Entrusted With Much - Matthew 25 - The Greatest Commandment

All right, hey guys welcome at all of our campuses.

If you have a copy of scripture I'm gonna invite you to take it out and turn with me to Matthew chapter 25. We're gonna be spending some time there today but before we do that I do want to say I saw I could hear at our campus I'm sure at all the campuses the exuberance and the clapping over commitment weekend and of course that's because commitment weekend means there's gonna be donuts in the lobby afterwards okay so no I know I know I know all right but in all seriousness no this is a very spiritually significant moment and weekend in the life of our church and I said something last week that it was funny in the sermon when I said it as soon as I said it I was like I don't know if that came out exactly right and it was funny because it wasn't in the script all right so I but what I said was I said hey spiritually significant moments don't come around every single day and and that's right I don't know if that's really true but what I meant what I meant by it was this let me give you an analogy okay you parent a child every single day right you interact with them every single day you're never more their parent one day than you're not another day but that doesn't mean that every single day in their life is as significant in terms of them looking back on it and that moment that was very significant for them you parent them the same every single day but then there are days right your little boy is finally old enough to get his first pocket knife at two and a half years old okay you know amen so you know you your daughter's off she kicks her first goal or she goes to a new school you know I've learned this from some of you guys some of your our families at Mercy Hill 13 or some number it's really cool to kind of mark a transition with children where you say hey you're moving out of the greenhouse you're moving outside in terms that you know the little plants going out the gardeners still tending it but we got to start the weather's got to start getting to you a little bit there's got to be some freedom in our family we saw some other families do this at 13 it's a very spiritually significant moment for us we don't do stuff like this okay but what we did do was put Anna and Hattie Joe on a plane to go see a Christian concert at Red Rocks and the reason that we did that and they spent two days out there with my sister and the reason that we did that is because we wanted to affirm something worship has always been a big part of her life and we wanted to say at 13 there's this moment I can't wait to do that with my boys at 13 because we're going python hunting in the Everglades okay I've already thought already planned it I already planned it okay I don't know what spiritual significance that is but we're crushing the head of the serpent I don't know okay but my point my point is you know you guys understand the analogy right it's like those are big moments guys today is a big moment it's not that God is not parenting us in other days but there are days that we look back on that were just significant for us times that we get to plan a church a campus launch don't come around every single day right when we think about sending missionaries when we think about seeing baptisms we're seeing baptisms that many of our at all the campuses at many of the services this weekend these are moments when we get a chance to step off the sideline onto the front line make a commitment around our generosity it is a spiritually significant moment and so that's what we're excited about today and we're gonna dive into a story that really I think kind of gets to the heart of things today in Matthew chapter 25 where we are going to see a preconceived notion around Christianity I think crumble okay if you're brand new today I hope you're gonna see us at our best as we give our time talent and ultimately we're gonna commit to our treasure but if you are new with us today it may be true that when you think about Christianity or maybe you're one of our campuses today and you're brand new you think about a list of things that you're not supposed to do that's what the faith is in your mind it's a restriction list of things that God doesn't want you to do I joke around about it all the time don't drink cuz smoke or chew or date girls who do okay that was the thing when I was growing up if you just stay away from those kind of things then you know you'll be good obviously that's a joke there's some other lists that you have in your mind but if you have a list of things that you don't do I want to make sure you understand that there is a part of holiness where there's things that we don't do but so much of the faith is what we do not what we don't do it's about what we get to engage in that God in the gospel not only gave us life but he gave us purpose and he has said to his children go and bear fruit and live for my kingdom here's the big idea this weekend we are called to bear fruit with what we have been given we are called to make an impact we are not here to sit around God Jesus didn't die to create spectators he died to create servants workers not watchers and I don't just mean the pastors of the church or the elders of the church or the group leaders of the church that's not what I'm talking about I'm talking about every single one of us that is a believer a spirit empowered believer there are things that God entrusts to us that we would go and leverage for Kingdom growth the story that we're gonna see today is about a wicked servant who became a wicked servant not because of something that he did but because of something that he didn't do he was too fearful of incurring loss maybe he was too lazy to work through that fear and what he ends up doing is taking what the master gives him to leverage and multiply and he just kind of goes and buries it man I don't care about the kingdom growth I'm just trying to look out for myself you know today I think it's a good message for us and it kind of fits into a lot of the themes that we have around Mercy Hill because you guys know at Mercy Hill we attract growth oriented people