Episode Transcript
[00:00:05] Good morning. 9:30.
[00:00:07] Good morning. If I've not met you, my name is Michael Fueling. I'm the lead pastor here at the Village Church. Before we jump into the message, I want to give you three announcements. Number one, I lost my glasses again.
[00:00:18] It's a thing. Apparently when you're really blind and you take them off and you can't see where you put them, you forget. And so this happened like a year ago. I don't know when I'm gonna find them.
[00:00:29] I could. I'm sure my wife is hiding them. That's my theory, but don't tell her I said that, okay?
[00:00:34] I have a nervous tic that I go like this with my glasses whenever things get fuzzy. And when I wear my contacts, I keep doing this. So you get to count how many times I do this in a sermon. There we go. I don't know why I do it, but it's just a thing that I do. Okay, second announcement. I actually wanna give you an update on a ministry that goes on here at Village Church that I think probably the majority of you don't know about. The ministry is called Crossroads Kids Club. Can you guys raise your hand if you've ever heard of Crossroads Kids Club? We got a handful. Awesome. Very good. Okay, so here's what happens in Crossroads Kids Club. Crossroads is a weekly ministry that happens mostly in public schools. It happens across the nation and Crossroads partners with local churches like us. And then we bring volunteers every single week to put on a weekly club. In this weekly club, we get to teach kids the Bible.
[00:01:27] Each of the volunteers has a small group of kids they work with. We point them to Jesus. It's a really amazing opportunity. So every single Wednesday, led by Aaron Lasky, we have a group of volunteers that goes into Parkwood Elementary School in Hanover Park. They show up at 2:15. They're there till 3:45. And here's what's really cool. We launched this club on September 23rd and we have 23 kids that are meeting every single week. But here's the catch. We have a waiting list. There are more kids who want to do this. And do you know what is standing between us and these kids?
[00:02:05] Volunteers.
[00:02:06] So some of you, you are retired and you're like twiddling your thumbs. What do I do? The Lord I asking you for a next step. Some of you have jobs, but you don't work and you're totally free during the day.
[00:02:18] You know who you are, right? Like a Wednesday for an hour and a half in Hannover Park. You're like I could do that with my eyes closed. So maybe the Holy Spirit's prompting your heart to jump in and be a part of this. After the service, you can go out the double doors. There's an information desk, and Michelle McGrath will be at that information desk. And you might think, who is she? That is Michelle. Okay? So if you wonder who she is, she can give you next steps and help you maybe answer any questions you have. But would love to see more volunteers jump into that. So much more to say there. But just trust the Holy Spirit, that he will provide what we need. Here's the third announcement. This is week four of kind of a different service format, and here's one of the things I love about pastoring a village church. You are one of the most opinionated groups of people on the planet. Truly, you're talking to one. I got an opinion on everything, guys. Okay? I have a whole YouTube show, so you get it right? All right? My point in saying that is you guys are the nicest people on the planet.
[00:03:17] You guys gave feedback, and I can say this with a clear conscience on behalf of Pastor Dre and myself, not a single one of you was mean, sinful, crossed the line, super helpful just to respond and to hear what you guys are thinking. So we made an adjustment this morning. We're gonna actually make a couple adjustments for the next couple weeks.
[00:03:36] And really, one of our goals is as we move to three services a while ago, it just can feel so rushed, and we wanted to just kind of give some space and breathing room for each part of our worship. And here's the great thing. The Bible tells us what we should do in worship, but it doesn't tell us the order. And so we have a ton of biblical freedom. And I just appreciate, honestly, your guys flexibility. Honesty really is a joy pastoring village Church. You guys are phenomenal. So thank you on behalf of Dre. If you have any complaints, though, talk to Dre. He's your guy. All right, so this is week two, our last week of our Vision Sunday series.
[00:04:11] Again, if you're new with us, fabulous week to be here. If you call Village Church your home and you did not have the opportunity to be here last week or listen to the message, I want to ask you, would you go back and listen to it? Because there are a whole bunch of things happening behind the scenes at Village Church that many people are not aware of. They're really good things. They're really exciting things.
[00:04:35] But really, if village church is your home, would you go back and listen to that? Because we wanna make sure that as we move into the future, that we are all on the same page. One of the takeaways from last week, very simple, was this. We are out of space.
[00:04:51] And if you're like, I see a couple chairs in the front, go back, we'll explain that in last week's message. But here are our three options. Move, stay.
[00:05:00] Be dumb. We don't want to be dumb. Amen. So we're gonna avoid that one. And then our options are move or stay. And if we stay, what I share with you is there's 13 acres across the street owned by a venture capital firm. Great people. Right now, they're not interested in selling it to us. They're interested in developing it, which is their prerogative.
