In this sermon, we have journeyed through the importance of financial stewardship and the profound impact it has on our lives and relationships. We have explored the biblical principles that guide us in managing our resources wisely and the practical steps we can take to achieve financial peace and stability.

Growing up, I learned the value of hard work and the significance of being thankful for what we have. My parents instilled in me the importance of stretching a dollar and working hard. This upbringing was a privilege, not because of material wealth, but because it taught me the value of earning and appreciating money.

As I shared part of my story, I emphasized how AJ and I, through Financial Peace University, paid off $79,000 in debt. This was not because we had high incomes, but because we managed our money as God instructed. We learned to live on a budget, save for emergencies, and avoid debt, which Scripture warns us about, likening the borrower to a servant of the lender.

We also discussed the importance of building relationships with those who share our financial goals and values. This support system is crucial as we navigate our financial journeys. We must balance our relationships with both Christians and non-Christians to grow and maintain our values.

The sermon highlighted the joy of giving and how it should be a priority in our lives. We are called to be cheerful givers, and when we put God at the top of everything, including our finances, we experience a powerful transformation.

As we concluded the series, I reminded everyone of the opportunity to learn more about financial management through our Financial Peace University. This program is a testament to the generosity of our members and is available to all who wish to participate.

Key Takeaways:

- Budgeting is a spiritual discipline that aligns our financial decisions with God's wisdom. When we budget, we exercise dominion over our resources and prevent money from controlling us. This practice is rooted in the biblical principle of counting the cost before undertaking a project, as illustrated in Luke 14. [39:11 ]

- Debt freedom is not just a financial goal; it is a form of liberation that allows us to serve God and others without the chains of financial obligations. Proverbs 22 teaches us that the borrower is a servant to the lender, and by breaking free from debt, we reclaim the freedom to use our resources for God's glory. [43:20 ]

- Building relationships with like-minded individuals who share our financial goals is essential for mutual encouragement and accountability. These relationships help us stay focused on our financial journey and resist the societal pressures to conform to consumerist patterns. [44:59 ]

- Saving for emergencies and investing wisely are acts of stewardship that prepare us for the uncertainties of life. By creating a buffer against unforeseen events, we demonstrate wisdom and foresight, as advised in Proverbs. This preparation allows us to face challenges with confidence and peace. [46:53 ]

- The joy of giving transcends the temporary happiness derived from material possessions. As 2 Corinthians tells us, God loves a cheerful giver. When we prioritize giving in our budget, we experience the true joy that comes from generosity and align our hearts with God's heart for others. [49:13 ]

### Bible Reading
1. **Luke 14:28-30 (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? 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.’"

2. **Proverbs 22:7 (NIV)**
> "The rich rule over the poor, and the borrower is slave to the lender."

3. **2 Corinthians 9:7 (NIV)**
> "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."

### Observation Questions
1. What does Luke 14:28-30 teach us about planning and budgeting? How does this relate to the sermon’s emphasis on financial stewardship? [39:11]
2. According to Proverbs 22:7, what is the relationship between the borrower and the lender? How was this principle illustrated in the sermon? [43:20]
3. In 2 Corinthians 9:7, what attitude does God love when it comes to giving? How did the sermon describe the joy of giving? [49:13]
4. What personal story did the pastor share about paying off debt, and how did it illustrate the principles of financial stewardship discussed in the sermon? [34:30]

### Interpretation Questions
1. How does budgeting as described in Luke 14:28-30 help us align our financial decisions with God's wisdom? What are some practical steps mentioned in the sermon to achieve this? [39:11]
2. Proverbs 22:7 describes the borrower as a servant to the lender. How does this concept of debt as a form of servitude impact our ability to serve God and others? [43:20]
3. The sermon emphasized building relationships with like-minded individuals. How does 1 Corinthians 15:33 ("Bad company corrupts good character") support this idea, and why is it important for financial accountability? [44:59]
4. The joy of giving was highlighted in the sermon. How does 2 Corinthians 9:7 challenge our typical views on generosity and material possessions? [49:13]

