Eternity-Focused Finances

We are part of a miracle and I just want to just immediately say hello to the true miracle, the people of Church of the Highlands today. I want to welcome all of our locations across the state of Georgia, every one of our Alabama locations, and a special shout out today to the campus we have down in Troy. I got a picture earlier today from our campus pastor. Y'all look at Troy Alabama right now, covered in snow. You can never know what to expect in Alabama weather. Can I get an amen? And so we say hello to Troy and of course everyone joining us online or later on demand in the minimum of the Alabama correctional facilities.

Let's put our hands together and welcome our entire church family. Oh, it's an honor to be together. I know your campus pastor just took a moment in prayer earlier, but I just want to celebrate really what God is doing in our 21 days of prayer, just we are on day 15. And God's moving in a huge way. I got to celebrate this yesterday, actually here at Grantsville in this auditorium. We had 1100 high schoolers take a day to pray and fast and to see God. We had hundreds of college students over at Greystone, and I just want to say right now as a part of this miracle, God is moving, and we give him all the glory.

Come on, Highlands. Can we thank God for this season? And really, again, the miracle we're a part of. And so today I'm really excited to get into the Word of God. I know that's why you've come to get in his presence and to get into his Word. And so I have a message today as I was studying, at one point, it was 12 points long. Okay, I have narrowed it down to eight. But we got to get to work. Everybody say work. So if you have your app open up, we're going to jump straight into it today. And really want to begin by reflecting once again on the key verse for this series. We are in week three of a series called Seek First.

But this is our rally cry. This verse is our rally cry for the entire year here at Highlands. You've seen it the last two weeks. You're going to see it a lot this year. Matthew 6, 33, put it on the screen, guys. But seek what? Seek? First, his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given you as well. I actually do want to, as a church family today, to repeat that scripture on the count of three, one, two, three, but see first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given you as well. What an incredible verse. This verse is all about the divine reordering of life. God has so much for us.

There are so many promises in his word, the abundant life of God. And we've been talking about it each week. It's almost like there's a doorway here in the middle of the stage. And all those promises are on one side. Matthew 6.33 gives us the key to get from where we are in every area of our life. to where God wants us to be, to experience those promises. And even that scripture, you know, but seek first, the idea there is in the original language, if you don't just seek once, you continually seek God first, his kingdom, which means his rule, his reign, and his authority, and his righteousness. Oh, come on, somebody, the work of the Holy Spirit on the inside of us.

We're not where we want to be, but we are not where we used to be, because God is doing a good work on the inside. And then, ultimately, it comes with that promise. of all these things as well. And here's how we're saying it, when God is first, everything else finds its proper place. So last week we talked about this idea, this truth in relationships. Today, we're going to talk about money. Now, here's what I know, I know what just happened. I've been around church for a long time. And the moment I said money, if you were here for the first time, maybe, or maybe you just hadn't been to Highlands in a while and you're like, okay, great, I'm back and it's the money talk.

Or maybe you are here for the very first time ever, and you're like, okay, I knew it. This church is all about the money. I know the biggest kind of heart population right there was like, if you brought a guest today and you're like, oh, it's the money taught, Mark, you better not mess this up for me. Mark, you better be cool today. It's like that pressure. I feel that moment. I felt it before myself. and I just got to start right here. No one will ever stand on this platform. You have my word and ever won't anything from you. Come on somebody, we are here to glorify Jesus. And I'm here to serve you.

We are here to serve you. to glorify Jesus and to serve you. So I'm just pray that that stress or that anxiety would just kind of come off today and that we would all be able to receive because the truth is, this is reality. This is for all of us today. The truth is in the area of money we need help.

Come on somebody, that's the truth. And I found some stats. I want to share these. This is, you know, when you're communicating, this is called building tension. I really don't feel like I have to do a lot today because this topic carries It's own weight, but these stats were just striking for me, and then really stirred my pastoral heart, honestly, for today. 87% of Americans feel financial stress weekly. This is a stat I found. It's 42% of Americans don't have at least $1,000 saved for emergencies. And this next one, honestly, was just almost overwhelming for me. And this was calculated back in December of 2025. Household debt in the US is now above 18.4. trillion dollars. We just got to let that sink in for a moment.

