribute to savings or investments. This approach aligns with the biblical wisdom of living within one's means and avoiding the enslavement of debt.

The sermon concludes with a call to spiritual reflection and the practice of communion, inviting participants to lay down any burdens that hinder their relationship with God. The speaker draws parallels between the physical act of communion and the spiritual act of seeking freedom from financial and other forms of bondage.

The message is further reinforced with a mission story about supporting local teachers, illustrating the impact of generosity and community support. The speaker encourages the congregation to continue their outreach efforts, demonstrating the practical application of biblical stewardship in everyday life.

In summary, the message delivered is a comprehensive guide to breaking free from the chains of debt by applying biblical wisdom to personal finance. It advocates for a countercultural approach to money management, emphasizing the importance of saving, living within one's means, and using resources to benefit others and future generations.

Key Takeaways:

- The Bible offers a countercultural perspective on money that, when followed, can lead to financial freedom and success. This approach is often at odds with societal norms, but it is validated by the personal experiences of those who have found solace and wisdom in scriptural teachings. The transformative power of these principles is evident in the lives of individuals who have moved from financial despair to stability. [21:08]

- Saving for future needs and emergencies is a biblical concept that can prevent the need for reliance on credit. By preparing for the unexpected, individuals can avoid the pitfalls of debt and experience a sense of security. This proactive financial planning is likened to having insurance against Murphy's Law, where being prepared means less likelihood of facing a crisis. [39:00]

- Material possessions should be evaluated for their true necessity. The accumulation of excessive items can lead to financial strain and detract from one's ability to save and invest. By adopting a minimalist mindset and selling unneeded items, individuals can redirect their resources towards more meaningful financial goals and contribute to their long-term stability. [41:06]

- Generosity and community support are practical expressions of biblical stewardship. By engaging in acts of kindness, such as supporting local teachers, individuals can make a tangible difference in their communities. This outward focus is a hallmark of living out one's faith in a way that aligns with biblical teachings on money and possessions. [17:20]

- The pursuit of financial freedom is not just about personal gain but also about the ability to serve God and others without the hindrance of debt. Envisioning a life free from financial obligations can be a powerful motivator for change. This freedom allows for greater flexibility in responding to God's calling and serving the community effectively. [45:02]

### Bible Reading

1. **Proverbs 22:7 (NIV)**: "The rich rule over the poor, and the borrower is slave to the lender."
2. **Proverbs 6:1-5 (NLT)**: "My child, if you have put up security for a friend’s debt or agreed to guarantee the debt of a stranger—if you have trapped yourself by your agreement and are caught by what you said—follow my advice and save yourself, for you have placed yourself at your friend’s mercy. Now swallow your pride; go and beg to have your name erased. Don’t put it off; do it now! Don’t rest until you do. Save yourself like a gazelle escaping from a hunter, like a bird fleeing from a net."
3. **Luke 14:28 (NIV)**: "Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won’t you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it?"

### Observation Questions

1. According to Proverbs 22:7, what is the relationship between the rich and the poor, and how is the borrower described?
2. In Proverbs 6:1-5, what advice is given to someone who has guaranteed another person's debt? What imagery is used to describe the urgency of this advice?
3. How does Luke 14:28 relate to the concept of financial planning and preparation mentioned in the sermon? [38:26]
4. What personal testimony did the speaker share about overcoming financial hardship? How did they achieve financial wisdom? [21:08]

### Interpretation Questions

1. What does it mean to be "slave to the lender" as described in Proverbs 22:7? How might this concept apply to modern financial practices such as credit card debt? [30:02]
2. How can the advice in Proverbs 6:1-5 about escaping from debt be applied in today's context? What practical steps can individuals take to "save themselves like a gazelle escaping from a hunter"? [32:06]
3. In what ways does the principle of counting the cost in Luke 14:28 challenge the common financial behaviors encouraged by society? How can this principle lead to better financial stewardship? [38:26]
4. Reflecting on the speaker's journey from bankruptcy to financial stability, what role did biblical principles play in their transformation? How can these principles be applied to one's own financial situation? [21:08]

