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We are in the Book of Mark.

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Mark chapter 11 is where we got to.

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Good to see everybody out this evening.

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Good to have everybody home from travels and good to have the students back as well.

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Let's get into our study right after a word of prayer.

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Gracious Father in heaven, we come before your throne, grateful for the day that you've
blessed us with, for the life that you have granted to us, for the opportunities that we

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have to serve you and we pray that we will do so in a way that is acceptable in your sight
and right in your eyes.

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Lord, as we stand before you,

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uh humbly asking for your grace, your mercy, your kindness, but also thankful for your Son
who came and died on the cross for our sins that through Him we have grace and truth

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delivered to us.

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Lord, we pray that you will be with us as we go throughout this period of study.

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May we open our hearts and our minds to the things which Jesus taught his disciples and
taught

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those in the first century, the actions which he performed which glorified both your name
and showed us how we are to live and have our existence in this world.

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We pray that we will apply these things to our lives and all this we ask in Jesus name.

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Amen.

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March after 11, Jesus sends the disciples to go into uh the area and get this colt.

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He says it's going to be tied by the door outside on the street, and He instructs them
what to do if someone asked them why they're doing what they're doing.

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Why would someone ask them why they're doing what they're doing?

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because it looks like they're stealing it.

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And yet, Jesus says, if this occurs, here's what you should do.

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Interesting lesson there for us, and that is that when God says, if this occurs, you
should do this, it's probably a good indication that that's going to occur.

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And when it does, we should do exactly what he said.

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If we applied that more, especially in congregations in the church,

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If we were to take the scenarios that the New Testament lays out as far as if this were to
occur, do this, we would find things work a whole lot better in congregations because we

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would just be implementing what God already knew we would need in order to do what we
needed to do.

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But too often we find ourselves trying to be creative problem solvers with issues that
God's already told us what to do.

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How should we handle an issue where there's an individual in a congregation that is
persisting in sin and is unrepentant of it and is glorifying in it and is still assuming

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and acting as though they're part of the body of Christ?

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What does Paul say to do?

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Withdraw from them.

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What should we do if someone is lazy and will not work and will not provide for their own?

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Same thing, Paul tells us 1 Thessalonians chapter 5, if there's some among you that is
reported that you're basically sitting around expecting others to take care of you,

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waiting for Christ to come back.

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Maybe it's 2 Thessalonians chapter 3, it's the last chapter in one of the books of
Thessalonians, you can go look it up.

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Paul says, withdraw from that person until they repent and start doing what they ought to
do.

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which is walking in a upright way, providing for themselves.

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When we find ourselves in a scenario where God has already outlined in scripture what we
should do, we shouldn't have to spend a whole lot of time questioning what we should do.

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When someone in a congregation sins against someone else in the congregation, how should
it be handled?

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Christ said to do it.

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What did he say to do in Matthew chapter 18?

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Alright, the person who was sinned against should go to the person who sinned against them
privately.

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And if the person will not hear them, what should they do?

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they should bring two or three witnesses, which by the way necessitates that there were
witnesses.

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What if there weren't any witnesses?

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See, what we often do is say, well, if that doesn't apply, just jump over that step and
take it to everybody.

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No, you don't.

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Because the witnesses are important for validating the truthfulness of the claim.

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And too often what we do is we try to apply what scripture says is we

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kind of just twist it to our own personal preference or to our own personal benefit.

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If someone sins against you and there are no witnesses, now, let's couch this in a couple
of things, a couple of qualifications.

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If someone sins against you and does you physical bodily harm, who should you take it to?

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The church or the law?

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The law, why?

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Because that's a different category than we have under discussion here.

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We're talking about someone who has sinned against, let's say for instance that someone
defrauded somebody else and they're both members of the church.

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Should that be taken to the law?

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The answer to the answer is no.

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1 Corinthians, Paul deals with the church and he says, some of you are doing this to
others of you and you are taking each other to law.

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Do you not have good people within the body of Christ where you can judge a matter amongst
yourselves?

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Now, what if it's a public company out in the world that's defrauding another public
company out in the world, there just happen to be two brothers in the body of Christ that

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are both connected to those companies?

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That may be a different scenario, but we're talking about personal interactions.

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Paul in Corinthian says, if this is happening among brethren, deal with it among the
brethren and stop taking each other to court.

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Because all you're doing is demonstrating that you're not Christ-like.

