For Him and Those We Sacrifice
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all right well for those that thought Pastor Gene was back not yet all right so you get one more week with me it's a weird ratio this week though because last week everybody was over here and so when I was like speaking hard I had to speak this way because I didn't want to point out like the one person that was over there and now this week we're kind of balanced so now I feel like I can be in both areas it's good it's good right so glad you could join us even though the weather uh still haven't figured out what Christian weather is because right if it's too rainy and it's too stormy um I don't want to get up it's bad weather I don't want to drive some Christians don't come to church but then if it's too sunny it makes for a nice day to go out with the family and then you still don't come to church and I'm like somewhere in the middle it's got to be cloudy a little bit overcast and then people will come to church right so that's when the majority of people come to church but this weather all reminds me always reminds me um you always have these instances in Ministry by the way for those that don't know my name is Tony I'm just a volunteer here Pastor Gene is out of town and asked me to speak today I was once in the ministry we had a rather large student Ministry at a rather large Church up in Tampa and we had this Wednesday night it was storming like this and you always wonder if you're getting through in Ministry like it's kind of The Human Side of ministry you get up here and you speak and you do things you invest time you invest energy and you sacrifice and you always wonder if it's breaking through you're always wondering if you're you're making the connection if you're actually making a difference um and it's Wednesday night it's storming it's terrible it's lightning and all of a sudden like 10 minutes left in my message to these like students that are in an auditorium like this and all the lights go out in the church and in my mind I'm like well this is done I was like that's a good closing right there God has called it must not have been a great message God himself was like we need to shut this down and amazingly enough I'm like looking and I'm like I don't know what we're gonna do here and all of a sudden it starts with one student turns on his cell phone light another student turns on his cell phone light another student turns on cell phone line all of a sudden we have 150 cell phone lights on and I'm speaking to cell phone lights to students that were so involved with God's word that they actually wanted to stay and what was crazy is the adult service which ran you know parallel with us on Wednesday nights they let out and so all the parents are feeling the back of the room and I'm sitting there I'm like this is a cool God moment man this is a really cool God moment so you have this weather always reminds me of those instances don't worry I don't expect you to do that if the lights go out we're out we're done all right that's God's sign it's time to go home okay so I you're a little more in the middle than usual so all right so last week we spoke on suffering suffering well remember we talked about uh for him and those we suffer and how we suffer and what that means and and what kind of impact our suffering makes on others well I kind of gave a little uh foreshadowing of what I was going to speak about today because we're going to finish that we're going to talk about for those and him we sacrifice we sacrifice we suffer and sacrifice two great topics that everybody wants to hear about everybody wants to hear about suffering and sacrifice and it's interesting because the difficult message to write this week um and I was just sitting there I'm like God man like you got to make this happen I feel bad uh Sun the Sunday school was waiting on my lesson there waiting for a while um and I'm like man you got to make this happen so this week was a weird week for me I had two days off in a row which is unusual we don't have any kids in the house they are all gone uh they'll come back I think but they're all gone right now so it's a weird weird kind of thing going on in our house and so my wife and I actually got to go on two date nights in a row um and so marriage tip date your wife all the time so we went on two date nights in a room we go to movies that's kind of what we do we go to movies we love popcorn and I love candy and so it's just a great combination and so I go to these two movies and you know it was the flash because I'm a geek and a nerd and a kid at heart and then we went and saw Transformers two of my wife's favorite movies I promise you she really wanted to go see those movies um but in those movies she didn't that was a joke guys it was me I promise but in these movies the theme of these movies are like these ultimate sacrifices right that's what every hero movie is about it's about the guy that's going to make the sacrifice it's about I what I'm giving up to save somebody's life or what I'm giving up to save the world or who's going to give their life uh they try to pull tears out of you because here's the deal the world looks at sacrifice as a superhuman trait the world looks like sacrifice as an abnormal lifestyle somebody willing to give their life for somebody is a movie because in real life it's not really there that's why we watch it right grabs our attention it's something we don't see every day but in the Christian Life we are supposed to live sacrificially it should be the norm it should be what people look to and see they should see sacrifices coming from Christians why well our Lord and savior gave the ultimate sacrifice did he not sacrifice his own life on the cross the original superhero story to save the entire world past present and future and so we look at this today and as I think about sacrifice I think it's a difficult subject because it's not something we want to do on a regular basis suffering is something that we receive and we receive it we're supposed to receive it well so suffering is something that we receive we encounter and we do it well right that's what Christians are supposed to do sacrifice is something we give it's something we take away from ourselves and give to somebody else which one is harder right it's debatable which one is harder because sometimes we get something and we're like man this is so awesome I want to hold on to