Belong Church ATL Worship February 27, 2022

hey guys it's pastor lebriane i want to welcome you to the long church hey guys it's pastor o'brien i want to welcome you to the long church atlanta if you're a first time visitor i want to say thank you for hanging out with us this sunday you could have chosen to worship anywhere else but we're so glad you made the decision to be here with us so hang tight service is about to kick off shortly [Music] is [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] [Applause] [Applause] take me [Music] [Applause] is [Applause] [Music] here i am here i am [Music] hey guys it's zoe here so listen we are in a sermon series called rags to riches and it has everything to do with kingdom principles that transition you into a life of financial freedom and overflow who doesn't need overflow who doesn't want freedom well time is money so hang tight we're just a little bit closer to the worship and the overflow from heaven that allows your children children's children to eat off of what this year is going to become we declare in the name of jesus a year filled with overflow you live through your last last season and we declare that this year will be a year that it all runs over in jesus name i said it's gonna run over i said it's gonna run over crackdowns shaken together suddenly [Music] hey family it's pastor dana and i'm so excited to worship with you all this morning so listen if you want to partner with what we are building here at belong you can do so by texting belong atl to 94 000. you'll receive a text with a few prompts and select the option that best fits your needs also if you want to partner through giving we want to make sure you have that opportunity as well you can do so by texting belong atl to 77977 all right see you soon [Music] so [Music] hey fam check it out balloon exists to be a bridge for people to experience and belong to christ in community that's our vision and that's what we live by we hope and pray today that you encounter jesus christ and your life is forever changed in the presence of god all right let's go into worship good morning belong how y'all doing this morning how you doing how you [Music] with you this morning so we want to let you know that if it's your first time in the place to drop in the comment section and let us know we want to show you some love let us know where you're tuning in from atlanta chicago africa you could be global we're all over we worldwide and so we're so excited you can have literally chosen in this cyber world there are literally so many places that you have chosen to worship with but we are so excited that you took out the time to stop by and worship with us on this morning yes and because you're a first-time visitor it's probably important that they know the vision of the church absolutely belong atlanta we exist to be a bridge for people to experience and belong to christ in communities so we're not here to do life by ourselves together can't be an island and i know if i could be honest these last couple of weeks i didn't want to be by myself and so i had to kind of retrain my mind to let me know that isolation is not where it's at but when you're in community people recognize that absolutely and they'll come find you and they'll come take you out and come get you absolutely but that's a good thing though that's a good thing yes yes yes and so moving right on along y'all if you all have been paying attention to our social media you all know that we are over here we celebrate black history month man yes yo black is beautiful cordees i mean look at you i'm sorry black is beautiful black it's powerful it's strong it's strong strong strong strong for these strong but no for real we are so excited about black history month i think you know even like in this year i think we've seen like a renaissance of african americans coming back to the forefront and i'm so excited about that because it's great to see the history of what we're doing but i'm so excited about the future of african-american history and so i'm so excited about it it's a fresh look at it too it may be something that happened back in the day but it's a fresh revamping of it and i'm excited about it absolutely did you see walking your house doing it doing the super bowl halftime show i did i did you look like you see wild card you like you got amazing it was really good it was really good quality it was excellent absolutely even just piggybacking off that i think that it was just like i was talking about it's just the re-emergence of african-americans and the culture i think our culture needed that yes and so i'm not just excited about the history of what's going on i'm also excited about the future that we're paving and what that looks like times have changed things are new and so i'm so excited about how african americans have made a conscious decision to switch and change and evolve with the times and so it was a beautiful thing to see a breath of fresh air absolutely and it's a beautiful thing to see not just during super bowl but in the world at large in sports athletics medicine everywhere yes we got the jews we got the songs we got the magic it's powerful it's beautiful everywhere yeah so if you didn't know now you know that we are still in the middle of our sermon series you excited about it courtney i am i'm excited about my harvest because the first fruit we i planted that and then i'm just excited about the harvest it's gonna keep going and go to my children's my children's children and i'm excited i'm excited this guy word don't lie if he said that he meant it and it's gonna come together i really need that harvest around text time that might i really need that it may come can i claim so i'm just gonna i'm just joking you gotta you got a few that i can i'm just playing i'm just playing i already got two so we are so excited about our summer recipes if you haven't been tuned in we've been in the middle of it pastor's been cutting us and giving us some great information and downloads about wealth and abundance and stewardship so i'm super excited about what he's going to pour today absolutely absolutely so cortis we have to remind the people we got to remind the people this is a s.o.s [Music] we need volunteers volunteers greeters ushers next generation parking lot parking lot hospitality if you sing if you sang and you have an anointing on your soul and you're a male we would love to have you absolutely we'd love to have you so this week we will send out announcements there'll be a link for you to sign up and serve and just if you have the heart to serve and even if you have the hard serve and you don't know where you belong we'll find a place for you just sign up get in where you fit in yeah and so also we want to make sure that you are aware um since you're tuning in if you're not a part of our community want to make sure that you understand and know how you can join and be a part of what we're building here at belong so you can do so by texting 94 000 to belong texan belong atl to 94 look at the enemy trying to trip me up text belong atl to nine to four thousand let them know how they can give accordingly if you want to give text belong atl to 7797 this is great ground it's this prosperous rhyme trust me sow your seeds absolutely so are you i think we're ready for worship i am i am i hope you guys are ready get your heart together get your space to dance and worship and move around and pray and fall out because worship's gonna be fire share this with everyone because they're gonna need to hear this so let's i'm ready to go into the presence of god you need something today cordees listen all the time clarity overflow grace mercy i just need jesus i'll be asked for a lot but he can have everything i need so he gonna give it to me anyway absolutely yeah so we gonna believe that we get all that today okay