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but you're doing it publicly in front of the world.

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Just take it to someone who can judge the matter, who's a Christian, and then do what's
right.

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Now what happens if that brother then, having seen the evidence, having seen that they are
in the wrong, will not repent?

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Okay, well now we're back in a scenario where Christ says, here's what you're supposed to
do.

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because now you have witnesses.

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Now it's clear based upon all of the evidence that this person is living in an immoral way
and practicing sin.

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and it ought to be dealt with within the body of Christ.

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We struggle partly because we don't take time to go through scripture and go, here's a
scenario, how should we handle it?

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Before the scenario actually arises, we ought to be, and it's a good practice, to go
through scripture and go, you know what, what if we were to outline

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different scenarios and just say, I'm gonna make a plan on what I'm gonna do if I am ever
in this situation because this is what God says to do.

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We would start acting with far more wisdom than we typically do when we're in this
scenario and we're emotional about it and we're not making the right choice because we're

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upset, we're angry, we're distraught.

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All of this leads back to Proverbs chapter one, where Solomon tells his son as he writes
the book of Proverbs, I'm going to give you wisdom, I'm going to give you insight, I'm

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going to give you understanding so that you might know how to understand the things that
wise people say and that you might know how to live.

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And when we first practice the concept of fear the Lord, fear the Lord means I am going to
do what He says to do.

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In all of the scenarios, in all of the situations that we find ourselves in, in all of the
different situations that we're going to encounter in life, our first question should be,

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what would the scriptures tell me to do in this situation?

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not because we're gonna go, you know what, I'm gonna go find something that proves that
I'm right and everybody else is wrong.

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No, that's the wrong way to handle scriptures.

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but because Jesus says, listen, here's what you're supposed to do.

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You're supposed to use the scriptures and look at yourself and if you find that there's a
log sticking out of your eye, you better get the log out of your eye before you start

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worrying about the speck that's in somebody else's.

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And too often, too many scenarios in life, whether that be marriage scenarios, business
scenarios, congregational scenarios, interpersonal scenarios.

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The last question we ask is, what would the Bible tell me to do?

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and actually open up the scriptures and go, did God already deal with this?

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Did he already tell me in this case, do this?

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Sometimes we're taught that by example because we read about someone doing it.

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If we were to use the example of Paul as exhibited in the book of Galatians, and if we're
present in an assembly of Christians and we notice one Christian

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causing by their influence division among Christians by the way they're acting, what
should we do?

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What did Paul do to Peter?

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withstood him to the face.

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Now, he didn't do it meanly.

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He did it to correct the influence that Peter was having on those who should have known
better.

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Even Barnabas was being swayed by what Peter was doing.

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But there are also other times where we find, for instance, Aquila and Priscilla, who they
hear this Jew teaching about the church, or sorry, teaching about Jesus, the Messiah, and

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the fact that the Messiah has come.

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and they don't stand him to the face because he's ignorant about certain details, what do
they do?

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They take him aside privately and they teach him so that he knows better how to do what's
right and then they help him have a greater influence.

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They don't say you're never going to account too much.

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You don't even know what you're talking about.

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We're not amazing Christians, but I mean, after all, we know more than you do.

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No, that wasn't their approach.

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They taught him, they helped him, and then they increased his impact in his knowledge and
the truth.

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So much so that when Paul writes the book of 1 Corinthians, Paul writes to the Corinthian
church and among the list of influential people, it's Paul, Peter,

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And Apollos.

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Apollos wasn't an apostle, but Apollos had had so much influence in Corinth because of the
work that he had done.

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The teaching and the preaching that he had done, once he had finally been connected to the
church and learned about the church, he had had such an influence that Paul was listing

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him in the same category of influence as himself and Peter.

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in the body of Christ.

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So as we go through life, as we are challenged to deal with all of the scenarios that we
face, we need to just think back occasionally to what Jesus says here with the apostles

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that says, you're gonna go here, you're gonna encounter this, when you do, you're gonna do
this.

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And when we start behaving that way, when we start living that way, when we start
operating first with the mindset of, what would the scriptures tell me to do before I act

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on the scenario?

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We're gonna find our life gets a little easier, far less stressful, far less difficult to
wonder, did we do the right thing?

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because when we can backstop why we made the choice with, because God showed me how to
handle the situation.

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we will have far less time spent wondering did we do what was right?

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Did I handle it the right way?