I'm trying to get my mind around a single trillion as hard, much less 18.4 trillion. If every one of those trillion dollars was a dollar bill, and it was stacked, from right here at Grants Mill, catch this highlands, that stack of dollar bills would go from the earth to the moon.

Back again, back to the moon, back to the earth, back to the moon almost three times from the earth to the moon. That is a lot of debt. And $1.2 trillion of that is on high interest credit cards. So it is no surprise that money is one of the leading causes of relational stress and one of the leading contributors to anxiety and depression. Now, that's pretty heavy, but I've been saying this every week and I'm so happy I get to say it again today. I bring good news.

In Jesus' name, the Bible has a lot to say about this area. Come on, somebody, that is good news. And the Bible has a lot to say. Jesus has a lot to say, and I could go on and on about this, but there are over 2000 verses in the Bible on money, wealth, and possessions. This is amazing. One third of Jesus' parables were actually around these areas of our possessions, our money, our wealth. And this is striking. Jesus talks more about money than he did prayer. So thank God, we have a good God, everybody, that he knew this area would carry weight. And our God is a good God, and he brings us truth today.

And so as I was prepared for this, to be honest with you, I was a little insecure. I've never preached on this topic to our church. You know, I've only been on the job almost a year. And so this is not a topic that I personally taught on. And to be very honest and transparent today, I did not grow up in a house where we talked about money a lot. Maybe that's your story as well. I just didn't. No, I think God, I got to see integrity lived out in this area. My dad is not, he's 76 years old now. He's not the kind of dad that ever, you know, sat us down. with a notebook and he was like, here's your five principles for money and they all start with a P.

If you grew up in a home like that, praise God, I didn't. My dad did not tell us to pick up a notebook. He told us to put on our boots and go to work. Come on, see Michael for the house like that. If you want to learn, you better keep up, because I'm going to show you some things that you want to keep up with me. And my dad, every day of his life, he's the hardest worker. I know he's 76 years old this past week. He had rotator cuff surgery. I was in the waiting room with him. I was like, Dad, how many surgeries are there? How many surgeries have you had? He said, I've had 12 orthopedic surgeries in my life.

And the doctor, he's 76, the doctor's like, Mr. Patterson, are you sure? You want to get this rotator cuff fixed again? And this is a few months back. And my dad looked him straight in the eye and he said, yes, sir, I do. I got wood to chop. He's having him still going. He is not slowing down. And so I'm so grateful for that. But I didn't, I saw it live, but I didn't have the language for it until I came to church to the Highlands. And when I was a college student, I stepped into this church under Pastor Chris's teaching and I learned the principles. I learned how to put words in language around what I'd already seen lived out with my dad.

So I am here today and in no way shape or form am I claiming expert status. But I got, again, I got good news today. God is the expert. I'm here today and I am confident today because I get to preach from this word today, principles around the area of finances that can be life changing. And so I really just spent, I mean a long time praying. And here is my simple prayer for today's talk. God, what would you teach us? Like if we were sitting around as a church, and you had the first 30 minutes, there's a lot to teach in this area, but if we were to sit down with you for that first conversation, Holy Spirit, what do you have to say?

And I believe with all my heart, that's what God wants to communicate today. And it really starts here. Money isn't just the financial issue. It's a hard issue. It's a hard issue. Martin Luther said it this way. He said, there are three conversions necessary. I love this. The conversion of the heart, the conversion of the mind, and come on, the conversion of the purse. So our heart, when we meet Jesus, our mind really is daily. That's that renewing of our mind, that sanctification. But at some point, we've gotta let God meet us in our hearts, a conversion of our hearts around this area of money. And so I'm gonna boldly ask for this today. I'm asking, across church of the Highlands today, anyone joining us online for open hearts and open minds.

Today, for some of you, what I'm gonna share, like it was for me at 18 years old, today is gonna be a revelation. And then for a lot of us today, it's gonna be a reminder. But for whatever version of that it is for you, can we just receive today what God wants to tell us? And I know this is what I know if we'll let it in our heart today. I am so confident as your pastor today, if you will let his truth in your heart today with it will come hope. We got a lot of work to do in this area, probably most of us. There'll be practical steps, but I know we can leave here with a spirit of hope.

