Chris Hodges - Why We Give
All right, happy Sunday everybody. Who’s glad to be in church today, anybody, anybody? Don’t you love Sundays? Their so much better than Saturday nights. Isn’t that right, everybody? God bless you guys. For you guys that are new, I’m from LSU. All right, God bless you guys today. We’re so glad that you’re along for the ride. Big hello to all of our campuses. Tuscaloosa, I love you, God bless you. To all of our campuses across the state of Alabama and in Georgia, we’re so glad you’re along for the ride today. To the men and women in the Alabama Department of Corrections, we’re honored to be with you today. We are in 27 facilities right now, God bless you guys. We’re so delighted to be with… three people over here wanna clap. You wanna say hello to the men and women in the Alabama Department of Corrections? Yeah, that’s good. I can feel it coming, so.
And, of course, we are streaming this service right now live to those that are watching somewhere around the world or later… maybe later on demand. We’re glad you’re with us as well. But I have to give a very special shout-out today to our veterans. Tomorrow is Veterans Day. How about a big hand for those who have served our country? Come on, show some massive love! Yes! We honor you today. We do, we do. God bless you guys. And tomorrow at Highlands College, we are having a Veterans Day… our second annual Veterans Day celebration, and it’ll be streamed if you’d like to watch the service. It’s gonna be very patriotic, beautiful. We have a POW coming to speak. It’s gonna be spectacular in every way. It is sold out, but we would love for you guys to stream the service. You can watch it. Just go to Highlands… Church of the Highlands and you can see it streamed at 9 a.m. Central Time tomorrow.
Give me a few minutes to tell you about some things that are happening. We’re kind of between a series right now. We just finished «The Fruit of the Spirit». Wasn’t that great, everybody? I love «The Fruit of the Spirit» series. Of course, next week we head into three weeks of what we call At the Movies. We’ve been doing this for 15 years now, where we do what Jesus did. He took modern-day stories to illustrate spiritual truths. They were called parables in the Bible. So we have found three movies that have redemption built into the story, and we’re gonna preach the gospel kinda between the clips. And… and it’s really one of the best ways to let someone who’s new to faith or kicking the tires of church or God or just, like, trying to figure out their lives, someone who’s unchurched, who just really needs some hope, a lifeline thrown to them.
All three of these are incredibly powerful stories, and the gospel will be incredibly clear, Scripture throughout the whole thing. You’re gonna love it. This is the best time all year long. Fifty-two Sundays a year, this is the best Sunday is to have someone with you sitting next to you in church, so be sure to invite someone. I will have to tell you though, sorry for those that are watching online right now, these are in person only. Because of copyright laws, we are unable to broadcast these online. So we’ll have a different service for the online audience. We’ll still have church for you, but it won’t be these movies, so be sure to join us in person. And then right after that, we are headed into a… a season that all of us love, where we celebrate the birth of our Savior Jesus. And Christmas at Highlands is a pretty big deal around here.
We work very, very hard. We’ve been working since August, September on these services. I met for two hours this week with our production teams and our worship teams and going over the elements, the service. The music is… I’m telling you, just listen to me, it’ll be the best ever. We’re doing 145 services over that time span. Everybody say, «Help him, Jesus,» all right? So, that’s a lot of services, 14 right here at Grants Mill, because we… we have found that this is the… probably the number one way for the people who are looking for church to find church. In fact, we’ll have well over 100,000 people attend over those days, and we’re honored to do it. I’ve been doing this my whole life, 41 years of ministry.
I’ve always been involved in the music, and it’s one of the delights of my life to… to give you an experience for your family that is so spiritual, and beautiful, and meaningful and, of course, that beautiful candlelight time at the end. We do… we do have a reservation system for these services because we don’t want you guys to get frustrated because you all came to the same service, so that online registration for priority seating will take place on Monday, December 2 at noon. I know a lot of you guys wanna know when that is. There’s the big announcement, okay? So, be sure that you get on our app. It’s where we’re gonna release these seats for you to attend. And of course, we always have… we’ll always find a place for you to sit if one of those services ends up being full for you.
