I just sensed that when you sing that song, chains are broken. Someone was standing and your words were, "But my chain is not broken." You came today, not by accident. And I wouldn't even plan on doing this, so this is for you. Personally for you. God wants to break those chains. It may be chains of unforgiveness. It may be chains of depression. It may be chains of sickness. For whatever it is. But I really believe that the Lord wants to set you free today.
I mean, I can hear the sound. Can you hear the sound? I can hear the sound of those chains dropping onto a floor and just making that noise. I don't know who you are. There may be more than one. May not even be anybody in this service. Maybe somebody watching online. But if that resonates with you, if you say, "Yeah, Terry, that's me. I feel those heavy chains. I just, man, I just, I would just like to be free today." If that's you, I'd like for you to raise your hands so I can see you wherever you are. Just raise your hand.
Okay. All right. Thank you. Others today. Hands going up. Just keep them up. Just keep them up so I can see. See. All right. Several hands. Several hands. Here's what we're going to do. Just sing just a little bit of that and then we're going to pray. I just, I just, I just want to hear that song. So raise your hands again. I want to see you and I want to pray. I want to declare this prayer right now over you.
Church, would you agree with me in prayer? There's hands. If somebody's close to you, their hand is up, just lay your hand on their shoulder real quick. You don't have to talk to them. Just lay your hand. In the name of Jesus, I command those chains to be broken off of you. Because of the resurrection, there came life into that dead body and that life is flowing today into you. I command those chains right now. I command that addiction to be broken in the name of Jesus. I command those chains to be broken right now in the name of the Lord.
Church, release your faith right now. Those of you that have your hands up, raise your other hand. Receive that right now. Let the Lord touch you right now. In the name of Jesus, be free. That chain cannot hold you. It has no power. It's like that little rope around an elephant's leg when it's small. And then when it gets big, that rope is still there and he thinks he can't break. Try and move. You're right. Try and move in the Spirit. Try and move in the Spirit. And that chain is no longer there. It's broken in the name of Jesus. In the name of Jesus, it's broken.
Now let's sing some more of that song and let's lift it up like we mean it because that chain is broken today in the name of Jesus. And we declare that in His name. If you believe that, give Him a hand clap and give Him a yay God and let's sing this like we've never sung it before.
Thank you. Wonderful man, what great worship today, huh? I love our praise and worship team. Yeah, give them a hand. Great man, it's good to see you. Look at the person sitting beside you and tell them, "Man, you look good today." Lady, you look good today. Do the other person so they don't feel neglected, all right? We don't want them to feel neglected.
Hey, we got some royalty in the house today. First of all, we have a recent graduate of boot camp, our friend Dorian. Dorian, would you stand? Man, we're proud of you, Dorian. Yeah, wow! Get around.
And other good news, Pastor Melissa's book, "Not Beyond Hope," is released now on Amazon. It is a number one new release, and I encourage you to go this afternoon and search for that book, buy several copies, and do a review and just make a big, big difference in their life.
Also, we have a new way for those of us that are really techy to take notes. In fact, if you take your phone out, I'll kind of help you and walk you through this. If you go to the YouVersion, like we always do, and if you will scroll down, you'll see a little thing there that says "More." Hit that, and then you see "Events," and then you pull up The Father's House, and the notes will be right there. You can take digital notes, you can save them, you can share them, you can keep them, and that's the way of the future. So if you snooze, you lose, so get going on that. It's going to be good.
All right, thanks for putting that together, Steven. And also, we have royalty in the house. In fact, I'm going to surprise them. I'd like Coach and the girls from the Wildwood basketball team to join me up here. Would you come on, join me up here?
Wow! Now, you weren't expecting this, but man, we are proud of you girls. Wow! And only one senior. One senior. So that means they come back. And I understand in times past here—this is a mic for you—I understand in times past they've had to drive back and forth, but because of last week, we were able to bless them as a church. What was the difference?
Performance. Amen. Amen. Well, listen, we're proud of you. We're proud of you girls. Wow! And we just really thank God for you. And we know that many times you feel, maybe why would high school is not funded the way that it should. We hope some of that changes in the future, but man, we love you and we thank you. And what can we pray for you about?
