I have a question for you guys. How many of you love watching movies? Anyone? Okay. How many of you have ever allowed a bad review to keep you from doing something good? Anyone ever had that? Maybe it's a restaurant that had a bad review, and you're like, "I'm not going to go there, because it has a terrible review." For me, that often happens with movies.

Something about me is that Paige and I love watching movies. Now, we have a two-year-old and a one-year-old, so we are not watching them anymore. But there was a time when our best pastime was going to watch a good movie. And I think the best ones are the ones that might have a bad review, and you're like, "I'm just going to go anyway." Sometimes a movie has a bad review, you go, and you're like, "It deserved it. That was terrible." It said it was going to be bad, and it was right. It was bad.

And sometimes you don't even know if it's going to be good or bad. For me, that was the movie Taken. I'd heard nothing about Taken. I just showed up. I saw the poster and was like, "Sure, let's do it." And I was like, "Oh my gosh, what is this magic? This was incredible." Liam Neeson is like, "I will find you, and I will kill you." If you're a dude, you're like, "This is crazy. I want to be a man."

But then there are other movies that have bad reviews that just aren't warranted. One movie like that: 56% on Rotten Tomatoes, The Greatest Showman. What? The Greatest Showman is amazing. It's such a good movie. I remember watching it and thinking, "This is incredible. I'm a grown man, and I cried." In fact, the other day we were walking, looking at some Christmas lights, and they started playing a song from The Greatest Showman, and my friends turned to me and said, "Brad, you're going to cry." And I'm like, "No, I'm a man." And two minutes later they looked at me, and I'm like, "This is so special. He had a dream and it came true." I'm like a baby when it comes to a movie.

Why do I tell you that? Because I almost allowed a bad review to keep me from something good.

Why does the church talk about money?

Today what I want to talk about is God's plan for your generosity. God's plan for your giving. And the second I say that, some of you just tensed up. Physiologically, something happened, because you may have heard a bad review. You've heard about bad things, or you've experienced bad things. Maybe you've heard about churches that do crazy things with finances. That's not us. We are highly accountable and highly transparent. If you don't believe me, go through Growth Track. We'll tell you all about it. But maybe you've heard about the crazy things churches do, and you're like, "Oh man, churches always want to talk about money." And because of that, you tense up.

Or maybe it's not even that you've heard something bad, but you've actually experienced something bad. Maybe you've been in environments where people talk about giving with high-pressure, high-emotion situations. There's a reason why we've already given. For me, I wanted the purity of being able to talk about God's generosity without you thinking at the end, "Is he going to tell me to give?" I wanted to be honest. Why? Because I care about your discipleship.

A couple of things I want you to know. Don't allow your experience from one place to keep you from experiencing something good in this place. Just because you've seen one bad movie doesn't mean all movies are bad. Just because there's been one church that maybe didn't steward something the way it needed to doesn't mean this is that place.

Let me also say this: don't allow one bad review from someone else to keep you from what God has for you. Because more than anything, no matter what people say, it is still true that the early church was known for their generosity. It is still true that the Bible says whoever sows generously will reap generously. It is still true that Jesus talked about money more than any other thing. It is still true that the capital-C Church is the most generous people group in the world. It is still true that our money can be used to put the mission forward in a way that leads to eternal reward. And it is still true that God called us to be generous because Christ was so generous to us. Can I get a good amen?

So often pastors are afraid to talk about this, because they're afraid they're going to offend the new people, or the people who are just checking it out, kicking the tires. Here's what I want you to know. Our mission at Spirit is to lead people to fully follow Jesus. And I can't lead you to fully follow Jesus in your marriage and in your Bible reading and in your relationships and in the fruit of the Spirit, but not in your finances. If I'm going to lead you to fully follow Jesus in one place, I need to lead you to fully follow Jesus in every single place.

Why did Jesus talk about money so much?

Jesus cares about what we do with our money. In fact, Jesus talked about money so much that in a third of His parables, He talked about money. 33%. We're 14 weeks old, and this is the first time. I'm at like 6%, so I'm doing a whole lot worse than Jesus. But today we want to talk about it.