I also wanna take a few minutes today and bring you two things, some information and hopefully some per… I’m gonna… I’m gonna call it personal in… inspiration, 'cause I wanna really… I’m gonna… you’re gonna get… you’re gonna get the biggest view of my heart today probably than any message maybe you’ve ever heard from me as I talked about something that we’ve been doing for a long time since the beginning of the church, and that is something we celebrate called Legacy Sunday. On that day, Legacy Sunday, we’re gonna bring an offering that’s over and above our regular giving that we give away, that we’re gonna use to make a difference around the world.
And years ago we decided to call it Legacy because of this verse out of Psalm 1:12 where it says, «Good will come to those who are generous,» and that’s very, very true, «and lend freely,» watch this, not just with your giving, but also how you live, 'cause we have a lot of opportunities in this season, how we’re gonna serve people, and how have this Giving Hope, et cetera, «who conduct their affairs with justice,» we’re gonna go find people who need help and help them, «Surely the righteous will never be shaken,» and I love this.
The Bible says, «And it’s okay for you to do it with the motivation of being remembered». In fact, all of our lives are gonna be remembered by something. We’re all gonna be… They’re gonna say something about us one day, and I just want it to be that, you know, after we live our lives and we served our generation here at Highland, shared the Lord’s return, Terry, and there’s another generation after us, let it be said that they were very, very focused on winning lost people to Jesus, we… that we love seeing lost people come into the kingdom of heaven. Can I get a really good «amen» right there, everybody?
I mean we love that with all of our hearts. And so, we present the gospel in every service. And I am delighted to tell you that, year to date, the number of people who’ve given their lives to Jesus here at Church of the Highlands just this year, and this is not hands, this is information, filled out cards, let us know names, address, emails: 25,434 people. Come on, best hand clap of the day, all of heaven rejoices, yeah! And… and we give God all the glory. I really don’t even understand how he uses us. I’m just very… I’m very humbled by it all, I’ll be honest with you, and I’m just delighted to be in God’s kingdom work, and I’m very grateful for it. Of course, we also have ministries all across our cities with correctional facilities and Dream Centers. And every day, I don’t know if you know this, but every single day, you’re represented in the lives of people who are hurting and to people who have never heard the good name of Jesus.
And of course, 24 years ago when we started the church, we also started a church planning organization to… to resource and to train pastors to start new churches across America. We are actually right now in America, I don’t know if you know this, but we are in a net deficit every year. More churches are closing than are starting every year in America, and if we’re not careful, in the next 10, 20 years, we’ll… we’ll be a very post-Christian country. And that’s why we’re working very, very hard to train leaders and raise up churches. This year we planted 35 brand-new churches across America for a total of 1,132 churches since we got started. To God be the glory for that. Can you clap a little harder?
I’m talking about the church. I love it. And then, of course, we’re training young leaders with Highlands College, and we’re very focused in many very directed ways with our international missions. This year more than 20 million of your dollars is gonna go out of this house to touch the lives of people around the world in those areas. And… and I saw this quote this week. It’s attributed to C.S. Lewis. I don’t know if he actually said it or not, but I… but it said this: «My prayer is that when I die, all of hell rejoices that I’m out of the fight». Isn’t that right, everybody? I just… I just… It just put an injection of… of something on the inside of me this week when I saw that. I like, «Yeah, that’s what I want». I don’t know if hell can rejoice. I really don’t think it can. But if it did, let it… let it be because, «My God, thank God he finally is not doing all that and that this church is not doing all that».
And I just say for generations to come, long beyond us, let’s be known for a church that’s on mission, that’s making a difference. We don’t live for ourselves. We… Thank God we… we do everything we can to serve you, and to… and to reach people, and to take care of your families, and be a ministry, a place you can worship on a Sunday. But how many of you know, it’s not all about us, everybody? We are called by God to make a difference in this world. And so, in four weeks we’ll have this… this offering that’ll accelerate the vision of our house. It’s not for the things that we’re already doing. I’m just… I’m gonna tell you this, all… every… all of our budgets fully… fully financed, everybody, all of our missions giving… we’re in three buildings projects right now in the Shoals, Opelika, and Oxford, and we’ve already paid for the buildings even before they’ve been built. Come on, everybody, to God be the glory for that.