[00:05:20] My desire. The path of least resistance is that as we come together and pray that God would maybe open up, even 4 to 6 acres would be a phenomenal gift right across the street. But that door, technically right now, is closed, as is every single other door that we have knocked on.
[00:05:37] And so here's one of our takeaways from last Sunday.
[00:05:41] Whatever door opens next will only open by the power of God.
[00:05:47] We have, in all of our human wisdom, done everything that we can.
[00:05:51] And so whatever's next, it's gonna be done in a way that you're never gonna step back and say, pastor Michael, or the elders or the staff or whatever are really smart. You're gonna get to the end of this journey and say, like, this is God who opened the door.
[00:06:05] So our question as a church body, it's pretty straightforward. What do we as a church do while we wait on God? What do we do as we wait on God? Here's what I can tell you. We're not gonna do. We're not going to panic. We're not gonna force a door open that God has closed. We're definitely not just going to sit here and twiddle our thumbs.
[00:06:27] We're gonna do what. What God's people have always done. So last week we shared with you a handful of proverbs. This week, I wanna share with you two proverbs or two. So what's in the book of proverbs? And it's gonna answer the question, what do we do while we wait for God to give clarity and wisdom and a clear next step? And one of the things I really wanna encourage you with is we're gonna apply this to village church. But all of these apply in your own personal life as well, because you're going to get to a point in your Life where you have no idea what to do next. And the Bible, I think, gives us some really wonderful clarity. All right, so what number one, very straightforward pray.
[00:07:06] And for those able and willing, fast now, this message will be a little different because I'm going to take this opportunity and I'm going to provide some training for you on a handful of things.
[00:07:18] So most Christians are unaware of how the Bible instructs us to pray for different things.
[00:07:26] The Bible actually has instructions for how to pray when you don't know what to do next. And I have found the most succinct and helpful Scripture set of instructions on this comes from the book of Proverbs in chapter two. So if you have a Bible, you can turn there, otherwise it'll be on the screen and it's in verses three to six. And here's what it says.
[00:07:46] If you call out for insight and raise your voice for understanding, if you seek it like silver and search for it as for hidden treasures. And I want you to look at this word, then if, then, then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God. For the Lord gives wisdom and from his mouth come knowledge and understanding. So Proverbs 2 is a father writing wisdom to his son. And here's what this Father knows about life. This Father knows that every man will come to a point where they face a situation and they will have no idea what to do. Where the Word of God does not speak directly to this situation, where no other person can show you the path forward, you're going to need God's wisdom, God's understanding, God's insight into this circumstance. And I want you to look at what the text says, the word insight.
[00:08:52] This is God's perspective on a matter.
[00:08:55] It says that we need knowledge. This is information that only God has. We need wisdom. We need to know what to do next. We need understanding. This isn't just the what. This is. This is the why God? Why are we doing these things? And what this wise Father knows is that these four things can only come from God. And I want you to hear me. They happen when people pray in a certain kind of way.
[00:09:21] The Father's instructions for gaining insight, knowledge, wisdom and understanding. Here it is. Is to call out, to raise your voice, to seek it, to search for it. Now, the first two and last two, they're saying the same thing. The first two are call out and raise your voice. By the way, does God need you to yell at him?
[00:09:42] No, this is not about like, anger, like, ugh.
[00:09:45] This is an expression that communicates intensity and it communicates urgency.
[00:09:53] Intense, urgent prayer is the kind of prayer that gets God's attention. And we're gonna expand on this now.
[00:10:02] When do you move from just normal communication with somebody to urgent, loud communication?
[00:10:09] When there's a problem that needs an immediate solution. And so kind of, here's the idea that's behind this proverb. There's a problem facing you and me and it needs an immediate solution. It needs the insight, the wisdom, the understanding, the knowledge. And these things only come from God. And so when you're in this circumstance, here's what we do. We, we urgently and intensely turn our faces to God and say, we need your help.
[00:10:35] Okay? Okay. So the last two say seek it and search for it. What are you seeking for in searching? Specifically, wisdom, understanding, insight, knowledge.