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Now, do temperament, demeanor, the way we say things all come into play on certain
matters?

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Sure.

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But at the end of the day, the question is did we do what God told us to do?

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Now, Jesus is gonna tell them

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You go into the village opposite you.

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As soon as you have entered into it, you will find a cold tide on which no one is sat.

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Loose it and bring it.

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And if anyone says to you, why are you doing this?

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Say the Lord has need of it and immediately he will send it here.

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I don't know that we spend maybe as much time thinking as we should about

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That last part.

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We like think about the cult, we like to think about what comes after it, we like to think
about all the other things surrounding it, but what do you get out of the fact that they

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were to say the Lord has need of it and immediately He will send it here?

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Alright, first thing is they knew who the Lord was.

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So whoever they interacted with was fully aware when they said the Lord has need of it of
who it was for.

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What else?

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All right, you have here a picture of someone who their immediate reaction to knowing that
this animal was needed by Jesus.

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for his purposes meant there was no discussion about what they were gonna do.

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There was no deliberation.

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There was no him-hauling about, you know, we were really planning on having that cult here
to do this other thing that we, I mean, he was tied there for a reason, right?

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So they had a reason for having him.

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They had a reason for him being there.

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and the moment that Christ said, I have need of it.

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they had the immediate reaction of, it's yours to do with as you choose.

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Any textual evidence or historical evidence to indicate that Jesus owned the cult?

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No.

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But the individual who did own the colt, as was pointed out, recognized the authority of
Christ.

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And as far as they were concerned, if Christ needed their cult, he could have the cult.

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which you should also probably then understand their position was if Christ needed
anything, he could have it.

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One of the things going back to the prior discussion of when we see in the text...

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the disposition from God that when we enter a scenario and we find ourselves in a
scenario, we ought to just say, what would the Bible tell me to do in this scenario?

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We find here the scenario of an individual who has a colt.

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And we find a scenario where the Lord has need of the coal.

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What does the person do?

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gives the Lord the cult for His purpose.

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Turn over to 2 Corinthians chapter 8.

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Paul writes, Moreover, brethren, we may get known to you the grace of God bestowed on the
churches of Macedonia, that in great trial of affliction the abundance of their joy and

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their deep poverty abounded in the riches of their liberality.

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For I bear witness that according to their ability, yes, and beyond their ability, they
were freely willing, imploring us with much urgency that we should receive the gift and

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the fellowship of the ministering to the saints.

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and not only as we had hoped, but they first gave themselves to the Lord and then to us by
the will of God.

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So we urge Titus that as he had begun so he would also complete this grace in you as well.

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But as you abound in everything, in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in all diligence, and
in your love for us, see that you abound in this grace also."

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Paul as he's riding the Corinth.

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to inform them that he's sending Titus to them to make sure that they have the offering
that they had committed to, to send to the churches in Judea the thing of which he wrote

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about in 1 Corinthians chapter 16 verses 1 and 2 when he says that on the first day of the
week as you're gathered together each one should bring as they have prospered that there

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be no collection when I come.

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He says, you've made a commitment to this, you've made a commitment to the churches in
Judea, you be bringing that every single week so that when I arrive it is ready.

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When I get there, there won't be time for you to go back and negotiate with the banker and
sell some property.

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We don't have time for that.

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You make sure it's there when I get there.

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And he's going to send Titus along in advance to make sure it's there when he gets there.

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But as he does that,

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He's going to tell the Corinthians about the Macedonians.

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who the Macedonians, when they heard about the need in the Judean churches.

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They didn't just give to it.

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They didn't just make a commitment to give to it sometime in the future.

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Paul says they gave of themselves first.

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Now, as Paul describes the church in Macedonia, this is much like we mentioned a few weeks
ago in the book of Revelation where John describes one of the churches as in poverty.

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This is the idea here.

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They were poor.

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As Jim McGuigan put it, they were poor with like 18 O's in the middle.

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They were poor.

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And yet the Macedonians in their deep poverty.

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said, we can help the churches in Judea.

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If they've got a need, we can help.

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And they didn't immediately go grab out of the treasury.

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They were in deep poverty.

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What do you imagine the treasury probably had in it?

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Nothing.

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They were in deep poverty.

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So what did they do first?

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They gave of themselves.

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How did they?

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How does somebody give of themselves if they're in deep poverty?

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They can't be giving of their excess, they don't have any.