So I’m not talking about that. I wanna share with you some opportunities that we… we can do. We don’t have to do them. These are just on top of all of that, things that we feel called to do. By the way, let me give you a quick little update. I met with our board of trustees, who is our non-staff elders, who direct the financial affairs of Church of the Highlands, and… and I want you to know that we have bought some land, and so, I’m announcing this. We actually own land now in the Mobile area over in Daphne, everybody. We’re gonna start a building there soon, yes. And one of our fastest growing and largest campuses is down in Columbus. Our board of trustees just approved purchase of 32 acres there in Columbus and property in Noonan on I-85! Now you can clap, everybody! I know Columbus is clapping. God bless you guys. I’m so excited.
And, as always, we’ll… we’ll build those on a cash flow basis just as… as the dollars come in. We’re gonna get started on those projects, so thank you for being so generous. But I am asking you to consider on Legacy Sunday to invest in several things. First of all, our outreaches this year… these are funded, by the way, let me just tell you that. The Thanksgiving and Christmas outreaches are already funded. But every time we get involved in people’s lives, we find other opportunities to help people in radical ways, and so we wanna… we wanna do that. We’re also gonna do something we do every year, and that is we find local ministry partnerships. These are ministries in every city where we have campuses. And we’re going to surprise them with a gift to help them fund what they do because we don’t try to replicate things that other ministries are already doing very, very well.
This one’s very, very personal to me. We’re g… we have found some little… about 120 churches and pastors in America who are… have fallen on hard times. And if you wanna know the truth about it, guys, I’m trying to keep pastors in the game right now. They also s… we also… the studies say that over the next 20 to 30 years that the pastoral workforce is gonna be cut in half. And again, imagine an America with half the leaders, half the pastors, in our country. And I’m… we’re working very, very hard. And some of these have just… they have children with disabilities or they just planted a church and they put literally every dollar that they had into the launch of their new church. And we’re gonna just… we’re gonna surprise bless a bunch of 'em with a Christmas gift. And we’re gonna do what a pastor did for me in the second year of our church. It was our second Christmas, we were about a year and a half old, the church, and a pastor walked up to me and shook my hand, and that handshake had a check in it.
That’s a Holy Ghost handshake, come on, everybody, right? And I pulled my hand away, and I said… I said, «What’s this»? He goes, «This is for you, not for the church». And he didn’t. I don’t know, maybe he did know. But… but, you know, we kinda, we… I’m not… I’m not playing on your emotions, but we… you know, we left it out on the field those first years, you know, our family. And I wanna honor my incredible family for that. And so, what he gave was… made it possible for us to have a pretty meaningful Christmas that year. And I sobbed like a little baby in his office and said, «Lord, if you ever help this church grow, I want to do that the rest of my life. I will… I will help people. I’m gonna find people who have need like that».
So that was very personal to me. We are gonna continue our work with Bible translation and distribution. I wish I had more time to tell you about a project that’s a… we… a coordinated effort between about three major translation ministries, global ministries, and some business leaders who’ve come together to bring 'em all together to finish Bible translation by 2033. We’re gonna be the first generation in the history of the church to get the Word of God to every language, which are 7,000. There’s still about 3,400 languages. Come on, everybody, yeah. Isn’t that exciting? There are about 3,400 languages that still need… that have little or no Word of God, and we’re gonna finish this job finally in 2033. Highlands is… just our church is right now focused on two languages we’re funding. That’s gonna impact 7… over 17 million people are gonna get the Word of God.
So it’s something I’m very passionate about, and we’re gonna send… keep that project going. And finally, of course, something I’m very, very passionate about and that is Highlands College. I don’t have any time to talk to you about it, but I’m just gonna tell you this, God is blessing this in ways that would blow your… if you knew what I knew, your mind would be blown of how God is favoring this university. I don’t know if you know this or not, but we are one of only five higher learning institutions in America, secular or Christian, that does not take one single penny of federal funding because we don’t ever want them telling us what to believe and how we’re gonna operate. Come on, everybody, right?
The downside of that is our students do not have access to student loans that are federally backed, and so, we become that program for them, so we make sure these kids graduate and go change the world one day, amen, everybody? So this is just to name a few. And… and I just like taking this… this Sunday between two series just to tell us, this is what’s going on. And… and if you’ve been around Highlands, you know this is how we roll. On Legacy Offering Day, it’s just… we’re just gonna give and worship. There will be… I won’t talk to you about it anymore. Because I don’t believe in high pressure. I don’t believe in manipulating. We’re not gonna show you some sad video that makes you feel guilty. The Bible says that each person should give what they’ve decided to give, and what I do is just give you time to decide by giving you information.