[00:10:46] And I love this that you seek it like you would silver. Is silver valuable right now? It's pretty valuable right now, yeah. It was really valuable back then. Like if you knew that there was silver somewhere, you would go hunt it. If you knew that. Like, finders keepers. Okay. And then I love this, says search for it like you would a hidden treasure. And this for me, it makes a ton of sense to me personally. Do you know, like some of my favorite movies? Goonies. You ever seen Goonies? Oh, the treasure, the map, all that stuff. National Treasure. I don't care where you put Nick Cage in any of those movies. I am into National Treasure, okay? Dora and the Lost City of Gold. Mark my words on this one. Great movie. You can tell I'm a dad who's raised daughters. Not the second Dora. The first Dora movie. The live action. Good. Every time to this day I go into Cabela's. And do you know where I always go? I go to the second floor and I go to the section where they have the really expensive water resistant metal detectors. And I dream going to Florida on the beach, on vacation, walking up and down and finding Spanish gold. That's what goes through my head. And you know, by the way, that's a great dream. That's fabulous.
[00:11:50] Why is God's insight so valuable?
[00:11:53] Because there are situations that if you do the wrong thing, the hasty thing, the consequences for you and those around you can be terrible.
[00:12:04] And then there are situations where you walk into and you don't know what to do. And if you find God's will, God's insight, God's knowledge, God's wisdom, in that moment, you can bless not just yourself, but sometimes generations that come after you. So what do you do when you don't know what to do and the only one with the information is God. Let me tell you what you don't do. You don't throw up lazy one liners as you're falling asleep.
[00:12:33] That's not intense, that's not passionate, that's not calling out. That is not seeking for it like silver. That is not searching for it like hidden treasure.
[00:12:42] You don't do half hearted prayers and then get distracted and then do nothing else like no, here's what happens.
[00:12:48] You reorient your life around the pursuit.
[00:12:52] It now becomes one of your highest priorities. It goes into your schedule and it is elevated to the level of priority that eating and drinking and brushing your teeth and going to the bathroom have when there is a problem and you don't know what to do. There are some circumstances that where God's just like, listen, this isn't the half hearted thing. I need you to restructure your life so you can go before the God of the universe who is requiring. He's saying there's some things, by the way, certain answers from God that will not come until you are fervent in prayer about it.
[00:13:29] So to be clear, and I just want you to notice this about Proverbs. Do you know what the Father doesn't tell the Son to pray for?
[00:13:37] He does not tell the Son to pray for an outcome.
[00:13:41] He tells the Son to pray for knowledge, insight, wisdom, understanding.
[00:13:49] Sometimes, by the way, we need to pray for an outcome. God save my son. God heal my daughter. But outcomes are not guaranteed. Many of you have prayed for very specific things and the Lord has said no or not yet outcomes are not guaranteed.
[00:14:07] The Father is trying to tell the Son is this. God loves to give wisdom, knowledge, insight and understanding to those who passionately, fervently, intensely seek it. I think maybe some of you have not gotten the answer to prayer that you want because you have been half hearted and lazy in the way you've prayed about it. When the Scriptures have instructed us that there are some things that only God has the answer and he's waiting for you to seek it like treasure and the Father is also trying to communicate to the Son, pray that you might understand what God is doing and why he is doing it. And as the Lord grants you wisdom and insight and understanding, once you understand what the mind of God is up to, the next steps, they get really, really clear. At that point.
[00:14:57] The scriptures, especially the proverbs, they want us to have a bold, confident approach to God.
[00:15:07] And I think I would be doing everybody here no favors if I didn't tell you the other side of the coin as to how the proverbs speak to our bold, confident requests of God.
[00:15:19] I want you to listen to this because the proverbs have a unique emphasis on whose prayers God is inclined to answer. So we know if you want God to give you supernatural insight, wisdom, knowledge and understanding, you need to pray fervently like it's a hidden treasure.
[00:15:37] But if you don't get an answer, the Proverbs also tells us what might be going on.
[00:15:42] Proverbs 15, 8, the prayer of the. What's the word?
[00:15:47] Upright is acceptable to him. Or Proverbs 15:29, he hears the prayer of the what?
[00:15:52] Righteous. And in case you think this is like an Old Testament thing, it's also a New testament thing. James 5:16 says, the prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working. Okay, listen, if I were to sit down with you and I were to look at you and say, okay, whether it's a prayer for your church or your personal family or your life, do you want the ears of the Lord to be uniquely bent to you in your prayer life? What would you say? Yeah, like, I want God to be like, you're talking, I'm listening. What can I do for you?
[00:16:26] And here's the deal.
[00:16:29] If you say yes to that, the two single most strategic decisions you can make. Number one, finally deal with your secret sin.
[00:16:39] Have you guys been hearing me beat this drum over and over again, by the way? Yeah. Why? Because almost every single person I talk to has a secret sin that they are not repenting of, not willing to repent of, or not able to repent of.