this this is awesome I don't want to sacrifice this I don't want to give this up we talk about Sundays in church Sunday morning it's hard to give up sometimes right I got to be honest with you when church was virtual which wasn't that long ago actually when church was virtual in 2020 it was really easy to do church right you could do it whenever you wanted you could do it while you're eating waffles I mean there was all kinds of great Parts about it but it took away the sacrifice of getting to go to church it took away the importance of meeting together So today we're going to go back to the Old Testament I know I said I preached in the New Testament for the first time that was the only time we're going back to the Old Testament all right so if you want to turn to first king 17 we're going to go to 9 through 16. first king 17 9-16 now a little bit of background with this we're about to talk about Elijah and this is a multiple like you this is a great passage of study because not only is it about the sac gotcha not only is it about the sacrifice of the Widow but it's also about the faith of Elijah because a he's going to someone who is not of his people she's a gentile she would have no earthly idea she may have heard about the God of Israel but she's she's a gentile and then it's actually referred to in the New Testament Jesus talks about this package passage he goes back to it because he talks about how his people are rejected and how his people how his people rejected him and he goes to the Gentile just as Elijah does here so we're going to go to 9 through 16 first king 17 9-16 this is God speaking to Elijah and he said go and live in the village of zeropath near the city of sidon I have instructed a widow there to feed you so he went to zarapeth as he arrived at the gates of the village he saw a widow Gathering sticks and he asked would you please bring me a little cup of water as she was going to get it he called for her bring me a bit of bread too but she said I swear by the Lord your God that I don't have a single piece of bread in my house and I only have a handful of flour left in the jar and a little cooking oil in the bottom of the jug I was just Gathering a few sticks to cook this last meal and then my son and I will die but Elijah said to her don't be afraid go ahead and do just what you've said but make a little bread for me first then use what's left to prepare a meal for yourself and your son for this is what the Lord the god of Israel says there will always be there'll always be flour and oil left in your containers until the time when the Lord sends rain and the crops grow again so she did as Elijah said and she and Elijah and her family continued to eat for many days there was always enough flour and oil olive oil left in the containers just as the Lord had promised through Elijah so what we have here is we have a major famine going on there's a major famine and God has been taking care of Elijah at a creek if you go back and look God's been feeding them and taking care of them the creek dries up and God sends Elijah to this Widow and notice the first part about it he says I have instructed a widow there to feed you so Elijah is under the impression that this Widow has been instructed you're going to feed this man of God but look at the interesting part when he gets there and he says bring me a bite of bread too she says I swear by the Lord your God that I don't have a single piece of bread in this house isn't that interesting she's been instructed that's what God Said right she's been instructed to feed you but then she acts like she has no idea what's going on well here's the thing she wasn't verbally instructed we don't see where God came to her but God nudged on her heart at the very moment that he needed her to to go out and gather sticks to cook her last meal to desperately cook the last meal that her and her son would eat and then they would surely die they have no more food in the house but right at the right moment God moved in her to go begin that meal right as Elijah was showing up so this Widow who had no idea about the God of Israel was sensitive to the movement of God sensitive to movement of God the first part about being sacred the first part about being sacrificial is you have to be sensitive to the movement of God is God asking you to sacrifice something listen it's not going to be verbal it's not going to be the 20-foot Jesus in your bedroom there's not going to be somebody showing up there's not going to be a burning bush in your house there's none of that but are we sensitive to the movement of God when it comes to sacrifice there used to be an old saying that if you see a need fill a need right that was assignment scene is a task given so sometimes we walk around and we see things that we should fix or that we should be a part of and we're like man somebody should do that is that God nudging you that it should be you is that God going hey we need somebody to feel that that's what I need you to do sacrifice so she's sensitive to the movement of God we also notice that the Widow is in a time of suffering when God asks her to sacrifice look at the desperation she's like listen and then my son and I will die she is literally they're probably already starving to death they have just enough flour and just enough olive oil for one more meal together and then they're both gonna die there is suffering and Desperation here suffering and Desperation and yet she's asked to sacrifice so in a time that She's suffering and probably as well she could because notice she's not really complaining about it she's out there Gathering sticks she's doing exactly what she thinks is the right thing to do as a mom as a widowed mother and all of a sudden she's asked by a man of God who she doesn't know to cook her some food he what he needs food well hey man I don't you should go down the road there's some people that have some storehouses they have some grains stored up they have some olive I've got enough that could have been a reaction right she could have been like listen there's other people you could go to I'm poor I'm gathering sticks right now just to cook this last meal she is in a time of suffering and now she is asked to sacrifice and her response isn't a no I don't know I'm a parent I'm guessing that there would be a part of me that would hesitate on this and can you imagine you have just enough food to feed your family and then you know it's