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Am I Generous?

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Beyond Blessed
October 28, 2019
27:34

Beyond Blessed

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Am I Generous?

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  • talking about money and finances
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  • but that's exactly what we're gonna do today.
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  • So many of us struggle to reach our financial goals
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  • but what if you could pay off all of your debt,
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  • save for the future and turn your money
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  • into a tool that helps you bring joy,
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  • freedom and blessings to other people that are around you?
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  • I'm Pastor Robert Morris and
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  • over the last 30 years, I've seen that God
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  • has a perfect plan to overcome all financial stress.
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  • I believe that generosity is the key
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  • to living a blessed life.
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  • But before we can be generous we have to learn
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  • to be wise and faithful stewards of the resources
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  • that God in trust to us and
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  • the Bible is full of practical lessons
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  • that show us how to do just that.
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  • I want to equip you to bless others and
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  • experience the fullness of God's blessings
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  • in our own life, where ever you are today
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  • you can start living Beyond Blessed.
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  • (upbeat music)
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  • (applause)
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  • Thank you.
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  • Thank you guys for being here.
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  • Thanks so much for joining us for Beyond Blessed.
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  • I want to remind you we're talking about
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  • being blessed beyond for the purpose
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  • of being a blessing.
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  • And that's very very very important
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  • because God wants his children to be a blessing.
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  • If you go all the way back to Abraham
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  • when God begins the nation of Israel
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  • and he says to Abraham, I will bless you
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  • and you will be a blessing.
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  • In another place he says, and in you
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  • all the families of the earth will be blessed.
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  • So we want to talk about being able to
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  • receive God's blessing, yes, but
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  • also being able to be a blessing for someone else.
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  • So I want to talk to you today about, am I generous?
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  • I put this in the first person because
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  • we each have to ask our self that question
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  • and the reason I'm saying that is because
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  • God's used me and I've been able to give a lot
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  • but I still see selfishness in my life.
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  • I still see times when I am selfish about my time,
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  • selfish even with my wife, my kids or with someone else.
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  • God is continually rooting selfishness out of our lives
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  • and if you think about this,
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  • Why did God even invent, and I'm going to
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  • use the word invent because God did, he created it,
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  • why did God even create giving?
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  • I mean think about it?
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  • Did he do it to support the work of the ministry?
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  • I was teaching a Bible class one time
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  • and I asked that question, why did God invent giving?
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  • And one of the answers was to support his ministry,
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  • to support the work of the kingdom.
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  • And it hit me like I never thought about it before
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  • and so I said to these students and actually got to laughing
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  • after a little while thinking about it.
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  • I said I want you to think about this,
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  • do you really believe
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  • that God needs our money
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  • to support his work?
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  • Do you really think that's why God invented
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  • or created giving?
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  • No.
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  • God did not create giving for his sake.
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  • He's got it all,
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  • He created giving for our sake.
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  • He created giving towards greed and selfishness
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  • out of our lives and so
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  • it's just totally opposite when you see this
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  • selfishness and generosity, this battle
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  • that we're actually born with from the beginning.
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  • And there is a passage in scripture that
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  • shows selfishness and generosity
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  • as clearly as you'll ever see it.
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  • It's in John chapter 12, let me read it to you.
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  • Verse one, says then, six days before the Passover
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  • Jesus came to Bethany , where Lazarus was
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  • who had been dead whom he had raised from the dead.
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  • And there they made him a supper, and Martha served
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  • but Lazarus was one of those that sat at the table with him.
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  • Then Mary took a pound of very costly oil of spikenard,
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  • anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped his feet with her hair.
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  • And the house was filled with fragrance of the oil
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  • but one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, Simon's son,
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  • who would betray him, said, why was
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  • this fragrant oil not sold for three hundred denarii
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  • and given to the poor?
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  • This he said, and watch very carefully
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  • what the Bible tells us, not that he cared for the poor
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  • but because he was thief and he had the money box
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  • and he used to take what was put in it,
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  • but Jesus said, let her alone, she has kept this
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  • for the day of my burial, for the poor
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  • you have with you always but me you do not have always.
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  • Okay so two questions immediately jump out at me,
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  • number one, why did Mary give such a generous gift?
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  • 300 denarii, now you might not know
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  • what 300 denarii represents,
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  • Denarii is the plural of the word denarius.
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  • Denarius would be one coin,
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  • that coin would be a days wage.
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  • So if you worked a day, you would get a days wage,
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  • you'd get a denarius.
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  • If you worked five days and they
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  • paid you at the end of the week,
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  • you'd get five denarii.
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  • That's how you would say the plural.
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  • So 300 denarii, would be 300 days wages
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  • think about this, with 365 days in a year
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  • and you have Sabbaths and you have festivals,
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  • feast things like this, 300 denarii, this is what it meant
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  • everyone knew in Jewish culture, a years wage.