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So how do they give of themselves?

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They work.

200
00:24:08,556 --> 00:24:09,718
What did they have?

201
00:24:09,718 --> 00:24:11,480
They had the ability to labor.

202
00:24:13,334 --> 00:24:16,828
So they said, the churches in Judea need help.

203
00:24:17,009 --> 00:24:19,272
We've got to help.

204
00:24:19,613 --> 00:24:24,189
So they went out and labored to have something to give.

205
00:24:26,921 --> 00:24:35,061
What is it that Paul describes us as being blessed to do as we labor?

206
00:24:36,083 --> 00:24:42,481
He says that we ought to labor so that we have to give to those who are in need.

207
00:24:45,087 --> 00:24:57,632
So, Church of Macedonia, here's the Lord needs your help in the form of money.

208
00:24:58,607 --> 00:25:00,593
So what does the Church of Macedonia do?

209
00:25:01,034 --> 00:25:02,214
We don't have any.

210
00:25:02,414 --> 00:25:04,535
Sorry, tough luck.

211
00:25:05,336 --> 00:25:07,777
Come back another time, maybe when the economy is better.

212
00:25:07,777 --> 00:25:08,587
No, that's not what they did.

213
00:25:08,587 --> 00:25:13,849
They said, we don't have any, but we can go get some.

214
00:25:14,869 --> 00:25:16,540
So they begin to labor.

215
00:25:16,880 --> 00:25:19,141
But notice what else Paul says.

216
00:25:20,002 --> 00:25:28,467
He says, for I bear the witness back in verse three that according to their ability, yes
and beyond their ability.

217
00:25:30,025 --> 00:25:31,997
They were freely willing.

218
00:25:33,139 --> 00:25:34,420
Key terms here.

219
00:25:34,420 --> 00:25:40,637
Number one, beyond their ability.

220
00:25:43,967 --> 00:25:46,202
Have you ever thought about the fact?

221
00:25:48,179 --> 00:25:57,405
that when Paul says, here was their ability, all right, let's put it in a box, this is
what they had the ability to give.

222
00:26:00,433 --> 00:26:03,376
Except what they gave wasn't that little square.

223
00:26:03,376 --> 00:26:05,573
What they gave was this big square around it.

224
00:26:07,635 --> 00:26:11,708
I'm sorry, how do you give beyond your ability?

225
00:26:15,347 --> 00:26:18,469
I mean in modern times we just go, just go borrow money.

226
00:26:19,110 --> 00:26:23,413
I don't think the fiat system was quite then what it is today.

227
00:26:23,934 --> 00:26:27,296
So it probably wasn't they went and borrowed a bunch of money.

228
00:26:28,037 --> 00:26:35,293
How do we understand that they gave beyond their ability was this and they gave that?

229
00:26:43,403 --> 00:26:52,283
Okay, they may have sacrificed of their own needs and provisions to give beyond that.

230
00:26:52,283 --> 00:26:53,643
That's a possibility.

231
00:26:54,203 --> 00:26:57,483
I think there's something more key to it than this though.

232
00:26:57,883 --> 00:27:11,563
As they responded with the willingness not just to give of excess, but to give beyond
their ability, God gave them more than they would normally have had.

233
00:27:14,855 --> 00:27:17,036
See, this is the struggle that we have.

234
00:27:17,777 --> 00:27:35,390
We often operate in a fixed, finite box of, all right, my pay is this, my bills are this,
before I subtract my bills, my giving is this, if we're doing it the right way, all right,

235
00:27:35,390 --> 00:27:40,694
my savings is this, my bills are this, I'm living within my means, therefore I can do X.

236
00:27:43,236 --> 00:27:46,145
That is your ability.

237
00:27:49,016 --> 00:27:56,854
And yet when we understand what the Macedonians did, they said, we don't have anything.

238
00:27:58,532 --> 00:28:00,362
but we can go work for it.

239
00:28:01,583 --> 00:28:09,646
And what God did, I firmly believe, as you see in the text, is God said, great, I'm going
to work out how that's going to work.

240
00:28:10,726 --> 00:28:22,060
Because of their willingness to labor, God was willing to give them a exceedingly
bountiful amount that was brought in from their labor.

241
00:28:24,100 --> 00:28:29,024
because they were willing to sacrifice, God was willing to supplement.