So I’ve given you information. I’m gonna given you four weeks to pray. And don’t listen to me, listen to God. You ask. Don’t listen to me. I’ll never ask you for anything, but I unapologetically ask you to ask God. You… if you’ll just have a prayer and say, «Lord, what should I do in this»? And you just do what he says, and then on that day, you come prepared. And we are gonna make an even bigger difference for the glory of God, and we will give him all the glory. Now listen to me, I do not have a financial goal. We have not… we’ve prepared to do a lot, but we’ll do whatever happens, right? And the people that we don’t give to, they don’t know we were goi… we were thinking about it, so don’t… we don’t feel any pressure whatsoever. I have a participation goal. I would love for all of us to call this place home just to do something, so I’m gonna leave it with that, okay?
And I wanna talk to you now just for a few minutes. I wanna give you a message that’s gonna be a little bit different from messages you’ve heard from me. Normally I’m very, you know, lots of teaching and just… and maybe a little bit of preach in there. And I felt like… honestly, I almost wish I had a… I had a chair here to sit and have a visit with ya. In my mind, I’m imagining us having coffee and talking to you about something that is at the core of what I believe and the core of what our church believes, and that is I never… look at me, everybody. I never want you serving God out of obligation or duty. I never want you participating in any of this out of obligation or duty. I don’t want one ounce of guilt on you. God doesn’t want you guilty. God wants us responsible, amen, everybody? It’s a big difference. And so, we have worked very, very hard over these years to present to you what we call the life-giving message, so it’s the gospel through this life-giving lens, meaning we don’t tell you what you have to do, we tell you what you get to do.
We show you the joy of reading your Bible, and praying, and giving, and serving, not the obligation or the duty of it. And I’m not saying there’s not a portion of faith that requires obedience, you do it whether you feel like it or not, there is. But too much of faith has been in that. They pointed fingers at you, and guilted you, and told you you have to. And to me, it’s been the delight of my life to serve my God. I love him with all my heart, and we wanted you to believe the same, amen, everybody? That’s just what we believe. Same is true when it comes to the areas of generosity. I feel so strongly about this topic. In fact, I could almost call it the tenth fruit of the Spirit. It is so much in the Bible.
If there are 500 verses… there are 500 verses on prayer and faith, there are 2,000 on giving and possessions. You can’t get away from the fact that God wants his church to be a generous people, but I wanna make sure our motivation stays pure. I don’t ever want us to feel like, «Oh my goodness, it came around again». Like, I want us to go, «Oh finally, it came around. I’m so excited about this».
I want to show you something that has become my model, what I would love for us to look like. The apostle Paul is actually taking up an offering in the Bible. He’s gonna help finance the poor and the widows in Jerusalem. He’s going around to all the churches that he planted and he’s sharing this vision and asking them to participate. When he writes the letter to the church at Corinth, which I’ve actually visited Corinth this past summer… when he wrote the letter to the church of Corinth, it’s called the book of Corinthians, he’s actually telling about another group of churches that already gave, and he’s inspiring the Corinthian church to give like they did, and here’s what it says: «And now, brothers and sisters, we want you to know about the grace that God has given the Macedonian churches,» grace means they didn’t have to do it, they wanted to do it, «In the midst of a very severe trial, their overflowing joy and extreme poverty welled up in generosity».
So, he was basically saying, «These guys surprised the fire out of me because they were actually going through a severe trial and they weren’t the richest church in the world». These were actually one of the poorest churches. «For I testify that they gave as much as they were able,» and they actually did more than we thought they were gonna do. They gave beyond their ability. «Entirely on their own,» and I just, again, love the language of Scripture. Notice, again, there’s no compulsion, there’s no pleading, there’s no asking or begging. There’s no campaigns. There’s no «we’re gonna mail you a box of envelopes». No, no, no. «Entirely on their own, they urgently pleaded with us for the privilege of sharing in the service to the Lord’s people. And they exceeded our expectations».
Now, how did they do that? How could they be poor, going through trial, and be the best church that gave the largest part of this offering? Because they first gave themselves to the Lord, because they were so in love with God, «They gave themselves first of all to the Lord, and then by the will of God to us also». I remember this one quote that says, «If you… if one first gives himself to God, all other giving is easy,» and it’s true, because we’re just so grateful for what God’s done in our life. And he says this: «But since you excel in everything,» so now he’s gonna brag on the Corinthian church, «you’re already good in your faith, your speech, your knowledge, your complete earnestness, in the love you have toward each other… see to it also that you excel in this grace of giving».