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  • That's what it meant.
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  • You would learn about 300 denarii in a year.
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  • So here's what he said,
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  • why would she take something that could have been
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  • a years wage and it would have been put in the offering box,
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  • so two questions, one is
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  • why would Mary give such an extravagant offering?
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  • A years wage, now that would be
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  • extravagant for anybody here.
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  • Wouldn't matter what your salary is,
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  • wouldn't matter if it was 30 thousand or a 100 thousand,
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  • that's extravagant for you, right?
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  • Okay.
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  • So why would Mary do such an extravagant gift?
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  • Second question is this,
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  • why would it make Judas so mad?
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  • And here's what happens, we have two hearts displayed here,
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  • remember Jesus said where your treasure is
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  • there your heart will be also.
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  • So we have two hearts, we have a heart of generosity
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  • and we have a heart of selfishness,
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  • and they're displayed for us.
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  • We can look at these and learn somethings
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  • about this, that happened here.
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  • So, the first thing I want to tell you is
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  • here's number one, if you're watching at home,
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  • here's the first point,
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  • the enemy of generosity.
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  • Let's talk about the enemy of generosity
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  • and it's very very simple,
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  • the enemy of generosity is selfishness.
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  • That's the enemy of generosity.
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  • Now, I have some bad news for you, you were born selfish.
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  • Now, here's the good news though
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  • you were born again, generous.
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  • Now we have to grow as believers,
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  • we have to renew our minds
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  • and so we can become more generous
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  • and we can become better stewards so we can be more generous
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  • but you want to be generous when you're born again.
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  • You want to be.
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  • As a matter a fact, if you think about generous and selfish,
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  • now this just my way to remember it
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  • generous begins with a G and God begins with a G,
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  • selfish begins with an S and Satan begins with an S.
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  • Satan is selfish, God is generous.
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  • By the way, theologically we say we were born
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  • with an Adamic nature, Adamic would me like Adam
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  • and that's true, we were born with a nature
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  • and Adam by the way means mankind,
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  • it doesn't mean male.
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  • So in the beginning, Eve's name was also Adam.
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  • Genesis 5:2.
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  • God called both of them mankind
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  • that's what he called them, that's what it means.
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  • Adam means mankind,
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  • God called them mankind and God created
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  • male and female mankind, okay?
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  • So we were born with a mankind nature
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  • but a fallen mankind nature.
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  • Y'all just about to get so disappointed
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  • in what I'm about to tell ya.
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  • We were not only born with an Adamic nature
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  • we were born with a Satanic nature
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  • because that fallen nature came from the enemy.
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  • Satan wants to turn every conversation to himself,
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  • Isaiah 14, he wanted to be lifted up,
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  • he wanted to be exalted, he wanted to be worshiped
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  • all through scripture, that's what he wants.
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  • Jesus on the other hand, turns every conversation
  • 00:09:34.210 --> 00:09:37.220
  • off of himself on to the Father.
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  • Everyone.
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  • They say, we love the miracles that you do,
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  • he said I don't do anything unless
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  • I first see my Father do it.
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  • They said, okay, we love the teachings that you teach.
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  • He said, I don't say anything
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  • unless I first hear my father say it.
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  • When we're born,
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  • we're born trying to get the attention to us.
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  • When we're saved we try to get the attention on God.
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  • Are y'all following me?
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  • I mean you think about this,
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  • I can prove we still have a little bit of that
  • 00:10:08.200 --> 00:10:12.160
  • selfishness in us, that little bit of look at me.
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  • Here's a real simple way to prove it.
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  • Who is the first person you look for in a group picture?
  • 00:10:18.050 --> 00:10:23.030
  • (crowd laughing)
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  • And if you don't look good the whole picture is bad,
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  • that's a bad picture, that's a bad picture
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  • don't look at that picture, right?
  • 00:10:31.110 --> 00:10:33.290
  • Okay.
  • 00:10:33.290 --> 00:10:35.060
  • Again, let me prove to you we are born selfish
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  • we're born selfish, I'm going to tell you something,
  • 00:10:38.070 --> 00:10:42.290
  • it's just gonna shock you again a little bit,
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  • it's humorous but a baby's first word is all the same.
  • 00:10:46.230 --> 00:10:51.230
  • Every baby has the same first word.
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  • It's not mama, it's not dadda,
  • 00:10:54.200 --> 00:10:58.100
  • it starts way before that.
  • 00:10:58.100 --> 00:11:00.070
  • A baby's first word is
  • 00:11:00.070 --> 00:11:02.130
  • "IIIIIII"
  • 00:11:02.130 --> 00:11:03.170
  • (crowd laughing)
  • 00:11:03.170 --> 00:11:06.090
  • They start it from the first, day one in the hospital.