[00:16:50] And I just wanna say, like, I want nothing more for this next season of Village Church to be one where individuals, married couples, families and kids begin to be set free from their secret sins. And so we want God to do favors for us. And he's like, listen, it's the prayers of the upright, it's the prayers of the righteous.
[00:17:10] Trust me, I would prefer to stand up and say to you, it doesn't matter what's going on in your personal life. And I know sin is hard. It's really difficult. And God doesn't care about that. He'll just answer any fervent prayer. But. But this is what the scriptures teach, that if you wanna make a strategic decision to have the ear of the Lord bent to your prayer request, then getting rid of the secret sin in your life is gonna be huge.
[00:17:31] And number two, commit to a crazy, consistent prayer life. The reason People don't get answers to prayers is because we don't pray consistently, we don't pray fervently. And there are some kinds of answers from God that happen when we begin to purify our life and pray and consistently. And so this is where I look at the village church as a whole and I say, God, what are you doing? Big picture in this church. I see that you are saving people. I see that people are being transformed. I see that there's repentance of sin. I see that you're exposing issues. I am also, I want you to hear me clearly, clearly seeing that secret sin is a plague of every American and Christians are not exempt. And it's really, really challenging. And I would love nothing more than to see this next season be one where God, individual by individual, then family by family, begins purifying us as a people.
[00:18:25] Now God and his people, God's people, have had one primary way of urgently praying. And this primary way of urgently praying for the last hundred years or so has kind of been laid aside. You should know what it is, cause it's in the so what? And that is fasting.
[00:18:45] I don't think most people understand even some one on ones on fasting. So I want to just take one to two minutes and I want to give you some one on one training on fasting.
[00:18:56] Fasting is abstaining from something essential and replacing it with intentional and passionate prayer. And the New Testament gives us two essentials that God's people fast from. So for everyone it's food. And for married couples, if they desire, it's sex.
[00:19:14] But food is the main thing in scripture that people fast from. And it has been the regular practice of God's people to skip meals, to skip eating for an entire day, and sometimes to skip days of eating in order to substitute that eating time for with intense, private, passionate, fervent prayer. And this is essentially the heart of fasting.
[00:19:42] Now let me add a third essential thing. I don't know if it's technically essential, but it feels essential. In our modern era, I think for most of us, our phones function like they're essential. Like if I were to look at most of you and say you can not have your phone for a day or fast for a day, most of you would choose fasting for a day or two over giving up your phone. And that kind of tells us the nature of the idol, right? And so if you're going to fast, put your phone away, put it away, set it aside, you will thank me later. And by the way, Let me give you something really easy. If you're like, I don't listen. I'm hangry and I'm terrible without food. I've got low blood sugar. I'm gonna murder everyone around me. Let me give you another option. You know the two hours of doom scrolling you do every single night before you go to bed?
[00:20:27] Take two nights off and go for a walk. And fervently replace that time of doom scrolling with prayer to God.
[00:20:34] Now let me share with you two things that are not biblical fasts. Number one, giving up vices.
[00:20:41] If the thing you're giving up is sinful, this is not called fasting. This is called repentance. Okay?
[00:20:47] Number two, giving up non essentials for lent. Okay? Giving up 40 grand. Giving up sugar for 40 days so that you can like get into the pants you wanna wear on Easter. That's not fasting. Okay?
[00:21:01] I love intermittent fasting. I think if you wanna intermittent fast, that's not necessarily spiritual, if you will, in the sense that the Bible calls it, but it can also build the muscle for it. Go ahead intermittent fast and lose weight. But don't confuse one for the other. Because the goal of biblical fasting is not to lose weight. The goal of biblical fasting is, is to replace that time of eating with passionate, intense, fervent prayer. But Pastor Michael, I don't get it.
[00:21:26] Why does God want us to fast? Who cares if I'm eating or not eating?
[00:21:31] Okay, so let me share with you a lesson from those who fast regularly. They will tell you this.
[00:21:38] God doesn't hear us better when we fast, but we often hear him way more clearly.
[00:21:45] The single most clarifying times of prayer in my life are when I am hiking without reception fasted.
[00:21:56] I cannot tell you why that is. I can tell you what happens.
[00:22:00] I can tell you that I go into these moments with really specific things that I want to ask God for. And this is one of the most beautiful things about fasting. You go into it with an agenda. God, give us this land. Heck, I'll take four to six acres of land. God, give us a property, give us provision, give us this, whatever it is. And here's how my prayers almost always end at the end of a fast.
[00:22:22] God your will be done. And would you just do this in a way where you get as much glory as humanly possible?