over and God says I need you to give that to someone else I need you to give that to someone else what's our response in that matter what's our response to God during that time are we the Widow here where we're going to give that food or are we going to say God I only have enough for my family and it's biblical you said to take care of my family God that's in the Bible I know it's there somewhere but here we go the Widow's being asked to sacrifice The Widow's first reaction to being asked of sacrifice is fear and doubt her first reaction is fears now listen look what she says she says I only die and look what Elijah says Don't Be Afraid don't have fear and doubt listen we talked about this last week just as suffering we're gonna have doubts there's gonna be fears it's not like this is Gonna Come Easy it's going to be repetition it's going to be building it's not like it's going to be like yes God I can't wait to give up everything I have to follow you it goes against human nature it goes against who we are we talked about even Christ having his prayer right before he goes to the Cross if there's any way for this cup to pass over me but your will be done the Widow has the same reaction and Elijah says Don't Be Afraid don't be afraid our natural man who we are naturally without Christ does not understand sacrifice it's only through Christ that we understand what sacrifice truly is and that we're able to truly make these sacrifices this is not going to be a human factor see that's what's wrong with all these movies right all these people are human they sacrifice they're human and that's why they look at them and they're extraordinary they're they're superheroes because they're willing to sacrifice Christ tells us every day we're to sacrifice we're to live sacrificially it's not going to be a natural thing it's not going to be right away remember when we talked about with Progressive sanctification getting better and better and better the more you sacrifice the easier it becomes by the way have you ever tried that in giving I know in giving we talk about we don't really talk about it a whole lot because a Biblical church is a generous church I don't think we have to get up here and shove giving down your throat because God will convict you of that that's God's job right but have you ever tried giving a little and then giving a little more and then giving a little more you expand your faith you expand your ability to sacrifice it's just like how we live the Christian Life if you're not reading your Bible now because you don't have time a verse a day not the verse of the day actually open your Bible because the verse of the day sometimes can be cut short or not in context so I want you to open your Bible start with the verse today then move to two verses a day and then move to three verses a day and then move to a chapter a day and start to get in the flow and that I just the lifestyle of living the Christian life living a sacrificial life is something you can grow into it's something you can become better at we can do that as long as we don't listen to the Natural man who's going to be full of fear and doubt look at the equation here that the Widow must solve it's Faith then action equals sacrifice see the first thing Elijah said is hey man you can make your bread but make me a little bread first make a little bread first for me make a little mine first so he's not saying hey make enough for you and your son and then cut me off a piece that's not what he's saying he's saying make mine first and then make yours so we got to figure if she went out of order would it still be the same would the miracle still happen no her faith wouldn't have she wouldn't have had the faith she needed see that's sometimes how we get with our life we're like God once everything's in order I'm going to give you exactly what you deserve God once I get everything in order I'm going to give you exactly God I promise I'm gonna I'm gonna volunteer more once I get that once I get the position and work that I need to work once I get the schedule that I need to work God I'm going to give more to the church once I get that raise God I'm gonna do more once I get this and we wait for our lives to be completely what we want it to be and then sacrificing is okay up until that point we're kind of holding on to things up until that point it's more important that we hold on to this God I promise as soon as everything is comfortable as soon as I'm not suffering as soon as my family is taken care of I'm gonna sacrifice for you that's not what the Widow had to do here Elijah specifically said make mine first I don't want a piece of yours I want mine first and then make yours for you and your son so she has to have faith and then she has to act on that faith the action is the toughest part because it tests the faith you truly have right it's like school you can learn things but it's really difficult when you get to the test right like it's I'm a really bad test taker that's what this is no it's just we didn't put enough work in in the beginning right the action is important we can sit here and say we believe in God we have faith that God's going to take care of us but what shows that in our life what are we giving up today what's the sacrifice what is it let's move on her sacrifice we see is rewarded by God supplying her needs notice that it says in the end there was always enough flower and olive oil left in the containers just as the Lord had promised through Elijah there was no more and no less there is no abundance here Philippians 4 19 says this and this same God who takes care of me will supply all of your needs from his glorious riches which have been given to us in Christ Jesus keyword all of your needs what do you need I often joke about this what I need is a very I loved I'm a 90s kid I'm an older guy I'm a 90s kid and I loved the 99 Dodge Viper it was the car of my dreams back in high school it was so fast and so pretty and it was red and it was it was beautiful and I used to say that's not what I need that's not what I need but G but the god I need I need a vehicle I mean you know I need a vehicle God so if I need a vehicle you just you just make it the Dodge you just make the Dodge Viper right that's what we can do it's Justified right I need God I need to drive back and forth to church and if I'm late I can drive really fast and I cannot be late like we can justify like I need this no no no we want