Awesome. Yes. Well, listen, we're here for you, Coach. Yes, sir. You have a need? We want to help meet that if we can. Okay? Yes. God bless you. Thank you for coming today. Thank you.
Love it. Love it. Let's pray. God, we love you today. Thank you for this day. Thank you for our team that led us in some of the sweetest worship. Thank you, Lord, for everyone that's here today. And I pray, Lord, as we enter in this new series that you would help me to say exactly what you want me to say. Don't let me say anything I shouldn't say. And God, at the end of today, may you be glorified. That's the most important thing. May your saints be edified, encouraged, and may the devil be terrified in the name of Jesus.
Well, we're in a new series called "Leaving a Legacy." It's March. Can you believe that? At the end of this month, the last Sunday of this month, please plan on coming. It's going to be an unbelievable anniversary service—29 years The Father's House has been here in Leesburg. 29 years! Pastor Kevin and Melissa will be with us again, and maybe some other friends. Who knows? It's going to be one awesome time.
So we're talking about legacy. Everybody has one. Everybody has one. Look at your neighbor and say, "You have a legacy." But I guess sometimes people say, "Well, what is the legacy? I know I have a legacy, but what is it?" Well, let me give you some definitions I ran across. Some said, "Here's a personal definition of legacy: it's the lasting impact of a person's life, including their character, influence, and contribution to others."
That's good. Spiritual legacy: the faith, wisdom, and godly example passed on to future generations. And then there's a leadership legacy: the influence and lasting change a leader leaves in an organization and/or a community. And I didn't want to be outdone, so I did the PT definition of legacy, all right? You can shoot a picture of it or probably in Webster's dictionary next time. It's a lasting impact of a believer's faith, character, and service passed down through generations.
Say "generations." How's it passed down? By living out God's truth, demonstrating Christ's love, and using their wealth to invest in things that outlive them—all for the glory of God. Small thing: twenty-five hundred dollars given to the Wildwood girls' basketball team. But I promise you one thing: that little piece of legacy will outlive. For some of us, it'll be the example of a church that cares about something in the community. We at The Father's House are not only nationally and globally inspired by missions, but we love our missions of our local community because we want to make a difference in our life. How about that? If you believe that, give the Lord a hand.
Imagine you're attending a funeral service and you see the people pass by the casket. They're looking in, some shaking their heads, some smiling, and they pass on by. After a while, the minister gets up, comes to the stage, and he asks people to stand because the family's coming in to honor the family. The family comes in, and then all of a sudden, to your amazement and to your shock, you realize you're attending your own funeral.
Then the pastor reads a eulogy. Maybe he just makes generic comments because there's really not a whole lot to say other than they lived, they died. And then he said, "Now would the family like to say something or the friends?" And you pause. What would they say? In one way, it's kind of exciting for some of us who've passed down a legacy that we're proud of. But another way, it could be frightening for some of us because we would say, "The way that I'm living my life right now, I'm not giving my family or friends much to talk about."
Every person has something that they leave behind, but also something they take with them. But here's what I know—it's in your notes there—the challenge is to leave more than we take. Say "leave more." Leave more than we take. It's to be a plus, not a minus.
So you say, "Okay, we're going to build a legacy. We're going to leave a legacy. How do we do that?" Number one, we have to build a legacy of faith. Say "build a legacy of faith." Say it! That's not done in the moment. You don't just come up and say, "Lay hands on me because I want to be sure I leave a good legacy," and then you go on and you squander your life. It doesn't happen that way. But it's over a lifetime of daily obedience, intentional discipleship, and an unwavering trust in God.
That means, first of all, that you're going to live a life of genuine faith. Say "genuine." What does genuine faith mean? It means it's real and it's evident. Your faith is not hypocrisy. It's not put on, make-believe. It's not something you just wear on Sunday, but it's your life. It's your life. You live it not just about church, but every day. Paul said—this is daring, right?—1 Corinthians 11:1, "Be imitators of me as I am of Christ."
How many of us could say to our children and to our friends, "Hey, follow me. Follow my path. Do what I do because I'm an example because I'm following Christ"? Wow! We need to live a genuine faith.
