Episode Transcript
Speaker 1 00:00:05 My name is Michael fueling the lead pastor at the village church over in Bartlett. And many of you may not know, but those shirts east and the village church of Barlett, we are sister churches together. We are actually one church. So two times a year, our elders at both locations, we swap and then Craig and I swap pulpits. So this morning, Craig is over at Bartlett bringing the word, and it is a joy to be one church with you guys. You may not know this, but pastor Craig and myself and pastor Alex, who is actually Meghan's brother-in-law Meghan, who just did announced since making Patterson most of the year, about three quarters of the year, we all preach on the same sermons together. So every single week we get together, whether it's Craig's backyard or Starbucks or a restaurant, and we spend two to three hours a week planning sermons together.
Speaker 1 00:00:54 So this morning, Craig is over opening the word at Bartlett. Alex's over at Alliance, Bible church in Bartlett, where he preaches and I have the joy to be with you guys. There's actually a couple people I want to introduce you to in the room. One is just walking out because he's got a baby. That's correct for how south he is one of our elders over at the village church of Bartlett. And the other is on this side of the room. This is pastor Mike Boyle. Boyle is he has been a part of village church since 2008. He's been an elder, right? How is our interim associate pastor and someone you guys know Mike? So after the service love for you to just say hi to them, and then Brent, a motto, one of your elders, he's over at Bartlett this morning with pastor Craig. So we're just doing a big swap this morning.
Speaker 1 00:01:33 And I love being with you guys. I want to just tell you when village church of Bartlett was about your age as a church. When we were about five, six years old, we met as a setup, tear down church in an, in a middle school, in the city of Bartlett. And it was a group of people about this size and God grabbed their heart and gave them a vision for what could be. And I don't know what the future holds for village churches, but I do know next week, registrations go away. Can I get an amen from someone in the room on that one? And a couple of weeks, we get to reopen and get village kids here, which is wonderful. And so things are getting back to whatever a new normal is going to be very excited about that. But at village church, I want you to know that our elders, we serve together to support both locations.
Speaker 1 00:02:19 And we have a group of elders called their directional team elders. And we talk about pray for and plan with pastor Craig and pastor John. And, and we, we pray together and we are for you guys. I want you to know you're just not an afterthought to us. We are regularly talking about your future, your past, your present and what the Lord is doing here and praying for you. So as a sister church, you may not see it all, but we are a hundred percent with you guys and never been more excited for your future. Now, with that said, would you guys open up your Bibles to the book of Exodus? In fact, Exodus chapter 21 to 24, open up to Exodus 21. This is the last of a four week series called, does anybody know the name of the series decisions? Good job. And the reason this is called decisions is because there are some decisions that if they are not mandated by law, we would not naturally make, for example, how many of you would follow the speed limit?
Speaker 1 00:03:19 If it wasn't a law, anyone, anyone, maybe one or two of you, right? What has to happen is some things are so important that they have to be legislator to made law. Because if they weren't made a law, people are not naturally going to do them. So Exodus chapter 21 to 24, it's the first set of laws after the 10 commandments. And there are four basic categories of these laws. And you've already talked about the first three. We have justice laws. We have neighbor laws, we have separation laws. And today we're going to talk about the stewardship laws. Now, as we get into this, I want to, I'm going to ask you to do me. And when you to think about one thing in your life that God has asked you to give him, but you have held back. Now this is rhetorical. Meaning don't say it out loud.
Speaker 1 00:04:08 I want you to put this in the margin of your mind. I want you to hold onto this and maybe some of you right now, you're thinking, man, I don't, I don't really know what this one thing might be. Here's my expectation. None of you in this room are Jesus. So there's probably a part of your life that you may be holding back from him. And as the sermon goes on, I'm going to pray that the holy spirit would bring to light something in your life that you know, he wants. And you're kind of like it's mine. So a noun is a person, a place or a thing. And so this thing that you're holding back, it could be a person. You know, the Lord wants you to give this relationship back to him. And you're like, no, this is mine. I will not let it go.