### Application Questions
1. Reflect on your current budgeting practices. Are there areas where you can improve to better align with the biblical principle of counting the cost before undertaking a project? What specific steps can you take this week to start or improve your budget? [39:11]
2. Consider any debts you currently have. How does viewing debt as a form of servitude change your perspective on managing and paying off debt? What actions can you take to work towards debt freedom? [43:20]
3. Think about your circle of friends and family. Do you have relationships that support your financial goals and values? How can you cultivate more of these supportive relationships, and what steps can you take to distance yourself from negative influences? [44:59]
4. Saving for emergencies was discussed as an act of stewardship. Do you have an emergency fund? If not, what steps can you take to start one? If you do, how can you ensure it is adequately funded for potential future needs? [46:53]
5. Reflect on your giving habits. Are you a cheerful giver as described in 2 Corinthians 9:7? What changes can you make to prioritize giving in your budget and experience the joy that comes from generosity? [49:13]
6. The pastor shared a personal story about financial peace and stability. How does this story inspire you to take control of your finances? What specific actions can you take to follow the principles shared in the sermon? [34:30]
7. The sermon mentioned the importance of Financial Peace University. Have you considered participating in a financial management program? How might this help you achieve financial peace and stability? [27:00]

Day 1: Mastery Over Money Through Budgeting
Budgeting is not merely an exercise in finance; it is a spiritual discipline that brings one's financial decisions into alignment with divine wisdom. It is an act of exercising dominion over one's resources, ensuring that money serves its purpose without becoming a controlling factor in life. This practice is deeply rooted in the biblical principle of counting the cost before embarking on a venture, ensuring that one's actions are deliberate and well-planned. By budgeting, individuals can prioritize their spending, save for the future, and give generously, all while living within their means. This approach to finances is a proactive stance against the consumerist culture that often leads to financial strain and stress. [39:11]

"Which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it?" - Luke 14:28 ESV

Reflection: How can implementing a budget reflect your trust in God's provision and wisdom in your life?

Day 2: Freedom in Debt Liberation
Debt freedom is more than a financial milestone; it is a form of spiritual and practical liberation. The Scriptures caution against the entanglement of debt, likening the borrower to a servant of the lender. By striving for debt freedom, one is not only managing money responsibly but also reclaiming the freedom to use resources in a way that glorifies God and furthers His kingdom. This liberation from financial obligations allows for a life of service that is unencumbered by the stress and limitations that debt can impose. [43:20]

"The rich rules over the poor, and the borrower is the slave of the lender." - Proverbs 22:7 ESV

Reflection: What steps can you take today to move towards debt freedom and how might this enhance your ability to serve God?

Day 3: Community in Financial Fellowship
Building relationships with those who share similar financial goals and values is crucial for maintaining focus and accountability on one's financial journey. These connections provide encouragement and support, helping individuals resist the societal pressures to indulge in consumerism. Such fellowship fosters an environment where one can grow in financial wisdom and stewardship, reinforcing the commitment to live out biblical principles in all aspects of life, including finances. [44:59]

"Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another." - Proverbs 27:17 ESV

Reflection: Who in your life can act as a financial accountability partner, and how can you engage with them to support each other's stewardship goals?

Day 4: Prudence in Saving and Investing
Saving for emergencies and investing wisely are prudent acts of stewardship that reflect a biblical understanding of resource management. These practices demonstrate foresight and wisdom, preparing individuals for the uncertainties of life. By creating a financial buffer, one can face unexpected challenges with confidence and peace, knowing that they have been a good steward of the resources entrusted to them. This preparation is an act of faith, acknowledging that while the future is unknown, one can take steps to navigate it with wisdom. [46:53]

"The plans of the diligent lead surely to abundance, but everyone who is hasty comes only to poverty." - Proverbs 21:5 ESV

Reflection: What practical steps can you take to build an emergency fund, and how does this act of preparation demonstrate trust in God's sovereignty?