### Application Questions

1. Reflect on your current financial situation. Are there any debts that make you feel like a "slave to the lender"? What steps can you take to start reducing these debts? [30:02]
2. The speaker mentioned the importance of having an emergency fund, humorously referred to as "Murphy's Law insurance." Do you have an emergency fund? If not, what steps can you take to start building one? [39:00]
3. Consider the concept of minimalism discussed in the sermon. Are there possessions in your life that you could sell or donate to reduce financial strain and contribute to savings or investments? [41:06]
4. How can you incorporate the principle of counting the cost (Luke 14:28) into your financial planning? What specific financial goals do you need to plan and save for? [38:26]
5. The sermon emphasized the importance of generosity and community support. How can you practice biblical stewardship by supporting those in need within your community? What specific actions can you take this week? [17:20]
6. Reflect on the idea of creating a financial legacy for future generations. What steps can you take now to ensure that your descendants are financially equipped to do great work for the kingdom of God? [21:45]
7. The speaker shared their personal journey of financial transformation through biblical principles. What is one biblical principle related to finance that you can start applying in your life today? How do you plan to implement it? [21:08]

Day 1: Embrace Countercultural Financial Wisdom
True financial freedom is found in biblical principles that often contradict societal norms. By seeking wisdom in scripture, one can navigate personal finance in a way that leads to stability and success, moving from financial despair to a place of peace and security. This approach is validated by those who have experienced the transformative power of living by God's financial guidance. [21:08]

Proverbs 22:7 - "The rich rule over the poor, and the borrower is slave to the lender."
Reflection: How does the idea of being a 'slave to the lender' make you feel about any current debts you have?

Day 2: Plan Ahead to Avoid Debt
Scripture encourages careful planning and saving for future needs, which can prevent the necessity of falling into debt. By establishing an emergency fund, one can be prepared for unforeseen circumstances, avoiding the stress and bondage that come with financial obligations. This foresight brings a sense of security and peace, acting as a safeguard against life's uncertainties. [39:00]

Luke 14:28-30 - "Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won’t you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it? For if you lay the foundation and are not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule you, saying, ‘This person began to build and wasn’t able to finish.’"
Reflection: What steps can you take today to start building an emergency fund, and how can it provide you with peace of mind?

Day 3: The Virtue of Minimalism
The necessity of possessions should be critically evaluated, as the accumulation of excess can lead to financial strain. Embracing a minimalist lifestyle can free resources for saving and investing, aligning with the biblical wisdom of living within one's means. This shift in perspective can enhance financial stability and simplify life, allowing for a focus on what truly matters. [41:06]

Hebrews 13:5 - "Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, 'Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.'"
Reflection: What are some possessions you could let go of that would help simplify your life and redirect your focus to God?

Day 4: Generosity as a Form of Stewardship
Biblical stewardship involves using resources to support and uplift the community. Acts of generosity, such as aiding local educators, embody the practical application of faith and demonstrate the impact one can have through giving. This outward focus reflects a heart aligned with God's teachings on money and possessions, fostering a spirit of community and shared purpose. [17:20]

1 Timothy 6:18-19 - "Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. In this way, they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life."
Reflection: How can you practice generosity this week in a way that supports your local community and reflects God's love?

Day 5: Financial Freedom for God's Service
The pursuit of financial freedom is not solely for personal gain but also for the ability to serve God and others unencumbered by debt. Envisioning a life free from financial obligations inspires change and allows for greater responsiveness to God's calling. This freedom enables more effective service to the community and the fulfillment of God's work. [45:02]

2 Corinthians 9:6-8 - "Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work."
Reflection: What financial habits can you change to better serve God's purpose and to be more generous in your giving?