[00:22:26] And it's shocking what happens inside of our own heart and soul. We come with agendas and we leave. It's almost like when all the distractions and all the agendas and all the Whatever are out of our brains. And we spend time with the Lord. He brings us just to this place where we say, whatever you want, whenever you want, however you want. I trust you, I love you. And fasting is a powerful way to bring you to this place.
[00:22:49] Here's just some extra pieces of wisdom. Maybe on fasting. If you're going to fast individually, do it in secret.
[00:22:56] God uniquely loves a secret fasted, intentional and fervent prayer. When you fast communally, don't complain, don't draw attention to yourself. Just be faithful, be quiet.
[00:23:10] If you're pregnant, if you're diabetic, if you're on medication, if you've struggled with an eating disorder, probably maybe not. The best thing to do is to fast from food. Find something else significant and really meaningful that you can fast from. Something that takes up portions of your day, something that feels weighty and heavy to you. And I would also just say this. Kids and teens should rarely fast. The reason I say that is you're developing with the onslaught of social media, the idea that kids do this to lose weight. It's very hard to separate identity and fasting in your body and all this stuff. And I would just say moms and dads, you can deal with your kids on that one as you will. But primarily I'm talking to adults on fasting.
[00:23:52] Okay, so what do we do as a church while we wait on God?
[00:23:57] Okay, so the more you get to know my wife and I, here's something you'll learn. There are some products in our life that we are really passionate about, and if you ask us, we will tell you. And I'm not gonna talk about them now' cause I'm not gonna promote a product from the pulpit, but some of you will hear me or my wife and you will go, I don't believe you. That sounds too good to be true. I don't think that's correct. And then here's a little insight into my temperament. I research obsessively, and if reliable research points in a clear direction, then I will spend a reasonable amount of money to test something. I just enjoy this, especially if it's something that makes me sleep better, if it's something that makes me happier, increases my joy, anything like that, I'm all in. I'll try it. As long as it's reasonable. Okay, here's what I have learned after researching hundreds and hundreds of products.
[00:24:46] Everyone and their brother online is selling you a lie.
[00:24:50] Like, everyone is lying. And I don't know if you've noticed this last Month or two, the new AI advertisements, as if somehow, if it's like a fake AI person giving me huge exaggerated claims that I'm going to believe you even more. They're all just lying.
[00:25:02] But sometimes, sometimes there is something that actually does what it says it's going to do. But in a world of over promises and exaggerations and outright lies and greed, it is really hard to know who and what to trust. And so as I share with you this second, so what some of you are gonna say, yeah, but you're a pastor and you're not gonna take seriously what I'm saying. And I completely understand that. And so here's what I wanna ask. If you're in a small group, a men's group, a women's group, a community group, whatever group you're in, maybe you're just going to lunch with a bunch of people. If you have firsthand experience with what I'm about to share with you and what I am saying behind this is true and the word of God is accurate on it, would you just be the biggest advocate of this? Not for the sake of Village Church, but for the sake of the spiritual growth of everyone in your life. Now you're like, what are you talking about? Let's go.
[00:25:54] So what? Number two, learn from experience the genius design of God and his principle behind First Fruits.
[00:26:03] Okay, so some of you are like, it's Vision Sunday. When are we gonna talk about money? This is the shortest part of it. And don't worry. Here's what I'm not gonna ask you to do. I'm not gonna ask you to give a dime to Village Church. Sound good? It's not what we're talking about. We're gonna talk about something similar, but different.
[00:26:16] What do we as a church need to do when we know we are inevitably going to have a very large bill in front of us? What's the word?
[00:26:25] Save. If you have a large bill coming in front of you and you're going to be a wise godly person, what are you going to do? Knowing there's going to be a big expense coming, you're going to save. And so what we like to do as a church is model what everybody should be doing in their individual homes.
[00:26:43] And so I want you to look at Proverbs 3, verse 9 says this. Honor the Lord with your wealth.
[00:26:52] And here's. This is important. The first fruits of all your produce. Then your barns will be filled with plenty and your vats will be bursting with wine. If you've been a part of village church. We've talked about first fruits a lot, and I want to just help you understand the principle, because this is a principle that was clear before the Old Testament law was given. It's in the Old Testament law, and it's a principle that still applies today. It's like the Sabbath. It's one of those things that's just always there. And God designed it for God's people and for everyone, everywhere. First fruits. I always give my first and my best back to God to build his kingdom. So I'm gonna talk about what this means, but I really think the power behind this is in why God commands first fruits. Okay, what is it? Very straightforward, very simple. God commands his people to give their first and their best to him for the building of his kingdom.