  • 00:11:08.190 --> 00:11:12.160
  • (crowd laughing)
  • 00:11:12.160 --> 00:11:13.160
  • "IIIIIII"
  • 00:11:13.160 --> 00:11:14.250
  • In essence, I want to be fed.
  • 00:11:14.250 --> 00:11:17.270
  • "IIIII" want to be held.
  • 00:11:17.270 --> 00:11:19.230
  • "IIIII" want to be changed, I.
  • 00:11:19.230 --> 00:11:22.260
  • Now, in my opinion
  • 00:11:22.260 --> 00:11:24.110
  • the second word could be mama or something like that
  • 00:11:24.110 --> 00:11:27.100
  • but somewhere along the line,
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  • one of the first ten words that a baby learns
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  • is another word, it's called mine.
  • 00:11:31.070 --> 00:11:34.060
  • Mine, mine, mine,
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  • mine, mine, mine (laughing)
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  • mine.
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  • It's is amazing how you could be in another room
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  • and you start hearing this mine, mine, mine,
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  • mine, mine, mine,
  • 00:11:50.290 --> 00:11:53.060
  • and it makes chills go up your spine, you know.
  • 00:11:53.060 --> 00:11:57.110
  • (crowd laughing)
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  • And a parent has to go through the house
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  • and find this sound, where is this sound coming from?
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  • Mine, mine, mine, mine
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  • and you know, you get in the other room
  • 00:12:06.070 --> 00:12:08.140
  • and it's normally a younger child
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  • pulling something from an older child
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  • and the younger child saying mine, mine,
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  • mine, mine right, okay.
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  • You have to know though there is an age
  • 00:12:17.210 --> 00:12:20.080
  • where parents do not carry anymore about justice.
  • 00:12:20.080 --> 00:12:24.060
  • (crowd laughing)
  • 00:12:24.060 --> 00:12:26.080
  • They don't care whose it is
  • 00:12:26.080 --> 00:12:28.010
  • they just want quiet.
  • 00:12:28.010 --> 00:12:29.170
  • So we say stuff that's stupid like this,
  • 00:12:29.170 --> 00:12:32.170
  • give to her. (crowd laughing)
  • 00:12:32.170 --> 00:12:34.210
  • Just give it to her.
  • 00:12:34.210 --> 00:12:36.120
  • And the older child says but Dad it really is mine.
  • 00:12:36.120 --> 00:12:39.260
  • Give it to her, she has things of mine too, give it to her.
  • 00:12:39.260 --> 00:12:42.210
  • (crowd laughing)
  • 00:12:42.210 --> 00:12:45.270
  • That's the way we start out,
  • 00:12:45.270 --> 00:12:47.220
  • we start out selfish.
  • 00:12:47.220 --> 00:12:50.080
  • The enemy of generosity is selfishness.
  • 00:12:50.080 --> 00:12:53.290
  • I can remember one time, I had a pastor in town
  • 00:12:53.290 --> 00:12:58.160
  • and we were going to a restaurant
  • 00:12:58.160 --> 00:13:00.120
  • and we just happened to be driving past some large homes.
  • 00:13:00.120 --> 00:13:04.140
  • And there was this really big home
  • 00:13:04.140 --> 00:13:07.050
  • and the guy is actually a member of our church
  • 00:13:07.050 --> 00:13:10.220
  • but this pastor saw this home and he said
  • 00:13:10.220 --> 00:13:14.240
  • wow, look at that house and then he said this,
  • 00:13:14.240 --> 00:13:17.290
  • he ought to sell that and give it to the poor.
  • 00:13:17.290 --> 00:13:21.190
  • Now, every now and then I like to kind of
  • 00:13:21.190 --> 00:13:25.210
  • make an impact, not be mean but make an impact.
  • 00:13:25.210 --> 00:13:29.220
  • And so I said to him,
  • 00:13:31.040 --> 00:13:32.220
  • do you know who first said that statement right there?
  • 00:13:32.220 --> 00:13:36.190
  • Judas did.
  • 00:13:36.190 --> 00:13:37.170
  • The one who betrayed our Lord,
  • 00:13:39.180 --> 00:13:42.100
  • we just read it.
  • 00:13:43.080 --> 00:13:44.240
  • Judas said that should be sold and given to the poor
  • 00:13:44.240 --> 00:13:48.140
  • and according to the Bible,
  • 00:13:48.140 --> 00:13:50.200
  • he didn't say it because he cared about the poor
  • 00:13:50.200 --> 00:13:53.180
  • he said it because he was thief.
  • 00:13:53.180 --> 00:13:56.190
  • So I actually to this pastor, I said,
  • 00:13:56.190 --> 00:14:00.220
  • I'm just gonna shock you man, you don't care about the poor
  • 00:14:00.220 --> 00:14:03.280
  • because if you care about the poor
  • 00:14:03.280 --> 00:14:06.060
  • you'd sell your house and give it to the poor.