you don't want to be in the same place next year at Mercy Hill we say all the time you were made for more than possessions and promotions your kids were made for more than straight A's and soccer and that resonates in our church if you feel that like man God's got something for me to do the reason you feel that is because you're right and he's given you something to do he's given you a life that you are supposed to multiply for his kingdom and so today what we get a chance to do in Matthew chapter 25 is basically you guys have heard the phrase before where you tell somebody man leave it on the field you know that's what we're called to do as believers what we're called to do as believers I think is sort of make a choice on the front end that we're not gonna have regrets later that we didn't leave it all out there that we didn't run as hard as we could that we shrink back in fear rather than step forward in faith my son is playing football for the first time tackle football for the first time and every week man I get it's like man that's my favorite two minutes where I get to give him the pep talk you know for the for going out there but I'm gonna tell you something the last 30 seconds the pep talk we get out of the car cuz his mom ain't allowed to hear that part okay like we're going hard man and what am I trying to get him to do I'm trying to get him to make a choice on the front end to not have regrets on the back end about leaving his energy tank full man I'm saying go for it go for it go for it that's what this story is today man this story is hey you get one shot in life are you not are in it for the biggest splash that you can make well let's commit now to do that man let's don't waste our life and a lot of times we talk about wasting our life we think that's for the aimless young professional or college student no no there are plenty of MBA you know you know master's degrees CEOs I mean there's plenty of people that keep wasting their life because they're looking at the wrong things they're leveraging for the wrong things man this can speak to every single one of us here today I pray that what God's gonna do in this passage in Matthew 25 is break our hearts for his mission and our impact in his mission and then we're gonna go into a time of commitment together all right verse 14 here's what it says for it will be like a man going on a journey who called his servants and entrusted them his property to one he gave five talents and to another two and to another one and to each according to his ability then he went away he who had received the five talents went at once and traded them and made five talents more so also he who had two talents made two talents more but he who had received only one talent went and dug it in the ground and hid his master's money now after a long time the master of the servants came and settled accounts with them and he who had received the five talents came forward bringing five talents more saying master you delivered to me five talents here and I've made five talents more and his master said to him well done good and faithful servant you have been faithful over little I will set you over much enter into the joy of the master don't you understand being given something to leverage for his kingdom growth is our joy you enter into the joy of the master he also said to the two towns come forward saying master you delivered to me two talents here I have made two talents more and his master said well done good and faithful servant you have been faithful over little little and I will set you over much enter into the joy of your master now I've dropped you right in to Matthew chapter 25 that comes you know there's two parts to this we started in verse 14 what comes before verse 14 is another parable that sort of prepares us for the same kind of similar idea it's a parable to ten virgins and this parable is about readiness for the return readiness for the kingdom of God to come now he goes on and he gets into the parable that we're talking about this weekend and basically what he's saying is if the first parable was a little bit about readiness the second parable is about showing your readiness how ready are you are you ready to give an account to the master who comes back and we say this is what I did with my life you could say it like this we show readiness for the coming kingdom by leveraging we say this all the time at Mercy Hill time talent and treasure for kingdom growth now I show that I'm ready for then when God is going to come in and usher in his new heavens and new earth I'm ready for that day and I show that by leveraging my time talent and treasure in this day and this is the heart of the story right you got these two servants and the two servants are given two different sums but they're both a ton of money okay it's hard to know exactly what a talent would be but most commentators say man it's a it's the highest denomination of currency Matthew chapter 18 actually I mean the way he's talking about it there people have surmised that it's millions and millions of dollars when it's thousands of talents so I don't know exactly what it is but I know that it's a lot and what the Bible tells us here is that when the servants got it what did they do they immediately engaged in business that's what it said at once they went and they engaged in business they didn't sit on what they were given listen they didn't cower in fear over losing what they had been given because they understood this has been given to me it's not mine it's been given to me for a purpose so that I would leverage it enter into the life and purpose and joy of my master by partnering with him and working with him and so what they do man I'm gonna go try to make a buck with what he has given me and they leveraged what he the master had given them now the interesting thing here is you know the master looks at them and what does he say he says well done one commentator said it like this it's almost like the master is saying bravo you did exactly what I wanted you to do I gave you something not for you I really gave it to you so you could partner with me and now you have gone out and engaged in business