Second of all, we need to prioritize God's word and prayer. God's word and prayer. The verse is there in your notes in Deuteronomy 6:6-7. "These commandments I give to you today to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home, when you walk along the road, when you lie down, when you get up, when you're driving to Brownwood, when you're going to Disney, when you're going to the Millennial Mall, when you're going to McDonald's, wherever you're going. Talk about it. Talk about it in the car. Talk about scripture with your wife or your family. Talk about it around the table. Have everybody turn off their cell phones, turn off the TV. Use a meal time around the table and talk about God. Talk about scripture. What did you learn today? What scripture came to mind today? What stands out? Hey, let's review one scripture from the sermon on that Terry taught on Sunday."
So we need to model what it means that the word is number one in our life. And then we need to serve and love God and live a life of purpose. Jesus said, "Whoever wants to be great among you must be your servant." Use your gifts. Volunteer somewhere. Where are you serving here? Where do you make a difference with your life? Around here we say, "Serve one, attend one." I think maybe sometimes we say, "Serve one, worship one." In other words, both services are important. That gives you—so where are you? Where did you serve in the first service, or did you just show up? Is that your pattern every week? There's nowhere where you serve? No! Serve one, worship one. Maybe it's a first service, maybe it's a second, but you understand what I'm saying. That's how we leave a legacy.
In other words, you come to church, you want respect, you want somebody to look up to you and to love you, but yet you don't participate. You don't volunteer. You don't show up. You don't be in the midst of everything that's going on. You want to be isolated. You want to be alone. But yet you want this level. And God is saying today, that level comes when you step down from where you are and you serve and you love and you live your life in such a way people point at you and say, "I'd like to act like you."
What if this week, the way you lived your life, have you lived your life in such a way that your family and your friends would point to you and say, "You know what? How you handled situations this week, how you showed up, how you live. I want that in my life. I want that." I'm just asking a question for all of us. I mean, when I talk to you about this, I'm talking to myself. How am I doing? Am I leaving a legacy?
So stop right now. Take out your notes and take out your pen. And under that number one where it says "build a legacy of faith," I want you to just go ahead right now. Would you do that? Just take out your pen. Just follow along with me and just write down the numbers: one, two, three. Would you do that? Just take your pen.
Okay. Your notes. All right. Just write down number one, number two, number three. And then I'd like for you to think about your life right now. Who are three people that have invested in your life that has made a difference? That has made you who you are? Would you write their names down?
Yeah, I want to take time to write that name. Yeah. I've got to write her name down. I wouldn't be who I am without her prayers. Yeah, I need to write that name. And I could think of so many others.
But here's what I'd like you to do with those three names. Now, some of them may no longer be alive. But here's what I'd like for you to do. I'd like for you to write a note. Send a text. Send an email. Maybe a phone call. And just say to that person, "Pastor talked about leaving a legacy today. And I've got to be honest and say, you are someone in my life that invested in me and helped me to be who I am." And if they're no longer alive, you just write the note. You just put it somewhere or throw it away. But they invested in you.
Now, the second question is, who are you investing in? Who are you taking time to call, to text, to encourage? Maybe you see them at church. Pull them aside. Give them a hug. Ask them, "How's your week going? Is there anything I can help you with?"
No. What's up? You say, "Well, that's just a small thing." But I'm going to tell you, there are times in my life when in the midst of some of the darkest times, someone has come along, put their arm around my shoulder, said, "Hey, big man, how are you doing?" Oh, fine. Isn't that what we say? Oh, fine. No, no. How are you really doing?
And when I break down and say, "You know what? I'm struggling in this area." And they look at me and say, "Look at me in the eyes. You're going to make it, Terry. You're going to come through this. You're going to learn from this."
I'm going to tell you, I stand here today on the shoulders of many men and women who have invested in my life. And so you know what I'm doing with the rest of my life? The rest of my life is I'm going to pour my life into other people to encourage them, to help them to become all that they can be. We're building a life, a legacy, honoring God.
Number two, we have to move from Thanksgiving to thanksgiftings. Say "thanksgifting." That may be a new name, a word. It may not even be a real word, Andrea, so you might have to write that one down. But because we're thankful, we want to give to God. The Bible calls it a thank offering, a thank offering.