242
00:28:31,545 --> 00:28:38,393
Have we ever been reminded that God's limitations are not finite?

243
00:28:40,644 --> 00:28:43,375
that we cannot out give God.

244
00:28:44,416 --> 00:28:51,640
That if we were to seek first His kingdom, oh wait a minute, I seem to remember somebody
who talked about this.

245
00:28:51,640 --> 00:28:58,064
If we were to seek first His kingdom, all these things, what are those things?

246
00:28:58,064 --> 00:29:06,929
All the physical things, all the things that we worry about every day, as Paul, sorry, as
Jesus describes the Gentiles, will be added unto you.

247
00:29:09,827 --> 00:29:15,925
He's not saying, you know what, I'm going to make it where you're more skilled so you get
a better job.

248
00:29:17,805 --> 00:29:27,819
He's saying, I'm going to provide for you in ways you can't even think about and imagine
because you're doing the work of my kingdom.

249
00:29:32,397 --> 00:29:34,976
And so the Macedonians go out labor.

250
00:29:37,037 --> 00:29:47,153
and what they normally would have been able to do out of their ability was this and what
God did with their labor was this.

251
00:29:49,591 --> 00:29:56,785
And so, as they have expended their time, their effort, their energy, what did they get
back out of it?

252
00:29:57,847 --> 00:29:59,807
Paul tells us in the text.

253
00:30:00,649 --> 00:30:01,809
He says,

254
00:30:07,001 --> 00:30:15,328
that they were freely willing, but he also says that they got out of it much the same
thing that the Corinthians did.

255
00:30:15,949 --> 00:30:24,717
He said they abounded in everything, in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in diligence, and
in love.

256
00:30:26,819 --> 00:30:34,541
The Corinthians had gotten the same thing the Macedonians got, spiritual blessings.

257
00:30:36,281 --> 00:30:40,224
which were worth far more than what they gave.

258
00:30:44,501 --> 00:30:46,818
All of this is to remind us.

259
00:30:48,943 --> 00:30:51,476
from the example of the person who owned a colt.

260
00:30:53,487 --> 00:30:56,789
that the moment the Lord said, I need the colt.

261
00:31:00,153 --> 00:31:04,101
The owner's reaction was, cult's yours.

262
00:31:04,924 --> 00:31:07,669
The cult was yours before you said you needed it.

263
00:31:09,583 --> 00:31:11,638
The cult was always the Lord's.

264
00:31:12,643 --> 00:31:16,523
It was in the stewardship of the person who owned it.

265
00:31:18,359 --> 00:31:24,509
and because it was in the stewardship of the person who owned it and the Lord said, need
it.

266
00:31:26,659 --> 00:31:29,898
They said, there you go.

267
00:31:32,727 --> 00:31:39,203
It is a challenge for us when we find ourselves in situations in life.

268
00:31:41,903 --> 00:31:49,065
to not limit our ability to what our ability is.

269
00:31:51,663 --> 00:32:01,915
but to rather say, all right, I know what I can do, and whatever I can do, and whatever
the Lord adds to it, that's what we'll do.

270
00:32:04,965 --> 00:32:05,991
How's he gonna do it?

271
00:32:05,991 --> 00:32:06,912
Don't know.

272
00:32:08,549 --> 00:32:11,510
but whatever he comes up with, that's what we'll do.

273
00:32:14,041 --> 00:32:18,369
because we're first willing to give of our ability.

274
00:32:24,231 --> 00:32:30,874
Jesus is teaching the disciples a lesson.

275
00:32:33,172 --> 00:32:38,864
So many times as you go through the text, go, why didn't Jesus go get the colt?

276
00:32:40,638 --> 00:32:45,509
Is it just because he's the master he gets to sit over here and do nothing while the
servants go work?

277
00:32:46,170 --> 00:32:49,731
Do you ever see Jesus treating the disciples that way?

278
00:32:50,371 --> 00:32:51,231
No.

279
00:32:52,112 --> 00:33:02,635
there's certainly times that the disciples are said about the normal, ordinary, menial
tasks, like when Jesus is needing to talk with the woman at the well, where are the

280
00:33:02,635 --> 00:33:04,986
disciples when Jesus is at the well?

281
00:33:07,460 --> 00:33:09,241
They're out getting food out of the city.

282
00:33:09,241 --> 00:33:13,002
They're taking care of the physical things while he's taking care of the spiritual things.