and you weren't afraid and you went for it and it worked out bravo you did really well I love the part of this story where you see that these servants go at once why because they don't know when he's gonna come back they don't know it they go right now I don't know exactly when it's going to happen this week and this is listen y'all we live in an upside-down world okay it ain't Halloween is not even over Christmas music's on the radio okay it's on the radio and my daughter was every every day she was checking 99.5 99.5 and apparently the Grinch has thrown the switch okay so it's on there now and I just thought I was thinking about this this week I'm like every day it's like checking like when's it gonna happen when's it gonna happen when's it gonna happen you know these servants have a little bit of that in their heart I don't know when he's coming back when is he coming back I don't know I'm gonna be ready I'm gonna be engaging with what he has given me I'm not gonna wait till tomorrow I'm gonna leverage what he has given me now so that I can produce for his kingdom let me tell you three things about stewardship about giving our time talent and treasure okay from this passage the first one is this we are stewards of what we have been given didn't you understand this in the very first verse what is say verse 14 for it will be like a man going on a journey who called his servants and entrusted to them keyword his property right he entrusted to them his property we are not owners we are stewards and there is a big difference there the servants were get what the servants were given still belong to the master what the servants were given still belong to the master that's the concept of stewardship if you want to know a quick definition of stewardship I would say something like this a steward is one who manages the owners possessions that's the key that they're managing something for someone else I think about one of the foundational principles in the Christian life is right here before us if we can understand this oh you know one pastor said like this own nothing steward everything if we can get that in our mind we own nothing we steward everything let me ask you a question church what do you have that has not been given to you I mean people people are immediately like well I work for a living well who gave you that strong back and then sharp wits to be able to work I mean all you got to do is trace it back a few different what do you have that was not given to you in terms of a gift from God to give you the ability in time talent and treasure to accumulate so do business to do whatever it is it is all a blessing from his hand and a key fundamental part of Christianity that I think the passage is trying to get us to see in Matthew 25 is this principle man we don't own we steward now this passage specifically is about money but that's not what we're talking about at all the time I mean what we talk about at Mercy Hill is time talent and treasure you need to think about it like this you know your business acumen is that yours or is it God's is your family yours or is your family God's are your children yours or are they God's is your home your physical house is it yours to enjoy of course it is is it also yours that God has given you to leverage for his kingdom of course it is because we are not owners we are stewards what do we have that we have not been given I think about this story I've told this story before but you know I come I came from I come from a blue-collar background okay my whole my whole life both my parents work my dad you know built houses and he drove trucks the whole time I was in the house and he later on ended up going to get a degree and and as a school it was a schoolteacher but you know when I was at home he was swinging a hammer and driving trucks and all that kind of stuff and the reason I bring that up is because he did a lot of ministry still does he plays music in prisons a couple times a month and he does this kind of stuff and man he got his eye on this guitar now this was not any guitar this is a Taylor 414 Koa wood back okay there's a serious guitar and it's not top-of-the-line purlin lay any that I'm just talking about you want to talk about a sweetest sounding guitar you ever heard this is a right up there among them okay and he saw it not only at any music shop this is brand new I'm talking George's music at Jack's Beach okay in Florida and and we're man we're you know he's looking at that guitar but the reality was I mean just you know my mom's working he's working I mean that's a lot of my that's a lot of money for a guitar and so here's what he did every day for a year he didn't eat lunch and he took that five bucks and he just stuck it away or whatever it was and for a year okay he took all that money and just piled up piled up piled up and a year later he went into George's music and laid the money down and bought that brand-new Taylor guitar and has been using it for ministry ever since now here's also what happened in that story he gets the guitar and I don't know there's been a bit of a dispute on when this happened it was sometime shortly after that I don't know when it was maybe it was a couple years or maybe it was even less than that I'm not sure but what happened was we were getting ready to go on a mission trip to Montana and one of one of the teams that got invited to go did not have a music player didn't have a guitar player and so my one of my best friends in the world to this day a kid named Patrick we said hey man you're going anyway we're gonna teach you how to play the guitar over the next six weeks so you can go all you got plays three chords okay it's like little kids shine shine your light and all this stuff okay so he's like all right I'm gonna learn how to play the guitar and we'll go only problem is I don't have a guitar we'll figure that out before it comes we get to the trip and what is my dad do you guys hear this story is going he takes that Taylor guitar and he puts it in Patrick's hands and he says hey man go you know use it for the kingdom man we're gonna be a different reservation you know hope it you know just hope it all goes