Speaker 1 00:04:49 I need this thing. Might be a place, be a business. It might be your home might be something really important to you. And you're just like, no, this is mine. You can't touch. This might be a thing. It could be a home. It could be property. It could be an agenda. It could be money. No Lloyd, this is mine. You can't touch this thing. Now, as we go through this message and we need to have this in your brain. About 15 years ago, a law was created in the fueling household. My last name is fueling. So that's my household. This is a very serious law. If you are found, violating this law in my home, here are the repercussions. Number one, you will get the evil eye.
Speaker 1 00:05:38 Number two, you will get a stern, verbal rebuke. And number three, you will get a fork stabbed in your hand. All right? So my wife has this interesting habit and here's what she does. So she gets this plate of food. She's very excited about her and I love food, all different kinds of food. And so she gets this plate of food and she looks at the plate and she finds the most scrumptious, most delectable morsel of food. She cuts it off. She puts it to the corner of her plate and she saves it for the end of her meal as a reward. Now just help me out for a moment. Does anybody else do this? Anyone you raise your hand. You're fine. If you do, it's no problem. We're not going to like call you out or call your name. Right? I think it's super weird.
Speaker 1 00:06:25 I don't get it. I don't understand it. When I see the best bite of food, I want to eat that first. That is very important to me. Now you have to understand something about myself. I'm the youngest of four, four boys. So in my home, eating was a matter of survival. If you did not get food, now you were not going to eat. You guys know what I'm saying? And so like for me, I learned to eat my entire meal within about two to three minutes. Right? If you eat with me, it is a problem. In fact, you know, that mechanism inside of your body where you don't get full for at least like out, it's like 11 minutes or something like I've already eaten three meals by the time that mechanism kicks in. And then I feel terrible. So I've had to repent of this.
Speaker 1 00:07:02 And if you see my weight go up and down, I blame having three older brothers as a child. So for me, I get done very quickly. I'm also what you would call a, an emotional leader as well as a faultless eater. So I can be like sitting there. And if there's food in front of me, I can consume 1500 calories without even thinking about it. So here's what will happen. We're sitting there and we've been married for a year or two. And, and all of a sudden I'm done with my food. My wife has two bites in, and I'm not even conscious of this. I see this morsel of food and I just go, boom, boom, done, gone so fast. She doesn't about a minute or two later. She says, did you, did you, did you eat? Did you eat this piece of food at the time?
Speaker 1 00:07:48 I had no legitimate conscious recollection of this. And I'm like, I have no idea if it's there and eat. And she's like, that is my favorite bite. Now, now here's what happens. Like I don't even realize I'm doing it. And so she, she goes like this to her food when she's sitting next to me and if I even go near it, she holds up the fork and she says, try it. And you're done. Like, this is a real thing. Talk to my wife about this. Now they saved the best for last and in ancient, near Eastern Israel for the Jews and God's economy, if you will, they actually think very, very differently what they do. They think the first is the best. So actually there's an ancient near us here in prince principle. It's called the principle of first. So here's what would happen. It wasn't the youngest son.
Speaker 1 00:08:34 That was the best, even though I'm the youngest of four boys, right? It was the first born son. It wasn't the final crop. That was the most important. It was the first crop. It wasn't just any animal. It had to have been the first animal for sure. And so God instituted a set of laws. We call them stewardship laws in the nation of Israel, where God ensure that they would give him their first and their best for his mission. And this is the principle of firstfruits. And this was very, very important to them and God legislated, not just what they would give, how much they would give and when they would give. Now let's just agree on something. Does God care? How you, as followers of Jesus handle things that are of high value to you? The answer to everybody else is yes. God cares deeply about how you handle valuable things.
Speaker 1 00:09:32 And so we're going to unfold these stewardship laws, and we're going to look at really five principles of stewardship laws that apply today as it pertains to first fruit. So Exodus chapter 23, verse 10. And here's the first principle of fruits. God's greatest concern is not my money, but my maturity God's greatest concern is not my money, but my maturity. Let me just ask you a question. Does God need you money? No, if you don't, if your money to God, can he get it elsewhere? 100%. Does God need your talents? I mean, you're amazing people don't get me wrong. I'm sure all of your wonderful, right, but does God need your talents? No. If you don't want to give your talents to God, he'll go get it elsewhere. And you will miss out on some of these blessings. I need you to understand this on the very front end.