283
00:33:13,002 --> 00:33:20,465
But more often than not, there's going to be a spiritual lesson behind the things that
Jesus tells them to do.

284
00:33:20,465 --> 00:33:30,088
When they get in the boat and they're told to go across to the other side of the Sea of
Galilee and Jesus stays on the shore,

285
00:33:31,720 --> 00:33:35,141
Was it because there was a spiritual lesson that they needed to learn?

286
00:33:36,122 --> 00:33:37,462
Absolutely.

287
00:33:38,283 --> 00:33:44,125
So Jesus is going to go up into the mountain to pray, then Jesus is going to come and
Jesus is going to walk across the water to them.

288
00:33:45,506 --> 00:33:49,788
And had they not called to him as he was walking across the water, he'd walked right past
them.

289
00:33:53,834 --> 00:33:57,818
because they needed to learn a lesson.

290
00:33:59,946 --> 00:34:01,905
They're learning a lesson right here too.

291
00:34:07,572 --> 00:34:16,592
When you see Jesus send the disciples somewhere, you should be asking yourself, why?

292
00:34:18,206 --> 00:34:24,444
What are they supposed to learn from what they're doing?

293
00:34:26,974 --> 00:34:32,880
Because not only does Scripture not include any unnecessary information.

294
00:34:34,452 --> 00:34:39,085
Jesus didn't have any time to waste in teaching and training the disciples.

295
00:34:39,085 --> 00:34:40,698
Their time's almost up.

296
00:34:43,476 --> 00:34:56,646
So if it was significant enough that Jesus is going to separate himself from the disciples
for them to go do this, there is something for them to learn in doing it.

297
00:35:00,106 --> 00:35:03,695
And in my mind, it's all in what he tells them is going to happen.

298
00:35:05,300 --> 00:35:07,023
then they're going to see it happen.

299
00:35:08,958 --> 00:35:12,241
He's going to tell them if anyone asks of you.

300
00:35:14,142 --> 00:35:15,793
This is what you tell them.

301
00:35:16,794 --> 00:35:25,460
And then, verse four, so they went their way and found the colt tied by the door outside
on the street and they loosed it.

302
00:35:26,521 --> 00:35:31,805
But some of those who stood there said to them, what are you doing loosing the colt?

303
00:35:32,225 --> 00:35:36,188
And they spoke to them just as Jesus had commanded so they let them go.

304
00:35:41,108 --> 00:35:43,355
the disciples are being trained.

305
00:35:45,945 --> 00:35:48,344
The disciples are being trained.

306
00:35:50,223 --> 00:35:57,829
that the things that are around them belong to God.

307
00:36:00,685 --> 00:36:13,131
that when God has use of them, it is their responsibility to help people participate in
doing the work.

308
00:36:18,285 --> 00:36:20,045
It's a challenge for me.

309
00:36:22,315 --> 00:36:26,869
I am of the natural perspective.

310
00:36:27,132 --> 00:36:28,545
I'll take care of it.

311
00:36:30,043 --> 00:36:31,223
Something needs to happen.

312
00:36:31,223 --> 00:36:32,963
All right, I'll take care of it.

313
00:36:32,963 --> 00:36:35,583
Something else needs, I'll take care of it.

314
00:36:35,763 --> 00:36:36,243
Why?

315
00:36:36,243 --> 00:36:38,883
Just because I have, I don't know, I've always grown up with it.

316
00:36:38,883 --> 00:36:40,307
Oh, I bet I can do it.

317
00:36:41,955 --> 00:36:42,777
It's a challenge huh?

318
00:36:42,777 --> 00:36:43,850
I've never done that before.

319
00:36:43,850 --> 00:36:45,643
Sure, let me go take care of it.

320
00:36:48,911 --> 00:36:51,982
But there's times where we need to learn.

321
00:36:54,145 --> 00:36:57,080
each and every one of us, we have our own limitations.

322
00:36:57,883 --> 00:36:59,466
We can't do everything.

323
00:36:59,466 --> 00:37:01,608
Raise your hand if you thought you could do everything.

324
00:37:02,812 --> 00:37:04,875
I thought I could, but apparently I was wrong.

325
00:37:06,789 --> 00:37:11,544
So we can't do everything, which means we have to do what to succeed?

326
00:37:13,923 --> 00:37:15,040
work together.