Why did Jesus talk about it so much? Here's why: because it's the number one thing that competes for lordship. It's the number one thing that wants to get onto the throne of your heart. Jesus said this in Matthew 6:24: "No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money." And even this week, you were tempted to make money your god.

And you're like, "Brad, I don't believe that." Really? If you had an extra $10,000 in your bank account, would you have slept more peacefully? What does that mean? It means that maybe money is bringing us peace. Money brings us security. Money is a functional savior that tries to give us the things only God can provide. It competes for the throne of our heart.

So Jesus consistently talks about this. He wants us to remind ourselves that it is all His, and all we're doing is stewarding. We're living between the zeros. What does that mean? You came in with nothing. And do you know how you're going to leave? With nothing. And the only things you can take up to heaven are praises and people. So we want to make sure that whatever we do here on this earth is actually pushing toward people coming to know Christ.

I'm not afraid to talk to you about this today. I'm actually really excited, because I believe that whatever your experience has been with a church talking about money, my prayer is that today you're going to walk out of here free. Do you believe that? Do you believe we can talk about money and y'all can leave free? Well, that's what we're going to do here today.

Should Christians tithe?

So I want to give you a theology of giving. People are always asking, "Where do we stand on giving? What does that look like?" I'm going to give you a theology of giving. Congratulations, y'all came to church today, and it's going to be amazing. But in order to learn about this, I'm going to teach today. Is that okay? We're going to be deep in the Bible. And in order for you to learn what the Bible says about giving, you actually have to unlearn what you've learned. You need to delete everything and say, "We're just going to build it up with Scripture." That's always what we need to do.

The number one question I've been asked about giving, countless times, is this: "As a Christian, should I tithe?" Anyone ever wondered that? And if you're here and you're new, you're like, "Okay, what is a tithe?" It's an old word that means tenth. Say "tenth." It's the concept that of everything you get, you give 10% back to the church. It's something that is taught so often in church: you need to bring 10% back to the church. And I want to talk about that. Is that okay? Great.

The Bible is split into three categories. There's what's called pre-law, which is before God's instructions on Mount Sinai, where He gave them the 613 laws. There's the law, which is the Old Testament. And then there's the new covenant.

Tithing before the law

A lot of times when people talk about tithing, they'll say you need to give because tithing is pre-law. So even though the Old Testament was fulfilled, you still need to do it, because it was something practiced before the law. I want to show you those verses real quick. Genesis 14:20 says this: "Then Abram gave him a tenth of everything." In that moment, Abraham gave it to Melchizedek as an act of worship.

Genesis 28:20 says this: "Then Jacob made a vow, saying, 'If God will be with me and will watch over me on this journey I am taking and will give me food to eat and clothes to wear so that I return safely to my father's household, then the Lord will be my God... and of all that you give me I will give you a tenth.'" So Jacob here promises that he will tithe in response to God's faithfulness.

Here's what I need you to understand about Genesis, and if you understand this about tithing, it's going to actually help you approach the Old Testament. Genesis is narrative. It is not legislative. Genesis gives an example. It is not giving a command. It shows a principle, not a system. Abraham and Jacob gave voluntarily in response to God's revelation, before any legal obligation existed. It is descriptive, not prescriptive. What does that mean? The pre-law period does not command you to tithe.

Y'all are like, "I did not think he was going there. I thought he was going to tell me this is what it says and this is what you need to do." No, no, no. It would be unfaithful for me to take something descriptive in Scripture and say, "Because it happened, that's what we do." Abraham also had to sacrifice Isaac. I'm not going to say, "Okay guys, take your kid." Just because something happens doesn't mean it's something we need to do. Is everyone with me? Praise God.

Tithing under the law

Let's jump to the law, which is after Israel is freed. Moses goes up Mount Sinai, and then God gives them a whole bunch of commands. There are 613 things in the Torah, in that instruction: these are the things you need to do to be considered the people of God. And it turned the principle into a requirement.

Here we go. Leviticus 27:30 says this: "A tithe of everything from the land, whether grain from the soil or fruit from the trees, belongs to the Lord; it is holy to the Lord." So in Leviticus, it's established under the Mosaic law.