Day 5: Generosity as a Way of Life
The joy of giving is a profound expression of faith and obedience to God's call to be cheerful givers. This act of generosity is not about the amount given but the heart behind the giving. Prioritizing giving in one's budget is a tangible way to align one's heart with God's heart for others, experiencing the true joy that comes from selfless generosity. This practice transcends the temporary happiness derived from material possessions and reflects a life that values eternal treasures over earthly ones. [49:13]

"Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver." - 2 Corinthians 9:7 ESV

Reflection: How can you incorporate intentional giving into your budget, and what impact do you hope your generosity will have on others and your own spiritual growth?

"When we manage our money as God instructed, we learn to live on a budget, save for emergencies, and avoid debt. This isn't just about money; it's about stable families and communities." [37:31 ](Download | Download)

"Budgeting is a spiritual discipline. When we don't tell our money where to go, it leaves anyway, and we wonder where it went. Budgeting aligns our financial decisions with God's wisdom." [38:39 ](Download | Download)

"Debt freedom is liberating. It allows us to serve God and others without the chains of financial obligations. Proverbs 22 teaches us that the borrower is a servant to the lender." [43:20 ](Download | Download)

"Building relationships with those who share our financial goals is crucial. It's about mutual encouragement and accountability, helping us resist societal pressures to conform." [44:59 ](Download | Download)

"Saving for emergencies and investing wisely are acts of stewardship. By creating a buffer against unforeseen events, we demonstrate wisdom and foresight." [46:53 ](Download | Download)

"The joy of giving transcends material possessions. Prioritizing giving in our budget aligns our hearts with God's heart for others and brings true joy from generosity." [49:13 ](Download | Download)

**Transcript:**

Fun. All right, Abiel, you may click that video.

In the sermon, we had personal loans, student loans. I was living paycheck to paycheck. We were just doing what was normal. We worked too hard to be this broke. This is a wealth-building plan; it's not just a get-out-of-debt plan. Stuff you should have been taught in high school, but we weren't.

I feel like I can do more things than I ever could. You just got to get started.

All right, friends, as we close out this series, I want to remind you that today, after worship, is going to be the introduction preview for our Financial Peace University, which is free because of the generosity of our members. Someone has sponsored this program for anyone in the congregation who wants to take the classes. So come in after worship, and we're going to talk about it.

I'm going to hopefully help explain some of the reasons why I'm so passionate about this in this message today as we wrap everything up. Just as a reminder, if you like to take notes and look at these scriptures in detail, you can find that inside the church app.

We have a picture of that for you if you want to find it, but you'll click the worship tab inside the app. AB, go to that next slide. Thank you. You'll find some fill-ins and stuff like that.

All right, I wanted, as we talk about this last sermon here, to summarize where we've been, and I wanted to do that by sharing a story with you. This story is part of my story.

As I thought about all the series and what I would say, I thought I would just make a little confession to you, and that's this: in a lot of ways, I have grown up what the world would say is a privileged life. Now, maybe not as everyone defines it, 'cause I grew up with secondhand toys and secondhand clothes. My cousins passed them down to me, and they're all boys. My mom asked me one time how she ended up with a girl that was not too girly, and I was like, "Well, I spent a lot of time with boys growing up when you're the only girl in the cousin group."

But you know, I didn't really even think twice about all the secondhand things that I got. I was taught to be thankful. I was taught the importance of stretching a dollar, and I was taught the importance of working hard.

You see, I didn't even think twice about the fact that both my parents worked, and that was just what we did. I was taught the importance of working myself. We did chores to earn money. At Christmas time, my mom often had us make cookies to sell to our neighbors to earn money to buy presents for each other.