327
00:37:17,837 --> 00:37:31,898
Now, these disciples are going to be the same disciples that are going to get into
Jerusalem and not too many days from now they're going to be again arguing who's in, who

328
00:37:31,898 --> 00:37:33,919
is the greatest in the kingdom.

329
00:37:37,367 --> 00:37:43,139
And Jesus has already taught them the one who is the greatest in the kingdom is what?

330
00:37:44,283 --> 00:37:48,351
The least is the slave of all.

331
00:37:51,449 --> 00:37:56,431
and now they're going to come and they're going to get a cult and someone's going to
freely give...

332
00:37:56,431 --> 00:38:09,387
Do you think if you were to imagine what we know about Christ and the disciples that there
was enough money amongst them to buy the cult?

333
00:38:15,651 --> 00:38:17,093
Very unlikely.

334
00:38:18,077 --> 00:38:26,415
I suspect Jesus ran a pretty slim margin in the finances and then Judas was dipping in and
taking the rest.

335
00:38:30,661 --> 00:38:32,392
So they couldn't buy the coal.

336
00:38:33,334 --> 00:38:35,697
So did they, well, we don't have a coal.

337
00:38:35,777 --> 00:38:38,921
We can't afford a coal, therefore no coal.

338
00:38:40,203 --> 00:38:47,111
No, because God provided what they needed through someone else.

339
00:38:49,797 --> 00:38:52,147
but they had to do something to get it.

340
00:39:03,979 --> 00:39:04,882
Mm-hmm.

341
00:39:08,119 --> 00:39:09,007
you

342
00:39:11,809 --> 00:39:15,930
So, Jase has got a significant point here.

343
00:39:15,930 --> 00:39:20,079
Jesus says you're gonna go get a cult that no one has ridden.

344
00:39:21,537 --> 00:39:31,773
Raise your hand if you've ever had the pleasure of sitting on any horses or animals that
have never been ridden before.

345
00:39:33,975 --> 00:39:36,616
uh It's an experience.

346
00:39:38,889 --> 00:39:42,749
And yet the text is quite clear as you go through it.

347
00:39:42,811 --> 00:39:44,785
Jesus had no problem with the cult.

348
00:39:47,347 --> 00:39:55,569
Jesus' authority extended beyond the disciples to the person who owned the colt, to the
colt itself.

349
00:40:03,659 --> 00:40:10,469
They brought the colt to Jesus, verse 7, threw their clothes on it, and he sat on it.

350
00:40:12,073 --> 00:40:19,509
And many spread their clothes on the road, and others cut down leafy branches from the
trees and spread them on the road.

351
00:40:20,570 --> 00:40:24,914
Then those who went before and those who followed cried out, saying, Hosanna!

352
00:40:24,914 --> 00:40:29,437
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.

353
00:40:29,578 --> 00:40:35,944
Blessed is the kingdom of our father David that comes in the name of Lord.

354
00:40:35,944 --> 00:40:40,477
Hosanna to the highest, or in the highest.

355
00:40:44,765 --> 00:40:52,747
Jesus rides the colt as if the colt was the most tame, well-trained.

356
00:40:54,961 --> 00:40:56,968
animal to have ever been ridden.

357
00:40:59,639 --> 00:41:02,349
That's the picture you get from the text.

358
00:41:02,349 --> 00:41:04,475
He just sat on it.

359
00:41:10,933 --> 00:41:11,787
when

360
00:41:13,524 --> 00:41:14,741
Jesus.

361
00:41:16,375 --> 00:41:25,255
tells the water and the storm, peace be still, what's it do?

362
00:41:26,773 --> 00:41:27,773
It obeys.

363
00:41:29,783 --> 00:41:35,677
When Jesus sits on the colt, what does the colt do?

364
00:41:37,803 --> 00:41:38,663
base.

365
00:41:41,941 --> 00:41:43,711
when Jesus

366
00:41:46,057 --> 00:41:50,661
looks to the church and tells the church what to do.

367
00:41:53,399 --> 00:41:54,748
What does the church do?

368
00:41:57,377 --> 00:41:59,189
Maybe we should ask that in two different ways.

369
00:41:59,189 --> 00:42:01,610
What should the church do?

370
00:42:02,872 --> 00:42:07,756
It ought to do exactly what he says.

371
00:42:08,677 --> 00:42:11,049
What does the church often do?

372
00:42:12,945 --> 00:42:15,079
decides it has an opinion.