And hope only works when it gets there on time. I got to tell you this today, wherever you are financially in debt, in disunity in your home right now, feeling the weight of those stats that I read earlier, it is not too late in Jesus' name. I said, it is not too late in Jesus' name. God's Word is right on time. And so I want to pray, even right now, I want to pray for us, and then we're going to get into the depth of this teaching. But let's just allow the Holy Spirit to meet us right where we are. God, I thank you for your word.

And God, we open our hearts to you today, from the youngest to the oldest in every version of this situation. And God, we're asking you to speak to us. And God, I pray that that weight would be lifted and we would receive your hope today in Jesus' name. And everybody said, Amen. The key for us and the key of really getting our heart right is getting our heart aligned with what God has to say to us in this area. A few years back, actually about 10 years ago, I got the chance to travel with Pastor Chris to a pastor's conference. I love Pastor Chris. I love traveling with him. It's a great opportunity to get around him, you know, to get wisdom.

And also just love being his armor bearer, being the guy that's with him and helping him no matter what. comes this way. And so we're flying from Birmingham. Of course you got to fly to Atlanta. You can't even get to heaven without going to Atlanta from Birmingham. And our flight gets delayed. Our Delta flight gets delayed. And so we land about an hour late in North Carolina. And this pastor meets us in the airport. And I can tell he is super nervous to meet Pastor Chris as I kind of step into that situation. He's actually sweating. Step into that situation. It's the middle of the summer. We're about an hour late. I guess he was stressed getting us, you know, to get us there on time.

We walk out and we get to the vehicle that he had brought. Now, number one rule of hosting. This is just a side lesson here. Never host alone because that car had been sitting out there because he was in the airport. No one's in it. It had been sitting out in the 100 degrees summer heat for several hours. And it just so happened to be, I could tell the moment I got into it, it's so happened to be his wife's mini van that he picked us up in. Y'all know what a mini van smells like? That's used to being full like it. You can even see that he had just taken the car seats out, there were crumbs everywhere.

And it's just that smell of like spilled a lot of things that have been spilled in that mini van. And so we get in there, the air is not working really good. We start driving. We can lay it. He's super nervous. And he picks his phone up as we're driving. And I can tell he doesn't know where he's going. I'm like, bro, put your phone down and focus on the road. You have the man of God in the passenger seat. And Chris Hodges is not dying on my watch. And so there's this tension building up and we get up the highway speed and this band starts shaking like this. Now Pastor Chris is a man who, it is hard.

When he wants to say something, he is going to say it but he is so gracious. I'm dying in the back seat. I'm watching him almost several times lean over to tell this guy something. And finally, he just puts his hand on his shoulder and he just taps and he goes, my brother, this man needs alignment.

He dropped us off at this deal. Pastor Chris Preaches is amazing. To this guy's credit, I don't know if you've ever watched this. We get back out a few hours later. He had taken that van and gotten it aligned in Jesus name. True story, but he wasn't used to driving it like that. We got pulled over for speeding on the way back to the airport and almost missed our flight. I love that story for a lot of reasons, but I love the feeling of like that shaking of reality that may is maybe what your finances feel right now, but in a moment God can bring alignment and listen when God is first in every area, everything finds its

Proper place, including money. And that's what God wants to do for us today. Here's where we'll kind of just begin to really dig into this. The world teaches ownership. That's how we get out of alignment. My money, my possessions, my time, but the Bible teaches stewardship. And this again, getting this in our hearts is our goal today. In stewardship, God is the owner. And we are the steward. And this changes everything. It's all throughout the Bible, but I want to teach it from a single parable. And these first four points are really about what we believe around this area of stewardship again, getting this into our hearts. Jesus teaches all four of these out of one parable in Matthew 25,

Known as the parable of the talents. And so we're just going to move through this parable today. This is the first verse I want to lean into, verse 14. He says, again, it will be like a man going on a journey who called his servants and entrusted his wealth to them. So Jesus is telling a story. In the story of the man, later known as the master,

He's the guy in charge, and then he has these servants. There's actually three of them in this story. But here's the key, from the very first verse, it is not the servant's wealth, it is the masters. Write down the first principle of stewardship. God owns it. and stewardship requires Lordship. Come on, church of the islands, it all belongs to God. And I read this scripture a couple weeks ago, I wanna come back to it, Psalm 24, the earth is the Lord's, and 99.9%.