Now, granted, we didn't do the whole business thing. In one of the videos that Dave does, he talks about how his dad made him actually start a business and keep track of business expenses and how much he made and all that. My mom didn't do that. She didn't make me keep up with how much the ingredients for the cookies cost. She just wanted us to experience what it meant to work for something.

So we sat in the kitchen, and we made our cookies and made our cookies and made our cookies over and over and over again. Our neighbors knew what my mom was trying to accomplish, and they bought our cookies. Then we had our own money, and we went to the store and bought those Christmas presents.

I'll tell you, it meant something as a kid that it was more than just my allowance. It was something I had worked for when I got to go buy my mom and dad something for Christmas. I appreciated things.

As soon as I turned 15, I got a job, and I walked there. It was a mile from my house, and my dad was usually nice enough that if it was raining, he'd drive me. Usually, but I tell you, there's ways to get places in the rain and not end up wet.

In the summer of Alabama, it was hot, but I walked, and I worked, and I learned the value of work. That's why I say I grew up privileged—not because I had things handed to me and they were just given to me, but because I grew up knowing the importance of getting because I worked for it.

Money meant something because I had to put the effort in. Like so many in Florida, I had a Bright Futures scholarship, but unlike many, I didn't move to Florida until my junior year of high school, and I couldn't put in all those service hours that most of the high school students did because I got here so late.

So I didn't qualify for 100% Bright Futures; I only got a 75% Bright Futures scholarship. But the year I graduated, they passed the change in the law that said if you went to a community college and you had 75%, you could get 100% at the community college.

So I went to the community college, and I started working on my AA, and I got all my tuition paid there right there in my town. And Lord knows, y'all, I didn't know what I wanted to do with my life. I changed my major three times. At first, I was going into interior design. I took my design classes and my drafting classes, and oh, I had some fun.

Then I wasn't too sure about that, so I was going to go into architecture, and that was close, you know? So I started all of that, and man, I hated some of those classes with the math stuff because it was statistics, and that's not real math. It's not. No math problem can have three different answers that are right, okay? It just can't.

Then I just decided, you know what? We're just going to get a business degree 'cause that goes everywhere. In that time of trying to figure out my life, God also figured me out. I guess I should say I figured God out, and God told me I was going into ministry.

I left my 100% tuition junior college in Florida and went off to Kentucky to a private Christian institution that cost a fortune. But my dad had been saving money for me, and he hadn't had to pay any money on my tuition to that point, so I had been stretching the dollar of the money saved for me.

Then, after my first year of college at my private college, I met AJ. Two weeks in, we got married. Guess what? According to the government, we were poor. I got all sorts of scholarships, and I did something really crazy. I started working full-time at my college and went to school part-time.

I worked in the IT department because I was really good with computers—so good that they hired a self-taught IT tech, and they paid for one class every semester for me. The college did. It was a benefit for working full-time. Then all I had to do was pay for one class.

It took me six years to graduate, y'all, but I stretched the dollar, and I graduated with no school loans. Amen.

Now, this is the thing: I consider myself a privileged person not because I had all these things handed to me, but because I said it's okay to take six years to graduate. I went into a seminary, and I didn't have to take all that extra.

Do you know that most couples today get married with two sets of student loans? I only had to get married with one. I stand here today excited about Financial Peace University and why we've been teaching these things because in my first year of marriage, AJ and I went through it, and because of it, we paid off $79,000 of debt.

Not because we made a lot of money, okay? Four and a half years of seminary, I made minimum wage for 15 hours a week. My income did not bring in anything. My husband has worked manual labor jobs for most of our life. We did not bring in big dollars, but we managed our money as God told us to manage it, and we chipped away at student loans aggressively.

We had what you call a Dave Ramsey truck, okay? We had a baby on the way. We needed a two-door pickup truck, but a four-door pickup truck 'cause you can't put a car seat in the front seat of a pickup truck. So we took our old two-door pickup truck and got a really old four-door pickup truck. It was being held together by rust, y'all. I'd hit a bump, and I'd go, "Oh, something broke." Just waited to find out what it was.