  • 00:14:06.060 --> 00:14:08.250
  • Do you really know what extravagance is?
  • 00:14:10.170 --> 00:14:13.150
  • Really, the definition of extravagance?
  • 00:14:13.150 --> 00:14:15.180
  • Someone who has more than you.
  • 00:14:15.180 --> 00:14:17.190
  • (crowd laughing)
  • 00:14:17.190 --> 00:14:20.190
  • That's an extravagant car, boy that's an extravagant car,
  • 00:14:20.190 --> 00:14:24.150
  • I would never would buy that car.
  • 00:14:24.150 --> 00:14:27.000
  • And then when you get a raise, you know what
  • 00:14:27.000 --> 00:14:28.240
  • I think I can afford that car now.
  • 00:14:28.240 --> 00:14:30.110
  • (crowd laughing)
  • 00:14:30.110 --> 00:14:32.000
  • Wouldn't live in that neighborhood, never, never would.
  • 00:14:32.000 --> 00:14:33.290
  • You know I think we could now.
  • 00:14:33.290 --> 00:14:35.270
  • (crowd laughing)
  • 00:14:35.270 --> 00:14:37.010
  • It's extravagant, so.
  • 00:14:37.010 --> 00:14:37.290
  • So, here's Judas doing this
  • 00:14:37.290 --> 00:14:40.160
  • and this is selfishness, this is all through scripture.
  • 00:14:40.160 --> 00:14:44.080
  • By the way, there is something really curious to me
  • 00:14:44.080 --> 00:14:47.010
  • in this, and that is that
  • 00:14:47.010 --> 00:14:49.000
  • Judas had the money box.
  • 00:14:49.000 --> 00:14:50.210
  • Please remember who the leader of these 12 people were.
  • 00:14:53.190 --> 00:14:58.060
  • Remember who the leader was?
  • 00:15:00.030 --> 00:15:01.270
  • Jesus.
  • 00:15:01.270 --> 00:15:02.220
  • So who gave Judas the money box?
  • 00:15:04.030 --> 00:15:07.180
  • Jesus did.
  • 00:15:07.180 --> 00:15:08.130
  • Why?
  • 00:15:09.180 --> 00:15:10.210
  • Because he knew, he actually said
  • 00:15:10.210 --> 00:15:12.160
  • two years before this happened,
  • 00:15:12.160 --> 00:15:14.150
  • two years before this happened,
  • 00:15:14.150 --> 00:15:16.000
  • didn't I choose 12 of you and one of you is the devil?
  • 00:15:16.000 --> 00:15:19.000
  • He knew he would betray him.
  • 00:15:20.140 --> 00:15:22.120
  • So, did he give Judas the money box to fail, no.
  • 00:15:22.120 --> 00:15:26.110
  • Because the Bible says that God tempts no man,
  • 00:15:26.110 --> 00:15:30.140
  • and will with every temptation make way of escape.
  • 00:15:30.140 --> 00:15:33.290
  • He was actually giving Judas a chance
  • 00:15:33.290 --> 00:15:38.220
  • to change his ways.
  • 00:15:38.220 --> 00:15:39.290
  • He was giving him the money box
  • 00:15:40.250 --> 00:15:42.210
  • where Judas could say, you know what
  • 00:15:42.210 --> 00:15:44.230
  • this is going to help other people.
  • 00:15:44.230 --> 00:15:46.130
  • Now think also about something Judas was doing,
  • 00:15:46.130 --> 00:15:49.150
  • Judas was taking money out of the money box,
  • 00:15:49.150 --> 00:15:53.110
  • that's like the offering box.
  • 00:15:53.110 --> 00:15:55.130
  • Now here's what we all think,
  • 00:15:55.130 --> 00:15:57.170
  • here's what everyone thinks watching at home,
  • 00:15:57.170 --> 00:15:59.130
  • everyone thinks this,
  • 00:15:59.130 --> 00:16:01.020
  • well I would never take money out the money box.
  • 00:16:01.020 --> 00:16:03.290
  • If ten percent of it belongs in the offering box
  • 00:16:08.230 --> 00:16:13.010
  • and you keep it in your account,
  • 00:16:14.070 --> 00:16:16.060
  • isn't that the same thing as taking it out of the money box?
  • 00:16:17.180 --> 00:16:22.040
  • It also says that Judas was a thief
  • 00:16:24.030 --> 00:16:26.230
  • and the Bible calls him a thief.
  • 00:16:26.230 --> 00:16:28.210
  • Remember how we read how
  • 00:16:28.210 --> 00:16:30.150
  • in the Bible in Malachi, it says you rob me.
  • 00:16:30.150 --> 00:16:33.240
  • Joshua says, you've stolen from me,
  • 00:16:33.240 --> 00:16:36.180
  • 'cause you took what belonged to me.