[00:27:47] This assumes, like, as believers in Jesus, here's what we all assume.
[00:27:52] Every single dollar you have, every single penny you have, every single opportunity you have. Before it ever got to you, it had to go through Jesus.
[00:28:01] And so everything you have, he had to give the thumbs up.
[00:28:05] Some of you are like, why didn't he give me more? That's between you and him to talk about. But everything you and I have, the biblical understanding, everything is a gift from God. There are people who work far harder than you and get far less.
[00:28:17] There are people who work far less than you and get far more.
[00:28:20] And I do not understand the wisdom and knowledge of God. I know that he is so smart and he's more intelligent than all of us. But here's the assumption. If it got to me, it went through him. And it is his personal gift to you and. And to me. And so here's what God has expected of all people that have worshiped him throughout all of human history, that we would give back to him our first and our best. Okay, why, though? That's the what? That's easy. Why?
[00:28:44] Is God broke?
[00:28:46] No.
[00:28:47] Does he need your money?
[00:28:49] Nope. Does the village church need your money right now?
[00:28:52] No.
[00:28:53] Could God provide for any church or any ministry in any way he wants? In surprising ways, for sure. Am I asking you to give to village church right now? I'm not.
[00:29:03] I need you to listen to the three reasons why God commands first fruits. Here's number one. And you know this already.
[00:29:09] The needs of the priests, the work of the temple and the poor were provided through first fruits in the Old Testament and the New Testament.
[00:29:17] Everything requires resources.
[00:29:20] It's the same. Now, here's a question. Do you guys like having light?
[00:29:26] Yeah. Have you ever worshipped in the dark with no sound?
[00:29:29] It's not easy. Okay, that costs money. Do you guys like, I don't know, toilets that flush? How about this? Do you like toilets? Yeah. That costs money. Do you like chairs that you're sitting in? That costs money. Do you like carpeting? Everything everywhere costs money. You know this, I know this. It's not a surprise. Here's what I like to do. I'm just spitting. We are very blunt here.
[00:29:51] I like to just say things the way they are. I don't like to play games. And so one of the things that we just love to talk about bluntly is everything. Okay, good.
[00:29:59] When it comes to money, here's what it costs. For every individual who calls village church their home, here's what it costs per person per year. $2,100 per person per year.
[00:30:12] Some of you are thinking. Pastor Michael, last year you said it was $2,000. It's called inflation.
[00:30:18] And so things are progressively getting more expensive, and that's the cost. Now that. I am not saying any of that to make you feel guilty.
[00:30:26] It's math.
[00:30:28] And if you were running your own household, you would do the math. And so I think it's really healthy for everyone to understand what church costs.
[00:30:38] Now, the way God has set up, meeting the needs of the whole church, the system he set up, is genius. Because there are some people here, you make an obscene amount of money. And there are some people here, you are so broke, you don't have a job, you don't even know what to do next. There are a bunch of people who make decent money. There are a bunch of people, you make more money than you ever thought you would, and everything in between. Welcome to the body of Christ. There is no partiality. All are welcome and all come.
[00:31:06] But here's what that means. It means that for those who are broke and have nothing and they can't even begin, they have no income coming in, let alone to give anything.
[00:31:15] And then people have so much more. Here's what happens when people give everyone their first and their best. And that could be a very little or nothing or of a whole lot. It tends that all the needs of the whole church get met in the process. The bills are paid, the salaries are provided, the poor and the needy are resourced, missionaries are funded, and then every single person has what they need to take their next.
[00:31:37] Here's a principle that I found at play in local churches. Every local church has everything they need to do, everything God is calling them to do. And even if some people withhold and they say, I'm not gonna participate in that. All God does is by his spirit. He raises up the more generous people to cover the deficit. And he does this over and over again in every church. I love this. Why command first fruits number two? This is where things get interesting. I. I thought that was interesting. This is more to me. God has hardwired every single person's character to follow their generosity.
[00:32:14] Increased generosity equals increased godly character and sacrifice. Increased stinginess results in increased selfishness and hoarding. In other words, the most gracious and kind people you meet are almost always privately the most generous and the most difficult people that you meet are almost always privately the most stingy. This reality goes all the way back to the very first family with Cain and Abel. They were commanded, understood intuitively, to give their first fruits. And guess what Abel did? He gave his first and his best in worship back to God. You know what Cain gave? Cain gave his leftovers. And the Lord was not pleased with that. And what did Cain end up doing to Abel? Murdering him. And here's what you find. A direct correlation between stinginess and character. And you might say, Pastor Michael, which came first? I have no idea. Here's what I know. I know that the two are inextricably linked.