well for you guys man go leverage it for the kingdom I'm not kidding when I say this y'all it was the man's most expensive possession including his vehicle I'm serious he drove a little a little 1980s diesel pup truck the guitar cost more he puts it in his kids I called I text Patrick this week I said do you remember this story he says yeah I remembered I said how long was it between when he got the guitar and he gave it to me he said I don't know but he said this he said man I don't know but I know your dad is crazy for letting me take it not only was I a teenager but I had no idea how to take care of a guitar I was a complete noob okay and I thought about that story I have this vivid image of Patrick with the guitar in the airport we got laid over and he is sleeping in the airport hugging the guitar like this I mean he was so scared of the thing right now here's the point that I want to make with this it's not my guitar it's not my business they're not my children it's not my house it's not my money stewards steward they manage they don't own what is God entrusted to all of us and why is he giving it to us that we would leverage it for his kingdom the second thing I want to show you is this from this story we do not all have the same resources but we do have the same opportunity to use our gifts man in a room like this across all of our different campuses the resourcing is all over the map I'm talking about in terms of talent time and treasure it's all over the place okay but what's not all over the place is every one of us have the same opportunity to use and leverage what God has given us all right so here's the deal five talents or two talents both received the same commendation look to one he gave five talents to another two to another one to each according to his ability I mean we don't like to say this in our culture okay we don't like to say well little Johnny you're a little sharper than this little Johnny okay but what it's saying is very clear he's given one some things and not the other some things why according to their ability now I'm not just talking about with money I'm talking about with everything in our life I mean just think about it people might be high on analytics that might mean low they might be low on emotional intelligence you know somebody might be real high in money but they might be low on relationships like there's different things that God has given every single one of us but we are called to leverage them all look what it says in verse 21 his master said to him well done good and faithful servant you have been faithful over a little I will set you over much enter into the joy of your master here's the point two different weights were given that's one thing people say talents is a weight they don't they don't we don't know exactly what is it's a lot okay two different weights were given but the same commendation was given to what the servants did with what was given right well done good and faithful servant five well done good and faithful servant to the to enter into the joy that I have for you you could see say like this y'all it's not about what we have it's about what we do with what we have what is the story in the New Testament that we all learn as a kid if you're if you're new to church you won't have I understand that but it's the widow's might I mean it's not about what you have it's about what you have done with what you have see here's the problem I see in churches sometimes and we can fall right into this I can fall into this what we say is well I don't have what so-and-so has if God would have given me what he gave them if I had more time if I had more talent if I had more treasure or money then sure I would give what that you know what God has given me but I don't have as much as them or as much as them or as much as them really is the focus on this passage what was given or is the focus on this passage the commendation because of what was done with what is given I cannot control you cannot control the way that the Lord has orchestrated an economy of his kingdom who is getting what in terms of talent in terms of time even in terms of treasure sometimes I mean God is drawing boundary lines on these things what is incumbent upon us is that we would be the type of people who say whatever it is we are going to give it whatever it is we are going to use it remember this passage last week I think it's very good and powerful to remember from Scripture I will acknowledge you with all my ways I will not only know but I will show I will have a knowledge of God in every area of my life whether you've given me athletic ability whether you've given me business acumen whether you've given me something relationally that's just off the charts and I can make relationships and ease in and out of conversations and whatever it is money you give me ability to make money I'm gonna leverage that for your kingdom instead some of us are kind of side-eye looking at other people because the talents that they have and I've told you this story before you know it's a little bit like if you're one who is thinking it to yourself well I don't have a lot of time talent or treasure I don't have these things then let me ask you which camp you kind of fall in okay you know little parable here in terms of story you see this in different financial books and stuff but it's very it's very applicable here okay I want you to imagine one family that's got one little lamb they've only got one and here's their attitude about it can you believe we've only got one lamb those guys over there in the city they got a hundred lambs they're just I mean they got lambs everywhere they're rich can you believe all we got is this one little lamb I mean the deck is so stacked against us can you imagine all the things that they're doing over there with all those lambs and we've only got one and it's never gonna change it's all the world's fault you know what we're gonna do man just forget the whole thing just go ahead and cook them up just just go ahead and let's just have a party and just forget the whole thing because we're never gonna get anywhere of course there's another family that says we only have one