  • 00:16:36.180 --> 00:16:38.240
  • See, it's kind of tough to read these things,
  • 00:16:38.240 --> 00:16:43.050
  • I'm telling you, money is bigger test than you think.
  • 00:16:43.050 --> 00:16:47.110
  • Because God is seeing,
  • 00:16:48.220 --> 00:16:50.210
  • if you can handle free riches
  • 00:16:50.210 --> 00:16:54.080
  • but the test he uses is if you can handle money or not.
  • 00:16:54.080 --> 00:16:58.030
  • So, that's talking about the enemy of generosity,
  • 00:16:58.030 --> 00:17:01.150
  • let me talk about the extravagance of generosity.
  • 00:17:01.150 --> 00:17:04.170
  • Mary gives one years wage,
  • 00:17:06.220 --> 00:17:10.110
  • that's pretty amazing, that's extravagant
  • 00:17:10.110 --> 00:17:13.280
  • for any person no matter what your salary is.
  • 00:17:13.280 --> 00:17:17.030
  • A years wage is extravagant
  • 00:17:17.030 --> 00:17:19.080
  • but does an extravagant gift, impress God?
  • 00:17:20.290 --> 00:17:25.120
  • Now, we have to look at it two ways
  • 00:17:25.120 --> 00:17:28.230
  • what is extravagant to God?
  • 00:17:30.120 --> 00:17:32.230
  • Is it the amount or is it how we give it?
  • 00:17:36.030 --> 00:17:39.140
  • It says that Jesus sat opposite the treasury
  • 00:17:39.140 --> 00:17:42.090
  • and watched how people gave.
  • 00:17:42.090 --> 00:17:45.100
  • It doesn't say how much, it says how they gave.
  • 00:17:45.100 --> 00:17:49.040
  • He watched their heart.
  • 00:17:49.040 --> 00:17:50.180
  • I'll tell you some extravagant gifts in the Bible.
  • 00:17:50.180 --> 00:17:53.280
  • David gave 21 billion dollars to build the temple,
  • 00:17:55.210 --> 00:18:00.180
  • in today's currency.
  • 00:18:00.180 --> 00:18:01.220
  • A lot of people don't realize that, 21 billion dollars.
  • 00:18:03.040 --> 00:18:07.180
  • That's an extravagant gift.
  • 00:18:07.180 --> 00:18:09.120
  • Solomon, when he became king offered 1.000 bolls.
  • 00:18:09.120 --> 00:18:14.120
  • A boll represented the kings wealth.
  • 00:18:15.180 --> 00:18:17.290
  • One thousand, that's extravagant.
  • 00:18:19.050 --> 00:18:22.020
  • Here is another extravagant gift that we forget about
  • 00:18:22.020 --> 00:18:26.010
  • a widow gave two mites.
  • 00:18:26.010 --> 00:18:29.130
  • A mite is one half of a Roman penny.
  • 00:18:32.000 --> 00:18:36.000
  • It takes two Jewish mites to make up one Roman penny.
  • 00:18:36.000 --> 00:18:39.250
  • So she gave one Roman penny.
  • 00:18:40.290 --> 00:18:43.080
  • Jesus said, that she gave more than everybody else here.
  • 00:18:43.080 --> 00:18:47.270
  • That was an extravagant gift.
  • 00:18:47.270 --> 00:18:50.240
  • That's what Mary did but
  • 00:18:50.240 --> 00:18:52.120
  • what I'm trying to figure out is
  • 00:18:52.120 --> 00:18:54.180
  • why did Mary give such an extravagant gift?
  • 00:18:54.180 --> 00:18:56.240
  • Here's what I think,
  • 00:18:59.040 --> 00:19:00.280
  • her brother had just been raised from the dead,
  • 00:19:00.280 --> 00:19:03.270
  • read John 11.
  • 00:19:03.270 --> 00:19:05.140
  • We started in John 12.
  • 00:19:05.140 --> 00:19:07.000
  • I think she realized what was true riches
  • 00:19:08.270 --> 00:19:12.110
  • she lost her brother, he was dead.
  • 00:19:13.130 --> 00:19:15.180
  • He was four days dead.
  • 00:19:15.180 --> 00:19:17.170
  • He just been raised from the dead,
  • 00:19:17.170 --> 00:19:20.190
  • I think she looked at this perfume
  • 00:19:20.190 --> 00:19:22.220
  • that maybe she'd saved for a long time to buy
  • 00:19:22.220 --> 00:19:25.290
  • and she thought this is more important to me
  • 00:19:25.290 --> 00:19:28.180
  • than anything else.
  • 00:19:28.180 --> 00:19:29.230
  • Is showing my gratitude to Jesus
  • 00:19:30.220 --> 00:19:35.060
  • and so she gives this incredibly extravagant gift.
  • 00:19:35.060 --> 00:19:38.100
  • By the way, Jesus said this,
  • 00:19:38.100 --> 00:19:41.160
  • this was done for my burial.