that what is the true need notice there's not additional flour there's not additional oil there's nothing additional you know what there's there's a couple reasons here why that's important first thing is she's taken care of every day her needs are met you know there were times when my wife and I when we're in the ministry and there are times we would look back and we could not explain how God take how God took care of us we just couldn't we look at her we were at the grocery store which by the way is just it's crazy we have three boys they're all like we have 18 17 and 11. the 11 year old eats like an 18 year old so I have three grown men in my house and so when they come over when they're all three there at the same time they're I'm like the Widow there's no food in my house are you kidding me I can't even put on a box of Pop-Tarts this is your father's don't eat these Pop-Tarts because they will be eating it's like a plague of locusts went through the freezer right now has more food in it than I've seen in 18 years I'm like this is amazing I open it up I'm like I can have whatever I want in this freezer right so we see that right we see that that whole thing of needs what do you need what is it that you need and what is it that you want we look further so why do we need to know this stuff so what's interesting about this whole concept is that this would have been think about the time that this would have been read right so let's go back to when CR when Christ first leaves the Earth and he ascends and then Christianity begins to spread rampant and they're suffering like we talked about in Peter last week right not not suffering because the air is out like we talked about this morning the air goes out and we're all sweating in church we're all like maybe it's just not the day to be here you know the air is not working maybe God's given us a sign the power goes out we're not here the rain happens we're not here family comes into town but they're truly suffering they're being persecuted they're being burned at the stake they're being used as lamps it's insane the persecution that they're facing so I want you to think about the time that they're in and how somebody would get up there and read this passage and understand that that same person was probably given the same message that I am today where it's like hey we need to sacrifice just as the Widow did during a time of great suffering sacrifice is still required we're to live sacrificially so why is it important that we know all this well the first thing is our circumstances cannot dictate our sacrifice our circumstances cannot dictate our sacrifice Luke 21 1-4 says this this is another great uh story of uh of a widow it says while Jesus was in the temple he watched the witch the rich people dropping their gifts into the collection box then a poor Widow came by and dropped in two small coins I tell you the truth Jesus said this poor Widow has given more than all the rest of them for they have given a tiny part of their Surplus but she poor as she is have given everything she has look at this look at this again again we talk about giving when the whole circle is complete and we give just a little slice give just a little slice and Jesus says here to his disciples this Widow who only gave two small coins gave more than anybody did today because she gave everything she had so Jesus is not asking us to sacrifice a little peace Jesus is asking us to sacrifice everything he did he did now I don't know what that looks like in your life now there is nothing wrong let me say this there is nothing wrong with people having money nice cars a nice place to live I'm not asking you to go home today and put your house on the market I'm not saying that's what God is telling you to do but we are to live sacrificially we should be prepared that if God asks us to do such things we would be willing to do it instead of hold on to things that are just temporary because that's the true statement right there right your sacrifices may have a permanent impact but what you're holding on to is only temporary you never know what your sacrifices are going to bring you never know what your giving does you never know what you're volunteering of time does you never know the small little things you do to sacrifice you have no idea what impact that has on somebody I think about our children's ministry workers they children's ministry is it's a blast so when I was over the teen Ministry my wife was over the children's ministry she ran a lot a rather large children's ministry and so I ran the fourth and fifth graders that was my job on Sunday morning was to make sure our fourth and fifth graders had this like you know program and so that was like as low as I wanted to go because then I could still relate to them on a fourth or fifth grade level like I could still relate that's where I'm at maturity wise right so I can still relate to fourth and fifth graders we're good we can communicate I could talk to fourth and fifth graders when I would have to go into any lower oh man I remember one time I had to teach the three and four-year-olds and I was like is there a point to this like they're running all around the room throwing toys everywhere I'm like but Jesus said this they don't care what Jesus said they're like picking each other's nose and stuff and I'm like this is out of control I can't do anything what am I supposed to do and then when parents are coming like here's your kid they're like how do you know that one's mine I don't know he looks like you get him out like that's what I wanted right there's there's people that love to teach that class we had a lady a nurse Martine was her name and she would work the entire Saturday night schedule at the hospital come in for Sunday 8 30 service teach those little kids have patience with those little kids love those little kids go to 10 o'clock service and then go home and go to bed her sacrifice she never got to see that for those two and three-year-olds she never got to see the sacrifice the sacrifice is permanent what she was given up was just temporary and she knew it listen her circumstances didn't dictate her sacrifice because I can tell you I work nights now I work nights now it's extremely hard to stay up I promise you once the sun comes up I'm like ah it's bright I can't handle the light she did it she laid it all down because her circumstances didn't dictate her sacrifice and their rewards