Malachi 3:8–10. You've probably heard this one more than anything else if you've ever been in church. It says this: "Will a mere mortal rob God? Yet you rob me. But you ask, 'How are we robbing you?' In tithes and offerings... Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,' says the Lord Almighty, 'and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it.'" It's probably one of the most quoted passages when it comes to tithing: "This is why you need to do it, because it says so in Malachi."

Is tithing in the New Testament?

Okay, that's the Old Testament. But people ask, "Is it mentioned in the New Testament?" It is. Matthew 23:23 says this. This is Jesus speaking: "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former."

So people say, "See, Jesus is saying you need to tithe, because He says you should do the latter without neglecting the former." But Jesus is talking to people who are still under the old covenant. He hasn't died yet. So just because it appears in the New Testament doesn't mean it's binding on Christians today. Y'all are like, "I really didn't think he was going here. This is crazy."

Is the Old Testament law still binding on Christians?

In order to fully understand this, you have to know how we approach the new covenant, this new thing God has ushered in. And the question is this: is the Old Testament still binding on us? There are so many laws in it. The first five books of the Bible are called the Torah, which means instruction. There are 613 laws. The challenge is, we do some of them but not all of them.

How many of you agree we should not murder? That's in the Old Testament. How many of you agree we should not commit adultery? We all agree on that. But what about beard trimming, or not eating shellfish, or not wearing clothes woven of two kinds of material? Why do we follow some of it but not the rest? Have you ever thought about that? Why did that stuff fall away? People have all kinds of answers.

The truth is this. Jesus says this in Matthew 5:17: "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets." The Old Testament is still good. It teaches us about God, about people, and about our relationship with God and people. The Old Testament can still teach you something. But Jesus says, "I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them."

What does that mean? Anyone ever signed a contract? All those terms and conditions we never read? If I gave you a contract with 613 things and you broke any one of them, the contract would be void. What a covenant says is, "We're going to make an agreement, and even if you break it, I will uphold my end of it." So God puts a covenant, an Old Testament covenant, in place. And even though the people sin, even though the people make mistakes, God says, "I will remain faithful." That is what a covenant is. And Jesus comes and fulfills it. We are no longer under the old covenant. And everybody said, "Thank God." 613 laws is a lot.

So Jesus comes and says, "I have come to fulfill the law." And they ask Jesus, "What's the greatest commandment?" And He says this: "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind," and "Love your neighbor as yourself." All of the commandments depend on those two things.

So we are no longer under the old covenant. We are under the new covenant. And the way you know what we need to do is this: what does the New Testament command? The reason we don't murder is not because it's part of the Ten Commandments. It's because it's restated in the New Testament. The reason we don't commit adultery is not because it was part of the Ten Commandments. It's because it's restated in the new covenant.

The Sabbath is part of the Ten Commandments, but I don't see anyone saying, "You didn't Sabbath, so you committed a sin." That's because it's not restated in the new covenant. Why? Because Jesus is our Sabbath. Now, it's still a principle you might want to follow. If you never take a break, you will break. So it's still wisdom, but if you don't do it this week, you're not sinning. Is anyone starting to feel a little freedom on all of these things? What is stated in the new covenant is what we need to do.

Why do churches teach tithing?

So why do churches teach it? I think for a couple of reasons. Sometimes it's simple. It's predictable: give 10%. I think it's been traditionally taught; for a lot of people, that's just what they say. And I think sometimes there's a fear attached to it: that if I say what I just said, the church won't be here next week, because everyone's like, "Oh, I don't need to give? That's amazing. Love this." But for me, teaching it as a command puts you back under the law. And I won't do that out of fear. Feeling free? I hope you're feeling lighter.

What the new covenant does is move us from law to life. From a have-to to a want-to. It's why I loved the fruit of the Spirit series. We didn't say, "Try harder." If I said, "You just need to try harder to have self-control," that would be law, not life. What did we say? Allow the Holy Spirit to produce it in you. Life. "You have to give": law. "Allow the Holy Spirit to produce generosity in you": life. Y'all feel the difference? You don't have to give. You get to. You can choose to.

Now, it's still important, because giving does reveal where our heart is. You see that all throughout the New Testament. Jesus is always concerned about where our heart is. So there is giving from that perspective. And for the rest of our time, now that we've broken that down, can we build up a new perspective of generosity? Is everyone okay with that?