1) "We have to stop borrowing money if we want to be free from money. If you don't have it, save it until you do have the money to buy it." [36:23] (Download)

2) "We're trying to keep up with everybody else, but everybody else is trying to keep up with everybody else, and the reality is everybody's spending an absurd amount to make everybody else think that they're doing okay." [37:46] (Download)

3) "If you're working on freeing yourselves from debt, sometimes you got to do things that you don't want to do for a little while so you can get to where you want to go." [42:53] (Download)

4) "We raise our children in the way to go... I'm now teaching my daughter the importance of saving... we are saving for six years so she will buy her first car with cash." [43:34] (Download)

5) "Debt chains us, it keeps us from doing what God wants us to do, and we don't always think about the weight of it or how much it controls us." [44:18] (Download)

6) "Imagine being able to get all those letters in the mail that says that your debt has been resolved... and to know everything you have is 100% yours." [45:02] (Download)

7) "The rich rule over the poor and the borrower is slave to the lender... we don't need to owe money to people because we are enslaved to the debt." [30:45] (Download)

8) "There's nothing more amazing than feeling like the chains that hold you are gone." [31:23] (Download)

9) "We've been marketed so much that we can't imagine life without [credit cards]. Are we willing to change our perspective? Because friends, perspective is everything." [27:04] (Download)

10) "The little things sometimes show people that we love them... thank you for your generosity because many of you have spent your time to share these acts of love." [17:20] (Download)

Amen, friends. I want to share a little more detail on that mission that Eddie mentioned earlier over at Bannerman Learning. Do you know that the teachers sent us a thank you a couple of weeks ago? I walked into admin, and there laying on the table was this poster drawn by the teachers over at the school. I took a picture; it's in my article from this past week if you want to see the details.

I just want to read a couple of things off of it for you:

"Thank you for your constant support and encouragement. Thank you for being so thoughtful; it was a much-needed pick-me-up. Thank you for your love and generosity. See, the little things sometimes show people that we love them even though we've never met."

The teachers at Bannerman, now I'm assuming that those who are taking these items over have probably met some of these teachers, but I haven't. But the teachers know that we care about them just because we've taken these small treats.

So I hope you'll pray for them as they are serving in one of the hardest schools here in our county because they don't have the same support that all of our other schools have, which is why we've taken them on as a mission.

I just want to say thank you for your generosity because many of you have spent your time to share these acts of love. Time is one of our most valuable things in this world.

As we come to a time of prayer and also preparation for receiving our offering at the end of the service, I'm going to pray over those gifts. But as a reminder, you can give your contributions to the church either physically here in the baskets in the front of the room or you can do so online.

Thank you for helping us continue to do outreach in our community. Also, if you have a prayer request, we love to pray for you. You can drop those in these baskets as well or submit those onto the church app.

Would you join me in prayer, friends?

Almighty God, thank you for allowing us to be a church that cares about those in our community, like these teachers that are changing the world around us one student at a time and taking the time and energy to transform a student's life that needs extra love and extra time in the classroom.

Please help us to surround the work they do with our prayers so that they know not only are we sharing small acts of love, we're surrounding them with the prayers of our church.

We ask, Lord, as we go to study your scripture, that you help guide us to draw deeper into what you have to say so that we may learn from you, but learn how to be good stewards of all the things that you give us and that we may grow deeper in our relationship with you.

We pray this in your glory and honor. Amen.

I'd like to invite my friends that are going to join Miss Katie in Kids Club today; y'all can head out to your classroom. She is in the back waiting for you.

We lose, for some reason, our ability to do critical thought, and then we look stupid because we have believed a lie. It doesn't make it the truth if everybody votes for it. It doesn't make it the truth if everybody thinks it's so.

In a culture where a lot of people are really not winning, as a matter of fact, if they believe it's not so, that probably means it is so. It's kind of a Dr. Phil moment: how's that working for you?

It's not just because everyone believes something—quote "everyone"—doesn't mean it's right. We really have to establish that when we start talking about personal finance and money and what the Bible has to say about money.

Here's the deal: I went broke a few years ago. I lost everything because I was stupid. Then I started reading what God's word has to say about money, and I got smarter.

What's weird about this is, like a lot of things in this book, it's countercultural. It's perpendicular to what everyone says, but everyone's not winning. Their marriages aren't winning, their kids aren't winning, their careers aren't winning, and their money's not winning. So I really don't care what they think.

This, however, works.

Alright, friends, so last week we had a bit of an overview of this series with this idea that we're going to try to figure out how God wants us to use our money, not only to do good work in our communities but to be able to save so that we can pass on to the next generation so they can do amazing things for the kingdom of God.

And our grandchildren can do amazing things for the kingdom of God, and our great-grandchildren can do amazing things for the kingdom of God. Does that sound like a good idea?