I'm just offering something to you as thanks. David said in Psalm 50, "Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving." In other words, do a sacrifice, thank offering, and perform your vows—underline that word "vows"—to the Most High. The word "vow" there, I think, wonder if David is talking about sometime he was in a pinch. And he said, "God, if you'll get me out of this, if you'll bring me through this, then I'll serve you with all of my heart. I'll fulfill."
And so he said, "I'm going to fulfill my vows." I wonder. I'm just sort of following that by the look I see some of you on your face. I wonder what that vow is that you made to God. "God, if you'll get me out of this, I promise I'll be in church Sunday. God, if you'll help me to pay this bill, I promise you, I'll start tithing. God, the lights are flashing behind. Oh, God. If you just let them give me a warning. Or let it be Lieutenant Travis, somebody that I know. I promise, I promise I won't speed more than five miles over the limit."
So then I wonder how many times God has to come to us and say, "Timothy, I kept my part of the deal. Did you keep your vow?" That's a thank offering. Over and above anything, I'm just giving him thanksgiving.
Leviticus 22:29 says, "When, not if, you sacrifice the thanksgiving offering to God, do it right." In other words, with the right attitude so it can be acceptable. So here's what I need to do. It's in your notes there. Recognize how God has blessed you. Acknowledge His provision.
Recognize how God has blessed you. Have you sat down lately and just took time to just thank God? Just thank God for your life? Anita and I do this often in our prayer time. I just start running through the list. Thank you, God. First of all, you saved me when I was just a kid. Thank you. You filled me with the Holy Spirit. Thank you. You called me to preach. Thank you, Lord, for my beautiful, wonderful wife. Man, she gets more beautiful every day, Lord. I just thank you. More cantankerous, but more beautiful every day. Sorry, sorry. Not really. She's sweet and wonderful to me. I speak that by faith.
I'm in deep yogurt. Please, somebody come and help me. But I thank God for her. I thank God for my kids, my grandkids, all five of them. I thank God for you. I thank God for what He's doing. I thank God for the other pastors that I am in a relationship with and pray for them.
Then I just get carnal. I say, "Lord, I thank you for my motorcycle. I thank you for Anita's motorcycle. I thank you for my truck. I thank you for my house. I thank you, Lord, for our cabin in the mountains. I thank you, Lord, that my knee works good. Dr. Mitchell did a great job. Look at that bend."
I just thank God for health. I thank God that I know that I'm serving Him with all my heart. And when I just do that, things change, Michael. They just change. And you want to have a heart of thanksgiving to God. So I recognize how God has blessed me.
And then I want to shift from being a consumer to a giver. Say "giver." Giver. A great example of that was Andrew Carnegie, who lived at the turn of the century. At his particular time when he died, I think in 1900, he was the wealthiest man of his day. Andrew Carnegie, who was famous for the Carnegie Steel Company, he said, "Here's a quote: I will spend the first half of my life making money, and I will spend the second half of my life giving it all away." And he did. Started over 2,500 public libraries worldwide. He gave away 90% of his income. He gave to churches, universities, research institutions, public projects. His life teaches us that success is not in what we gain, but success is what we give away.
Number three, invest in what lasts for eternity. Say "eternity." So I go to Publix and I shop. I'm the shopper in our house. Anita tells me what to get, and I go shopping. I learned through my daughter, Kelly, that everything has an expiration date. When she comes to our house, Brenda, she goes through the refrigerator. She goes through the cabinet and she looks at the expiration date. And she says, "Dad, this expired two years ago." I said, "But it's not opened." So it can expire. That's a suggested thing. And as she throws it away, she said, "It's not a suggested thing. It's an expiration date, and you're not drinking it. You're not eating it. You're not consuming it." She throws it away.
And I go get it out of the garbage later and put it back in there. But it has an expiration date. And the same thing is with the things that we love and enjoy.
When you came in today, you received four dots that look something like this, right? Hold up your dots if you got dots today. Everybody get dots? I'd like for you to—this is homework for you. I'd like for you to take these home and the things that you love so much. I know, Brenda, it'd be hard to stick this on Mickey, but anyway.