so we're gonna pray we want you to prostrate yourselves wherever you are to go into the presence of the lord with us okay so let's pray together father we thank you for your glory we thank you for your presence in this room and in this place god and we thank you god for our supernatural encounter with your presence on today god we ask that you forgive us for anything that we've done that will hinder us from reaching your throne on today god your word declares that who will ascend to the heel of the lord only those who have clean hands and a pure heart so we actually that you wash us god we want clear access clear entrance into the presence of god we don't want anything any unforgiveness any bitterness any offense to hinder us from reaching your throne because we need you these people need you this world needs you so god we ask today god that you receive our worship let it be a sweet smell and savor unto you god we ask that you flood not only this place but every home every car every office we thank you that your glory has come even on today to destroy yolk to break the bondages of people to set the captives free to give healing to give direction to give understanding god to give enlightenment to give strength and we thank you for your glory and your presence in this place this is your son jesus name that we pray amen [Music] till earth in heaven [Music] let our rejoicing rise high as the listening skies let it resound loudly [Music] taught us [Music] [Music] let us march [Music] you are the branches he who abides in me will forever be fruit fall indeed i am the way the truth and the light no one gets to the father except that he comes through me yes [Music] god's word [Music] all together [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] feel like y'all dancing at home this morning come on put yourself tonight [Music] [Music] [Music] trust in the trust in the letters [Music] [Music] [Music] oh [Music] [Music] [Music] oh [Music] is [Music] oh [Music] [Music] okay [Music] we're gonna trust you jesus [Music] [Music] we trust you jesus [Music] [Music] you're so trustworthy [Music] i'm oh confident [Music] [Music] trusting the love with all your heart [Music] trust in the light [Music] all your strength trust in the love with all your minds to your own understanding i'm leaning [Music] leaning safe and secure from my [Music] sting [Music] safe and secure [Music] me [Music] [Laughter] [Music] everlasting [Music] this is a house of worship this is a house of praise where every demon trims [Music] this is a house of healing [Music] you [Music] in the name of jesus come alive in the name of jesus this is a house of miracles we bring everything to the feet of jesus everything in the name of jesus this is a house of miracles [Music] your house is a house a [Music] your blood runs through [Music] is [Music] [Music] [Music] is is [Music] [Music] i still believe you're moving i still believe you're speaking god i believe your word all things god [Music] oh [Music] in the name of jesus [Music] [Music] [Music] is [Music] [Applause] [Music] we will come alive in the name of jesus come alive in the name of jesus for this is how some miracles and we bring everything to the feet of jesus is everything in the name of jesus for this [Music] is coming in the name of jesus this is a house of miracles so we bring everything to the feet of jesus everything in the name of jesus this is [Music] [Music] [Music] oh [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] your house is a house of miracles your healing is where you are if you believe [Music] if you believe life in your lungs just one last time come alive in the name of jesus come alive in the name of jesus this is a house for me because we bring everything to the feet of jesus everything is in the name of jesus this is [Music] [Music] i don't believe in fairy tales i guess i've outgrown them but that doesn't mean that i don't believe there's something bigger than me cause i've seen it [Music] god [Music] but here's what i'll do i'm gonna wait on you i'm gonna wait on you i've tasted your goodness i'm trusting your promises [Applause] [Music] [Music] i'm gonna wait on you [Music] i know you've ordered every step [Music] is [Music] is [Music] [Music] no matter how long it takes me i won't move jesus so wait on the lord wait on the lord and he will renew your strength so wait i'll stay wait on the lord wait on the lord [Music] [Music] come oh for me [Music] away [Applause] [Music] oh i'm gonna wait on you [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] no matter how long it takes i'll stay right here [Music] [Music] wait [Music] [Music] renew that strength they shall mount up always like an eagle and so they shall walk and not get weary they shall run and i [Music] knew that strength they shall mana oh boy like an eagle and so they shall walk and not give him they shall run ain't nothing [Applause] [Music] [Music] that's [Music] they shall [Music] that's what happens that's what happened [Applause] [Music] yes that's what happens when you win [Music] that's what happens when you wake up so that's what happens when you wish [Music] [Music] [Music] 11 and it's talking about the story of martha and mary and she's waiting on jesus the report has just came to their their brother lazarus has died and in that moment you may be a person you're like chase whatever circumstance i'm in right now i don't know if i can wait any longer i've been crying out to jesus and it seems like he's he's not on time it seems like i'm waiting on him and in whatever circumstance you may be in you're like chase i don't see jesus he's coming too late and you may be thinking i don't know what to do or if you're like a person and you're in the middle of a situation and you're waiting on god to show up you may be like the three hebrew boys and you're in the middle of the fire and you're still saying jesus i'm waiting on you but where are you but i want to encourage you right now wherever you are whatever moment you win that when you wait on god that he's going to show up because later on in that story after jesus showed up to the tomb where lazarus was he told martha and mary he said roll the stone away that for now you will see god's glory be glorified so i want to pray for you in that moment that there will be mantles of strength that's about to come to you but as you begin to wait that you're gonna begin to see the miracle of it because when jesus shows up everything is about to change so i want to encourage you that while you wait your strength is about to be renewed that your miracle is about to come into place so don't give up don't quit go throw in the towel that god is about to show up right in the midst of it that god is about to show you that i am the fourth man in the fire that i am the one that's going to come and the great thing about god is is that you'll never look like what you were waiting through did you hear what i just said you're never going to look like the situation that you're waiting on you're not going to look like the fire that you are in you're not going to look like the graveyard lazarus take off your grand vote because i'm not going to let you look like what you've been through so i pray that we releasing strength to weight strength to weight that you're going to make it through you're going to make it through this moment so god i pray for every person that's listening by the sound of my voice god that you're strengthening them god you're giving them courage you're giving them endurance god that they will not quit they will not throw in the towel god that this is the season god the strength of more of the mantle god so i pray and encourage everybody in this moment do not quit for we will see the glory of god we will see the glory of god in jesus name we pray man god's word to you is weight and i promise you at the end of