We kept our savings. Every time I had extra endowment money from the scholarships that were paying for my seminary, we put that extra money into savings 'cause we knew something was breaking on that truck, and we were prepared when it broke.

Then eventually, I came into the church, and I started working full-time, and AJ's working full-time, and we had a little extra money. We traded in the Dave Ramsey truck and got another used vehicle, but it wasn't falling apart. We were like, "Praise Jesus, we're not fixing a car 24/7."

The reason that this is so important to me is because it does change lives. Did you know that money is the top issue that couples deal with today? Number one. Number one argument.

Eighty-six percent of couples end up getting married with debt, and the debt ends up growing. I don't need a statistic to tell you that the more you got, the more you argue because the more it stresses people.

So this is not really just about money; this is about me hoping to help everyone in our church and in our community to be able to have a better family life. I don't know about you, but I believe the church is in the business of making stable families. Anyone with me on that one?

All right, so even if you don't need some of this, I hope and pray you will think of someone in your life that does—a family that you know that could use these resources to help them be more stable in their life.

This is how we help the people in our community because somebody that you know, if it's not you, is stressing in their life about how to pay bills, and we can equip our community to be better rooted.

So I want to sum up what we've been talking about and give you the five major things to take away from all the stuff we've said and hopefully bring that to someone else. If you want to hear more about the class itself, which goes in depth, that's what we're doing after service.

But here's the first thing, and that's this: you've got to get on a budget. If you don't, I'm going to be honest, there are times in my life I'm really good about tracking my budget, and other times I am not. The one thing that's horrible in our house is neither AJ nor I are budget people. You need one in your family, and neither of us are.

Okay, I do it; I just hate doing it. I would rather just live my whole life not spending any money than tracking it. There's just like this anxiety of watching how much money has gone out.

But the reality is that if we don't tell our money where to go, it's going to leave anyway, and we're going to have no idea what happened to it. You're going to get to the end of the year, and the tax season, and you look at how much you made last year, and you be like, "Huh, I made that much. I wonder where it all went."

This is back to that biblical principle. Luke 14 tells us this: "Don't begin until you've counted the cost, for who would begin construction of a building without first calculating the cost to see if there is enough money to finish it?"

That sounds a little bit like estimating the cost of building the budget, doesn't it?

"Otherwise, you might complete only the foundation before running out of money, and then everyone would laugh at you."

I don't know about you, but I am really good at saying, "Oh, I think this will only cost me this amount," and then it cost me like three times the amount. Has anyone done that? Maybe going on vacation?

Yeah, I'm really bad about that on vacation—about underestimating how much vacation is going to cost me. I try, but I forget sometimes about the gas, and I underestimate how much food we're going to eat. We love our food.

This is that piece that throughout life, it's just there. If you're one of those that, like me, just tend to try not to spend money, it just gives you a freedom because you can say, "Oh, look, I've got all of this vacation money that I started saving, and I haven't spent."

We get to go on a vacation and not feel guilty about it because it's there. We're okay.

So there is this unstated freedom in where you have the money that's there. We actually budget for pizza night in our house.

That may seem strange to some people, but we have pizza night every Friday night. When I'm trying to keep my budget slim, I buy frozen pizzas at Walmart. Maybe we only get to splurge on ordering from the pizza company once a month, but if I have a little more room in my budget, we may get to eat from Domino's or Pizza Hut or wherever we get order from.

We may get to eat there a couple more times, but if I budget for how much I'm going to spend on pizza, then I know how much I have to spend on pizza 'cause that's part of who we are.

Now, the next piece in this is that we have to get out of debt and stay out. Friends, it's everywhere. It's everywhere. The cell phone company puts payments on your cell phones. We end up on our cars now. Mortgages—they are what we are.