Again, grace giving means we want to do it. We looked forward to it. We couldn’t hardly wait for this day to come. And again, he says that again. I just, again, love the language of Scripture: «And I’m not commanding you,» and I’m not either. I’m just asking you to ask God. «I’m not at commanding you, but I want to test the sincerity of your love by comparing it with the earnestness of others. For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ,» so he sh… he did it first, «that though he was rich, for your sakes he became poor, so that through his poverty you might become rich».
So Jesus said, «I’ll leave heaven, I’ll take on poverty, pay for your sin, make you rich, so you can be a blessing to the world around you». «And here is my judgment about what is best for you in this matter. Last year you were… you were the first not only to give but also the one that had the desire,» again, notice the language, «the desire to do so. So finish the work, so that your eager willingness,» I love that word, willingness, «to do it may be matched by your completion of it, according to your means. For,» last verse, «if the willingness is there, that’s what makes the gift acceptable». It’s… God’s looking for this. In fact, in the next chapter, he would go on to say, «God… God loves a cheerful giver».
He loves that. He loves it whenever you just want to do this. And I just want you to want to do this as much as I want to do this. In fact, I read another offering verse in Exodus 35 that used that word «willing». I got all fired up about that word «willing». I went looking for it every place in Scripture. It says, «And then everyone who… everyone came whose hearts were stirred,» which is what I’m trying to do today, «and everyone whose spirit was willing, and they brought the LORD’S offering to the work of the house of God». And so, I sat down and I started thinking about what makes you willing? Like, what would make… what makes us willing? And I think what makes us all willing to do all this is to know why we do it. I think the power’s not in what we do, but why we do it. And this is where it’s just gonna get real personal.
So, over 20 years ago, I heard a message by a pastor who shared something similar to this, and… and I think he entitled it «Why… Why I Give». And I was sitting there, and it was one of those messages that marked my life. And so I sat down. Tammy and I actually sat down together, and I said, «You need to hear this message with me». And we just started writing out our own list of whys, 'cause we want to be marked by this. I want to just be known as a generous person. I want to be a generous leader in every way I can. And so, we started writing them out and, again, very inspired by this… by this message. And I want to share some of those with you, and these… I’m not even putting these on you. I’m just… I want to just… I wanted you to just take a peek into my heart and let you know why I do all these things that… why we do all these things the way we do it.
And the first one, you’re just gonna have to cut me a little slack, okay, because it’s gonna sound a little self-serving when you hear it. You’re gonna think, well, that’s the wrong one to start with. But just… let me just give you my list, okay? And the first one is is that it is more blessed to give. Like, I feel like I’m the bigger beneficiary of it, not the person who’s getting it. Like, it really is more blessed to give. Like… let me say it this way, I like how I feel. I just like it. And any one of you’ve ever done something… have you ever done something for a little child or a server at a restaurant? Have you ever done that? Have you ever just left… have you ever gone out to eat and left what I call a honking tip? Y’all know what a honking tip is? For your… for you more sophisticated people, that’s a very generous gratuity, all right?
That’s not what they were expecting. And when their eyes lit up or tears came out of their eyes… not… not… not… not… years ago, my family and I all were at P.F. Chang’s. That’s our… one of our favorite restaurants. They call it Pfft Chang’s. And so, we were sitting at Pfft Chang’s, and they were eating God untold amounts of money. I was adding it up in my mind as they were ordering dishes, and it’s 'cause there was about 20 of us when we sit at a table now, and it’s a lot of people, and they were ordering. And the server was kind of frantic that day. And don’t be impressed with me, I normally don’t… I don’t usually get it right. I’m usually so thinking about me, but I just thought… I was imagining what her life might be like.
And she obviously had way too many tables. Maybe another server didn’t show up. And so, I just decided I was gonna kind of lean in a little bit, and I was… and so when she came around, I said, «Hey, is there anything I can pray with you about»? She looked at me like, «My God, nobody ever says that». I said, «I’m a pastor». And a tear poked out, and then she shoves it back in, 'cause, you know, it was the wrong place for that. And… and she goes… she goes, «Just pray, thank you». And I could tell, you know, there’s a little heart connection there. Anyway, when we’re done, I left her a generous gratuity and so much so when she… when we walked out… again, don’t think too much of me. I wish I got it right more often. But she stopped and she goes, «Oh, Mr. Hodges, I think you made a mistake».