this you're not going to look like what you had to wade through that's for somebody right there you probably think of chase i don't know how i'm going to get through this my money is low my family's acting crazy they said 2022 was going to be here that everything changes but i'm here to let you know that god is not going to let you look like what you're going through just like martha and mary just like lazarus just like the three hoover boys they're not they didn't look like anything that they went through and that is god's decree over you if you wait on the lord i know i know it's uncomfortable i know it don't feel good i know it makes zero sense but god said that faith comes by hearing hearing by the word of god so remember every promise that he spoke over you when you crossed over into 2022 remember every promise that he said this year is going to look like don't quit and don't throw in the towel this is your decree man and in this same moment in this same moment of worship we're about to step into a moment that may feel depending on your situation it's time to give and you may be saying chase how is giving a form of worship i want to read something to you it's in proverbs 3 and i'm reading from the passage translation and it's proverbs 3 verse 9 through 10 and it says glorify god with all of your wealth honoring him with your first fruits with every increase that comes to you then every dimension of your life with will overflow with blessings from an uncontainable source of inner joy i'ma read that one more time it's proverbs 3 9-10 it says glorify god with all of your wealth honoring him with your first fruits with every increase that comes to you then every dimension of your life will overflow with blessing from an uncontainable source of inner joy and in this moment as we're beginning to give and how you can give today is you can text belong atl to 77977 and we just came out of a moment of worship and giving his worship and i also want to to challenge you man that even in this season even through the weight even through some of us may be going we may be seen in the sea in the same cycles as we saw in 2021 but we are in a series from rags to riches and this is a season where god is challenging and we're showing god we're giving you everything we have this is a sacrifice to you god because at the end of the day we're going to see you we're going to see your glory glorified through everything so in this moment i want you to pray and i want you to ask god what do you want me to give that some of us it may be a sacrifice some of us that may be a stretch and we're talking about giving and seed all month long and all series long or rags to riches and this is the moment that we're going to see god and we're going to see god show up in an uncontainable way and i want you to realize that what you're sowing today maybe thinking chase this may be my last or you know i don't know what's coming next that's the moment i'm in right now is i don't know how i'm going to get through my next i don't know i've come from a season of where everything was provided for now i'm coming into a season where god is challenging in my giving and i have to remember that god is the person who gave it to me in the first place so what i'm going to give to him it's already his in the beginning and it's a faith thing to showing that god i trust you through no circumstance no matter what circumstance i'm in i'm still going to trust you in every area not just my faith not just my relationship but also my seed and my giving to you god and i'm going to see the glory at the end of the day so as you see the instructions comments and the pen below in the lower thirds this is your opportunity to partner with us through giving and we're going to stand and see that god is going to do something amazing in our giving so god i thank you for every person that's giving today god i thank you for every person that's having seed to sow god i pray for every person god that they may be sacrificing god they may be giving from an uncomfortable place god but i pray god that as they give from an uncomfortable place god that you're going to show them uncontainable joy just like you said in your word god that i pray god that it in this season god that they're going to begin to see the fruit of what they're given god they're not going to have to wait five months from now then i'll have to wait six trumps from now six months from now god but they're going to see the reward today god they're going to see the reward next tomorrow god and the days to come god that you said that your word will not return back to you void god so i pray for every person god every person who had the heart to give god and i pray god that just you said in your word god as we test you with the tithe god that you're gonna show us that you're the god who's able to do exceedingly who's able to do abundantly above all we could ever ask or thank god so i pray that we see it in this season god and you're giving us strength to finish in jesus name we pray amen [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] you [Music] [Music] here we [Music] you renew your strength everything we've lost fighting this battle alone he'll reknow our strength [Music] everything we wasted going through all of these trials here we know our strength [Music] if we just wait on the lord if we just wait on the lawn if we just wait on the [Music] i've tasted your goodness i'll trust in your promise lord i'm gonna wait on you i'm gonna wait on i've tasted your goodness [Music] not trusting your promise i'm gonna wait on you [Music] now i'm really trying to just keep it together even as i come on the stage because even at home i want to hear the sound of those that have made up their mind and no matter what comes their goals i've i've made the decision that i'm waiting on god i'm i'm not gonna get in a hurry i'm not gonna move past him i'm waiting for god to renew my strength but i know that as he renews my strength he's going to give me a power and a fortitude and a strength that i did not have before the scripture explains to us that god does things in the fullness of time and i believe that as you wait on the lord you're going to walk into a mature moment you're going to walk into a moment where god makes everything that you've gone through up to this moment make perfect sense and he's going to do it in such a way that it blows your mind my prayer for you today as we prepare to go into the word is this you will not be weary in well doing but your due season is on the brink i'm talking to those that have labored without a thank you that i've given their all without a pat on the back and i've done it with the right motive and the right intention i believe that as you wait on god in the season you're about to see what it means that your due season is coming and you will reap if you think not may this be a moment of divine repeat for your life the tears that you sowed may they have watered your future and the harvest of your tomorrow and we simply declare today that because we chose to wait on the one that responds in perfect timing that everything is already working out for our good and for his glory father i thank you for those that wanted to throw in the towel but they stood in the middle of tough times in the middle of confusion in the middle of being misunderstood father i thank you for those that were forsaken by people but were not forgotten by you i thank you that we are still on your radar we're still in your hand and you are the god that will do everything that you promised whoa i said he's gonna do everything that he promised hear me he's gonna do everything everything that he promises we're just waiting for [Music] the lord [Music] i believe even at you you watched us this morning there's strength come to you that you've been praying for [Music] that even as you tap