Speaker 1 00:10:26 When we talk about anything of value to you, right? Our hearts, they get really protective. They're like, ah, but this one thing don't touch it. You can't have this thing. And I just want to tell you that God is ultimately not desperate. God wants something bigger than the thing we're going to get to them. Now look with me. Exodus chapter 23, verse 10. Here's what for six years you shall. So your land and gather in its yield the seventh year, you shall let it rest and lie fallow that the poor of your people may eat. And when they leave the beasts of the field may eat. You shall do likewise with your vineyard and with your olive orchard. So imagine you hear this in your Israel and you go to Yahweh and this. So you're telling me you want me to take an entire year off of work and give all of the proceeds that I could have made to people who didn't work for it.
Speaker 1 00:11:29 And then what they don't want. You want me to leave it for the animals to eat? Does this sound crazy to any of you, right? Not the Lord went to you and said, Hey, I want you to take a year off of work. Now, for some of you, you had a year off, maybe you were working, but many of you were at home. How was that? You're like, send me back to work, right? Like marriages were really exposed and families in this last year. Don't say amen. That, because that would be probably sitting next to you. Um, now here, I want you to hear me. Uh, if you are a student or a kid in this room, I need you to listen. Is there ever a rule that God is going to give you? That is pointless. The answer is never, there is never one thing God will tell you to do that is pointless.
Speaker 1 00:12:18 Everything has a purpose. Everything we use the word, there are no arbitrary, random or purposeless or meaningless laws. God never wastes his breath or waste his time. Let me, let me give you an illustration. Uh, if your parents go to you and they say clean your room, and your response is I don't want to clean my room. Some of you as adults, your husband, or your wife, they say to you, it's time to clean your room and you don't want to do it. But here's what we found with our children, right? When we tell them to clean the room, they almost never want to do it, but you don't happens every single time they cleaned the room. They find things that they lost and they find things that they broke. They're like, oh, I didn't realize that was under this entire pile of stuff. But here's the deal.
Speaker 1 00:13:00 Your mom and dad, they're like clean your room. And here's what your mom and dad are trying to do for you. They're trying to teach you how to take care of what you have, because if you can learn how to take care of what you have now, you're going to be an awesome adult. What your parents are trying to get you to do is to be an awesome adult who gives God glory. And doesn't have to go through all of the trial and frustration unnecessarily that so many other kids are going to have to do when they go, when they grow up. And so God never gives up, never gives a law. That is pointless. And if you were the Israelites and you get this law, you're like, how are we supposed to make it? If we take an entire year off of work, well, let me show you how good God was to give this group of people.
Speaker 1 00:13:39 This law. Here's what he did. He was teaching them skills by implementing this law that they would never, ever be able to know. Otherwise, let me give you some examples. God is teaching this young nation. How to rest, not just a crew, a crew more, more when you're poor and you start making money, do you, I want to stop making money. Not at all. If you have lived a life of lack and all of a sudden, you go to a land of plenty and you have the opportunity to make more and more and more, guess what this new nation is going to be tempted to do work, work, work, work. Most important thing to them is going to be money, possessions, status, and wealth. And God's like, listen, actually, you know what we're going to do. I'm going to implement this law. It's going to be complete nonsense on the surface, but what it's going to do, it's going to teach you that there's something more valuable and important than just occurring more money.