I said, «No, no, that’s for you». And she said, «Why»? And I said, «Because God wants me to let you know that he loves you and cares for you very, very much». And she goes, «You have no idea what this means to me». And I was thinking, «Yeah, I kinda do probably. I kinda do». And… and I remember walking out though. I remember walking out of the restaurant, going… You know what I’m saying? Come on, everybody. Don’t judge me, but it felt good. I was thinking like, «Who else, Lord, shall I touch for the glory of God today»? You know what I’m saying? There’s this, «What other princess of yours needs the hand of God by the man of God»?
You know, I was just thinking… I know, I know, it’s… that’s too much. But it’s just… you know, did you know God gave you that? Did you know even Jesus said, «It is more blessed to give than it is to receive»? Do you know that the word «blessed» is the word «makarios» in the Greek? And it means, watch this, «happy in the soul». That when you’re the person, not on the receiving end, but on the giving end, it just does something to your soul. And that’s why we do it all year long, but we emphasize it here during the holiday season. I want everybody who calls Highlands home to walk out of the doors with fistfuls of what we call acts of kindness cards, and it just says this: something extra to show God loves you.
And on the back it says, «And so do we,» and it just says, «Church of the Highlands». And it gives us a chance to show generosity in the holiday seasons through our… maybe paying through… for a coffee in the… in the per… the car that’s behind you and hand it to the teller, or… we’re gonna put it on our… on our app and our website: ways you can use acts of kindness. Listen to me, church, listen to me. Go on mission this holiday season. I mean, a simple $5 gift, or love, or something to touch the lives of somebody else and watch not how much it… they enjoy it but how much we enjoy it too. So I wanna encourage you, acts of kindness cards, acts of kindness cards. We’re gonna be a part of this.
Here’s number two. The second reason why I give gets a little bit more serious. It’s a little bit more… again, this is just how I… this is my lens through faith, I’m just sharing it with you, and that is: He asked me to do it. The one I’ve surrendered my life to says live like this. There are thousands and thousands and thousands of verses in the Bible where God says, look, be generous. In fact, generosity connects me to God probably in the most powerful way because that’s who our God is. «For God so loved the world that he… that he gave». He’s a giver, every part of who God is. And so, y’all know my story. I got saved at 15 years old after being in church, after hating church. Been in church for 15 years and couldn’t… just didn’t like it. Got radically saved.
I’m one of man radically saved. I broke up with my girlfriend that we had an immoral relationship in. I… I changed all my friends. I witnessed to more people. I saw more people get saved in the first three months of me knowing Jesus. I was on fire for God. And when they were discipling me and talking to me about tithing and reading my Bible, they could have told me anything. They could have said, «Go… the tithe is 90%». «Okay». You know what I’m saying? I was just… I was so in love with God. And it’s just how I grew up. It’s just… and to me, it’s never been hard because Jesus has done more for me than I will ever be able to do for him. Do y’all believe that today?
Does anybody want to pause and give God praise right now that he’s done way more than he’s ever asked of me? And Tammy was even worse. When we first got married, she was tithing 20%. I said, darlin', that’s not what the word means. We’re gonna have to bring that down, girlfriend, you know, 'cause we’re just in love with God. I mean, we’re really just in love with God. And I know people, they… people love to argue about the tithe, and honestly, they’re right. You do not have to do it. It is an Old Testament law. But I do think it’s a New Testament standard. And, honestly, in the Bible, the law doesn’t change, the motivation does. And I saw this this week, and I just thought it so described at least how I feel about this.
You take it however you wanna take it. They describe two types of people, and one is person one who says, «I need 100%. I can’t get Into… I can’t be generous at a restaurant, I can’t give in a church, 'cause I need 100% to get to A to B in my lifetime». Where person number two says, «I’m gonna trust God to get from A to B with 90% and watch God take me to C». And so, this person think this person’s an idiot, right? And this person thinks this person, «You’re crazy, how do you live that way»? And you just gotta decide what crazy person you’re gonna be, and I’ve made my choice. In fact, let me ask anybody in this room who’s made their choice and God has shown himself faithful to you, put your hands together if that’s you. Yeah, of course, of course. Anyway, I thought that was pretty cute.