into what god is doing in your life right now you're gaining a strength and a fortitude that you didn't know your head he's given you a resolve that you had gave up on and he's teaching you what it means to be rewarded in a season where you thought you were forgotten i'm so grateful that when people have forgotten us god never did and because you did what you did with the right motive because your heart was right when you made your moves i believe in god i think we preached it a couple of weeks ago that the hundred fold blessing is gonna be on everything you set your hands to do this year you're gonna be in a moment where you reap because you chose not to faint and he's going to renew your strength so this this this sunday we choose to wait on you god we wait on you we wait on you can you lift your voice even in your home i'm about to go to the word but we wait on you can you worship him while you wait just for a moment we're gonna [Music] can you worship him while you wait i feel the presence of god in this space can you worship him while you wait you you're in the middle of a crossroad you're in an in-between season you're in the middle of a transition and don't even know what's about to happen next but i declare that while you worship and you wait the lord of heaven the king of glory the god that answers by fire the lord that sins when the lord that shakes the earth he's gonna show you that in the midst of what you're in right now i'm not the god who forgot about can you worship while you wait i'm not talking about complaining while you wait i'm talking about raising your voice lifting your sound come on and worship while you wait it don't feel good i'm extremely uncomfortable but what i've never lost is my bow i've never forgotten that when i bow in the presence of a king there's something in my worship that transcends my current moment i would dare you for just one moment to make yourself uncomfortable in his presence and there there is the space where heaven is going to flow with answers with resolution with revelation and he's going to show you what is to come next father we thank you [Music] that we don't serve a god who hasn't already figured out our future [Music] we serve the god that knows our days [Music] you know our days before we were formed in the womb you knew us our days are not a mystery to you our needs are not confusing for you our struggles do not perplex you and this season that we're in right now you're very familiar with it we choose today to worship while we wait we lift up the name that's above every name in the middle of a waiting season and we declare that because you're god and you've always been you didn't need our input in the beginning and you don't need our input now but what you will respond to is our worship so we lift up our voices we lift up our song we lift up our praise our adoration we give glory to the one that holds our days and is already numbered then we give glory to the master of the sea and the master of time there's no good thing you've ever withheld from us and we thank you there's nothing you've ever held back from us and we worship you there's nothing you've ever reneged on that you promised us and we thank you there's nothing you've ever guaranteed that you took back out of our lives and we worship you we thank you that you are the god that's faithful to do everything that you said and this this sunday morning even as we prepare to end the month we worship you but what you've already brought to our lives in 2022 we we thank you that you've been the god that has faithfully provided you you are jaira and we worship you are jaira and we worship you and we we simply declare that in this moment of waiting well we're worshiping in the way we we trust you to do and to be everything that you've always been we don't doubt your competency or your capability we are not ignorant to the fact that you knew our days before we entered into them so we worship you for the outcome that we have not seen we worship you for the victories we have not embarked on yet even when it feels like our season is losing we worship you for victories we have not met yet we thank you for giving us the power and the ability to overcome in every season and every situation we're more than congress through christ and we love you we adore you and we trust you ah can y'all just can you shout that real quick god i trust you not not just the church trust we trust you with everything we trust you with our hearts we trust you with our tomorrow we judge you with our children and our families our spouses we trust you with what we're waiting on father we trust you with everything everything that we have is yours all we've needed your hand has provided father we trust you you have never proven to be untrustworthy so father we don't lay the guilt of our own proclivities on you you're trustworthy and today we choose to maintain a posture of saying god no matter what it looks like and no matter how we feel and what it looks like is about to become we trust the god who knows the outcome and we believe you to be who you've always been if that's your prayer can you help me thank god for what's coming for your life [Music] just real quick can you help me just real quick y'all can raise your sound even in this room can you help me thank god for what's on the brink i'm telling you what's on the brink i want you to hear me as surely as jesus is lord there's some things on the brink that you thought were held up there are some things heaven is going to release before you exit the second quarter of 2022 and i want you to hear me i need you to praise him now like it's already in your hands like you're already living in it like you already have obtained it i want you to thank him like it's already a current manifestation in your life can you take one more moment and raise your sound and raise your voice and thank the god of all creation that he did not forget about you that he did not trust you and you're still on his mind i'm trying to let it go but you're still on the mastermind you're still on the mastermind you're still on his mind you're still on his mind yes you are yes you are you're not a vagabond you're not rejected you're not a wanderer you're on the mind of god he has you on this mind [Music] and i'm believing i'm believing you have yet to see the fullness that he's going to unfold so we wait on the lord they about jacked me up we wait on the lord we renew our strength and we know that he's the god who's going to do everything that he promised if you've got a couple promises that you're holding on to can you thank them in advance like they've already done y'all ain't got to be quiet in this room you think of in advance like they're already done i i want you to thank him at home like it's already happened i'm thanking them in my heart like it's already done if i wanted to do what i wanted to do i would literally run across this entire floor because i know that there's some things my hands have not touched yet but god did not forget about i know that there's some promises that i still got to attain that the father did not forget i know that every good thing he has for me he's not going to withhold it from me he is the god that is faithful to perform every single promise as if he said it if he said it if he said it he is faithful to perform there will not be one job or one tunnel that falls that he does not perform he's gonna do everything he gonna do everything he said so father for those that are waiting on the promise waiting to see what's gonna happen next today we we choose to trust you we believe that you're the god who's going to perform we wait on the lord we are of good courage and we wait on the lord whoa i'm sorry y'all i said we're of good courage and we wait on the lord i said we're of good courage and we uh we're not waiting and fearful at the same time