Speaker 1 00:14:44 God is teaching this young nation to prioritize people over profit. So one day a week, they had the Sabbath. You had to time with God and your family and intentional relationship. Well, once every seven years, basically most of the nation took an entire year off. And guess what? They're forced to do. Spend time with God and with each other and grow deeper relationships with one another. How gracious of God to say more important than money is rest more important than money. His relationships with myself and with the people in your nation and your family. God is teaching this young nation to how to plan and to save. All right. Raise your hand. If you are a saver, anyone raise your hand. If you are a spender, right? Rarely by the way, in a marriage, do you get two savers and two spenders, usually get a saver and a spender. It's a thing. And then what happens when there's a saver and a spender
Speaker 0 00:15:38 Conflict all the time. It's like, oh my gosh, why
Speaker 1 00:15:41 Did you spend so much money? I'm just being generous. Sure. Okay. Fine. Well, here's the deal. When you got your first paycheck, go back in your brains. The first time you ever made money, what did you want to do with that money? Put in the bank or go and buy something? How many of you, it was your first impulse to say, God, everything I have is yours. And I'm going to give this first paycheck to you. I'm going to call up a nonprofit. I'm going to support a missionary. I'm going to find somebody who's homeless. I'm going to give them the I'm going to give this. How many of you would have that have been impulsive or natural for your heart? None. And the point is this, it is not the inclination of the human heart to practice first fruits. So for the nation of Israel, God had to legislate this.
Speaker 1 00:16:26 This was not normal. And it was not natural. God is teaching this young nation how to plan, how to save. So here's what, what happened? They lived in an agricultural society. If there was a famine, they were not prepared because they would have to spend six years preparing for the seventh year. And so they were ready for almost anything. Do you see how this seemingly on the surface principle of firstfruits and the land sounded dumb at first, but when you really got into it, God was up to something kind and generous. One of the other things I love about the first fruits is that he says, I want you to make sure that the poor are taken care of, because what is the, what is going to be the temptation of a group of people who were treated like dirt by Egypt? Let me give you an example.
Speaker 1 00:17:12 What do hurt people do to other people? Typically they hurt people. Do they not? And what do abused people typically do to other people? They typically abused them. And what are abused, hurt slaves, probably going to do due to the poor in their community. When they get into this new land, probably exactly what they did when they came up from a different place. And God's saying no, in my nation, we don't exploit the poor. We don't isolate the poor. We don't punish the poor. We make sure that we take care of the poor. We make sure that they always have something to eat. So you leave the corners of your fields so they can eat. And then once a year you give them free reign over all of this. We are going to be very different than every other nation in the world. I'm gonna come back to the main point here.
Speaker 1 00:17:55 God's greatest concern is not my money, but my, with me, my maturity number two, second principle. First fruits is first fruits giving follows the rhythm of my income or whenever assets come in. It is a very small rhythmic thing. Again, when you get paid is God saying, I want you to be generous and I want you to give 10%. Every single day you'd be broke, right? So the government wants to, to reduced. God says, basically to Israel, you are going to give, as you get paid. So three times a year, I want you to notice this and Exodus chapter 2314. Here's what it says three times in the year. You should keep a feast to me. And this is when they would bring their first fruits. They were bringing the feast of unleavened bread. It's hers, 15 of her 16. It was the feast of the harvest.
Speaker 1 00:18:47 At the end of verse 16, he was the face of the in gathering. And this was their we'll call it their stewardship, tithing and firstfruits rhythm. God was very realistic with them, but here's what I want you to get. God is trying to go deeper than just their money. God is not ultimately in concerned about their money. First fruits would ensure that every bit of wealth, everything of value that came into their homes would be consecrated to God would be set aside for him. Everything consecration means to intentionally devote something for God's use. And this is what is so important about consecration. It is not the impulse of the human heart. This is not natural. If we don't choose to consecrate the things of value in our lives to the Lord, we will hoard them for ourselves or spend them on ourselves. And we will devote everything to ourselves, which is the human hearts and pulses it not.
Speaker 1 00:19:50 And so God's like, listen, I'm going to create a new nation with a different rhythm. I want you to understand this. I want you to consecrate every part of your life. To me, your relationships, where you live your home. It's not just your income. It's everything. I want you to set aside everything for me. Now, come back to it. If you will, to the question I asked you at the beginning, what is the thing that you were holding back from God? And you have said to him, maybe out loud or in your heart, you can't touch this. This is mine. Is it a person? Is it a place? Is it a thing? Keep thinking. Here's the third principle. First fruits, God doesn't simply require the consecration of my assets, but of my entire life. Chapter 23, verse 17. I love this three times the year, shall all of your mails appear before the Lord, the males were the representative heads of the family and symbolically here's what is happening.