  • 00:19:41.160 --> 00:19:44.030
  • And what some of us don't remember
  • 00:19:45.100 --> 00:19:47.140
  • is that Jesus was crucified on the Passover
  • 00:19:47.140 --> 00:19:51.050
  • his body was taken off the cross
  • 00:19:51.050 --> 00:19:53.160
  • and put immediately in the grave,
  • 00:19:53.160 --> 00:19:56.040
  • and they came the morning after Passover
  • 00:19:56.040 --> 00:19:59.040
  • with the spices to prepare his body for burial
  • 00:19:59.040 --> 00:20:02.150
  • and he wasn't there he rose, but the point is
  • 00:20:02.150 --> 00:20:06.200
  • the time he was in the grave,
  • 00:20:06.200 --> 00:20:08.250
  • the only anointing he received was from Mary.
  • 00:20:08.250 --> 00:20:13.250
  • Yeah, we started back at John 12
  • 00:20:14.220 --> 00:20:16.160
  • this was six days before the Passover.
  • 00:20:16.160 --> 00:20:19.080
  • Let me put it another way, Jesus died on Passover
  • 00:20:19.080 --> 00:20:21.170
  • six days before he died.
  • 00:20:21.170 --> 00:20:23.030
  • So Jesus said, she came into this
  • 00:20:24.090 --> 00:20:28.020
  • to prepare my body for burial.
  • 00:20:28.020 --> 00:20:31.280
  • So we talked about the
  • 00:20:31.280 --> 00:20:33.140
  • extravagance, we talked about the enemy,
  • 00:20:35.120 --> 00:20:38.120
  • here's the third thing, the reward of generosity,
  • 00:20:38.120 --> 00:20:42.200
  • the reward.
  • 00:20:43.180 --> 00:20:44.290
  • Now this story is also told in Mark
  • 00:20:44.290 --> 00:20:47.220
  • and here's what it says in Mark.
  • 00:20:47.220 --> 00:20:50.190
  • What this woman did, will be told, all around the world.
  • 00:20:50.190 --> 00:20:55.190
  • What this woman did, will be told, all around the world.
  • 00:20:57.030 --> 00:20:59.110
  • In other words, there was a reward for what she did.
  • 00:20:59.110 --> 00:21:02.250
  • I just want you to know that God is a rewarder.
  • 00:21:02.250 --> 00:21:07.000
  • He does reward.
  • 00:21:07.000 --> 00:21:09.050
  • I was at a Bible school one time
  • 00:21:09.050 --> 00:21:10.290
  • in Costa Rica teaching
  • 00:21:10.290 --> 00:21:13.230
  • and they had on Friday
  • 00:21:13.230 --> 00:21:16.060
  • it was called Bless Another Day
  • 00:21:16.060 --> 00:21:18.080
  • and they were trying to teach the students to give
  • 00:21:18.080 --> 00:21:20.150
  • and they said on Friday you give something to someone else.
  • 00:21:20.150 --> 00:21:25.110
  • And they told us about this student
  • 00:21:25.110 --> 00:21:27.190
  • they had five years before
  • 00:21:27.190 --> 00:21:29.110
  • and he came and said, he was very upset
  • 00:21:29.110 --> 00:21:31.210
  • and he said I have nothing to give.
  • 00:21:31.210 --> 00:21:34.090
  • I can not give, I have nothing to give
  • 00:21:34.090 --> 00:21:36.190
  • and they said well pray and ask the Lord.
  • 00:21:36.190 --> 00:21:39.080
  • So he worked at a peanut farm and went to Bible College.
  • 00:21:39.080 --> 00:21:43.280
  • And so he went to the owner and said
  • 00:21:43.280 --> 00:21:46.220
  • could I give one peanut every week,
  • 00:21:46.220 --> 00:21:50.000
  • could I buy a peanut so I can give it to bless another?
  • 00:21:50.000 --> 00:21:54.190
  • One peanut.
  • 00:21:54.190 --> 00:21:56.040
  • And the farmer said, hey, you're one of my best workers
  • 00:21:56.040 --> 00:21:59.130
  • just take it, take it.
  • 00:21:59.130 --> 00:22:01.070
  • And he said no, I'm not going to do that,
  • 00:22:01.070 --> 00:22:03.240
  • because then you're giving it.
  • 00:22:03.240 --> 00:22:05.090
  • I need to give it.
  • 00:22:06.050 --> 00:22:07.210
  • So he worked it out to buy a peanut
  • 00:22:08.250 --> 00:22:11.110
  • to give a way.
  • 00:22:11.110 --> 00:22:13.080
  • Well this guy starts getting promoted,
  • 00:22:13.080 --> 00:22:15.210
  • at the end of that semester
  • 00:22:15.210 --> 00:22:18.160
  • he paid for his tuition and another students tuition.