courage is coming upon you to trust the god that said it you're going to be of good courage you're going to be of good courage while you wait you're going to be of good courage while you wait your courage is coming up he's giving you greater courage in your head before he's strengthening your results and he's gonna do [Music] he's gonna do everything that he said [Music] so if you believe that can you help me just one more time in the chat can you help me just thank god for what's to come and what's to come is so much better than what you already had yes we thank him for what's to come welcome to belong atl i am so grateful for each and every one of you i'm grateful for this phenomenal worship team who has helped lead us into the presence of god and um i got a cute little sunday school lesson i'm gonna give us really really quick um we're in a series called rags origin everybody shout rags riches we're in uh for me a pretty exciting series um entitled rags riches uh first week we talked about money back guarantee and what we we're essentially saying that everything that god promised is good enough to perform it and that there's a hundredfold blessing that god has already got coming to your life everybody a hundredfold hundredfold like a hundred hundredfold blessing that's come into your life um second week we talked about don't break the law and that god is the god of principle everything that he says he's faithful to do he's going to follow his principle to a t he doesn't violate his promises so if he has said it he's faithful to perform it so when we talked about the law of first mentioned as it pertains to tithing and what all that means to us how we were typing before there was a law how tithing is a principle that superseded the law of moses and it's still up a principle that applied now has the ability to change our lives last week we talked about hustle and flow and there are moments god is going to ask us for a hard thing everybody shot a hard thing how many of you got to ask you for a hard thing already this year like he's asked you for something to challenge your faith challenge your current in some cases your current economic status but it's to push you to a place that you haven't visited before and one of the main principles out of that is that we don't give to god because we owe him we give to god because we have an opportunity and there's a difference we don't live as debtors because we're free people so whenever we partner with heaven with our resources it's not because we're trying to pay god back it's because we're walking in a new opportunity to see him differently than we've ever seen him before the next couple weeks i'm gonna go through matthew 25 um over this week and then i'll hit it again in a couple weeks um matter of fact let's go there now matthew 25 uh started verse 14. i'm reading from the passion translation so mine may read a little bit differently from yours um it's going to be on the screen so you can follow along with me here is what matthew says i'm trying not to flip as i get ready to start reading this here's what it says again heaven's kingdom realm is like the wealthy man who went on a long journey and summoned all his trusted servants and assigned his financial management over to them before he left on this journey he entrusted a bag of 5 000 gold coins to one of the servants to another a bag of 2 000 gold coins into a third a bag of 1 000 gold coins each according to his ability to manage man the one entrusted with 5 000 gold coins immediately went and traded with the money and he doubled his investment in the same way the one who was entrusted with 2 000 gold coins traded with the sum and likewise doubled his investment but the one who had been entrusted with 1 000 gold coins dug a hole in the ground and buried his master's money and after much time had passed the master returned to settle accounts with his servant and the one who was entrusted with five thousand gold coins came and brought ten thousand saying see i have doubled your money commending his servant the master replied you've done well and proven yourself to be my loyal and trustworthy servant because you've been a faithful steward to manage a small sum now i will put you in charge of much much more you will experience the delight of your master who will say to you come celebrate with me then the one who had been entrusted with two thousand coins came and said sea master i have doubled what you have entrusted me with and commending the servant the master replied you've done well and proven yourself to be loyal and trustworthy servant because you've been faithful to manage a small sum now i will put you in charge of much much more you will experience the light of your master who will say to you come celebrate with me then the one who had been entrusted with 1000 gold coins came to his master and said look sir i know that you're a hard man to please and you're a shrewd and ruthless businessman who grows rich on the backs of others i was afraid of you so i went and hid your money and buried it in the ground but here it is take it it's yours angered by what he heard the master said to him you're an untrustworthy and lazy servant if you knew i was shrewd and ruthless as a businessman who always makes a profit why didn't you deposit my money in the bank then i would have received it all back with interest when i returned but because you were unfaithful i will take the 1 000 gold coins and give them to the one who has ten thousand for the one who has will be for the one who has will be given more until he overflows with abundance and the one with hardly anything even what little he has will be taken from him then the master said to his other servants now throw that good-for-nothing servant far away from me into outer darkness where there will be great misery anguish and let's go y'all ready i'm going to talk for a few moments from a subject i'm simple we're simply calling give and take give and take give and take um and and i want to start this message off and i'll probably be in hyperdrive for most of it but there's so much for me to to teach and pull out of this from a stewardship perspective but i want to start let's just go ahead and start on seven i won't start on 10 i'll start on seven that god always blesses you with what he knows you can manage god loves you enough to not over bless you and i know a lot of times we prayed for god to do more with us what they trust us with more but i'm grateful that god knows what level we can manage today and only blesses us accordingly now a lot of times we find ourselves in particular from a financial perspective praying and asking god for more without properly evaluating what we've done with what we already got i'm gonna take this and let you drive it here i would dare to say that today if most people were given 5 million dollars they would not know what to do with it the truth is we have a prayer for more without a plan for more and the way that god works is he's not the god that just answers your prayers he's the god that responds to your plan he has to know that whatever he puts in your hand that there's an idea of something that can be created on the other side of it all the more he also wants to know that whatever he gives you and whatever you're trusted with you know how to steward it soundly and well because the truth is a blessing can become a curse if you don't know how to manage it i said the very thing that you prayed for god to bless you with if you don't know how to manage it appropriately that thing can turn into a curse here it is how many y'all ever prayed for a man for a boo and god suddenly sent somebody away but because your heart wasn't healed from the last you couldn't manage what he put in your hands and consequently you made someone new pay for old things because you wasn't ready to manage the blessing you