373
00:42:16,223 --> 00:42:19,850
Unlike the storms that knew they didn't have an opinion.

374
00:42:20,553 --> 00:42:23,589
Unlike the cold that didn't have an opinion.

375
00:42:27,258 --> 00:42:30,926
church thinks, wait a minute Jesus, we have an opinion.

376
00:42:34,546 --> 00:42:43,286
the church should, Christians should, operate the way the owner of the cult did.

377
00:42:44,206 --> 00:42:45,566
I don't have an opinion.

378
00:42:47,612 --> 00:42:55,426
Because that person who owned the colt did the same thing that the colt and the storms
did.

379
00:42:57,924 --> 00:43:00,353
It's Do it as you please.

380
00:43:03,932 --> 00:43:05,613
so many times in life.

381
00:43:07,514 --> 00:43:08,975
We imagine.

382
00:43:10,640 --> 00:43:13,204
that our scenarios are far.

383
00:43:14,928 --> 00:43:21,144
more difficult, far more challenging than the ones in Scripture.

384
00:43:23,140 --> 00:43:27,469
And if we imagine that, it's because we are ignorant of the Scriptures.

385
00:43:29,884 --> 00:43:37,828
And we are challenged again and again and again when we come to the text to go, maybe I'm
just not applying the scriptures.

386
00:43:42,406 --> 00:43:44,800
when we look at everything that we have.

387
00:43:46,620 --> 00:43:47,934
Who does it belong to?

388
00:43:48,984 --> 00:43:49,826
God.

389
00:43:52,850 --> 00:44:05,098
Our only question in evaluating everything that we have is, how does he want me to use it?

390
00:44:08,300 --> 00:44:18,830
And when is the opportunity that's in front of me to use it, Him and His will and not His
will.

391
00:44:21,488 --> 00:44:24,567
Because of that, we do have to be good stewards.

392
00:44:26,320 --> 00:44:31,246
We do have to be discerning to know is this something that is good?

393
00:44:32,964 --> 00:44:35,081
Is this something that is indifferent?

394
00:44:35,908 --> 00:44:37,763
Is this something that is wrong?

395
00:44:40,892 --> 00:44:45,873
but if it falls under the category of good and His will.

396
00:44:47,760 --> 00:44:51,832
then our question is, do we have the ability?

397
00:44:53,850 --> 00:44:58,638
Then our question is, do we have of ourselves to give?

398
00:45:01,625 --> 00:45:06,494
then the question is, if we give of ourselves first, what will God do?

399
00:45:09,430 --> 00:45:15,166
One of the things that I have been pleased about, I'll summarize and conclude.

400
00:45:17,972 --> 00:45:32,295
is over the last year, especially over the last eight or nine months, as we had the
evangelism training from Rob and as we have been involved in that work, that all

401
00:45:32,295 --> 00:45:44,495
throughout the congregation there has been a mindset to both participate, to give of
oneself, of give of one's time, to give of funds, as there was a need, there was somebody

402
00:45:44,495 --> 00:45:45,576
ready to help.

403
00:45:47,862 --> 00:45:50,723
That is a blessing in this congregation.

404
00:45:51,464 --> 00:45:56,967
That is how we should operate in this congregation.

405
00:45:57,828 --> 00:46:03,071
And there's also been a foresight and a willingness to say, how can we do more?

406
00:46:03,071 --> 00:46:04,672
How can we do it better?

407
00:46:04,672 --> 00:46:16,618
While at the same time, a very clear perspective of how can we make sure we're doing and
behaving with good stewardship towards what we do.

408
00:46:18,520 --> 00:46:31,905
So I wanna just take this time to commend all of you who have been involved through this
year for everything you have done, every way you have helped, every way you have given,

409
00:46:32,667 --> 00:46:39,434
because we're seeing the benefit of it, we're seeing the success of it, we're seeing the
fruit of it.

410
00:46:41,282 --> 00:46:44,531
But as we go back to 2 Corinthians chapter eight.

411
00:46:46,696 --> 00:46:54,472
one of the benefits that we receive isn't calculatable by a financial report.

412
00:46:55,773 --> 00:47:01,948
It's rather the spiritual blessings that come from seeking first the Kingdom of Heaven.

413
00:47:04,258 --> 00:47:05,943
I'm out of time and then some.

414
00:47:05,943 --> 00:47:07,656
Thank you for your participation.