What does the New Testament say about giving?

Let me tell you what the New Testament says about giving. It does tell us to give. It does command generosity. Paul does this in 1 Timothy 6:17: "Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be..." Say it with me: "...generous and willing to share."

Jesus talks about us giving. He assumes it in our discipleship. Luke 6:38 says, "Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you." So it's not 10%. It's that the measure you use will be measured to you, and you get to choose. He's not saying "if you give." He's saying "when you give." He also talks about it in Matthew 6:24: "No one can serve two masters... You cannot serve both God and money."

Giving is not a tax on Christians. It is the fruit that comes from a changed heart. God has changed me. He has been so generous to me. So now I want to give.

So what does New Testament giving look like? If you're taking notes, and I encourage you to take notes, I want you to write this down.

1. Giving is voluntary

Giving in the New Testament is voluntary. It's not forced. 2 Corinthians 9:7: "Each of you should give..." Again, there's an assumption that it's something we're doing. "Each of you should give 10%"? Nope. "Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion."

As a church, have you ever heard us say we won't tell you how much to give? We won't tell you how much to give. We will always ask you to ask God and do whatever He tells you to do. Why? Because I'm not going to put you under compulsion, because the Bible tells me I shouldn't. "Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion." The New Testament moves it from law to life, from have-to to get-to, from a set amount to a heart posture. Giving is voluntary.

2. Giving is joyful

Second, your giving should be joyful. When you give, you should smile. 2 Corinthians 9:7 again: "Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a..." Say it with me: "...cheerful giver." You can't be cheerful if I'm just telling you what to do. You have to go before God and ask, "Okay, is this voluntary, and is this joyful?"

3. Giving is systematic

The New Testament also encourages giving that is systematic. 1 Corinthians 16:1 says this: "Now about the collection for the Lord's people: Do what I told the Galatian churches to do. On the first day of every week, each one of you should set aside a sum of money in keeping with your income, saving it up, so that when I come no collections will have to be made." He was encouraging, not commanding, that a system be put in place.

My question for you is this: is your giving systematic? Is it something you've predecided? Is it something you've budgeted for? Is it something you've put on repeat? Do you have a system for giving?

4. Giving is proportional

The fourth thing is that the New Testament encourages giving that is proportional. 1 Corinthians 16 continues: "...each one of you should set aside a sum of money in keeping with your income..." Proportional giving. It's not a little here and a little there. It's percentage-based giving. If you've never stepped into giving, my encouragement is this: step into percentage-based, proportional giving. That is an encouragement, not a command. Are we tracking?

5. Giving is sometimes sacrificial

The fifth thing is this: sometimes our giving should be sacrificial. Sometimes. 2 Corinthians 8:1: "And now, brothers and sisters, we want you to know about the grace that God has given the Macedonian churches. In the midst of a very severe trial, their overflowing joy..." There it is. "...and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity. For I testify that they gave as much as they were able, and even beyond their ability. Entirely on their own..." Voluntary. There you see it again. "...they urgently pleaded with us for the privilege of sharing in this service to the Lord's people." They're giving so that the gospel can go out. "And they exceeded our expectations: They gave themselves first of all to the Lord, and then by the will of God also to us."

The Macedonian church gave in severe trial and poverty, with overflowing joy, voluntarily. They gave first to the Lord and then to His mission. Our giving needs to be sacrificial sometimes.

But let me bring balance. This does not command that it has to be sacrificial all the time. Maybe you've been in a church where every time it comes to the end of the year, they say, "You need to go over and above. Extend. Extend. Extend." I will not ask you to do that. I'll ask you to pray. I think sometimes our heart needs to be in a place where we're willing to do that, but I don't think we always need to do it.

I remember once I was in a church and I felt so much pressure that I listed my car for sale, and I had no money to buy another one. Do you know what that's called? Dumb. And I was wrecked about it, because I felt so much pressure that this was what I needed to do. Y'all, that is a weight I did not need to carry. Now, are there times we need to give sacrificially? Yes. Y'all have no idea, launching this church. Yes, there are times for that. But there are also times to be wise. And all God's people said, "Amen."