asked for have you ever asked god to give you a new job and when he gave you the new job you still wouldn't show up on time he blessed you but you turned the blessing into a curse because you weren't ready to manage it appropriately today what i want to talk to us about and what i want to help us to sort through is that in some things god is not blocking a blessing he's withholding and he's withholding until your stewardship matures a little bit more he knows what you can handle right now and he knows that there is a mystery in life called mismanagement and whenever we fall into the mystery of mismanagement we don't know how to properly account for what's been put in our hands now let me ask you all this question y'all ever got paid before and before the weekend was over you could not figure out where your money had went anybody has that ever happened to anybody like three four five six seven eight hundred times like you you got paid this week and you know you got paid this week but then when you start trying to track where your money is like what what happened i just had two thousand dollars in my account on friday it's tuesday and i'm about to have to go eat a wish sandwich like what happened to my money here it is what this what this illustration this beautiful illustration that jesus gives us what it teaches us is the way you manage your money will be the way you manage your life and whenever your life management is off your money management's gonna be off too so the thing that god will correct before he gives you more is the way you currently manage what you already got all right so let me tell y'all why this text is so good to me i'm trying to skip on this stage let's teach a little bit this text is so good to me because one i think jesus is the og of illustrations he is the greatest illustrative preacher in the history of he is the michael jordan of illustrations he can do it with the boat or he can do it with his words he can paint a picture in such a way in such a vivid way that it makes that thing come to come to life jesus is the master illustrator so as we embark on matthew 25 uh really matthew 24 and matthew 25 he's teaching a principle to his disciples called readiness everybody shout readiness he's part of it is and we'll talk about some in a couple weeks part of it is preparing them for the arrival the messiah's arrival when the lord comes back but the other part of it is life readiness for right now so when he begins to teach this principle or this story to his disciples what makes this story so dadgum good is he begins to talk in numbers that normal people don't get to deal with right so in in the king james it says he gave one five talents another two talents and another one town now in translation one talent would equate to about twelve hundred to fifteen hundred dollars in our current time in deeper translation this was in their time twelve to fifteen years worth of work right so even the person that received one talent received a decade in advance on day labor okay they received a decade advance the one that got two received two decades of advance the one that received five was blessed with generational wealth now here's the first part i want to give you all it is dangerous to compare what you've been trusted with and think you got shorted because you didn't get what somebody else got because regardless of what god gave you he still gave you an advantage you did not have before now i i just need somebody real quick to get this and if you get it in your heart it's going to change your life i need you to shout it i got an advantage i just haven't stewarded my advantage well i already have an advantage that i didn't even know about god's trusted me with resources that i didn't know existed at the time and he's blessed me ahead of what i deserved he didn't even wait for me to beg for it he blessed me in advance right so he gives them in advance because as them as a master leaving home the safest place to trust your money was with those who had served you so he leaves gifts to those that have been serving because the other side of wanting god to bless is being positioned to serve appropriately and i would dare to say that some of us have asked god for the blessing without wanting to serve on the other side of it a father always sees sons but sons are always found serving the reason why god could do it easy in this illustration was because people called servants were positioned in the right place to receive the blessing everybody i'm in the right position i'm doing what he's called me to do right now and i'm not complaining while i do it i'm doing what he's created me for in this season and i'm not fighting him while i'm doing it i'm doing what i was born for so it's easy for him to bless me here i am in the right moment in the right season serving not to be seen by people but to be sure i'm always seen by him the master leaves and he trusts servants with everything in his house now i think it's interesting you have to see the parallels the master could have left the house as is and nothing would have changed instead he made an investment in those who had been with him listen he chose to leave a deposit with those that had been walking beside him listen to me i think there's a blessing and understanding that god watched he already made the greatest deposit right he already deposited by way of the blood holy spirit in us and that deposit is our guarantee right ephesians talks about it's our guarantee it's our seal until the day of redemption but what we often miss is that that deposit has also opened us up to worlds of creativity revenue and business influence that we haven't even touched yet i would dare to say that some of us miss the blessing because we're waiting for it to be handed to us and it's already been deposited in us i want you to understand that if you tap into what's already been given you've got worlds of resources you have not touched it everybody shouted it's already in me i'm i'm not waiting for somebody to bless me forward it's already hitting me he already made the deposit and the deposit's gonna change my life it's already in me it's it's it's in me so the thing is with this story is the master leaves and he's no longer checking on those he's deposited in and i would dare to say that some of us have not learned how to move without being microed we need god to give us every instruction we want god to talk to us about every single thing without trusting what he's already put in us to make moves without believing that he's given me enough on the inside to make decisions without having to go into 24-hour prayer counsel the holy spirit at work in me can show me how to move and to maneuver now what makes this whole story interesting is that if you read it at face value it looks like as soon as the servants received their deposit or their gift their inheritance it looks like they flipped their money instantaneously but it's reading too quickly through the text because there will always be moments when you invest that your return don't look quite the same i would dare to say that some of us and i'm going to get to it in a moment don't do it at the level that we should because we don't see the return as quickly as we thought and because we're afraid to lose we just hoard what we got rather than properly investing into it tomorrow this is why hear me it is easy for us to get a check today and blow it tomorrow because i trust my waste more than i trust the return on investment if i use it the right way the one with five flips it to ten but the scripture doesn't the illustration does not give us full context in the flip because the master did not come back the next day it was years before the master returned but the flip didn't happen overnight everybody shouted with me it's not going to happen overnight some of y'all been praying to be