Things that you really love. Like, for instance, man, I love my truck. I got a GMC truck. It's loaded. It's got everything I'd ever want, except like Sean's car. Sean's Jeep has got back massagers. Man, that's so nice. I just think that's what I need, but I don't have it. But I thank God for my truck. I got everything I want on that. Bought it brand new. I got Hercules tires. I got oversized wheels, custom wheels. I got a Harley Davidson logo in the middle of that. Man, I love it. I got heated seats. I got cooling seats. I got a heated grip on the steering wheel. I love that truck.
I just—can I tell you how much I love that truck? In fact, I walk in the driveway and I look at that truck and I think, "I love that truck." And I love that truck. And I love that truck. And I love that truck. And I love that truck. And I love that truck. And I love that truck. And I love that truck. And I love that truck. And I love that truck. And I love that truck. And I love that truck. And I love that truck. And I love that truck. And I love that truck. And I love that truck. And I love that truck. And I love that truck. And I love that truck.
Thank you, God, for that truck. I love that truck. I just really do. But do you know what I'm going to do today? I'm going to take a red sticker. I'm going to open the car door before I leave today. And there was the VIN number and all that stuff. I'm going to stick a red dot there. That red dot says to me, "This truck's going to burn up. This truck's not going to last for eternity."
Everything in this world is going to burn up. So let me talk to some of you ladies who have a shoe collection. I don't know whether it's Burberry, red sole shoes. I think that's what they call them, red sole shoes. Red bottom shoes. There we go. Want to get it right? Whatever it is. Well, you love those shoes. Some of you said, "Woo, these shoes are on fire." You got that right. They're going to burn up one of these days.
So what I'd like you to do, the pair that you love the most, take one of these red dots, just put it on the inside where nobody can see it except you can only see it when you put the shoe on. And that reminds you, that shoe's not going to last. I invested in this shoe, but the investment in this shoe is not going to last.
And let me talk to some of you men. You got golf clubs. You got golf clubs. You got golf clubs. You got golf clubs. You got golf clubs. And I know some of you ladies too. Anita's got golf clubs better than mine because she plays better than me. That's an open confession. Feel sorry for me.
But I love that. You're my favorite person today. Take a red sticker, Steve. Put that somewhere on your golf bag. When you look at that bag, just remind yourself, "I invested in this, but it's not going to last for eternity." And talk about purses. I found out this week that there are purse dealerships, and some of the purses in the dealership is the price of a car.
So I don't know what the purse is. I'm not going to say some of the names I said in the first service. What I'd like you to do is just take a red dot, put it inside that purse somewhere. Just simply saying, "I love this purse. I'm glad I got this purse, but this purse is not going to last forever."
Here's what I know. The only thing that lasts forever, first of all, is our relationship with God. And second of all, is what we do with what God gave us. One of these days, I'm going to stand before Him, and He's going to ask me two questions. "What did you do with my Son that I sent to die for your sins?" And second of all, He's going to say, "And what did you do with the wealth that I gave you? Did you help build my kingdom? Or did you just keep fattening your own kingdom?"
Scripture says this. Look at this. This is Matthew chapter six. Jesus said—it's in red—"Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on this earth," right? Put the red dot on it. "Where moth comes, rust destroys, and thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourself treasures in heaven." Heaven! "Where moth and rust do not destroy, where thieves do not break in and steal."
Read the last sentence with me. "For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." Here's a word that I'd like to give you from the Lord. The very next verse, "Tell those that are rich to be rich in good works." Works. "And generous to those in need, always ready to share with others. By doing this, they're storing up their treasure as a good foundation for the future that they may experience true life."
I don't understand this concept. I do not understand the concept that over and over Jesus says that as I give to the kingdom, as I tithe, as I give offerings, as I serve, I'm building up finances in heaven so that when I get to that—remember, it's a new heaven and a new earth. It's going to be an earth just like this. I believe if it's going to be an earth like this, there's going to be stores, there's going to be restaurants, there's going to be golf courses, there's going to be things. You're going to continue to do what you do. If you're a teacher, if you're a builder, if you're a contractor, whatever you're doing, I think He'll give a new occupation to doctors. You'll be helping people in a different way. I don't know, but that's the new heaven and the new earth.
But He says, "Listen, I want you to store up riches. I want you to store up wealth ahead of you so when you get there that you don't say, 'Dang, man, I wish I'd have sent something on ahead. I wish I hadn't spent everything on myself. I wish I hadn't hoarded it all in a retirement.' And then after you retire, you don't even enjoy that. I wish I'd have sent something ahead of me."