Y'all don't seem very excited. Does that sound like a good idea?

Okay, glad we're on the same page. Just a reminder, if you want to follow along with the sermon notes, you can do so by opening the church app and clicking on the worship tab and the sermon notes. That's helpful for some people to go with that train of thought.

So just to start us off, did you know if enough people spread a lie enough times, then we will all believe the lie is true? I mean, let's be honest, we see it in society over a lot of things, don't we?

We deal with this when it comes to things that we know scripture teaches us as true, and yet it's some now no longer the mainstream truth anymore. But I'll just admit, I don't watch a lot of commercials, okay? That's because I don't like them.

I pay the extra money on all my streaming services to not have commercials. I will not watch the free version because I hate commercials. I just hate them.

When I discovered streaming without commercials, it changed my life. Abigail, I think, was four the first time she ever realized she had to watch a commercial and put her show on pause. We were in a hotel; she didn't know what to do, right?

But I love college football, and I can't watch college football without watching a commercial. It's just the fact of life.

I was just flabbergasted at how many banks and credit cards had commercials when I watched football. Friends, they pay a lot of money for these commercials.

Have you ever thought—now I'm not bashing anybody—but one of the major credit cards has Taylor Swift in their commercial. Have y'all seen it? Because you know you can redeem your points to go to Taylor Swift. Can y'all imagine how much she's getting paid for these commercials? I mean, she's probably getting paid a fortune.

And we've been watching "Reacher" at our house; please don't judge me for that. So AJ loves it; he got me watching, and we were watching an episode the other day, and he pauses and goes, "This episode is sponsored by TurboTax."

I said, "What?" He goes, "Look, every ad on all the park benches and every ad on all the billboards in this episode say TurboTax on them." So I start looking, and he's right. Every place in the episode, there was an ad; it all said TurboTax.

See, they're getting sneaky now because you got people like our family who don't watch commercials, so they got to advertise to us from within the TV shows that we watch.

You always know when there's a new car on the market because they put them in the TV shows because they want you to see how snazzy they are, right, in action?

They got that new car in a car chase, and you're seeing that new Ford or Mercedes do amazing things in that car chase, and it never wrecks. It always comes out of the chase perfect, and all the other cars are doing horrible, and that one outruns everybody.

Then you're like, "Oh, look at that car; I need that car. It outran everybody, and it's got the little push-to-talk button."

Because, see, friends, we are marketed everywhere today. We are the most marketed society, and half the time we don't even know it.

Anybody like me? By the time you get finished watching TV at night, you're hungry, and you weren't hungry when you sat down to watch TV. By the time you finish watching it, you are starving, and you're like, "Why am I so hungry?" It's because the television told me I was, and my diet is gone all because of the TV.

It's everywhere, and we're trying to live like no one else, like the Bible tells us to, but it's hard when everywhere we look we are being told to live like they do, and God's telling us to live like the Bible says.

See, this is when you know marketing has impacted everyone is when people start to get emotional and even angry when you tell them that credit cards are bad.

Have you ever had that conversation? You hear it, but "I need a credit card because I need good credit. I need it for emergencies. If I don't have a credit card, then banks won't believe I'm a good investment, and they won't give me a loan."

Well, everybody has a credit card. I have to have one. You can't take my credit card. You can't walk into a single store today without them trying to get you to give another credit card.

It's such an attachment to us that we can't imagine life without it. We've been marketed that much.

So I'm curious: are we willing to change our perspective? Because, friends, perspective is everything.

Think about this: in our perspective, punctuation is too. Now, I'm not going to ask which one you read with no punctuation because it doesn't matter. But when we change our perspective about how we look at things, we start to change our process of how we handle things.

You see, the world's perspective, or the old way of focusing on things like credit cards and so forth, is that we care about the credit score.

Has anyone looked up what the definition of a FICO score is? Because that's what a credit score is. The FICO score is almost all a definition of how much you have owed people in the past and how on time you have paid off your debt. It's a debt score.

Some of it is things like bills, but a very small amount. I'll be honest, y'all, I got a really high credit score because I have paid an absurd amount of student loans faithfully, and they see years and years and years of faithful student loan payments, and they're like, "Woo, she's good with her debt."