[00:33:16] There are two principles in seminary that we learn.
[00:33:20] Most pastors are not gonna sit in front of a church and say them, but I will, because we're just gonna say it bluntly.
[00:33:25] If you get a pastor alone and he's willing to be honest with you, he'll tell you what they taught him Principle number one. The people who complain the most give the least.
[00:33:35] And the people who give the most are the most solution oriented.
[00:33:40] Believe me, I told you earlier. Village churches are opinionated.
[00:33:44] But the people who are the most generous almost always are solution oriented. They're kind.
[00:33:50] They're gracious. We're all doing our best with what we got, right?
[00:33:54] And there is a direct correlation between the heart of generosity and I would just say a generosity of life toward other people. Here's the second principle. The people who like giving sermons the least give the least. And the people who like giving sermons the most have learned the beauty of giving generously.
[00:34:13] Why? Why does this play itself out over and over and over and over again? Because God has made you and I in such a way that our character follows our generosity, for better or for worse. Why first fruits number three? Because every one of us is wired to worship whatever gets our first and our best. The most fundamental act of worship is that you give your first and your best to someone or something. And it's usually going to be your God or yourself. Because your true God always gets your first and your best. And I want you to listen to this carefully. If Jesus gets your leftovers, he's not your God. He's your backup plan.
[00:34:51] And it is always your choice to give God or yourself your first and your best. The default posture of every human alive is consume and hoard. But one of the ways that we repent, we don't just repent of our sins, but in our life, is that we give back to God the first and the best of everything we have, because we understand all of it came from him in the first place. So here's what God does. He institutes this genius counterintuitive principle called first fruits that would grow true worship, grow godly character, provide all the resources for ministry, and would provide care for those in need. So here's my ask, and it's simple. If you have not started your first fruits journey for the sake of your character, for the sake of the growth of your soul, would you please start? And here's what I'm not saying.
[00:35:42] I'm not asking you to give to village Church. In fact, for some of you, you're like, I'm not interested or ready to give to a local church. You've got church hurt. You're not ready. Here's my ask of you. If you don't want to give to village church, do not give a dime to village church. There are men, women and students next to you. You don't know their name and they don't know who you are. And they will happily cover every single penny for what it costs for every person as long as they can. And they will do it joyfully, out of a heart that loves God and their character will flow.
[00:36:09] But you, here's what I want to say. If you have never started this journey, start it anywhere. Start it anywhere. Give something, anything to build God's kingdom. There might be a radio ministry that you love. A preacher online has changed your life. There might be a ministry that has blessed your family and your kids. It might be crossroads. There might be awana. I can think of so many campuses, I can think of so many incredible ministries that are building the kingdom of Jesus. And if your heart is at all like, I think the dude just wants my money. Do not give this church a dime. All I want for you is to start giving your first and your best somewhere, anywhere, to anyone, so that you can be building the kingdom of Jesus. Do you know how many personal missionaries are Trying to raise support and raise funds so that they can go on the mission field. Like, if you're just like, I need something other than the local church, that's fine. I happen to really love this place and I believe in what we do. I've seen my life change and so many others. But, like, I don't know what's going on in your life. I just want you to begin this journey somewhere, somehow, anywhere, and watch God transform your life. Because if you give him your first and your best, it will transform you from the inside out.
[00:37:20] I wanna close and I wanna tell you a true story as we kinda set aside and close our vision. Sundays next week, we'll be in Joshua.
[00:37:27] And in 2008. Could you raise your hand if you were here in 2008? Handful of. You got one in the back. Couple. Good. This is like the crew who's been here a long time. You guys are usually sitting over there. No, I'm kidding.
[00:37:39] In 2008, our roof was in a really bad place.
[00:37:44] Let me tell you what would happen every time it would rain, what would we have to get out? Everybody, buckets.
[00:37:50] And it would rain, and they were leaking everywhere. There could be 10, 15 buckets more.
[00:37:55] And so then, like, whenever it would rain, we never knew where there was going to be new stains and new issues. So, like, sometimes it would rain in a new place on a pew, and the pew would be soaking wet, but we couldn't see the water. We didn't know it. So somebody would sit down, they'd be new. Remember this old grandma sat down and her whole blouse and underwear and everything was wet, soaking wet when she sat down and she had to go home. But this was it. We had to cover the soundboard, and it was just an absolute mess.
[00:38:19] And so we sat in elder meetings and leadership team meetings trying to figure out, like, what do we do about this?
[00:38:26] Because we had hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt. We had even more money than needed to be spent on just maintaining and keeping up the building. Oh, and by the way, in 2008, do you guys remember the recession? Yeah, if you don't, praise God. But if you do, let me just share with you a little bit.