Guess what? Since I've been a kid, I've been sending it up, sending it up, sending it up. And I know some of you have because there are riches that are waiting for you in heaven. J.W. Jowett said this: "The real measure of your wealth is how much we would be worth if we lost all our money."
Number four, grow your legacy impact through generous giving. Say "generous giving." Proverbs 11:24 says, "The world of the generous gets larger and larger, but the world of the stingy gets smaller and smaller."
So what do you say? Well, let's give spontaneously. When you see a need, you meet it. Like Luke chapter 10, the Good Samaritan, he saw a need and he met it. I was walking down the street in a major city not long ago with some friends when we passed by someone that was held a sign. I think it said a homeless vet. And we walked on by, as most of us walk on by, thinking like, "Well, if I give, they just use it for the wrong way."
But my friend walked on by, and the Lord spoke to him, and he reached in his wallet and he took out money, knowing him, it was probably a hundred-dollar bill. And he went back and he gave it to the vet. I didn't say anything to him, but I marked it down in my mind. That's giving spontaneously. That's seeing a need and meeting a need.
Anita and I carry what we call "God money" in our wallet, in our purse. And it's money so that when God just spontaneously shows us a need, that we're able to help someone at the gas station, at the grocery store, able to just spontaneously meet a need.
Second of all, give strategically. Plan in advance. Automate your tithe so you don't forget it. And when you get an increase, change it. All right? Isaiah 32:8 says, "Be generous. People plan to do what is generous, and they'll stand firm in their generosity."
And thirdly, give sacrificially. Sacrificially means you stretch out of your comfort zone. You give. You give. You don't give what's comfortable. You give what's uncomfortable. Jesus is standing one day beside the place where they're giving offerings. And here's what it says in Mark chapter 12, verse 41: "Sitting across from the offering box." How would you like Jesus to be sitting right beside you when you place your offering in or when you did your automated giving this week?
"Sitting across from the offering box, He was observing how the crowd just tossed money in for the collection. For the collection. Many of the rich were making large contributions. One poor widow came up, and she had two small coins, a measly two cents. Jesus called His disciples over. He said, 'The truth is this poor widow gave more to the collection than all the others put together. All the others gave what they'll never miss. She gave extravagantly what she couldn't afford. She gave her all.'"
Now, don't you imagine it would have been easy for her to say, "Well, two cents is not going to make much difference. I should maybe keep this for an emergency this week. Maybe I should just keep it. And I know God will understand. I'll just keep it." But no, she gave extravagantly.
So when we, in this season of our annual legacy offering, there's a green envelope in front of the chair in front of you. Would you just sort of pull that out if you haven't done so? I love what Pastor Tim said last week and Brenda about taking the green envelope home, putting it on the refrigerator. They've been praying about it. What is it, God, that you want me to give?
Our legacy offering, for those of you that are new, is a one-time-a-year extravagant sacrificial giving that we give to The Father's House for two areas, two lanes. Lane number one is missions—for the 25-something mission organizations that we sponsor yearly and weekly, from national organizations, international organizations, to local ministries. We give that.
Second of all, is for improvements on this property because we want this property to last for the next generation. The seats you're sitting in and the other seats that we had originally in this, people sacrifice and gave. And you're sitting on the legacy of someone who came before you and gave.
So our goal—I have to say, our goal when we started was $250,000 because last year we raised $200,000. And so I thought, "Well, that's a good goal. It's more. It's safe." I've never been rebuked by the Lord more than after I made that statement. But the Lord said to me, "Terry, I mean, we've been together for a long time. $50,000 more than last year, and you got a whole lot more big givers. What's wrong with you, son?"
I said, "Yes, sir. You're right." And He dropped a number in my heart that when I said it, it scared the bejesus out of me. So I thought, "There's just no way." He said, "Yeah, there's no way without my help." But I felt like He dropped the number of a half a million dollars in this legacy offering for this year—$500,000.
As you say, "Well, that sounds really big. How's that going to happen?" It happens by all of us giving a significant part of our income in this one-time-a-year extravagant giving. What I find, and I look every year at the giving and I send out a thank you for what you give, I'm amazed at how many single moms give thousands of dollars. They give more than some businessmen and women that are very successful. And I look at that and I say, "What a shame." They give more than some church people who don't even give.