But this eventually, you know, you hope to have your house paid off. Anybody want to go into retirement with no house payment? Yes, it's a dream. But there's this feeling when you get it paid off that you're like, "I don't want to go back."

I don't want to go back. The most amazing thing in the world when we started paying off student loans was every time we got the letter in the mail, "This loan is paid off." We're like, "Yes!" That was only a $500 loan, but yes, we did it. It's done.

Then we'd go to the next one, and we're like, "That one's done! Yes!" And that was done. Yes! We all made a stack. We kept those papers 'cause we're like, "We did it!"

It was that motivation that we could do it. We have friends that we went to college with that are still working on their loans, but once you finish, you don't want to ever be back in that place.

Again, we talked about this a couple of different times because scripture never talks about it positively. The verse we've used over and over, Proverbs 22, tells us that we become trapped by those we borrow money from, just as a rich ruler is the powerful one; then the borrower is the servant to the lender.

The King James and some of the others use the word "slave." But when our money doesn't belong to us, it belongs to someone else, we don't ever have control.

So then that next thing there is that we want to build quality relationships. Now, this is probably the thing that I'll just admit I'm not as good at. This is face-telling it all today, friends. Okay? I am not as good about finding people in my life that are in the same financial goals as me because when you have people that are trying to live financially the same way as you, it gives you motivation.

Now, when I was in seminary, we were all broke. All the seminary students—nobody had a lot of money 'cause we were all absorbed by seminary. So it was okay. You know, when we had Christmas parties, it was bring a $5 gift or make something. We brought a whole lot of homemade things to our Christmas parties because nobody had any money.

But as you get out of that, it's a lot harder to find people who are in the same goals as you. But there's a foundation to that because if you're only surrounded by people who are trying to keep up with the Joneses, when you're not trying to be like the Joneses, you're just trying to be you.

We don't have any Joneses in the church, do we? I didn't think so. I thought I chose an okay name. All right, then you don't have anyone to support you in the journey, and that's important.

But it's important in everything in life, right? We need Christian friends that are in the same goals and values as us so that we can be rooted as we also work with people who don't have the same values as us.

We can't only have Christian friends; we can't only have non-Christian friends. We need a balance of both. This is rooted with us from First Corinthians 15, which tells us that we can't be fooled by those who say things like, "Bad company corrupts good character," meaning if we're around people who have the opposite of us, they can corrupt our good goals and natures.

So one more goal in this then is that we got to save and invest our money. I don't know about y'all, but there's always something that's going to go wrong. I got to have a rainy day fund, friends, 'cause I'm not a bad luck person, but it's going to rain eventually, and I won't be prepared for it.

You know, I told y'all about my Dave Ramsey truck. I was always prepared for something to break, and I'm glad that I was because I had the money when it did break. Your tires are eventually going to go out, and you need new tires. You're eventually going to have to replace your refrigerator. Oil changes always come around. Washer and dryer—you’re going to have to go to the dentist and get a filling eventually unless you have perfect teeth. If so, I want your DNA.

We need to exchange. All right? So there's always something. I have a phrase I use a lot: if you have a plan against Murphy, Murphy's not going to show up. I mean that 99% of the time, it's true. If you prepare for something to go wrong, usually it's the insurance that it doesn't happen.

But you got to be ready for something to go wrong. If you save enough for the rainy day, for the emergency, then the emergency is not an emergency, and you can build that up enough that then you can start investing the money.

So then the emergency is never really an emergency ever because you're prepared. My heart breaks, friends, every time our government shuts down at budget season, and I go on Facebook, and my fellow military are in a panic because they're not getting paid.

Now, many of you know that I'm a military family, which means we don't get paid either, but we got money in the bank. We're not in a panic. Now, does that mean I'm happy? No, I'm not happy that our paycheck has been disrupted, but I'm not in a panic because I got money in the bank.