Not everything except my car, or my house, or those golf clubs, or whatever it might be, everything belongs to Him. So ultimately, stewardship is managing under Lordship. This is real life tension because this idea of stewardship actually goes beyond our money. This includes our time, our talent, our influence. It all belongs to him. Parents, we know the reality of this. All of us as parents have been in that situation, you know, where we're blessing our kids with something and they kind of miss the reality of that situation. I think about it at a restaurant. I love, you know, let's just take choos, for example. I love going to choos to eat right here in the fast.

I would love to go to choos and eat. And I believe firmly in what's called the dad tax. Come on, dad's way back. That if I buy it, I can have some of it. I get the first bite of that queso on your plate. And honestly, at the end of the day, I'm just trying to make sure it's not poisoned. I'm a good dad. And there have been many times when my kids have been like, oh, dad, that's mine. I'm like, oh, really? That's yours! Who paid for it?

You received it under the lordship of a good father. This is what it's, if we don't like the reality where we are financially, it's change starts here. It all belongs to God. We will not get God's vision. We will not get his blessing over our finances until we settle Lordship. So what Jesus says in Matthew, chapter 6, no one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you'll be devoted to the one and despise the other. And he could have used any example, but again, striking uses money. You cannot serve both God and money. Hey, Highlands, we can only have one Lord. And in this case, we have two choices.

Either money is our Lord, and that's a problem because money makes a terrific servant, but a terrible Lord. This is how the notorious B.I.G. actually said it. Mo money? Mo problems. All right. You grew up in the 90s. You know this. We all got a testimony, or Jesus is Lord. It's either money or Jesus, and Jesus makes a terrific Lord and by the grace of God invites us to be His servants. And here's the promise of Jesus is better than the B.I.G. I have come that they may have life and have it to the full. Write it down today. What I have belongs to God and it will live under His authority. It's going to, period, change starts there.

Here's verse 15, again, back to the parable. to one, he gave five bags of gold, to another, he gave two bags, to another one bag, each according to his own ability. We're actually, don't focus on the amount right now, we'll come back to that. And it says, then he went on his journey. Write it down, number two, principle is God and trust, what we have has been entrusted to us by God, stewardship requires responsibility. This was a life-changing revelation for Jill and I. Is that everything that I have been entrusted with, everything God has given me, He's given me own purpose with a purpose. I'm leaning into it one more time. Nothing you have or that I have is an accident, nothing we have or even anything we don't have

Is an accident. He has a purpose for all. And our responsibility, this is a life-changing revelation, is to use it as the intended. And this is what the Bible says in 1 Peter, and this is applied directly to spiritual gifts, but you'll see at the end it applies to every gift in our life. It's a few you should use whatever gift or curse you've received to serve others as fateful stewards of God's grace in its various forms. And here it is, so that in what all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ, our purpose. The purpose of what we've been given is always first and foremost to glorify God. This is when we showed the video in the value today, specifically as a church.

Myself, our entire team, our trustees, every single penny is a gift to be entrusted to us church. to glorify God with it all. Now I'll give you a sneak peek to the end of the parable. When we live this way, come on somebody, there is always more. That's why the original mount that we receive doesn't even really matter. But if we don't live this way, even what we have, and this is in the parable as well, we will lose.

If not in the reality of it, 100% the blessing will come off of it. And all of us have seen this in our lives, somebody who has very, very few earthly possessions, but they live with the responsibility to glorify God with it. And you can be in that environment or maybe that home. And then there is just a blessing. Come on, an atmosphere, a spirit on it. And we've been all around that other reality. Maybe somebody's incredibly blessed, but there is just no blessing on it. I'm telling you, I choose this way every single time. what I have comes with responsibility, come on, Highlands, and I will glorify God with it. Can I get an amen today?

Back to the parable. Verse 19, the master goes away, the stewards, in their own way, begin to invest and to use that bag of talents they received and says, after a long time, the master of those servants returned and settled the accounts with them. And the original language, the word settled, means an evaluation. And I want to lean in here. It's important for us to recognize There is a test attached. There is an exam attached to what we have been given.