lamb so this lamb is gonna be the greatest taking care of lamb that has ever been in the history of the world kids get out of your room the lamb now has your room right he's gonna eat human food he's gonna sleep in the house he's gonna get brushed every single day why because if we can grow this lamb up then maybe one day through neighbors or whatever we can we can have two lambs and maybe one day this will have a we'll have a family of lambs and maybe one day we'll grow into having more influence more to leverage more now let me ask you this what camp do you sit in with that stuff I mean the world is so oriented this way man either we are kind of an agent in our own story or we're just a victim you know and so what I want to ask you is wait a minute what is it for you you may think then I don't have a ton today well okay that's a good reason to steward it all the more and if and to think about woman how can I leverage what I do have because I don't have a ton where are you out with these things today maybe you're today and go well I could tithe but I don't think it would even make a difference because it's so little money really do we not understand that God is the owner of a cattle on a thousand hills the earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof you think God needs your money you think he needs my money or is there something else a little deeper going on here it might be that he's the one who hands out five two or one it might be about him interacting with us to say enter into my joy we all have the same opportunity to leverage what he has given to us now I've given you the positive side of the story but it's gonna take a turn okay so here we go now verse 24 he also who had received the one talent came forward saying master I knew you to be a hard man reaping where you did not sow and gathering where you scattered no seed so I was afraid and I went and hid your talent in the ground here you have what is yours but his master answered him you wicked and slothful servant you knew that I reap where I have not sown and gather where I scatter no seed then you ought to have invested my money with bankers and at my coming I should have received at least my own with interest so take the talent from him and give it to the one who has ten talents for to everyone who has who has will be given more and he will have an abundance but from the one who has not even what he has will be taken away oh oh by the way and cast him the worthless servant into the outer darkness in that place where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth now I want us to go back to what I said in the intro for a moment maybe you're brand new with us this weekend welcome to Mercy Hill okay this is a there's a big I know I know it's a big weekend but listen seriously you might be new with us today and what you're thinking is Christianity is a list of things that you're not supposed to do so that God will be okay with you well I want to I want to correct there's there's a lot of things wrong with that okay and we're gonna get into some of that even in terms of just the gospel story in a moment but I do want to correct one of it right off man the the the Christianity that is authentic it is not about a list of things not to do it's about a God who has woken you up from death to life and is now making you into the type of person who loves stuff who loves his mission who loves to partner with him who wants to engage those are two different ideas if one idea is I'm gonna do things I'm gonna try this really hard not to do these things because God doesn't like it or he is he is making me into somebody man he has already declared me a precious child of his through Jesus Christ and his blood but now he's making me in practice what he has declared me to be in truth that's a totally different thing all right so what I want to call you to do is not think about the negative don'ts don'ts don'ts let's think about who he's making us to be really this is an application here for us this weekend steward God's gifts to grow God's kingdom let's do it that's as plain as I can say it steward God's gifts to grow his kingdom this is a hard truth y'all this story is about a servant who doesn't serve this story is about a servant who in fear shrinks back rather than in faith steps forward I'm afraid of losing what he has given me and so I don't jump I'm not gonna jump in faith I'm gonna shrink in fear now some of us this might be something we need to talk about with our money today but I'm gonna tell you how many of us have had that thought I don't want to start that group what if it fails I don't want to let my child go on that mission trip what if they get sick I don't want to get married what if I lose my independence I don't want to give my money what if I lose my security and this and you know what happens let me give you let me just step aside for one second here you know what happens many times we will couch these things especially when it comes to our finances we will couch it in piety by acting as if taking risks is bad stewardship are you hearing this story that is the opposite of stewardship stewardship is risk-taking to grow the kingdom that's what stewardship actually is I don't know how many times I've heard stories of the deacon board that's letting the church die chokehold with decision-making there's tons of money in the bank but they won't spend it why because they've got to make sure the lights stay on and they can keep the cemetery out let me tell you something churches don't die because they don't have money they die because they're not growing you know a lot of times when they stop growing when a bunch of people decide they're gonna be good stewards they actually become the opposite of good stewards a good steward in this passage is one who is willing to risk and engage now I don't know what could have happened and I'm on thin ice here if you start surmising about parables okay but it's like hey what if one of the servants would have said man I did my absolute best and I lost some of your money I don't know exactly what would have happened so this is just a little conjecture I'm giving you the premise of that