But you see, it's all of us. It's not equal gifts, but it's equal sacrifice. Now, for those of you that get offended when a church talks about money, I'd just like for you to look up the bloodstained cross of Jesus Christ who gave His all for you. And I just ask you, why can't you give anything to Him?
Let me show you a pyramid. On this pyramid, at the very bottom, we all fit in here somewhere. At the very bottom of this pyramid is some of you who've never given. Thank you very much. You've come to church. You love this church, but you've never once given. You've never once considered giving to this church. Our giving is very open. Every year we publish a report of what we give, how we give. We put that outside for anybody that wants it.
And it's amazing how many people say, "Well, I don't want to give it to the church. I don't know what they do with their money." I don't know that. Look, you don't know what Chick-fil-A does with their money either when you spend—you go there. All right? I don't know where we get that. And nobody comes up to you as a successful businessman or woman and said, "I'm not going to invest. I'm not going to use you because I don't know what you do with the money."
Look, we have a board that takes care of that. I don't even—I don't set my salary. I don't set—I need a salary. Our board, the director, sets that salary in line with everything else. So it's not—I'm not going to get more because of this legacy offering, but I want more for you.
The action point is you—we need to start somewhere. Start somewhere. Take one of those envelopes, fill it out, make it, and drop it in one of our drop boxes as you leave today.
Second of all, there's a section there when people give sporadically. That just means occasionally. If you're moved on something, you give. The average American Christian only gives 2.5% of their income to church. The tithe is 10%. You say, "Well, tithe is law." No, it's not. It goes back pre-law some 500 years with Melchizedek. And when the man of God came after a great victory, he willingly gave 10% back then.
And somehow God came along and said, "Bring the tithe." You don't give the tithe because you can't give something that doesn't belong to you. The tithe doesn't belong to me. It belongs to God, and you give the tithe. The action point is start giving regularly.
And then there are those who tithe every week, regularly, monthly. Some of you get a salary once a year as you're retired, and you bring it. It's the Lord's money. You see, to me, tithing was never—it's not a difficult thing. I was raised in a family where my parents taught me a biblical principle of tithing. How many of you were raised in a home and you were taught? Thank God for that legacy. Some of you are not, and so tithing has been new for you. It's been strange for you. It's been hard.
I remember as a kid, I remember as early as five or six years old, maybe getting some money or something, and my dad would say, "Okay, now for every dollar you got, ten percent belongs to God. You don't want to take God's money, do you?" Oh, no, I don't want to steal from God. You can imagine a five-year-old. So I put it in the jar on Sundays. I'd probably take that and I'd probably drop it in. It was just something I did.
So when it became just not a dollar and it became hundreds and it became thousands, and when I was 21 working construction, pulling in five thousand dollars a month—I mean a week—how much would that be right now, Ray? Five thousand dollars a week back then? You know, when I'm ancient, that'd be a lot of money today. But I proudly wrote that check. The first thing I did. Why? Because it's just normal because it belonged to God.
I don't give a tithe. I bring the tithe. He said, "Bring the tithe in the storehouse." You say, "Yeah, but everything—but in the New Testament, He says, you know, it all belongs to Him." Yes, but He said you ought to tithe. But don't forget the other things.
So I'm just saying, look, let's get over that. Let's start just saying, "You know what? I'm going to be a faithful, consistent tither. I'm going to do it automatically." So if I miss church, it's all taken care of. And above the tithe is an offering, and that's what this legacy offering is all about.
And I'm praying, and I ask you to pray about this, what God would have you to give. A little girl was—every night she would pray with her daddy. And one night her daddy came in, and he noticed she had a new little pearl necklace on. He said, "Sweetheart, where'd you get that?" She said, "Oh, we were at the drugstore, and I saw this."
And you know, it was not real. It's a fake one. She just loved it. And she asked her mommy, "Mommy, can I have that?" She said, "No, you can't have it. But you can earn some money, and you can buy it." That's a novel idea for I teach our kids, right? I'm not going down that lane, but I sure could have.