didn't dictate it either let's move on fear can keep us from our opportunity to sacrifice for him it's a lot of fear out there right fear is a natural element to who we are as humans without Christ we have a lot of fears without Christ there's a lot of fears in life I can relate to that I have I have a couple I am deathly afraid of spiders deathly afraid of spiders and when I tell you that I tell you that as even in uniform I'm still afraid of spiders so the other day I'm gonna segue this into an embarrassing moment in my career the other day we're walking through the woods we're going to a homeless Camp it's night time you have flashlights flashlights see-through spider webs for some reason they don't reflect well and so here we are walking and of course Tony's first because I'm the alpha male so I'm clearing the way and I walk into a spider web and you're just like I'm like oh I'm like it's on me where somebody shine a light on me I'm Shining Light on myself I'm like I don't see you don't see I don't see it I'm freaking out inside and here's all these homeless people look at me like what is that cop's problem is he okay you know I'm afraid of spiders I'm also deathly afraid of trash pandas which are raccoons but that's a whole different story we have fears listen one of the easiest fears that we have is money money because it's not so much that you want a lot of money but you want enough money to make sure you can take care of yourself and your family and I've been there where that line drops below and you are afraid of what's going to happen items sometimes we're fearful listen another big fear some people don't know that we're Christians because we're afraid of what they might say especially in today's world right because there's so much there's so much put out there that Christians are hate group and things like that and it's hard there's a lot of fear that comes with saying hey I'm going to church on Sunday hey have you heard about Christ hey did you know Jesus loves you it's difficult because we have fears the first thing that our Widow has to deal with is fear well there's only one type of fear that the Bible says so we'll go to Ecclesiastes 12 13 first and it says that's the whole story here now is my final conclusion fear God and obey his commands for this is everyone's Duty fear God that's it fear God and you should fear God Pastor Gene talks about it I know everybody talks about the reverential fear of God but if you really think about it God controls your very next breath and can and you're gone you're supposed to fear God listen I have a reverential fear of my father and I love my dad but I have a good fear of my dad too scared me to death I saw that guy do amazing Feats of Strength and I thought to myself I'm like I do not want to make him mad like I was out working with him one day and we had this heavy log and I went to pick it up because I thought I was the man and I couldn't pick it up and I'm like yeah you're not gonna be able to get that and I watched him pick it up and throw it over his shoulder I'm like whoo don't wanna don't wanna get in trouble today paddling doesn't seem like the way to go we're supposed to fear God notice it says fear God there's no other fear as a matter of fact Paul goes into it in second Timothy 1 7. he's talking to Timothy about being timid about talking about Christ and so really he says for God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity but of love but of power and of love and of a sound mind self-discipline for God has not given us a spirit of fear but of power and of love and of self-discipline we're not supposed to be afraid of anything but God but fear keeps us from sacrificing us it'll actually keep us from the opportunity to sacrifice because we're so afraid like fear for me with those little kids when I was put on the schedule I'm like oh this is terrible like I would trust I would dress nice to go to church because you know I was on staff and then you got thrown up actually babies was my favorite I loved being in babies I don't know why that was just weird it's like I like holding little babies and stuff like that people thought it was weird like grown man hold my baby um but here's the deal fear can keep us from that opportunity to serve what are we afraid of what are we afraid of should we be up here doing announcements but we're afraid to get up on stage we're afraid to get in front of people we're not sure that God's going to give us the ability to speak should we be afraid are we afraid of the opportunity to witness to a co-worker are we afraid of the opportunity to make an impact for Christ is that fear today keeping you from making a sacrifice are you afraid that if you make that sacrifice if you write that check if you give that donation if you give your time that you're going to miss something more important here's the secret there is nothing more important we are to live sacrificially we're to live sacrificially so not only should we not let fear take it over but sacrifice requires action and action requires Faith you cannot have one without the other James 2 18-20 says this now someone may argue some people have faith others have good deeds but I say how can you show me your faith if you don't have good deeds I will show you my faith by my good deeds you say you have faith for you believe that there is one God good for you even the demons believe this and they tremble in Terror how foolish can't you see that faith without Good Deeds is useless the KJV says faith without works now works don't get your salvation but if you say you have faith and then you've got nothing going with your faith James is saying hey you have faith that Jesus is real even the devil believes and trembles that Jesus is real you have faith yet we only make it to church on Sunday morning and that's kind of it you have faith and you see needs that need to be met and you don't meet them you have faith and you see sacrifices that me that need to be made and we don't make them what James is telling us here is if we say we have faith and then there's nothing that we can look at that demonstrates that faith we should take another look at ourselves hard statement just like last week where if we're not suffering one can truly ask if we're living the Christian Life if we're not sacrificing one can truly ask if our faith is real or not is it just that we believe that Jesus was real without it that's what it is or do we truly