overnight millionaires it ain't going to happen overnight god is not going to do it overnight but he's going to do it through what you steward well in this season the one with five flips his money and historians would say within the context of that time there were various ways that he could have flipped his money jews couldn't charge jews interest on money but they could lend money to gentiles and put whatever interest rate they wanted to on it there's a space where they say you know they could have bought commodities or they could have bought goods and turned around and flipped it there were various amounts of ways to flip your money but the key of it was they weren't afraid to do something different but the challenge comes in with the one when we start dealing with the individual who receive the least he's got the least but moving in the greatest fear he has the least amount to lose but he has the greatest amount of fear about losing it he's afraid to deposit it he's afraid to buy anything he's afraid to get out of his comfort zone with his finances can i talk to a few of y'all that are scared of your money the fear of what god has trusted you with and it's easier to attain a right now need than to operate in delayed gratification and prepare for a day i haven't met yet right it is easy for me to consume my seed than to sow it and pray the harvest works out right it is easier for me to devour what i don't understand even when i don't fully comprehend that i'm eating my destiny right in my hands right now now here's the thing because i grew up i'm i'm a country boy i want to believe i'm a city boy in my heart but the truth is i am like country country country country i love the city but i'm a country like i grew up on a a farm cows goats chickens bulls and my grandfather had 50 acres of land that was right in front of my dad's house and my dad and his brothers they would farm this land every year a lot of times they planted soybean because it was the easiest thing for them to flip and sell but i remember there was a season five seasons simultaneously that they planted in march but by the time june came because there had been such drought what they planted dried up the first year it happened my grandfather said we're going to plant again the second year it happened he said we're gonna plant again third fourth the fifth year it happened he said we're still gonna plant again but here's what he did instead of waiting for the earth to respond with water he bought a contraption that would water his fields itself because the danger is waiting on something to happen when you can build it on your own waiting for somebody to give you something that you can create if you just put your mind to work i want to say that some of your losses may be because you were not inspired creatively to do something different you didn't lean into god's ingenuity by way of holy spirit that he already gave you and you quit because you lost in two seasons but you didn't know that by the fifth season divine ingenuity was going to get to you to help you create something that you had not had before but was going to make your harvest as ripe as it needed to be it is the fear of losing that keeps many of us from progressing i would dare to say that some of us can't stand to be blessed because we're too scared of what happened on the other side of it it is dangerous listen to pray for a blessing you don't want to manage to ask for resources that you don't have a plan for it is dangerous to say god if you will just give me this i'm going to bless this family i'm a blessing but you ain't got a plan everybody shall play and play and play i want you to start putting together million dollar strategies before you have million dollar investment i want you to start thinking through what am i going to do and what am i willing to risk and lose on the other side of it and still trust that i made the right investment what am i preparing for today that's gonna bless my tomorrow because i want you to hear this when you pull this out of the text i'm trying not to backflip on the stage this story's so good to me um when the master does show back up the one that had five or five thousand said master i gave you ten and look at what the master does the master does not talk about the investment that was doubled the master talks about the character of the one he invested in y'all y'all got to see it the master doesn't say thank you for doubling my money because he already got everything he need he can care less about the he don't care about the devil another money what he cares is the upbuilding of the character in the process of the one he trusted with what he says is well done good and faithful he calls them good and faithful he begins to talk about his character not about his increase because god is always putting you in character school he's always putting you in situations where your character is being refined by what he trusts you with and this is how he knows what you can handle in the future if your character could not handle it at this level your character sure enough can't handle it at this level if you couldn't manage 500 he can't trust you with 5 million it's character scope he puts you in spaces where he refines your character to make you sharper than you've been but so that you always manage what he trusts you with the right way let's take a detour and i'm still talking about money but how many of you all have mismanaged relationships how many of mismanaged people that god sent to your life that we're going to be a conduit for your next but you missed the connection because you couldn't handle them appropriately mishandled relationship watch mishandled conversations how many y'all talk too much share too much too soon you know you you always running off at the mouth you don't know how to hold and contain anything because everything ain't for everybody what what is it that has put you in a space that has made your character come under question when the master does come back and inspect watch because the master is not coming back for his money he's coming back for you it was never about the money it was always about how the money was going to change your heart and what his investment in you was going to do in this thing he gave you and how you respond accordingly you've been around people that money changed them for the worse but you've also been around people that when god did bless them they did exactly what they said they were gonna do right it's always a character assessment that the master's coming back for for the one that he gave uh five talents well done good and faithful servant some theologians interpret this as a um as a look into heaven that you've been faithful over a few i'm going to reward you with much enter into the joy of the lord the truth of it is this is not just a divine or a an illustration that speaks to a day to come when we get to heaven it's actually speaking about the joy that we enter into when we not just serve him with everything but when we're found trustworthy with what we've been given can god trust you with what he already gave you right the one that has two double the gate four told the same thing now watch here's here's what i'm about to close it out the one that he gave one to the very first thing he does is make excuses for his mismanagement he says i knew the the first place he references is his limited knowledge of the one who gave to him he only sees him from one point of reference so he says i knew you were shrewd and you made your money off the backs of other people watch because whenever you don't know how to manage appropriately what you already got you will quickly try to throw the blame on people that had nothing to do with it i would dare to say that many of our money problems are stemming from putting making people responsible they had no part to play i don't care how