I got my rainy day fund, my Murphy's Law insurance. I'm prepared for something to go wrong, and I can handle it. Eventually, they're going to catch the paycheck up. I'm going to get it eventually, right?

But I watch online as so many of our military don't have anything prepared, so when their paycheck is late, they don't know what to do. I read in our community the comments going, "We're not getting paid. What are we going to do?" My heart just breaks.

Scripture tells us that we should not spend everything; we should save. This is the fourth thing to hold on to. In Proverbs, it says that the wise have wealth, but the fools spend everything.

Now, you don't have to raise your hand, but let's be honest: some of us have been foolish, right? I didn't use that word; scripture did. I've been there.

But this is the fourth piece for us to take away. And then the fifth piece is for us to remember that if we're going to take the joy from our money, our joy doesn't come from what we buy. It doesn't come from the trips we take; it comes from the joy of giving.

We talked about that last week. The scripture tells us that we should be joyful givers. That comes out of 2 Corinthians, which tells us that each of us should decide in our heart how much to give, but that God loves a person who gives cheerfully. Amen.

There is something about working towards fully giving to God. It's just a powerful thing when we put God at the top of everything in our life.

Now, as we end this, I just want to point this out because we've been talking about taking faithful steps. If you take Dave's class, he talks a lot about putting God at the top. But I just wanted to share so that you know if you've never thought about the idea of tithing before, we have a thing where you can try it, and you can actually do it risk-free.

Has anyone ever heard of a risk-free guarantee? I know that like there's a—you do those online, but it's a lot of work, right? So if you ever want to consider trying it without having to be afraid of the money you're losing, you can go on the website, and we have a thing where you can actually do it risk-free.

The reason for that is because, Abiel, give me that scripture out of Malachi. In the Book of Malachi, Jesus—God actually says that we should test Him when it comes to giving to Him. It's the only time in scripture that He says that.

He says, "Bring all the tithes to the storehouse, and there will be enough food in my temple. If you do, the Lord says, I will open the windows of Heaven for you. I will pour out a blessing so great you won't have enough room. Try it and put me to the test."

So if you want to try this, if you want to put God to the test, come talk to me, and I'll help you figure out how to do that.

That's about all I wanted to put on that because I don't want anyone to feel pressured. That's not the intention of the series. But if you want to learn more about the class, then come hang out after service.

But today, my hope and prayer is that we, as a church, equip each other to have families that are stable on the money side so that we can be stable on the relationship side and better equip our communities.

Would you pray with me?

Almighty God, I'm so thankful for all that you give us and that together we can be able to do the work that you have. Show us in this day what it is you want us to do so that we may love and honor you.

I pray this in your holy name. Amen.

As we come to the table this morning, I encourage you to help us as brothers and sisters in anything that you maybe have on your heart that is between you and God, that you go ahead and lay it at His feet. If there's something that's on your heart that you need to share with another, then do that as well.

But this is our space to be together. The only requirement is that we make a confession together. So, Abby, you should have a slide for communion and confession. If you want to pull that up, if y'all would join me now as we can 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 impatient in worship and insincere with our dealings with others. We have ignored the signs of injustice 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.

Almighty Father, we ask that you hear the confessions in our hearts and you receive them as we join together in a word of forgiveness.

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

As Jesus sat with his disciples, he took the bread and he broke it. He said, "This is my body given for you." He also took a cup, and he said, "This is the blood of the New Covenant poured for all people. Drink as you eat in remembrance of me."

Almighty God, we ask that you send your spirit upon this bread and juice and turn it into your acts of grace and upon us here that you forgive our sins, that we may go from this place as your witnesses in the world.

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

I invite my servers to come forward. As they come, a word of instruction: you'll receive a small piece of bread and dip it into the juice. If you prefer your communion not be touched, we do have prepackaged communion and gluten-free here in the center.

Those online, we hope that you'll take something from your house so that you can take communion with us. We'll invite everyone forward in just a moment.