  • 00:22:18.160 --> 00:22:23.160
  • Then he got promoted again,
  • 00:22:24.120 --> 00:22:26.130
  • at the end of the next semester
  • 00:22:26.130 --> 00:22:27.230
  • he paid for his tuition and ten students.
  • 00:22:27.230 --> 00:22:31.270
  • When I was there, they had over 200 bible students,
  • 00:22:31.270 --> 00:22:36.270
  • over 200, and they said to me,
  • 00:22:37.230 --> 00:22:40.220
  • do you remember the kid that gave a peanut a week?
  • 00:22:40.220 --> 00:22:43.020
  • I said yeah.
  • 00:22:43.020 --> 00:22:44.080
  • They said he now owns the peanut farm
  • 00:22:44.080 --> 00:22:47.200
  • and he scholarships all 200 of these students.
  • 00:22:47.200 --> 00:22:51.290
  • (crowd speaking)
  • 00:22:51.290 --> 00:22:53.020
  • All 200.
  • 00:22:53.020 --> 00:22:54.180
  • Because God rewards.
  • 00:22:55.200 --> 00:22:58.000
  • When he can find a good steward,
  • 00:22:59.030 --> 00:23:01.260
  • and a generous person, he rewards
  • 00:23:03.270 --> 00:23:07.220
  • and that's exactly what happened
  • 00:23:07.220 --> 00:23:08.290
  • and think about this, here's what Jesus said,
  • 00:23:08.290 --> 00:23:11.100
  • what this woman did is going to be told
  • 00:23:11.100 --> 00:23:14.250
  • as a memorial to the whole world.
  • 00:23:14.250 --> 00:23:17.130
  • Okay, so she comes and gives this offering, Mary,
  • 00:23:17.130 --> 00:23:20.100
  • because Lazarus been raised from the dead
  • 00:23:20.100 --> 00:23:23.110
  • and we're still reading about it today
  • 00:23:23.110 --> 00:23:26.120
  • and the best selling book of all time recorded it.
  • 00:23:26.120 --> 00:23:30.210
  • It's told all over the world,
  • 00:23:31.270 --> 00:23:34.080
  • she got a reward because she was an extravagant giver,
  • 00:23:35.210 --> 00:23:40.050
  • but here's what will stop us from being extravagant givers,
  • 00:23:40.050 --> 00:23:43.110
  • selfishness.
  • 00:23:43.110 --> 00:23:44.210
  • I'm telling us, when I say us,
  • 00:23:44.210 --> 00:23:47.250
  • see I'm telling me, I'm telling you,
  • 00:23:47.250 --> 00:23:50.060
  • all the time we have to think about this.
  • 00:23:50.060 --> 00:23:53.050
  • So, I talked about the children, mine, so
  • 00:23:53.050 --> 00:23:57.260
  • this little different, I'm a end with
  • 00:23:59.060 --> 00:24:01.170
  • a little bit of a funny story, okay.
  • 00:24:01.170 --> 00:24:04.160
  • All of us are born selfish, right?
  • 00:24:04.160 --> 00:24:06.190
  • We're all born selfish
  • 00:24:06.190 --> 00:24:08.000
  • and I told you I still work on this,
  • 00:24:08.000 --> 00:24:10.050
  • I still have to work on this, okay,
  • 00:24:10.050 --> 00:24:12.110
  • men do not like to share food.
  • 00:24:12.110 --> 00:24:17.080
  • men do not like to share food.
  • 00:24:17.080 --> 00:24:18.170
  • (crowd laughing)
  • 00:24:18.170 --> 00:24:21.000
  • This is still a weakness that I have.
  • 00:24:21.000 --> 00:24:23.160
  • We drive up to a drive through, I say to my wife,
  • 00:24:23.160 --> 00:24:27.060
  • what do you want?
  • 00:24:27.060 --> 00:24:29.000
  • Everybody know what she says,
  • 00:24:29.000 --> 00:24:32.180
  • nothing, I'll just have some of yours.
  • 00:24:32.180 --> 00:24:35.100
  • (crowd laughing)
  • 00:24:35.100 --> 00:24:38.030
  • No you won't.
  • 00:24:39.070 --> 00:24:40.270
  • (crowd laughing)
  • 00:24:40.270 --> 00:24:43.280
  • I'll buy you two orders of fries
  • 00:24:43.280 --> 00:24:46.010
  • but you are not getting any of my fries.
  • 00:24:47.030 --> 00:24:49.240
  • And the fries that fall in the bottom of the bag
  • 00:24:49.240 --> 00:24:53.020
  • are mine too.
  • 00:24:53.020 --> 00:24:54.080
  • (crowd laughing)
  • 00:24:54.080 --> 00:24:57.150
  • So, I'm just telling you,
  • 00:24:57.150 --> 00:24:59.180
  • I'm still working on this, I'm sorry.