feels to me like maybe the master would have said hey man next time you'll do a little better but good try you you understood enough about me to know that I gave you this for a purpose I didn't give you the guitar so that you could sit up late at night and say I'm not even gonna take it out of the case because what if I scratch it right I'm not I'm not gonna give you something that's that precious and then have you say well I'm not gonna play it for the little kids on the reservation because what if one of them breaks something on it and I'm so scared that I can't even give what has been given no no no what this passage is about is true stewardship and stewardship is the idea of risk-taking with what has been entrusted to us you know you think about the manager here and why he got so upset again y'all parables parables are a story that have a big overall point okay if you start trying to slice and dice I'm getting into some weird theology real fast so I'm not trying to slice and dice I think we all understand the big idea here but why is the manager so upset the man well I'm gonna tell you one thing he says he invokes the servants words and he says well you knew I read where I don't so I think it's something like this it's not just that he doesn't make a profit is why he's upset he's upset because of the way this servant was viewing the situation man you took what was mine and didn't leverage it you buried it and then you tried to hang it on me and that I think is what caused a lot of the angry reaction and what happens he proves himself not to be a servant he was a servant who didn't serve and a servant who doesn't serve is not really a servant they're masking right they're masquerading as something and what happens in this story he's cast out into the outer darkness now let's talk about us okay I think with parables the point is absolutely clear and here's what I would say if I was just gonna thesis the whole thing all right it's not really a big idea but this is what I would say about the whole parable we don't have all we don't all have the same resources but we have the same opportunity to steward what we have member steward is not protecting steward is risking for Kingdom okay being a good steward a good steward grows what God has given them for his kingdom we have all been given the same opportunity to grow his kingdom and this is the purpose for guys Jesus Christ he has come and he has given us life and purpose you have a purpose the purpose is to move the needle for God's kingdom in your moments in your days every one of your days this is what he's called us to do and if we're missing our purpose we end up in all types of dysfunction now we're looking for things we're looking for purpose we've we've made the chief end of our life stuff that it's not leads to all types of destructions and addictions that are in our life and yet what he's saying here to us is wait a minute I've given you things to give things gifts are given to be given this is your purpose that you would leverage your life for the kingdom all the days of your life whether you're a teenager or whether you're a fourth quarter or overtime person okay I've given you these things so that you will wake up tomorrow and move the needle we have a purpose you know I told you guys this before but about twice a year I get a chance to go hog hunting with some buddies of mine from South Carolina that I went to college with it's so fun I got to take AP in January it was super fun and the the coolest thing about it is these dogs okay I mean these dogs have been bred for 200 years to do one thing smell a hog find a hog by the hog that's it that is their whole sole purpose in life they have awesome names too wormy punky Brewster okay polar bear Iceman all right and and and I'm telling you you ain't never seen you never seen anything if you know in terms of purpose until you've seen a dog hit the ground knowing what it's supposed to do if you took one of them dogs and you tried to make him a house dog with a Halloween costume like a bunch of y'all did okay that sounded like I was judging you all right so I'm gonna tell you though if you try to pull women costumes on wormy all right you try to put him in an apartment and make him like a lapdog house dog he will tear the place apart and then die of depression okay he is not made for that life that's not what he's made to do man he's been bred for 200 years to do one thing find a hog smell a hog by the hog that's it and I think about that with us y'all in the gospel God has not only given us life but he has given us a purpose and that purpose is that we would go forth and make other disciples y'all think about how good Jesus is to us to give us life and purpose you know he didn't have to do this I mean you think about us we in sin are separated from God he could have wiped the whole thing away but instead he continues to woo us instead he says no no I'll send my son to die on the cross to bring you back in a relationship with me so that you can't fulfill the purpose for which you were created let me ask you something why were Adam and Eve created what were they called to do be fruitful and multiply what are we as disciples called to do now it's a different way I'm not saying we all get married have a bunch of kids although that's a good thing okay it's not a bad thing but I think about what we're called to do what did Jesus say make disciples of all nations Jesus didn't come just to give us this new mission it's a different little bit of a different spin but it's the same idea spiritually now we would go forward making little spiritual children of all nations of the earth this is the purpose that he has given us and he's done it by his blood he not only gave us life when we admit and believe and confess but he has given us a great purpose in our life as well and I want to call you to jump in in terms of a moment today with that purpose all right for some of you guys today I want to call you to jump in all right now we've talked about this language jump in increase jump in finish strong increase okay and so for some of you guys I want to call you to jump in off the sideline and on to the front