6. Giving is generous

The sixth thing is generous. How many of you would say you're generous? I think a lot of us would say, "Yeah, I'm generous." I don't know anyone who says, "I'm pretty selfish. It's my goal in life. Hi, I'm Brad. Selfish." We don't say that. We want to be generous. We want to give to God, make a difference, and see the mission go forward in the world.

I think a lot of us want to be generous, but statistics say we're not. I'll show you. A U.S. annual report in 2023 said that the average American gives 1.9% of their total income to charity. Not exactly the most generous thing in the world. You wouldn't tip a waiter 2% and say, "Man, I was just so generous." And then you'll say, "Yeah, but when I make more, I'll give more." Well, that stat is against us as well, because the 2023 IRS stats say that people making over $100,000 gave less, proportionally, than people making less than $100,000. Which is wild. So we say, "I'll give more when I have more." Statistically, it's just not true.

Yes, we're not under a tithe. We're not under law. But the New Testament church was generous. They sold property to meet needs. Acts 2:44: "All the believers were together and had everything in common. They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need." And what was the result? Verse 47: "And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved." This again is not a command. It is a description.

Acts 4:32 says this: "All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of their possessions was their own, but they shared everything they had... that there were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned land or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales and put it at the apostles' feet, and it was distributed to anyone who had need."

Which is exactly what we do as a church. We talk about this as a floor: 10% of what we bring in, we give out to missions. Now, part of it goes to our budget, and we have a rental facility, and all of those things. Again, we're highly accountable on every single one of them. But as a floor, 10% of everything that comes in, we give out. And we already have given out. We've told you about a lot of that before. Why? Because we want to be generous. That's our starting place as a church. It's something we've chosen, not something under law.

7. Giving is missional

The final thing is this: the New Testament encourages us that our giving should be missional. When they were giving, they were giving to advance the gospel. I want you to know this. We care about feeding people. We care about meeting people's physical needs. But it doesn't help if I feed you physically but don't feed you spiritually. Everything we give toward as a church, we do in Jesus' name. Why? Because we believe our giving should always be missional.

Acts 1:8 says this: "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." Which is why I told you about our legacy lanes: local missions, national missions, global missions. What is that? Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria, and the ends of the earth. Yes, we want the gospel to come to Chandler first and foremost. Let's take care of Jerusalem, then let's focus on Judea and Samaria, national, and then let's focus on the ends of the earth. Can you all see that?

How much should a Christian give?

So let me summarize. Has this helped anyone? The New Testament moves us from law to Spirit. It moves us from percentage to posture, and it moves us from a requirement to a response.

So here are the questions I want to encourage you with as you think about your giving. Is it voluntary, or are you doing it just because someone told you to? Is it joyful? Are you glad as you give, knowing it's actually going toward baptisms and all the things you're seeing? Is it systematic? Is it regular, something you've decided to do, or is it an afterthought? Is it proportional? Is it ever sacrificial? It doesn't always need to be, but I do think there need to be times when it is. Jesus gave the greatest sacrifice. I think every now and then we can be sacrificial. Is it generous? And is it missional?

For Paige and me, since we've been married, and in fact since I've worked, and even before that, whenever I got anything as a kid, I've always started at 10%. That is not a requirement. That's not a law. I'm not putting it on you. That's where I started. And every year we pray and say, "Okay God, how can we increase in our generosity?" My goal is that every year we're married, we're going to take a small step forward in generosity. That's the decision we made as we prayed. You don't have to make that. But I do encourage you to pray, and I do encourage you to take it seriously. Pray about what your generosity is going to look like.

For us, we do have a system. We do it online. We do it prayerfully. We do it regularly. We do it proportionally, systematically, and strategically. We're talking about it and praying about it. We do it voluntarily. We do it joyfully. At times we do it sacrificially. We do it generously. But most importantly, we do it missionally. And even more important, we do it first.

Give God your first fruits

In the Old Testament, there was something called the firstfruits offering. People would bring their first fruits to God. Why? They were saying, "God, I'm going to trust You with this first. I'm not waiting to see how much I have left over. From the beginning, I'm going to give to You first." You don't have to. It is a principle, and it's what we do.