  • 00:24:59.180 --> 00:25:02.130
  • I'm still working on it,
  • 00:25:02.130 --> 00:25:03.250
  • we're still working on it.
  • 00:25:03.250 --> 00:25:05.120
  • We were born selfish, we we're born again generous
  • 00:25:05.120 --> 00:25:08.160
  • but we work on it, when we work on it,
  • 00:25:08.160 --> 00:25:10.230
  • when we're honest with God,
  • 00:25:10.230 --> 00:25:12.270
  • God can do something in our hearts.
  • 00:25:12.270 --> 00:25:15.280
  • He can show us these little areas where
  • 00:25:15.280 --> 00:25:18.150
  • we're selfish and we're not generous.
  • 00:25:18.150 --> 00:25:20.250
  • So remember the question today is,
  • 00:25:20.250 --> 00:25:23.120
  • Am I generous?
  • 00:25:23.120 --> 00:25:25.170
  • You know what the answer is?
  • 00:25:25.170 --> 00:25:27.030
  • Yes and No.
  • 00:25:27.030 --> 00:25:28.050
  • Sometimes I am and sometimes I am not.
  • 00:25:29.100 --> 00:25:33.080
  • Let me pray for you.
  • 00:25:33.080 --> 00:25:34.250
  • Lord I pray that you will do a work
  • 00:25:34.250 --> 00:25:36.250
  • in all of our hearts,
  • 00:25:36.250 --> 00:25:38.240
  • in all of our hearts,
  • 00:25:38.240 --> 00:25:40.250
  • in every area, the small ones and the big ones,
  • 00:25:40.250 --> 00:25:43.200
  • that we will become generous, extravagant givers.
  • 00:25:43.200 --> 00:25:48.180
  • And that we will remember that
  • 00:25:48.180 --> 00:25:51.040
  • it wasn't just as Mary,
  • 00:25:51.040 --> 00:25:52.160
  • our brothers been raised from the dead,
  • 00:25:52.160 --> 00:25:54.150
  • we been raised from the dead,
  • 00:25:54.150 --> 00:25:56.030
  • many of our family members been raised from the dead
  • 00:25:56.030 --> 00:25:58.190
  • because of the resurrection of Jesus I pray Lord,
  • 00:25:58.190 --> 00:26:01.140
  • that we will become generous, extravagant givers
  • 00:26:01.140 --> 00:26:05.240
  • and that Lord we will live a life beyond blessed
  • 00:26:05.240 --> 00:26:09.210
  • so that we can be a blessing.
  • 00:26:09.210 --> 00:26:13.110
  • In Jesus name,
  • 00:26:13.110 --> 00:26:14.260
  • Amen. - [Congregation] Amen.
  • 00:26:14.260 --> 00:26:16.110
  • - Thank you so much for watching
  • 00:26:16.110 --> 00:26:18.060
  • I'll see you next time.
  • 00:26:18.060 --> 00:26:19.250
  • (applause)
  • 00:26:19.250 --> 00:26:21.210
  • (upbeat music)
  • 00:26:21.210 --> 00:26:24.080
  • - [Narrator] A life without financial stress
  • 00:26:26.290 --> 00:26:29.000
  • or money worries, a life beyond blessed.
  • 00:26:29.000 --> 00:26:31.180
  • Through out this TBN sponsored program
  • 00:26:31.180 --> 00:26:34.140
  • Pastor Robert Morris has been giving us
  • 00:26:34.140 --> 00:26:36.170
  • a biblical road map for living that kind of life.
  • 00:26:36.170 --> 00:26:39.080
  • And we'd love to put that complete road map
  • 00:26:39.080 --> 00:26:41.250
  • in your hands right now and
  • 00:26:41.250 --> 00:26:43.260
  • thanks for helping TBN keep this kind of program
  • 00:26:43.260 --> 00:26:46.200
  • coming to you and others around the world.
  • 00:26:46.200 --> 00:26:49.100
  • Right now you can receive the companion
  • 00:26:49.100 --> 00:26:52.080
  • hardcover book to this series, Beyond Blessed,
  • 00:26:52.080 --> 00:26:55.080
  • God's perfect plan to overcome all financial stress
  • 00:26:55.080 --> 00:26:58.070
  • and thanks for your gift of any amount today.
  • 00:26:58.070 --> 00:27:00.280
  • And if you're able to share a gift of
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  • $75 or more in support of TBN programs like this one
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  • we'll also send you all ten episodes of
  • 00:27:07.180 --> 00:27:10.010
  • Beyond Blessed series your watching on DVD.
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  • Call 800-260-9699 or share your gift securely on line
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  • at tbn.org/beyondblessed.
  • 00:27:18.240 --> 00:27:23.000
  • (upbeat music)
  • 00:27:26.120 --> 00:27:29.000