line today now look at Mercy Hill we talk all year about these different things there's ways to jump in man jump into the weekender serve in an age-based ministry serve in the community think about giving your time and talent and treasure away think about pregnancy Network we were just at the gala I felt like half the whole people that were there were from our church I couldn't have been more proud and people given to things that are not Mercy Hill I love it love all of it we we call you to all that kind of stuff all year okay but now is a time in our church's life where we're gonna narrow the focus and say specifically here wait a minute in the gospel God has given us life and a purpose what are we gonna do in terms of our generosity all right so if you are new with us one of the five to seven hundred people that are brand new man I want to call you to jump off the sideline and on to the front line man jump in with us we need you we cannot be one of these churches who people start jumping in you guys remember the merry-go-round illustration okay you got you know you remember merry-go-round when you were a kid all right they don't really do them anymore because everything's you know you got a bubble wrap a kid and it's an incident report if they scrape their knees okay so but you know the whole point of the merry-go-round is get the thing going fast enough it throws people off right that was the whole point here's the deal you got a bunch of people jump on the merry-go-round but aren't willing to push what happens slows way down man we don't want to be we can't be that hey I don't know how it is that God has brought you here he's brought you here because you moved here he's brought you here because there's some kind of transition in your life he's brought you here because a friend of yours invited you there's something going on you're brand new to the faith we got all that kind of stuff mixed up it's all coming all right man he's got you here for some reason and we want to call you off the sidelines Jesus didn't die for you to be a spectator he died for you to participate in this mission and for some of you man you're like I you know you're you're thinking about tipping God no no we're talking about going way deeper than that maybe for some of you it means like man what I was thinking I need like out of zero what I was thinking I need a double man I need to go in in a way that shows God you're my deepest desire and I want to move the needle for your kingdom hey we're not we're not quite done I got a couple more things but I want to show you guys a quick testimony for some people that are in the jump in bucket here all right you guys check out this testimony video of the Gans We have four children that are adopted. Harmony who's 11, Caden who's 9, Lexi who's 8, Zuri who is 7. Everybody's adopted through the foster care system. They are all siblings same birth parents and we found out about Lexi probably about six months into the process.

DSS basically didn't think anybody would want her because she's got a lot of unique special needs. We started doing sibling visits and you can see how much they loved her and she loved them. They are a family.

We are a family and that's just how we roll with it. We lived in Louisville and went to Southeast Christian which is a rather large church and they have a ministry called Shine Disabilities dealing with folks who have needs. They basically take care of them while you're there at church so even if you're volunteering the kids can stay there for a couple hours. It was by far probably like the best place for her to be on Sunday mornings. As we found out we were moving back to North Carolina I called and spoke to the pastor at the Northeast Campus, Kyle, and just told him hey we like what Mercy Hill is doing but you know I've got this one child with these needs and I told him about Shine so he called them and it kind of solidified it for me that he took the steps to call and try to find out to make it accessible church for us after Northeast Campus by trying to get volunteers aware of Lexi and her conditions and help find some extra volunteer support. She's been pushed by security guards. I know that's one of my favorites.

I love seeing the big grown security guys just pushing her down the hall. We just knew that it was it was right. We loved the music, the sermons always right on. We knew that we wanted to serve because that's part of being a Christian is giving back to your church so I just jumped in and Darren has served some in the production. We always have known that you know the Bible says you're supposed to give your tithe but I think for us and I know this probably sounds stupid we would just forget.

If you don't do it first then that money's gone because it can find other places to go. Deeper helped us remember that we need to return the blessing that we've been given. To be in remembrance of all the blessings and that we can teach our kids more by showing them to give back and to be a part of and serve because they'll remember our actions more than they'll ever remember our words. We're jumping in to serve however we can. Man what a family, what a special little angel, and what a man what a cool story that you know this thing is it's all it all is kind of hanging together.

Man adoption, church planting, our generosity. So hey some of you guys are brand new over the last year I mean and we're calling you to jump in. Hey others of you though and I think and my wife's gonna talk about this and Anderson's gonna talk about this in just a minute I mean we're calling you to finish strong I mean that's what I'm writing on my card. I mean we want to finish strong you know. We made a God-sized commitment for us a year ago and God doesn't move that for me but I just feel like man we're gonna be head-down trying to make that happen and put it in God's hands for the rest of the you know for the rest of this year and next year and we're excited about that. Hey there's a third bucket and I want to make sure I say this. Man some of us really need to wrestle with this card in terms of increasing maybe what God laid on your heart last year and here's what I mean.