your daddy did money you got a whole new start i don't care how your household managed money when you was a child you got an opportunity to start all over again and you can't keep blaming what was for what is you've got to write a new narrative everybody shout this is my story like i'm writing a new story for how my money gonna look because my children got to do something that i ain't done but they can't do it lest i do it first i gotta write a new story so i don't have time to blame those who had no part to play the only part the master played was he blessed him ain't it amazing how the one that does the blessing is the one that gets blamed for the mismanagement it's a whole other sermon but here it is the master says if you knew i was as mean and shrewd as you said you could at least put my money in a bank if you weren't going to flip it you could have done something with it and he says but watch this he says but because you are lazy you are lazy and you are in essence good for nothing i'll take what i've given to you and i'm going to bless somebody else with it the worst thing you can hear as it pertains to your resources is that you are too lazy to make more with it that there is one commodity that we all have equally in this time are you doing with what you've already been blessed with and how are you trusting the god that's building you for tomorrow to help you manage what it is you're about to walk into because here's what he'll do whatever you don't want to manage right he'll give it to somebody else it's give and take the idea that you sign on for five years somebody else will use it the concept that he gave you three years ago that you should have already started he'll bless somebody else with somebody else will take it what is it that you should be doing now that laziness and slothfulness has gripped your time what are you gazing at in the lives of others without doing in your own life what is it that god is calling you to properly manage today because if you do it today it's going to bless those generations to come but they can't be blessed on the back of your laziness what ideas have multi-million dollar revenue generating power that you're gonna have to see it in the hundreds before you see it in the millions that you're too proud to see it at baby level to let it fully mature everything that god does has a fullness of time to it so when god makes an investment he's he's not he's not looking from heaven expecting you to be a overnight sensation he wants to see how well you steward seasons when it's high and when it's slow when it's in between and it's everywhere else but where you want it to be how well do you steward when it's not going your way are you allowing what he gave you to come into his full maturation or can he give what he gave you take it and give it to somebody else and watch them do what you failed to do some of y'all have what y'all have seen it on tv commercials i thought about that five years ago i don't know why i didn't do it man i can't start this business now because such and such already started and i i had this idea three years ago you know i would do this program but now they've already done it they already wrote a song that sounds like this they've done a book that's titled like this i can't do it because it's been done the truth of it is god can give you resources talent whatever it's how will you manage today what you've been blessed with what are you gonna do to better manage and better invest in what he's already trusted you with real simple prayer for you today father you've trust us with riches beyond our wildest imagination you've given us resources that we could not count and because your holy spirit is at work in us we are tapped into resources that exceed our wildest imagination holy spirit i'm asking you as a well of living water for the dry mind and the dry heart and the dry creativity of the one that you live on the inside of what are the dry places so that your investment will make full sense father i thank you that because you have given us your spirit there is no reason for us to ever live beneath our me but beneath your call your means your desire for us but there is a space where we can trust you wildly again to begin to build and do and create what we have not seen father thank you that we're not going to waste another investment we're going to trust you with everything you've poured on the inside of us and we're going to see it through to the end father i thank you that again because holy spirit is living water that there will not be damn ideas that derive from our thinking that we're going to see ourselves and the way you position that's completely different than we ever have before and lord we trust you to be everything that you've been you are jehovah jireh the lord who provides but in the midst of revision you also give us ways of creativity ways of escape you open doors no man can shut i'm asking you for every heart under the sound of my voice right now be all that you've been into even more and for that will love you thank you for ever and ever in jesus name amen if you believe that you're about to manage what you've been given on a whole new level what god has trusted you with is about to go through the roof i want you just real quick drop a favorite emoji drop it real quick i'm trusting god that what you've seen you you just at the tip of the iceberg and what he's about to do is about to go through the roof i believe it to be so he's going to give you strategies for your money he's going to give you strategy for your relationships he's going to teach you how to curate new plans and new ideas he's going to show you how to bring the life has already been deposited on the inside of you and you're not going to mimic anybody you've already seen you're going to be authentic in how you do it and it's going to be real to how god has destined and designed you it is so in jesus name if today you need the jesus that we believe in and the jesus we preach about you've never accepted him as lord and savior today our hearts your heart is open our hearts are open and we believe that god wants you right where you are just as you are i believe today the power of the scripture that if you confess with your mouth the lord jesus and believe in your heart that god is raising from the dead it doesn't take god all day in one moment he can save and change your life and i believe today for many of you many of you that are watching this is a moment where god wants to do something completely different he wants to show you that the way that you've been going is not the way that he designed for you but if you give him your heart in full surrender he's going to do something that blows your entire mind if you've never accepted jesus as lord real quick if that's you and you want somebody to connect with you in prayer if you just want to join a community that's going to help bring you to life and help show you or be a bridge for you to become everything that god has called you to be i want you to text belong atl to 9400 again that's belong atl to zero 9400 and you're gonna receive several prompts that instruct you on exactly what to do next we just want to know that you have connected with even more than a community of believers you've connected with the christ of the community we simply exist to be a bridge for people to experience and belong to christ in community we just we're just the gateway we're the thing that you cross over to connect with him and we believe we know we trust that what god has done today in this service has helped bridge you to him we love you i thank you and i'll see y'all matter of fact we we live next week i'll see y'all next sunday i can't wait i love y'all see you soon [Music] [Music] you

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Length: 103min 5sec (6185 seconds)

Published: Sun Feb 27 2022