Anyway, number three, the third reason is… let me just be very honest, this one’s a bit self-serving as well. But I truly believe that you can put yourself in position where God will favor you. And I’ve sh… I’ve taught this to you before, so I won’t teach it again, but I position myself for God’s blessing. That’s why we fast and pray at the beginning of the year. I give God every reason in the world to honor and bless us, I really do. And in the Old Testament… I want somebody to hear this, not even for giving reasons, just for «your life’s not right» reasons. In the Old Testament, God had left them because they had left God. In the very last book of the Old Testament, they’re trying to figure it out, and they’re basically complaining to God, «God, where are you»?
And in the book of Malachi, he starts telling… you ought to go read the whole book. It’ll take you only 15 minutes to read the whole book. It’s very short, two pages. But in chapter 3, he says, «Ever since the time of your ancestors,» this is God talking, «you’ve turned,» you haven’t followed me, «you’ve turned away from my decrees and you’ve not kept them». And God says, «Come back». And for somebody in this room… and again, I’m not talking about giving. There’s somebody in this room, you need to co… it’s time for you to come back to God, and if you do, he’ll come back to you, «'I’ll return to you, ' says the LORD Almighty». And then they said, «Well, how do we do it? How do we… how do we come back»?
And God says, «Well, will a… will a mere mortal rob me? Yet you robbed me». And they said, «Well, how in the world are we robbing you»? And he says, «In your tithes and offerings. You’re under a curse… your whole nation is… because you’re robbing me. Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse,» that’s the place where you worship, «that there may be food in my house». And he says, «And I’ll show you. I’m gonna bless you. I’ll… test me in this and see if I will not throw open the windows of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there would not be room enough for it,» in fact, I’ll go beyond that and there’s more, «'I’ll prevent pests from devouring your crops, and the vines in your field will not drop their fruit before… before it’s ripe, ' says the LORD Almighty,» and all… everybody around you is gonna go, «Why is it that you’re… you’re always blessed and your stuff never breaks and you», 'Cause God’s on my side, God’s blessed me. Listen to me, I wanna say this, and I wanna say this in the most sincere way I can.
We’re pretty good at what we do here at Highlands. We are not this good. What… all this that you’re seeing and all that I get to celebrate and actually report to you… 'cause it’s not me, it’s us, it’s us. This didn’t happen because of me. This is the favor and the blessing of Almighty God. Y’all believe that, everybody? It’s true. It’s just true. It’s true. I had another verse, it’s good, you can read it on the app. I’m gonna go to the next one, okay? The music’s playing. That means, «You’re done, PC, stop, okay»?
That’s like the Academy Awards, «Okay, wrap it up». You know, that’s what they’re doing back there, okay. Not really. I’m gonna finish. I’ll do these… rest really quick. The fourth is that I really believe in what we’re doing. Like, I really believe in the vision of the church. And I know there’s a lot, not you, but they’re on the outside, there are people that love to… love to say bad things about the church. Don’t be one of those. 'Cause Jesus said, «I’m gonna build my church». You need to know Jesus is committed to his church. Movements have come and gone, ministries have come and gone, but for 2,000 years, it’s the church, not this church, I’m talking about the capital C church that has endured, and I love what the church is all about. I love the fact that we feed the poor, and that we’re in prisons, and we’re planting churches, and training up leaders, and making a difference, and that thousands of people are getting saved. I love our church! I love his church! And so, go to a place… if that’s… you’re like, «I don’t get it here,» then find a place that inspires you and go get involved there.
Number five, and that is not only I love the church, I love you. We’re a family, and I’m in a covenant with you. Like, I have five kids. If you’re new to our church, I have five children, and I do know that’s a lot, okay? I don’t know where the line is, but Tammy and I crossed it. I know we did, all right? 'Cause everybody goes, «My God, five kids». I had a guy in California literally walk up to me… I was teaching at a conference, he walked up, and he says, «Five kids? You must really like kids». I said, «No, I really like my wife». Anyway, that’s a different message. I’ll come back to it. But now we have nine grandkids. In fact, I’m making another announcement today.