believe that people are going to die and go to hell without them do we believe in the consequences of not knowing Jesus Christ do we believe in it so much that we're willing to sacrifice whatever it takes to see people come to know Christ what sacrifice is too great for that that's eternal and let me tell you it weighs on me I'm not sitting here speaking this message as someone who's figured it all out that's not who I am I can tell you there are people that I can think about in my life that I should have sacrificed and suffered more in order to demonstrate Christ to them and one of the things that scares me is when I get to heaven am I am I going to see that person or am I not going to see that person did I have the opportunity to sacrifice to show them Christ and didn't do it did I miss that opportunity listen your sacrifice means more than you can ever know what is a soul worth what is eternal punishment mean to you one of the topics we have to discuss now is back when I was going to church which uh as a young man as if I stopped going to church I still go to church now obviously I'm here but back when I was young and going to church in student Ministry was totally different like we went to student camp and there was like a guy that spoke on like uh hell's box office which was HBO at the time um you know two degrees from Hell which was 98 Degrees the band so like there was all kinds of like you know hell is real fire and brimstone you need to accept Christ now or else you're going to hell and it was like crazy like insane in your face right that was that was the way it was like a scare tactic and everybody's like Ah that's not the way it works anymore we can't do that anymore so the pendulum went from like always speaking about hell to swinging way over here and we never speak about hell anymore hell is real the Eternal consequence to not accepting Jesus Christ as your personal savior is that you die and go to hell what what what wouldn't I sacrifice to make sure that everybody I know everybody I don't know doesn't die in Eternal punishment can you imagine think about that who's in your life right now that you think ah they may not know Christ if it's a question of may or may not how do we answer that question and what sacrifice are we not willing to make to make sure that they know Christ because that's how important these things are that's where they line up right sacrifices once again you may not understand what your sacrifice does but the importance of your sacrifice is it may cause somebody to see God to seek him out to accept his son as their lord and savior and to avoid Eternal punishment how important this is so we move on so not only does sacrifice require action action requires faith but we must live in the knowledge that God will supply our needs the rest is blessing the rest is a blessing we've got to live with that knowledge that once we sacrifice its needs not once needs and then anything beyond that is a blessing right anything beyond that is a blessing from God but needs are promised needs are promised now listen I get it I look at listen dinner to me like I was I was in college at one point in time and I was eating uh uh Pita things with cheese so I had a fajita and I put some cheese on it and I put it in the microwave because that is all I could literally afford was a cheese fajita in a microwave so it wasn't that good but it's all I got it's all I had so I understand when it comes to food and stuff like that think about this Widow she's making enough cake for her son to die for her and her son to eat and die can you imagine eating your last meal can you imagine eating your last meal and it's a little like a little cake like a little bread cake that's all you get like a muffin if I'm going out I'm going I'm going out I mean like I need like three or four pizzas I need like some ice cream like that's that's how I feel right she's got this little cake this is it and God asked her to give that up he asked her to give that up and then he says but if you give that up I'll Supply you with at least enough cake to make it through the next day not more cake not two cakes a day I'll Supply you with at least enough to that's my promise to you you'll have enough to make it through the next day it's just needs and listen where we become anxious and fearful is not in what we need it's in what we want it's in what we want it's this whole generational thing right like you want to do one step better than what you had as a kid I I'm there as a father I've always like listen my mom and dad sacrificed a lot a lot for us my dad was in the military my mom was in banking and they sacrificed a lot we never had a lot but we were always taken care of we always had our needs met and so we always get this mentality that I I want to do better than that I want to I want to be I want to one-up that right and so when we start to get anxious and when we start to get fearful is not in what we need but it's when we step into what we want and then when we get what we want right when we start to understand like oh man you mean to tell me I can afford to buy my car that I like how sweet you mean to tell me that I can get the house I want oh sweet you mean to tell me I can afford all the vacations I want ah sweet and then when we're asked to give some of that up we're looking over here and we're like but this is what I need we've forgotten what we used to live on listen I used to live on cheese pitas I don't live I don't live on cheese pitas anymore could I go back to that I could it met my needs I didn't die do I want to go back to that no I like my diet now it's good food I like my car now it drives it doesn't I don't have to get out and mess with the spark plugs in the snow like I did in Missouri I don't have to do that I like my house the air conditioning works the heat works that we not use but it works it's big I've got multiple rooms my house is nice I like space I can walk around and be like oh and I can't touch one wall to the other I've been there too and so when we get anxious it's because we've now moved the dial from needs to what we want and we live in our wants and we live in our desires and When God says hey I need you to take a step back you're like but I need this it's comfortable we've become comfort in our wants and we've forgotten that God supplies our needs look at Matthew 6 25-34 this is Jesus speaking again that is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life