But I'm not proud of the score because that's a lot of money that has gone out of my pocket to the interest on those student loans. I would much rather have a score that was lower and not have lost the money.

But we seem to live by this question of, "What's your credit score? Do you have a good credit score? You can't live without a good credit score."

But the question is, how could we use the money we've given to other interests, which, by the way, is the banks? Have you ever noticed how big their buildings are in the city?

We know how expensive it is to build in Jacksonville, don't we? And they got some big old buildings. If they weren't using our money to make a profit.

So we're going to look at some things in scripture and see what scripture has to say about it.

The first thing is out of Proverbs 6. No, not Proverbs 6; this is Proverbs 22. It's our main scripture. Proverbs 22 is the first one I'm going to look at, and it's in the NIV, so I'm not reading it out of my translation.

The reason I chose the NIV is because the New Living tries to soften it a little bit, make it a little more politically correct, but the NIV uses the more literal language: "The rich rule over the poor, and the borrower is slave to the lender."

You read it in the modern; it's going to take that word "slave" out because, you know, that's a bit offensive to us today. But the original language is harsh like this.

Now remember, Proverbs is the wisdom book. God's trying to pass on knowledge to us, and it's saying here that we don't need to owe money to people because we are enslaved to the debt.

If you have ever owed a big amount of money—not talking about a house, but other things—I will tell you when I was still working on my student loans, I felt that we paid a house payment's worth of payments a month on student loans.

But friends, we worked and we worked and we worked and we got free, and there's nothing more amazing than feeling like the chains that hold you are gone. Amen.

So let's look at our passage for today, shall we?

We're in Proverbs 6: "My child, if you have put up security for a friend's debt or agreed to guarantee the debt of a stranger, if you have trapped yourself by your agreement or are caught by what you said, follow my advice and save yourself, for you have placed yourself at your friend's mercy.

Now swallow your pride; go and beg to have your name erased. Don't put it off; do it now. Don't rest until you do. Save yourself like a gazelle escaping a hunter, like a bird fleeing from a nest.

Take a lesson from the ants, you lazy bones. Learn from their ways and become wise. Though they have no prince or governor or ruler to make them work, they labor hard all summer gathering food.

Swallow your pride; don't rest. Save yourself like a gazelle escaping the hunter."

So what do we do? So many of us sit there and go, "Oh, I'll never be free. I can't be debt-free. Faith, don't you know this is a reality? It's the American dream. We have to pay for those expensive cell phones and the cars and the house, and yeah, those student loans."

Or I'm trying to—I got to save for my kids so they only have some student loans, and then there's the credit card for the emergencies like Christmas.

See, you know, I wasn't expecting Christmas. Friends, this passage, when it talks about the gazelle, we have to get gazelle intense about saying, "I am going to be free from this debt."

And I'll tell you this phrase: the gazelle getting from the hunter. Gazelles are hunted by cheetahs, and the cheetah is the fastest mammal on land. Did you know they can go from 0 to 47 miles per hour in four leaps?

I don't know about y'all, but that's fast. I run like four miles per hour, and I do that for like 15 seconds, and then I'm out on the ground flat, okay?

So if the cheetah is the fastest running mammal, how does it get—how does the gazelle outrun it? Well, this is the thing: do you know that the gazelle outruns the cheetah 15 out of 16 times? Meaning the cheetah only gets his dinner once out of 16 times.

But the cheetah is much faster than the gazelle. Anybody got an idea why?

What's the gazelle's motivation?

Somebody?

Anybody?

To stay alive! The cheetah just wants to eat dinner. And I bet you when the cheetah's hungry enough, he runs full speed. Maybe he's not hungry enough every day to put 100% energy into it.

Maybe he goes, "Maybe that gazelle might—maybe I can sneak up on him and I can get him." And then he goes, "Eh, that's a little too much work. I'll back off."

But every time that gazelle is thinking, "I want to stay alive today," every day, no gazelle is going to go, "Maybe this is the day I just don't want to put the energy in to stay alive." I don't think that ever happens.

So the gazelle is running for their life every time, and we have to treat what we do with our money—God's money—like it is for our life every time.

Because the reality is, if we don't, all that stuff the world’s trying to take our money from us is always going to come in the way.