This is dynamic thing it's not a static thing. Some of us put something down that was really faith based last year and then God doubled our business or we sold a business or something crazy happened with the stock market in terms of something that you sold or I don't know what it could be in your life but if that's where you are I really wanted you to think about this for a moment or maybe you just went way deeper in the life of the church you know maybe last year you were around but the trust level I'm not totally sure and I can do a lot more but I don't I don't know what it is but maybe you've already fulfilled the commitment or that's gonna be on autopilot for you then what could you do in terms of an increase? Man we've talked about this y'all we have big big things in front of us now that we move regional and regional north all together and then as soon as we do that man three or four other dominoes fall in terms of Worship Academy and stuff we're doing with foster care and all that kind of stuff so right now I mean the generosity of the church is needed. This is a crossroads moment for us and so I want to call you if God has moved in a way that can have you increase I'm telling you maybe what maybe it's like well it's five digits but you could do six maybe there's people that could do seven I don't know but I'm gonna say hey it's not about what we've been given it's about what we're gonna do with what we have been given. Let me set this up and I'm gonna give you guys a couple of minutes to reflect on this yourself but if everybody can kind of just find this card with us here today and you know this card is pretty simple basically it kind of walks like this all right if I'm new the top part of this card this is for you and it's like man you're newer you weren't here last fall and it's it's basically just forecasting out I know you've already been probably spending some time with this card but you're forecasting out this is what I think we can give over the next 12 months now I need to say this okay it actually is 13 months because it's Christmas it's December this year and all of next year okay so it says 12 months but I know for us December is a significant time of more giving maybe it's that way for you so I would factor that in so if you're new that's that's you and then if you're already committed to deeper then you're in one of two camps either you're in the camp of man we're gonna finish strong and you can put that on there you could put what your you know commitment was or whatever and you're gonna confirm that or may God has dealt generously with you and you want to be generous in a way that's even more and you can write on there that you're gonna increase and you can tell us what that is and then it's gonna help us with planning and all that kind of stuff so guys remember what stewardship is stewardship is growth-oriented risk-taking that's what it is man it's not protection guys you can say it like this we risk our lives or we waste our lives now we risk for the kingdom we're risky for the kingdom or you know you can say another way like this this is just one of those quotes that you've probably heard before you know growth and comfort can't coexist it's like man I'm in that moment of like man are we gonna stretch it's not it's not comfortable you know but that's where we're at that's what risk is so take this card for a minute you guys just take it in your seat wrestle with it pray over it whatever you want to do and I'm gonna come back up and we'll do a final charge and then we're going to commit together you you all right hey guys we're gonna we're gonna enter into a time where we're gonna worship and we're gonna have a chance to commit together here this weekend but before we do that I didn't want you guys to hear from Anna just for a moment she did this last year in terms of just kind of updating a little bit of where our family is and so I want to give her a chance to do that yes so last year we started wrestling with the question of asking ourselves like God are you our deepest desire and I think for me the word picture that I've been thinking about so much over this past year has come from John 15 which we heard a sermon on several weeks ago of abiding and that word has swirled around and around and God you are my deepest desire and so therefore that looks like me daily abiding in you and so and thinking about that every night when I put faith and to bed I sing her several different hymns and one of them is turn your eyes upon Jesus and that is a song I have sung my whole entire life being raised in a Baptist Church but over the past couple of months it's the chorus that has struck me so much turn your eyes upon Jesus look full in his wonderful face and the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of his glory and grace and in thinking about God you are my deepest desire what does that look like abiding in you God keeping my eyes fully fixed on you so that everything else in this world grows strangely dim you know the world wants nothing more than for us to look at everything that we have and hold it clenched fists saying no this is mine but in light of the gospel and in light of God's glory as believers we can open our hands and say no God it is all yours like Andrew said it's we have been called to steward the things that he has given us and so for our family last year our commitment looked like saying we wanted our biggest line item for our budget to be our giving we wanted our giving to be a reflection of God being the deepest desire of our hearts bigger than our savings our house payment but not only in priority of line items but in priorities of our hearts and what a joy it is to see God using the things that he has given us that we open-handedly give back to him and desire for him to use for his glory and so I don't know where you are maybe you are in that finish strong like we are but maybe you haven't even jumped in and this is an incredible opportunity for you to jump in or maybe the Lord has blessed you above all that you could ask or imagine and so you need to write something new on that card but whatever it is you've got to wrestle with the question God are you my deepest desire and then respond to that yeah so hey guys this is the moment we're gonna worship together and we're gonna come forward this is cool we have the opportunity to put these in these little baby horse troughs okay because the actual horse troughs are filled up with water this weekend which is cool because last year if you remember because last year we did them in the baptismals but so anyway hey guys this is spiritually significant moment I pray that you'll take it as such we're all gonna stand together now you guys can stand across all of our different campuses and as the music starts to play we're going to declare together that you are more than enough that's another way of saying you are more than you are our deepest desire and and so as the as the music begins to play at your campus you can come forward and commit together