whether you have enough food or drink or enough clothes to wear isn't life more than food or your body more than clothing look at the birds they don't plant or harvest or store in barns for your heavenly father feeds them and aren't you far more valuable to him than they are can all your worries at a single moment to your life and why worry about your clothing look at the Lilies of the Field and how they grow they don't work or make their clothing yet Solomon in all his glory was not dressed as beautifully as they are if God cares so wonderfully for the wildflowers that are here today and thrown into the fire tomorrow he will certainly care for you why do you have so little faith so don't worry about these things saying what will we eat what will we drink what will we wear these things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers but your heavenly father already knows all your needs seek the kingdom of God above all else and live righteously and he will give you everything you need so don't worry about tomorrow for tomorrow will bring its own worries today's trouble is enough for today look what he says here you're worried about what you're going to wear look how the heavenly father takes care of the Lilies of the Field look how beautiful they are one of the things my son is uh with his mom and he's he's over in Europe now and they were in Scotland and I I love the views of Scotland these massive Rolling Green Hills these beautiful flowers just in this long field that you can see and I just that view as I've gotten older I'm just like man that is it that is awesome and you think about that beautiful taken care of by the father designed and maintained by God Jesus says why don't we think that way about ourselves what are we going to eat have you noticed the birds they don't they don't do all this busy work to get food they just fly around and get what they want they're taken care of by the father their needs are met by the father now what he's not saying is that you walk out of this room and then you never work again like that's not what he's saying okay but what he's saying is we shouldn't Focus so much on the once we shouldn't focus on what am I doing to get what I want God's going to take care of my needs if God's going to take care of my needs how much more than do I have to sacrifice for others if I know my needs are taken care of how much more can I sacrifice what more can I give and we should be excited about it I think of missionaries today out in the field missions was a huge deal back when I was a teen and we used to have Mission conferences where speakers would come from missionaries that we supported they would come in and Thursday Friday Saturday we would have all these missionaries and they would give updates on their Ministry they would give pictures and slideshows back when it was the little clicky thing that some young people are like what is he talking about um there's no digital right it's just on a screen but they would give these updates and then Sunday we would have the grand finale we'd have one speaker and then we would all give a gift to the missionary and their kids as a matter of fact we had the the wave offering which is where you pulled out any cash you had in your wallet and you waved it around the missionary kids would come and collect it that's what that's what the deal was and we did that and then Sunday night we ate an international missionary dinner where everybody made something International right and so it was a beautiful thing but to see what our missionaries sacrificed gave up to be in the field I used to think lack of air conditioning was the biggest deal and then I've been to places like Mexico where air conditioning is the least of your problems yeah you don't have it but you also don't have water your food is in short supply I thought it was crazy because we went down there and we took like 100 bucks I took I lived like a king in Mexico with a hundred dollars it's like when I got pesos I'm like you're giving me how many pesos this doesn't make sense I had no idea about math at the time or currency exchange and I'm like I only gave you 100 and you gave me like a thousand pesos like I'm like this is amazing I'm rich you know what's crazy is the the church van went down the tires all four tires got slashed and so they were like we need four tires replaced and we're like man I don't think any of us can afford that and then they gave us the price of like I have that in pesos right here I have that right here but they're so poor that they looked at us like you're willing to give us tires yes yes I am I've been blessed but those missionaries live in a world where they don't have that kind of things we were pulling a tree out of the ground with a hacksaw because they didn't have the proper tools we were putting a roof made out of mud on top of a building that they just got out of cinder block that was not insulated by the way it was just cinder block built up on the dirt that we leveled out sacrifice what is it that we need that God's going to take care of and if we know God's taking care of our needs how much more than can we sacrifice out of what we want so what do we need to do here so the first thing is just like the Widow we need to be sensitive to God's Movement we need to be sensitive to God's movement in our life well how do we do that by constantly living by faith we constantly live by faith if you constantly live by faith you'll be sensitive to God's movement you constantly live by faith you'll understand when God wants you to do something you'll know it'll be clear it'll be like oh yeah I see that now yeah I could I could take care of that I can definitely do that God and he's going to equip you to do that but unless you're sensitive to God's movement unless you're living by faith you're not going to see it you're going to miss that opportunity because you're not going to see the movement of God in your life you're not going to see it because you're going to be like oh man somebody should definitely handle that I was talking about it today it's like oh I want to paint some of this stuff well if you see it do it you see it do it ask Gene first if you want to paint something I'm not I'm not giving you permission to do that right now all right come in and the walls are like green like Tony said we could no negative so that's the thing right we have to be sensitive to the movement of God we must