Speaker 1 00:20:57 The husband would come before the Lord at this face and he would not just bring the first fruits of his assets and income, but he would bring his entire life and say, my life is yours. My family is yours. My children is yours. My assets are yours. The things I value are yours. There's no part of my life that is hidden from you. And there is no part of my life that I will hold back from you. I will submit every part of my life under the authority of your word. And I will seek to submit it under your authority because everything that is under your authority is blessed. And it thrives. I want to talk to you about the thing here. This thing that you're holding back from God, anything that you hold back from God, I want you to hear me. It is in danger.
Speaker 1 00:21:45 The most people typically put things in this box like, ah, I can't touch this box because you love it. I want to look at you and say, if you love it, the most foolish thing you can do is keep it from the Lord. You keep it from the Lord. It is in grave danger. You give it to the Lord who knows what he can do with it. But if you really love this thing that has come into your brain, this person's place. This thing. No, it's mine. You can't have it. If you really love it, it has never been more endangered than when you hold it back from the Lord. All right. If you have your Bibles go back one chapter with me, Exodus chapter 22, verse 29. Here's the fourth principle. First fruits. I love this one. God, doesn't negotiate on first fruits.
Speaker 1 00:22:38 Look at verse 29. You shall not delay to offer from the fullness of your harvest. And I imagine somebody who's like, well Lord, okay. But what about the outflow of the presses? And from the outflow of your presses, there is no log given. That is a waste of words. Why did God have to tell them, do not delay to consecrate all things of value to me because the human heart impulse is to delay giving God our first and our best there's mission. And here, here's what God's saying. I don't really negotiate on this principle. You give your first and your bast for his mission. Now you might be 13 years old. You don't have an income and case. You think we're talking about money. You're going to see in a minute. This is actually, that's the least of the concerns here. What is your first? What is your best? What are the things that you have that are the most? And are you willing to give those back to the Lord and say, w however, I can use these for the kingdom of God, I will do that, right? Here's the fifth and last principle, whatever gets my first gets my heart. What does the Lord want from you more than anything else? Your heart. Let me just say this again. Does God want your money?
Speaker 2 00:24:13 It's got need your money. Is he like, oh, I've only
Speaker 1 00:24:16 Villager. Geez, dad, more money. No. What could the Lord do? If he had the whole heart of every person who attended this community unstoppable, God wants your whole heart. And he understands something because he designed us and made us whatever gets your first gets your heart. Remember, let's go back to this, this box, whatever is in this thing, you can't touch this. God it's mine. You can't go near this. God knows that whatever is here, ultimately is your heart. Typically for most Christians, what we're holding back is our first and our best get money out of your brain. If you think this is a message about money, you're missing point whatever has your first has your heart. Whatever you give to first, whatever you, whenever you get anything of value, whatever you do with it. First, that thing has your heart. Look at what he says in verse 29.
Speaker 1 00:25:21 The first born of your sons, you shall give to me. And this is in stark contrast to not just the Egyptian gods, but particularly the Canaanite gods. This nation that they're going to be running into. And y'all way is fundamentally different because here's what, what happened with your first born. If you worshiped a Canaanite God, they would heat up a big metal calf that light it on fire. It's big ugly thing. It would be scalding hot. And the false gods of Canaan would require you to take your firstborn and to put it on that burning hot calf and sacrifice it to it. Evil, terrible hideous. And Yahweh is saying this, Nope, we're going to do something different. You're going to bring me your firstborn. But, but what you're going to do is something very different. You're going to consecrate it. This is very similar to what we do in child dedication.
Speaker 1 00:26:18 By the way, where we say, we are giving this child to you, whatever you want for this child, we will support. We will champion. We will come alongside of you. You love this child more than we could ever love this child has its parents. You design this child. God, you love this child. We're going to consecrate this child to you. I want to tell you a story about my mother and father-in-law my wife. When she was in high school, there was a three week mission trip to Ecuador going to an Indian tribe that had killed five missionaries, about three, four decades prior. It was a very violent tribe. And the gospel had come into this tribe. And many of them had come to Christ and this entire tribe had been transformed by the gospel. But my mother and father-in-law had to make a decision with a young high school girl.