That God actually does evaluate it. Therefore, stewardship requires faithfulness. Now many of us, and again, I feel this today in such a massive way, have been attacked in this area of finances. And we've made mistakes, we've all made mistakes. Maybe you come in today and that way to that debt, you're feeling all that in this moment. Maybe for you right now, you were successful before you had wisdom There's so many different versions, but if we come in today without heaviness, that pressure that's on us, it comes with a spirit of fear. And here's what the enemy wants to do. The enemy wants to keep us paralyzed in the area of finances. with a spirit of fear.

And this may be you, if when I read earlier, there's gonna be a test, if immediately you felt condemnation, that's just a good indicator that there's a spirit of fear attached to this area right now in your life. Because Jesus does not teach all money to condemn, but to call us from that fear to faithfulness. And in fact, in the parable, you can go read it, Jesus confronts this servant who ended up not investing, but burying his talent. But he's doing that not really to confront the person, but to confront the spirit of fear that was on it. Because if there's a spirit of fear, we will try to hide this area of our life from the Word of God.

We'll try to hide it and it'll keep us paralyzed and go all the way back to the garden. Whenever there is fear, we hide from God. And if we hide from God, there is no hope. So receive grace today. I just received grace today. I don't know who I'm talking to, receive the grace of God. This parable of the talents, it's a gift to us. There is an exam coming, but the gift of this parable is it's not the final exam. This is just a quiz to let us know where we are. So later on in Jesus' name, I'm gonna break off fear, come on somebody, condemnation in this area, defeat in this area. And it is so deep in my heart to even break off suicidal ideation that has come from that condemnation in Jesus' name.

Come on, the grace of, yeah, receive. The grace of God today is available. What I have, requires faithfulness. And here's the opportunity today, from this point forward, I will do this God's way. And listen, at the end of the day, highlands, this is all God needs. You know, look at me. Yes, there's work to do for all of us. And even on a very practical level today, you don't have to leave this service without receiving prayer. Our prayer teams are ready to pray for anyone in any financial situation. We have pastoral care teams at every location. Reach out to us or even link up through this prayer moment today. And we will sit down with you and begin financial, really counseling in your life and get you connected to small group starting in a couple of weeks.

We have from financial piece to other versions of small group. There are plenty of tools around here, but it all starts with a decision in our hearts. I'm going to do this God's way. Back to the Parable, verse 21, his master replied, well done. Now the part that we didn't see here is all the investing happens and now they're coming back and that settling is happening and they're presenting for the one that had five, the one that had two that brought back a return and the one that had one that had buried it. But to the five and the two, Jesus teaches well done, good and faithful servants. You have been faithful with a few things.

I will put you in charge of many things. Again, there's that promise of more, but I want to link into this next verse. I think this is even the greater promise. Come and share your master's happiness. Here's the greatest promise of a life of stewardship is that God redeems it and stewardship produces eternal rewards. come share in your master's happiness. Last week we talked about the golden rule. I'm going to go back to the Sermon on the Mount today, the greatest financial principle ever taught. This changes the game. This is the divine reordering of God. Matthew 6, do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth. We're moths and vermin destroy and we're thieves break in and steal.

But store up for yourselves. Come on, somebody, treasures in heaven. where most environment do not destroy and where thieves do not break in and steal. Here it is, verse 21, circle it, underline it, let's live by it for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. We steward earthly resources, highlands, for eternal impact. The treasure isn't the house, the treasure isn't the car, it's not the purse, it's not the golf clubs, it's not the vacation, it's definitely not the MMS on package that by the way has a smile on it, it's always laughing at us. Those are not treasures. Those are tools. The treasure is to glorify God and populate heaven, stewardship, impacts, eternity.

This is what we believe. This is what has to be in our hearts. Now, I got seven minutes and 45 seconds and I got four more points. I told you. But I want to help make this practical again. We got prayer, pastoral counseling, small groups. But even here today, principles that I've learned, even from Pastor Chris and even this language from him today, I want to make sure we walk out of here with some equipping of how is this going to, what's the outworking of this word in our life? Here's number one, write it down. This is a huge principle, order over amount. Can I get a name in?