constantly live by faith Proverbs 3 5-6 tells us this trust in the Lord with all your heart do not depend on your own understanding seek his will and all you do and He will show you which path to take he will show you what sacrifice to make he will show you the needs that you can fill if we constantly trust in the Lord with all your heart you know what trusting means it means I can live in my needs Zone and I don't have to live in my one zone that's trusting that's trusting we've got to live by faith if we live without faith in God we would never sacrifice we live without that faith in God we're never going to sacrifice because think about it if you don't have faith that God's going to meet your needs you're going to want to hold on to your stuff you're going to want to hold on to your stuff one of the things that often again finances we get we talk about these finances we have I worked in banking I worked in uh very high-end like government banking is where I worked and I saw like cities that were like poor and stuff like that and then you pull up their bank accounts you're like you have millions of dollars you have millions of dollars we've got to conserve this just in case something important happens it's because with faith we're willing to live by that I've been part of churches that need quote unquote War chess that's what they call it that's a church term where actually it's a Roman term it's in case when we go to war we've built up enough funds that we can take care of the city while we take care of our army as well I believe God wants us to use what he's given us to reach people now that's not saying savings is wrong I'm not saying that it's good to be smart but there's some to be said about holding on to Temporary things in place of permanent sacrificial giving and again it doesn't always apply to money right now time is a big deal I'm there with you let me tell you finding time in my schedule is insane and it's mainly because of me I'm working on that just as much as anybody else finding time in my schedule I if God asked me to do something right now it would take a sacrifice I'd have to give up something are we willing to are we willing to give up that that thing or do we have the faith that God's going to take care of us listen what else what should we do not live we must live by faith not fear despite what the consequences may be I'm gonna have you read Hebrews 11 32-40. we're not going to go through that because here's the deal if you really want to get psyched about Christianity read Hebrews 11 today like read it today write it down read Hebrews 11 because what it talks about is the way every verse almost begins in that chapter is by Faith by Faith by faith they accomplish this they accomplish that they accomplish this they did this for God and then it says by faith they sacrifice their lives for God by faith they gave up everything for God and it sets the tone for what we should be doing we should also avoid the mentality of what's in it for us sacrifice what's in it for us sacrifice Colossians 3 through 5 3 5 says so put to death the sinful Earthly things lurking within you have nothing to do with sexual immorality impurity lust and evil desires check right if we stopped right there most of us would be okay right remember this is the list like we stopped right okay sexual immorality check impurity lust check lust and evil desires check and that's where the the verse of the day would end right there but then it goes on it says don't be greedy for a greedy person is an idolater worshiping the themes of this world don't have the what's in it for us mentality notice the Widow never said what's this in what's in this for me when I make you this cake what's in this for me what do I get out of this what are you going to give me in order to get this God listen God I'm going to sacrifice this but what am I going to get in return see that's the whole thing about church today and giving we actually had a church that did the 90-day challenge it makes me cringe to think about it where it's you tied for 90 days and then we guarantee you God's going to get back to you what what where is that biblical where is that biblical where does it said I'm where does it say in the Bible that you're going to give up something and you are guaranteed you're going to get it back you know what you're guaranteed if you're a Christian you're guaranteed eternal life you're not guaranteed anything else you can give all that you have you can be totally sacrificial and guess what it doesn't mean tomorrow you're going to wake up and find the winning lottery ticket in your front yard God is not the lottery the more you invest doesn't mean the more I get back that is Christianity Today they want to tell you the more you give the more blessed your life is going to be and what I'm telling you is Christianity says the more you give the more you may suffer the more it may hurt but we should do it anyway because Christ did it for us he gave everything he died the worst possible death so we could see eternal life that's what we're guaranteed the deal has already been made you accept Jesus Christ as your personal savior you have eternal life that's what you're guaranteed as a Christian and that is more than anything that can be given here on Earth anything why do we do it why should we sacrifice well it's not only because our Lord and savior sacrificed it's not only to be more christ-like but these past two weeks what I've wanted us to gain out of this is this how are we suffering and what are we sacrificing in order to influence the Lost to come to know Christ that is what this is all about understanding that people out there are dying and going to hell and they could be looking to you and your sacrifices rather than to some movie in some fictional character and they could be saying what does that person have that I don't how can that person act like this during this time how can this person when they have no food of their own give up food for someone else how can this person that lives in a one-bedroom apartment give up their couch to someone who needs a place to live how can this person when they don't even have enough blankets to cover them on themselves give up a blanket for somebody that doesn't even have one how can that happen because they have Jesus and that's what it's all about so I want us to leave today what are we willing to sacrifice to see people come to Christ thank you so much