Why? I put Him first in everything. I put Him first in my day. What do I do before anything else? I pray. I spend time with God. I put Him first in my year. How? 21 Days of Prayer and Fasting. And I also put Him first in my finances. Any place I can, I'm going to put Him first. Why? Because Jesus says this: "But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well."

We do it as a principle. You don't have to put Him first. I'd encourage you to. As disciples of Jesus, I pray we'll come to a place where that becomes our default. It's a principle. You don't have to kiss your wife. I recommend that you do. You don't have to maintain your home. I encourage that you do. And I encourage you, in everything, to continually put God first.

What does God promise when we give?

And when you do... Can I read some promises, and then can I pray for you? Is anyone feeling free? You get to choose. This is what the Bible says.

2 Corinthians 9:6: "Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and..." Here's a promise. "...whoever sows generously will also reap generously. Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give..." Again, "...not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. As it is written: 'They have freely scattered their gifts to the poor; their righteousness endures forever.'" In other words, they're going to leave a legacy. "Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness." Verse 11: "You will be enriched in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion." How many of you want that for your life? Generous on every occasion. "...and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God. This service that you perform is not only supplying the needs of the Lord's people but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God."

Luke 6:38: "Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you."

One more. 1 Timothy 6:18: "Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life."

The New Testament does not promise instant wealth. If anyone's ever told you that, that's called the prosperity gospel, and we will not do that here. It doesn't promise that you give because you're going to get a guaranteed financial return or a pain-free life. Jesus says, "In this world you will have trouble." He doesn't say, "If you give, you're going to be fine." So I don't know why we teach that. It's just not there. What the Bible does promise is that when we're generous, there's provision and fruitfulness and joy and God's pleasure and eternal reward.

Take one step forward in generosity

So my encouragement to you today is this. As you look at where you are in your giving, there are four places you might find yourself. The first is that you haven't given yet, ever. The second is that maybe you've given something. The third is that maybe you give consistently. It's small, but it's consistent. And the fourth is growing in generosity.

My prayer is that you'll see where you are. And my encouragement, not law, my encouragement, is that you will pray wherever you are. Can everyone find where they are? "Okay, I've never given." "Okay, I'm giving consistently, but it's not generous just yet." My encouragement is that everyone will take one step to the right. Wherever you are. If you're generous, pray: "God, do You want me to be more generous?" If you've never given anything, give something. I want you to be a part of this. If you've given something but it's not consistent, look at your budget and pray about it. Don't make an emotional decision right now. Actually pray about it and say, "God, what does this look like?" And take a step to the right, wherever you're at, in freedom. And all God's people said, "Amen."

Can I pray for you? Father God, I want to thank You for who You are. And God, I want to thank You that we are no longer under the law, but we live under life. And God, why do we do this? We do this for the same reason we love. Your Word says, "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son." Lord, You're the one who gave first, and as a result, we can give. It says, "We love because he first loved us." Lord, everything we do is because You did it for us first.

And God, I just want to pray a blessing on every single person. Lord, for anyone who has experienced any kind of hurt or pain from churches in the way they've handled or talked about finances, Lord, I know this isn't a fun topic, but I just want to pray for freedom. Lord, that people will be able to step into Your grace and Your freedom, and that it will increase generosity, not take it down. Lord, that they'll realize they're doing it out of joy more than anything else.

With every head still bowed and eyes closed: we never want to end a service without giving people an opportunity to meet Jesus. The Bible says every single one of us has made mistakes. Every single one of us has fallen short of God's glory. But God, in His infinite wisdom, when we didn't have a relationship with Him, sent His Son, Jesus, who fulfilled the law and ushered in the new covenant. The Bible says that if you make Jesus the Lord of your life, if you believe that He came to this earth, that He died on a cross, and that He was raised, you can be restored to your relationship with God, and you can spend eternity with Him. When this life passes away, when we all pass away, you can be forever with God.

If you're here and you've never made that decision and you're unsure, I want to encourage you to make that decision in this moment. So we're going to pray a prayer, and all of us are going to pray it for the benefit of those praying it for the first time. Just repeat after me: "Dear Jesus, I believe that You're the Son of God and the Savior of the world. I believe You came to this earth, You died on a cross, and You were raised so that I may have life. And right now I make You my Lord. I make You my Savior. In Jesus' name."