Speaker 1 00:27:02 Do I send her into the rainforest of Ecuador to a tribe that kills missionaries historically, do we take this risk? And we can't go with them. And they prayed about it. And they realized that like, you know what, this is going to be a life-changing experience for our daughter. And they released her and let her as a young high school, high school student go for three weeks into the rainforest of Ecuador with a Indian tribe that had killed missionaries. Now, do you think as a mom and a dad that took like a lot of trust in the Lord, you better believe it to this day. It's one of the most formative events in my wife's life. She still talks about it to this day and what my mother and father-in-law realizes that this, this woman, this young woman, my wife, she is the Lords. And as they prayed about it, just this reminder that like, you know what, the Lord will protect her.
Speaker 1 00:27:55 The Lord has us. And it ended up being one of the most transformational experiences in her entire life. So God says, I want your first born. Why the first, because they have the most influence because they're going to inherit the family fortune, if you will, because whoever gets the first, whatever the first does that, the first gives his heart to the Lord. Then statistically, the rest will give their heart to the Lord. And God also understands that as a parent, when you had your first kid, moms and dads, do you remember your first child? What did you want to do with it? Protect it at all costs from all potential harm, no matter what so help you, God, right now you are a unique and awesome mother for most mothers. That is their instinct. And God's like, no, you're okay. I get it. You're going to give this to me. You're going to consecrate it to me, but I'm going to show you that I am not like the other false gods. I'm not going to require your child's life. I want your heart. Whatever we get to my first gets my heart. All right, I'm gonna share with you two. So what's firstfruits will change your life by train, by transforming your heart.
Speaker 1 00:29:06 Remember, okay, whenever it gets here, first gets your heart. And what does God want more than that? Anything else he wants your heart. If you think about the things that have the most value to you for some of you, your children and grandchildren have far more value, then your money for some of you it's, you guys are thinking back in your brain. This is a giving sermon. This is an everything sermon. Think about the things that have the most value to you and God. All of them consecrated under his authority used according to the way the word of God says to use it so that it is not in danger. And here's what happens when you give God your first and your best, your heart will follow. And if you, I want to say this again, cause I want this just to be in your brain.
Speaker 1 00:30:04 If you really love this thing that you're holding back from God, you will no longer hold on to it, but you will consecrate it to the Lord. Otherwise it is in grave danger. Here's my second. So what for you restructure your life so that God gets your first and your best for his mission. I'm going to give you some categories here. Here's the easiest one. We'll just get it. We'll get it off the table on the front end. Think about your money too. You give generously and faithfully to build the kingdom of Jesus because where your money goes first, your heart quickly follows. All right, let's talk about your, what are you holding back to be used in God's kingdom? No, it's mine, but what if they break it? What if they don't appreciate it? No, it's mine. I need to keep it perfect and safe and nice and shiny.
Speaker 1 00:31:01 And it's gotta be done just right. It's mine. You can't touch it. What if the Lord was like, no, actually I want to use this for my kingdom. Would you do it? What about your property? Hospitality, by the way, it's a biblical command. We open up our homes so that people can be cared for and loved. Well, what about your property? Do you, are you committed to using the place you live to build the kingdom of God? If the Lord opens up an opportunity and you're like, man, we could actually probably like you could probably use our home. I kind of, I don't know that I am able to lead a community group, but doggone it, we could host one, but then I'm gonna have to clean every week. Okay. Welcome to every other community group leader on the planet. What do we do? We clean our homes before people come. Why? Because I have three children and we're total slops. Okay.