Now trust is proven by order. And God clearly asks in the Bible, to trust him with the first. If we're going to live the life of stewardship, it starts here, Proverbs 3 says this, honor the Lord with your wealth, with the first fruits of all your crops, then your barn will be filled overflowing, and your vats will brim over with new wine. This was a This was the principle of first fruits was actually dictated as a law in the Jewish culture of the first 10% known as the tithe. Now, I want to be really clear, that's no longer a law, but remains a powerful principle. And I preach this boldly today because this is something, again, I sat in the same seat you're sitting in and heard a teaching like this.

This principle changed Jill and I's life. I'll never forget in 2006, writing our first tithe check. Before that, we had been at times generous, sporadically generous, but I received a revelation that changed my life. I want to share it with you today. Our mindset before that had been, give God out of whatever was left. It's like if there was going to be 10, we waited until there was 10 to decide. And this principle of tide changed everything. I give the first before I even know the rest of the nine are coming. I trust, come on somebody, I trust God with the first. When we do that, there is always a blessing. Is that blessing the name it and claim it?

Scrooge, McDuck, money vault? No! Although Jill and I have always been blessed here is the blessing. When we trust God with the first piece, come on somebody, joy. alignment knowing that he's in control. Here's number two, and this one's huge, calling over compensation. Money will not buy happiness.

The American dream is not a bad thing, but it is a terrible, ultimate thing. Happiness comes with a life of purpose. Can I get an amen? Amen. This has to be preached. Acts 20, 24. This is the Apostle Paul. However, I consider my life worth nothing to me if I may only finish the race. and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me. God has given each of us. He's given you a task and the greatest goal of our life should not be the compensation but should be the calling. I'm going to finish the call of God on my life. When I graduated college, all of my friends were getting ready to step into a business situation or a career that was attached to, you know, sometimes pretty large compensation.

I felt the call of God's ministry, and the first opportunity your boy had to say yes to that was as the janitor at a small Baptist church in Oak Grove, Alabama. That was my first ministry job. And I was in this reality of like no one I'm called, not knowing that God had a plan, not knowing where that plan would go, but saying yes, like I heard God say yes to that first opportunity. And I always remind you, in our house, I'm the only person that's ever been paid to clean. I'm a professional in our house. There were so many times

I was God, where are you? Is this it? What are you? This is what you called me to. And there were so many times I was tempted by looking at everybody else to say, you know what? Not whatever. I missed it. I'm going that way. And the Holy Spirit was faithful to remind me, Mark, if you bail now, will you be happy at 70? And no, the answer was no. I got to do what I'm called to do. Now, listen, compensation matters. It is good to make a lot of money. If you ask what you're called to do, make a lot of money and fund Highlands College scholarship, okay? Never before calling. I want to lean into it.

This is somebody's in the valid decision right now. This is confirmation for su-purpose in Jesus name. Here's number three, contentment over consumerism. At 18.4 trillion dollars of debt is really just driven by this contentment. Let's be honest today. Because enough is never enough. I've already quoted the notorious B.I.G. Here's Jim Carey. This is what he says. I think everybody should get rich and famous and do everything they dreamed of so they can see that it is not the answer. The good news is the Bible teaches a better way. Philippians chapter four says, I know what it is to be a need and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being

Content. And what is contentment? Look at me, church. It's just recognizing how blessed we are. We could pass the mic. And for honestly, maybe even valid reasons, we could all have a pity party today about what we don't yet have or what we don't have. but man, we could spend a week. Maybe the rest of the day on that pity party, we could spend a week passing the mic and throwing a praise party. Oh, come on Highlands, with how blessed we already are. The secret is containment.

I mean, I believe it or not, I'm driving to church today watching the sunrise. Weeping in my truck, worshiping God, think I do not deserve the blessings in my life. Come on, Highlands, let's never forget. We are so, the air in our lungs, we're a part of an amazing church. For us, Birmingham, whatever it is, we are so blessed. It's contentment. Here's number four. We'll finish here. This one's powerful. It really all builds to this. Generosity over scarcity.