Number ten is on the way, everybody, all right. We’re having a blast, Papa and Honey. And we just having more fun, and… and it’s the best. Any grandparents in the room, grandparents, gran? And they always make noises like that, 'cause they’re so much happier with grandchildren than with… with children. And if you don’t have grandkids yet and you’re a parent, don’t kill 'em, better ones are coming. Hang in there. Just let 'em live. Just trust me in that. It’s gonna get a whole lot better very soon. But the answer… when my grandkids come over, I don’t care what their parents’s dietary restrictions are for 'em. The answer is «yes». «You want M&M’s for breakfast? Yes! I’ll have a few mys… Let’s… yes».
It’s not my responsibility, come on, everybody, right? But it’s bigger than that. It’s yes. When my kids ask me for something, they’ll tell you, it’s yes. I’ll figure out a way to do it. I’ve had go through hardship financially or what, no. The answer is yes, why? 'Cause we’re a family. And I wanted to have this opportunity to stand in front of you I said even before we help this city and people around us that the first is you. The answer is yes 'cause I love you. I wanted you to hear this from my heart. I love you, and I need you, and I love… I love what we get to do together. 'Cause we’re what Bible calls the body of Christ, and we belong to each other, and we need each other. And I’ve just decided I’m doing my life with family, a church family, and that we’re gonna do more together than we could ever do by ourselves. Everything that I’m able to report to you, there’s absolutely no way I could have done it. The truth is, it took all of us. And when all of us do a little, together we’re doing a lot. And I’m just grateful to be doing it with you. I got two more, Tyler. I’m gonna make it, I promise you.
Okay, number six, and that is I do want to be an example to those… those grandkids. When my… when I grew up, some of you guys that have been in church your whole life, you remember this probably, and before I even walked into Sunday school, my dad handed me a quarter, «This is for your offering». When I got $10 in a birthday card, dad says, «You know, that first dollar belongs to God». I said, «Yes sir». I wasn’t even a Christian. «Yes sir, dad, okay, yeah». You got change for a $10? You know what I’m saying? Like I… and my dad taught me generosity. And I remember one day I asked dad, like, Dad, why are we do… why are you… why… why are you so involved in church? Why, why?
And it reminded me of this passage in Exodus when the Bible says, «When your kids come to you and say, 'Why are you killing lambs? Dad, if you let 'em live, they… they bear more lambs. You’re… you’re killing your income». And the dad begins to explain, «But you don’t understand, I used to be a slave and God rescued me. This is why. I give to God because I was going to hell and he… he rescued me, and that’s why I do it». And I’ve explained to my kids and my kids explained to their kids. That’s why even as we do, like, serve… Giving Hope, bring your kids. Let your kids see you wrap a present and put it in the trunk of a car and watch how it impacts their life.
Lastly, and, honestly, this is my one and only. I could have given you just one, and this would be it. I can’t wait for that. So I think… ooh. I’ve actually built out the scene in my mind, I don’t know if it’ll look like that. I don’t know. But can you imagine the moment you get to see Jesus? I… Here’s how it plays out in mind: «Oh, there he is». And you’re walking closer, and the closer you get, you start wanting to say things to him for all he’s done for you, «And Lord, I love you so much, I’m so grateful». And he goes, «Stop, stop, stop, stop, stop. I want to say something first». I so desperately want him to say, «Man, I gave you… I gave you a bunch of stuff, Chris». «Yes Sir, you did». «I saved you. I gave you this amazing church, gave you all those resources, good looks». Come on, everybody, right? «And you used it well. I’m so proud of you. Well done, well done. Way to go, way to go».
So I’m gonna close with this, and that is: Prepare for that day. Do whatever God shows you on… on Legacy Sunday. I know what you’re gonna do, so just do whatever you’re gonna do. But get ready for that day, and live for that moment. In fact, I want you to bow your heads right now where you are. And, God, help every one of us live for that moment, prepared. Please be very still in the room just for a minute. If you’re here today at one of our locations and you’re not ready for that day, I’m not talking about your giving, I’m talking about your soul. If you’ve not given your life to Jesus, then I want you to pray this prayer right there where you are. Say:
Jesus I am so sorry for living my life without you. Forgive me. Save me. I need you, and today, I declare you’re the Lord of my life. I surrender my life completely to you. Your will, your way, because you’re the Son of God, you rose from the dead, and today I put my faith in you. In your name I pray, amen.