So this is the whole purpose of why Dave gives this class—to teach us how to free ourselves. And he's got lots of lessons. I'm not going to go into all of that today because it's a lot—like 11 weeks' worth.

So if you want to do it, come on February 11th; we'll start talking about when we're going to start a class, and all that's free for you.

But I want to go into just a couple of things from the scripture passage. The first B is back to Proverbs 22: that the borrower is the slave to the lender.

Friends, we have to stop borrowing money if we want to be free from money. I'm going to say something—I'm sorry, I'm going to say it. If you don't have it, save it until you do have the money to buy it.

I know that's a little unpopular to say. It's hard for us, right? Because if we have the credit card, we can just put it on the credit card, and we'll pay it off later.

Or I don't know about y'all, but I go and buy my makeup online, and my makeup website says I can finance that too, or my nail polish or my shoes. And it's financed right through their website.

I don't even need a credit card; I just finance right there. And if I can't afford to buy the nail polish, maybe I don't need to buy it.

That sounds a little harsh, but if we don't have the money to buy it, then let's not buy it.

See, the thing is that we're trying to keep up with everybody else, but everybody else is trying to keep up with everybody else.

And the reality is, everybody's spending an absurd amount of money to keep up with everybody, and nobody has the money to do what they're doing.

And they're all spending an absurd amount to make everybody else think that they're doing okay. Does that not feel like a hamster on a wheel to you?

What if we just didn't care what everybody else thought about what we spent? Would that not set us free?

Here's the second thing in that, going into Luke 14: we have to save. I told you last week that Adrian and I worked so hard to free ourselves from debt. We said no to a lot of things, and people weren't always happy, but we were able to save so that we could be free for whatever God had for us.

See, in Luke 14, Jesus explains that you have to count the costs, and you can't start doing things until you have what you need to build or to set forward.

So life's emergencies are not emergencies anymore when you have something to spend. That's when you don't need an emergency credit card because you have the money for it, right?

The joke for me is that I like Murphy's Law insurance. When you have a Murphy's Law plan, you don't need the plan. When I have a Murphy's Law fund, I have an emergency fund in case the car explodes. I'm okay in case my engine goes bad and I need to repair it, and in case something breaks, in case somebody gets laid off, I'm okay.

In case the Army decides not to pay us—we're in the Army; it happens. I love being in the Army.

Then it's okay that Christmas comes around every year. Who knew that? And we save to be ready to buy Christmas presents.

This is a novel idea: if I only have X amount of dollars to spend on Christmas, and I only spend X amount of dollars on Christmas, we save now.

Then the next thing of this—and this is the—I'm friends, I'm not saying anything that I have not done over the years of my life, okay?

Going back to that scripture passage I just read, when it said we got to swallow our pride a little bit. Sometimes you got to sell something.

Do y'all know we have more stuff in our house than other countries think that we could possibly own? Think for a second: we have garages sometimes that are so full that we got to get a storage room to hold the stuff that doesn't fit in our house.

And then sometimes that storage room gets full, and we got to get another one. Who has that much stuff that you're going to pay the money to keep this stuff?

Do the math on how much you've spent on it. Why don't you sell some of the stuff, and then you got money that you can put towards your savings or your investments into retirement?

And then ask yourself, do you know what's in the storage? And do you still use it?

Now, I'll be honest; I'm a minimalist. I don't have a lot of stuff. But you know why I don't? Because I move a lot, and I don't like to pack it and move it because that costs me more money to pack all that stuff.

And I get rid of stuff every time I move because it's just a lot of work. But it's so easy to get rid of things we don't need, and we can take that and put it into our goals to be able to have the things to give to our future generations.

I want to talk about keepsakes and things that are near and dear to our heart, but let's be honest with ourselves: is everything in our house a keepsake?

And then the other thing in this proverb is it says for us to take lessons from the ants. Now, that's a weird analogy right there, and I guess they had lots of ants in the old days too.

But has anyone seen an ant really dedicated? Like, was I the only one that liked to block the lines of the ants as a kid?

Anybody with me? No, I'm the only mean one? Okay, oh, I see some hands. Alright, you know, I like to take the sticks and put it in their line and see how far I can make them go around.