There's no time today to teach on the spirit of man, and that's the part I had to leave off to go deeper in that. But there is truly a spirit behind the idolatry we have towards possessions. And that spirit wants to bring to us not only a spirit of fear, but ultimately a scarcity mindset. inner anxiety of enough, you know, it's never gonna be enough. I gotta protect what I have at all costs. You know, if I'm generous, I may lose it all. Church, this will destroy us. What a scarcity mindset does to us is it makes us live small human lives. And God wants to set us free from that to live the God-sized lives that He has for us.

And God's tool for freedom from a scarcity mindset. Oh, come on, church, it's a spirit of generosity. We don't give to get, we give to stay free. Acts 20, 35. This is why it is more blessed to give than receive. It keeps us free. It all belongs to God. And generosity yields an abundance mindset. It was never mine to begin with. And I am free. I am blessed to be a blessing. And I just know in my heart, Philippians 4 and 19, my God will supply all that I need. And I have a confidence in that.

My friend Harrison shared a story with me about a gas station. I love the beauty of this story. It's like the whole message in a story, but he was just sharing with me. He was at a gas station a few weeks back and he encountered a man there who was former Marine who was very clearly down in his luck. He came up to Harrison and said, hey, can I borrow $25 for gas? And Harrison was just talking about, he was thankful for his dad and others that taught him these principles. So he had to margin in that moment to be generous that he was able to say yes to a $25 opportunity. And you would think the story ends there.

And sometimes honestly, it's even been preached this way. And I'm grateful that we're preaching this full truth here today because it's important for us to recognize. It's never the moment of being generous. If we are not careful, that'll become about us. That's not the prize. That's an amazing opportunity. The reality was on the other side of that gift was a 10-minute conversation with a man where there was an open heaven and Harrison was able to bring hope and help and step into that. Come on, church, the person was the prize. The gift just created the opportunity. What we have was never meant for us. It's meant to go through us to eternity. And this is what we're calling day, eternity-focused finance.

It's going to pray for us today by our heads and close your eyes all across church. Let's let the Holy Spirit move right now. And I say this every week, the message is over, but the moment isn't. Let's just lean into what the Holy Spirit is speaking to us. Again, I'm going to pray for a spirit of hope, but really I believe the key, really the whole series is this way. The key to unlocking that hope is in Lordship first of just giving God control of this area of our life. We've controlled it for too long. Today, that changes. Before I even pray over these areas of possessions and money, I want to pray for the Lordship of your life.

And maybe you're here today. If you know it, I'm bold today, I know you know it. I'm not gonna belay with this moment. If you walked in today and you don't have a personal relationship with Jesus, if he's not the Lord of your life, this is your moment and you already know it. At every location I want to stay together today, I'm not gonna, of course embarrass you or call you to the front, but if that's you today, before we pray over these other areas, it's gotta start with the Lordship of our life. And getting saved is allowing him to forgive us of our sins and become the Lord of our life. If that's you, just pray this prayer with me in your heart.

Say, Jesus today, I give you my life. Forgive me of my sins and mistakes. I turn away from all of that and I run to you. You are my Savior. And today I declare you're my Lord. You've got to feel me with your Holy Spirit. So I can walk out these doors and live for you. God, thank you for those who just prayed that prayer. The old is gone. The new has come. They belong to you. now to this area of Lordship and our possessions and finances and

Honestly even our time and talent every area of stewardship. This is probably all of us, but if you would just be willing right now to spirits moving in your heart, just open your hands right there in your lap as just an active surrender, God, we're coming to you today and we do repent. We turn away from our own ways in this area. And we declare you are the Lord over all of it. God, you own it all. God, we're going to need your help. So fill us with your Holy Spirit to begin to live this message out. But right now in Jesus' name, I just come alongside your prayer and in the name of Jesus, break off all shame, all condemnation.

All fear, that scarcity mindset, God I am praying for the man or the woman right now who's even in their minds thinking they have messed it up so much, they should just end it all. That suicidal thought is broken in the name of Jesus. I speak hope and I speak future and I speak life no matter where we are. We believe right now you can take us from where you are to the abundant life you have for us. So God, we're asking you for your help and we're giving it all to you in Jesus' name. Everybody said, Amen. We put our hands together and thank God for His words today.