But I'm about out of time, so I better quit. So the second night he came in, he said, "Darling, you're wearing your necklace." "Yeah, daddy, I love it. It's my favorite." And he said, "Would you give daddy your necklace?" She said, "Daddy, why would you ask?" "No, this is my favorite."
So they prayed. Second night they came in, her dad said to her, "Why are you still wearing your necklace?" "Yeah, daddy, it's my favorite. I love it." "Would you give that necklace to your dad?" "Would you? Why would you ask me to do that? This is my favorite."
Third night he came in, he said, "Oh, you still got that beautiful necklace. How about would you give that to me?" Tears rolled up in her eyes. "Daddy, how can you ask me to give what I love?" That's fine. Let's pray.
Fourth night, fourth night when they came in to pray, the little girl looked at her dad and said, "Dad, before we pray," she reached up, she took the necklace off. With tears in her eyes, she said, "Daddy, if you want this, I'll give it to you."
Took it in his hand. Took it in his hand. He said, "Thank you." Put it in his pocket. He reached in the other pocket, and he took out a real pearl necklace. He said, "Here, darling. This is not make-believe, but this is real. All I wanted you to do is to trust me with something that you valued. I didn't want to get something from you. I wanted to give something to you."
That's what our Father says about our tithing and our giving. He's not wanting to get something from you. He's wanting to open that reservoir that as you give, then He can pour into you.
Would you bow your heads with me this morning? First of all, I want to ask those of you that are here a very honest question. If today in this teaching God spoke to you and challenged you about something, with every head bowed, no eyes looking around—not embarrassing you—would you just raise your hand and say, "Yeah, God challenged me today about something regarding giving"? Raise your hand.
Yeah, hands are going up all over today. Thank you. Thank you. I'm going to pray for you.
Lord, I pray for the hands that went up today. Lord, I thank you that not only did you speak to the congregation, you spoke to me. You spoke to me today, and I want to honor what you said to me. And Lord, I want to trust you. If I can trust you for salvation, I want to trust you with my finances. I want to return the tithe. But in this season in which we're doing the legacy giving, I want to give something sacrificial, something that stretches me.
Now let me ask another question. Those of you that are here today and you say, "You know, Terry, I never really thought much about Jesus. You know, I've gone to church and my life, but I've never really surrendered my life to Him." I want you to think about how much that God loves you. God so loved you that He sent His only Son to die for you, to die for you so that you can live.
You have a choice. Hell is prepared for those who are sinners. So you can go to hell and pay for your own sin. But then—but God didn't want that to happen. He sent His Son Jesus to take your sins and die on a cross. He died for your sins so you let Him pay for your sins from the cross and the resurrected tomb, or you'll pay for it yourself. God doesn't send anybody to hell; you choose.
I'll take it. I'll pay for my own sins. Man, don't do that. If you're here today and you've never surrendered your life to Jesus, would you raise your hand? Let me pray for you today. I promise not to embarrass you. I'm not going to call you out. I just want to pray for you. Would you raise your hand high? Raise your hand. Make eye contact with me. Say, "Yeah, that's me."
Thank you, ma'am. Thank you. Thank you over here. Thank you. Thank you. Others of us today. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. I want to trust you with my life, Lord. Trust you with my life.
Would you pray this prayer with me? Father God, thank you for sending your Son Jesus to die for my sins. I confess with my mouth and I believe in my heart that you are the Son of God and you died for my sins. As best as I know how, I want to trust you today. Save me. Fill me with your Spirit. In Jesus' name, I pray. Amen.
Church, would you celebrate with me today?
Listen, if you prayed that prayer with me, go over here to First Step or over here. We got some materials. Listen, you see this chest right here? This is our legacy chest. And on April 6th, we're going to march by. We're going to drop our legacy offering in. Some of you have already given. That's okay. You'll just take an envelope and put "already given" in the amount. We're going to march by individually, and then we're going to give a heave offering to the Lord. You maybe have never seen that.
And we're going to give God praise and Thanksgiving that we can sacrifice and see what He's done because He's done so much for us. I'm excited. Use that. Pray. Ask God what He would do. Don't miss next week, man. It's going to be life-changing.
Hey, let's stand. Let's worship. If I haven't met you, I'd love to meet you out on the patio, okay? Come.
on Mar 02, 2025