[00:38:43] The average American lost 39% of their net worth and their value in a matter of a few months. And here in 2008, our senior pastor had just left over half of the adults of the church left. We had truly, like, almost no cash whatsoever. And we knew the bill, the bill was going to be $104,000, which right now we have way more than that in savings because we're saving for what we know is coming. But then that was like a billion dollars. That was impossible. And here's what I knew. I knew that there was no world where there was $104,000 of liquid extra cash in this body. Do you know how I knew that? Because the amount of people who were out of jobs, because the amount of people who had lost almost everything for the amount of businesses that closed, we knew the church really well. And there was nobody sitting there with liquid cash ready to give and provide all this money. It just was not resident. And here's what we knew. Short of a miracle, this is never going to work. We had winter coming and it was like, honestly just not good for an already leaky roof. And here was the question that I and our leaders were asking behind. Behind the scenes, is God closing Village Church?
[00:39:54] Because you know, what is required of a church to stay alive?
[00:39:59] Well, we had a good amount of debt, and the bank comes to call in and we had utilities, and those people need money, and we had almost nothing.
[00:40:09] Unbeknownst to us, behind the scenes is we have no idea what to do. I'm 29 years old, I'm brand new senior pastor, trying to figure this out. And this is my big question. God, what are you doing?
[00:40:19] Unbeknownst to us, I think it was in Tennessee.
[00:40:22] Our church insurance company came over to Illinois. We didn't even know this, but there was a hailstorm, I guess.
[00:40:31] And so our insurance guy shows up at the door and willingly offers to give us a new roof. And I'm like, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Wait a minute, wait a minute, wait a minute. We're praying fervently for, for a solution.
[00:40:44] And behind the scenes, God brings our insurance adjuster from Tennessee to our front door offer us. But there was a catch. Here's what he said. You have two H VAC units that need to be replaced badly, and they all need to be done at the same time. We're not covering that. And so here was the cost of everything. When it was said and done, we needed to come up with $33,925.48. But let me tell you where my heart was at on that. I was like, God, I. I don't think we have that much money in the church, given how many people are out of work and how much money's been lost.
[00:41:14] Given what I'm looking at, I don't even know where we're gonna get $33,000 or $34,000.
[00:41:19] And so we prayed, we went to the church, we did what we do. We're blunt, we're honest. And the church provided $42,000. That was a miracle money, by the way.
[00:41:30] That was miracle money. And so I remember the day the roof was done. Do you guys remember this? We went out back over to the back parking lot and we celebrated. And then we prayed. And then as we prayed, a huge loud train came by. Nobody heard a word I said in that entire prayer. It didn't even matter. And then we came back in. But in that moment, here's what was so clear.
[00:41:50] I wasn't a genius. Our elders weren't geniuses. The facilities director who managed all that wasn't a genius. The only person who would get glory for that was God and God alone. I walked out of that and the Lord with unbelievable clarity was like, I'm not done with village church yet.
[00:42:07] And when you're sitting in a lot of debt as a 29 year old pastor, asking that kind of question with other incredible godly leaders around you, trying to figure out the future. And the Lord brings wisdom and insight and knowledge after fervent prayer and provides miracles.
[00:42:19] The amount of times in 54 years that this church has been in a situation where we stepped back and said we don't know what to do. God give us wisdom, knowledge, insight and understanding. And at the right time, the Lord came through. And there are a few things that have never left me and they are deep in my soul today.
[00:42:35] Number one, the Lord always funds his vision. I believe this because I've seen it over and over again.
[00:42:40] Number two, the Lord provides in surprising and miraculous ways. That's super annoying to me, but he gets the glory, so I'm good. All right. And the Lord almost always waits until the 11th hour, 11:59pm to grow our faith and to make sure that he gets all the glory. And so as a church, what are the next right things? We pray, we fast, we save, we deal with our heart. We want to become as godly and holy as individuals and families, as a church as possible. And then when God gives us the wisdom, knowledge, insight and understanding as to what's next, we respond by moving. Amen. Village church. Amen. I'm gonna pray and then, man, we got the 11 o' clock service coming. I went too long. So I'm gonna pray and then Brian's gonna come up and give us some next steps. Father, we love you. We thank you.
[00:43:25] You, you are the God of miracles and impossibility. But you're also the God with wisdom, knowledge, understanding and insight. And so we come to you, would you, whatever you want next for this church, would you do it in a way where Jesus, you get all the glory? We love you and we pray this in Jesus name, Amen. Amen.