Speaker 1 00:31:54 But is it worth obeying God to clean my home? For sure. Isn't it amazing? All of the things that we were like. Yeah. But if I give you that God, that I'm gonna have to do this, I'm gonna have to do that. And he's like, oh my goodness. Just give, just don't hold it back. If I ask you to use it for my kingdom, do it. Let's keep going. Your singleness. One of your greatest assets is your time. But God, I need eight hours a day of alone, time and 12 hours of sleep. And I've only got four hours to hang out with my friends. Like if you are single, you have so much kingdom capacity and power, like unbelievable amounts. Ask the Lord, Lord. I have all this time. How can I consecrate my time? How do you get the first and the best of my time? Are you young in this room? Do you know what? You have one of the greatest assets in the entire world, boundless energy come set up on Sunday mornings.
Speaker 1 00:32:57 Mom, dad, like it's real early. My dad got up with me every Saturday night at one 30 in the morning. From the time I was 11 years old until I was 16 and took me on a paper out every single Sunday night, we got home at 6:30 AM. My mom got up at 12:30 AM on Friday night to take me on the paper route. And we got home at about three 30 or four 30, every single Saturday night. My mom and dad taught me that if you want to build something character in your children, you will go to great lengths to do it. And to sacrifice. You've got energy show up, help your kids show up. You've got time. Use it consecrated to the Lord, Lord. This is my first and my best. I want to make sure before I schedule my entire week, I want to make sure that I plot out for you, how I'm going to build and invest in your, your children.
Speaker 1 00:33:48 Lord. They are yours. I want to develop kingdom habits in them. I want to grow them spiritual. Here's the, here's the last, the last thing your soul, you might be here and you might've been dragged to church by your husband, your wife, your children, your friend. And when you, you think about the thing in this box, I like you. You can't touch it. God it's, it's really actually, and I've just wonderful encouragement for you and loves you so much. He gave his first and his best for you so that your soul can be forgiven and redeemed. Hi, God Christians have a practice. It goes back 2000 years and it's called communion. And it's interesting. Cause in communion, there are really two big declarations that we make to two big things we do the first is we take time when we remember what God has done for us, but then we make two declarations.
Speaker 1 00:34:54 The first declaration we make is a belief, DEC declaration. We say, I personally believe we don't say this out loud, but in our hearts, this is what we're saying by partaking of communion. I believe that Jesus Christ is God that he died on the cross for my sins, that he was raised from the dead he's coming back. And that anybody who believes in Jesus is forgiven and saved. And when we, when we partake of communion and what we're saying, I personally me, I believe this, but there's a second declaration that we're making. When we purchase predictive communion, we are declaring that I have given my soul personally, freely to God.
Speaker 1 00:35:38 I've declared him, my God, my king and my master and I no longer the king God and master of my own life. I now live under his authority. I don't get to determine all the rules for my life, but I look to his word to determine those. And so I want to encourage you. Maybe you're here today. Maybe you were watching online and you have never given your soul to God. We're going to again, celebrate communion here. And here's what I want to encourage you to do. If today you want to personally trust in Jesus. I want to encourage you to partake of communion with us. And when we partake, this is the declaration you're making. I declared that. I believe that I'm a sinner. Jesus is God. And he died on the cross for my sins. God raised him from the dead he's coming back.
Speaker 1 00:36:23 And salvation is not by the accrual of good works, but it is by faith in Christ alone. And the second thing you're going to declare when you take this as God, you have my soul, I know no longer going to hold this back from you. And so here's how communion works. We might be visiting with us for the first time. It doesn't matter where you go to church. If you have personally trusted in Jesus, we want to invite you to partake of communion with us because we are brothers and sisters in Christ. There are some kids in the room. Maybe there's some kids online and here's the simple rules for kids, mom and dad. Number one, it's totally up to you. Whether or not your kids take communion. We just ask that they have personally trusted in Jesus in order to partake of communion. So we're going to have a time of silence here in just a moment.
Speaker 1 00:37:08 This is an opportunity for you to reflect, to thank God, to confess sin. And when that silence is done, I'm going to pray. And then we're going to sing together during the song. You'll see that there's tables up here to my right and to my left. And there are elements in the table when encourage you during the song, go up and grab those elements and come back to your seat. As we sing after the song is over, I'm going to come up, we're going to read some scripture and we're going to partake of communion together as a symbol of our unity in Jesus. So let's have a time of silence. And then during the music you can grab the elements.