I know I was mean, but you know it was just fun to watch them reroute. But ants never give up, and they keep working, and they keep working, and they keep working.

And so this is the thing: if you're working on freeing yourselves from debt, sometimes you got to do things that you don't want to do for a little while so you can get to where you want to go.

And sometimes that means getting a part-time job and a full-time job and working to do what you have to do.

And I have worked three jobs before when we were working on freeing ourselves from debt and worked and worked and worked.

And I can hear it now, "But Faith, what about my family time?" Well, I had family the whole time, and I taught my child the value of working and that it's important for us to take time when we have the time, but it's also important to provide and pay for everything we need to pay our bills for.

I'm now teaching my daughter the importance of saving. If you came to her 10th birthday, we have started a car fund because in six years she will buy her first car with cash, and we are saving money now because the average car loan is six years.

So we are saving for six years. We raise our children in the way to go, friends.

Debt chains us; it keeps us from doing what God wants us to do. And we don't always think about it. We don't always think about the weight of it or how much it controls us, and it just becomes part of life.

And it just becomes bills that we pay. But I love for you to think about today how much of your income goes out to things that you owe to others.

What would happen if you didn't have to do that? How could you be free? If you were 100% debt-free, where could God let you go? Where could He take you?

What about our church? Where could our church be if we were 100% debt-free? How could we be used in the world and in the community if we didn't have any chains to anybody?

And as you think about this, I want you to dream about it this week and imagine being able to get all those letters in the mail that says that your debt has been resolved because those are amazing letters.

And how that would feel to know everything you have is 100% yours.

And as you dream, remember to join us on February 11th as we think about how to do it together.

Would you pray with me?

Almighty God, we're thankful for all that you give us, but we want to use it wisely. So show us how and how to take steps forward and use your gifts to the best of our ability.

If we have things in our life that we need to be able to manage in different ways, I hope you'll show us so that we can be set free.

Lord, we ask for you to set us free from our sin, but sometimes we don't give everything to you. So in this day, we ask that you help us to give you the power over all that we have.

The hardest thing sometimes, God, to give is control over our finances. So help us so that that doesn't weigh us down and keep us from being the people you want us to be.

We pray this in your holy name. Amen.

Friends, as we come to this table, I'm reminded of all throughout scripture how Jesus set person after person free of the things that held them back.

So I hope you'll come forward and lay at Jesus' feet anything that's holding you, that's keeping you from being able to be the person He wants you to be.

The only requirement is you confess your sins. So I ask that you join me as we confess our sins together.

Merciful God, we confess that we have been distracted with many things and have not loved you with our whole heart and strength.

We have not paid attention to your word. We have allowed the poor to be neglected and the weak to be oppressed.

We have been impacted in worship and insincere in our dealings with others. We have disregarded justice and disregarded warnings of judgment.

Forgive us, we pray, and teach us repentance. Free us from our habits of pride and make us steadfast in faith that we may live as those who are reconciled with you in Jesus Christ.

Take a moment; lift anything to God you need to lift in your heart.

Almighty God, hear our prayers and the confessions of our heart. We know that you receive them with open arms, for you are our God and our Savior, and you forgive all things that we bring.

We receive your grace this morning as we share this word of forgiveness together.

Friends, in the name of Jesus Christ, you are forgiven. Would you join me?

In the name of Jesus Christ, you are forgiven. Amen.

On the night Christ sat with his disciples, he took the cup and he poured and said, "This is the blood of the New Covenant shed for the sins of all people. Drink just as you eat in remembrance of me."

And he took the bread and broke it, and he said, "This is my body broken for you. Eat and remember me."

Almighty God, send your spirit upon this bread and this juice and transform us to be your people, experiencing your redemption and your grace, sent out into the world to be ambassadors of your love.

We pray this in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

If those who are going to help me serve communion would come forward, as they do, just a word of instruction: we'll give you a small piece of bread to dip into the cup.

If you would like someone to not have touched your bread, we have prepackaged communion, and we also have gluten-free, which will be here in the center.

After I serve my helpers, we'll invite everyone to come forward. You'll come down the center, then back out the outsides. I'll invite you all forward in just a moment.