Tested Are The Blessed | Pastor Chris Durso

welcome to the Christ Tabernacle YouTube page where a church that believes that every saint has a past and every sinner has a future so excited for the message that you're about to hear be blessed and enjoy I'm so excited that we get to we get to be in this series we start a series last week called blessed or the Saints I don't know about you but I feel blessed though I woke up feeling blessed I look at our church I'm like man I'm blessed I'm a I'm a part of the greatest church in the world I have the two greatest parents in the world who happen to be our senior pastors like I'm blessed I'm blessed I'm blessed I got to celebrate my my wife's birthday on November 1st she celebrated her birthday and I'm blessed I look at her and we're about to celebrate 14 years of marriage 14 years of marriage on November 13 I'm blessed she's blessed married to me I think about my life and I'm like man there's so much to be grateful for amen I got my daughter up here she wants to be in church my my son is at our junior high classes and like man we're blessed blessed blessed blessed them I'm excited that I get to talk to you and we get to operate in the blessings of God I want you to open up with me to your Bibles to the book of Malachi the book of Malachi the third chapter I'm gonna be reading verses 6 through 10 verses 6 through 10 if you're taking notes prayerfully you are we've actually been encouraging the church to start taking notes like never before and take notes knowing that you're gonna share them you're gonna share them on the internet you're gonna share them on social media you're gonna share them with family members you're gonna share them with friends you're gonna text them to people you're you're gonna share them because you want people to know what God is saying to us as a church and I titled this message you ready for this it's a good one tested or the blest I know I know that's good right there tested or the blessed I want you to write that down test it are the blessed we're gonna start off by reading from Malachi the 3rd chapter verses 6 through 10 this is the end tea translation it says this I am the Lord and I do not change I am the Lord and I do not change so so let's just set the record straight I am that I am I am the same yesterday today and forever I am the Lord and I do not change yeah but you're reading from the Old Testament it's ok old or new because I am the Lord and I do not change this is why you descendants of Jacob are not already destroyed how good is that in other words this is why I didn't kill you because I don't change and I'm and I'm merciful and I'm loving and I'm I'm gracious and I offer I offer moments of repentance like this one and I offer mercy I give it out freely I'm I'm abundant in joy and kindness I know how to forgive it's why you're still alive that's what he's saying you're still alive because I don't change I am Who I am I'm a loving God I'm I'm a merciful God I'm a generous God ever since the days of your ancestors you have scorned my decrees and fail to obey them in other words there's a way that I expect you to live and you have chosen not to live this way you have chosen not to follow the decrees that I've put in place for you now he says now return to me now get away from me this is an opportunity for these people to repent now return to me and I will return to you says the Lord of heavens armies but you ask this is so great but you ask how could we return when we have never gone away they're oblivious they don't even realize that they've gone away from God pay attention because if you've been saved for any amount of time you might fall into this category if you know how to do Church and you come to church and you don't miss a Sunday and you don't miss a one Wednesday and your social media name is I love Jesus 24/7 and you got the t-shirt you got the tattoo of John 3:16 and you got all that going for you pay attention because there are people that think they're good with God and they're not says how could we return when we've never gone away then he says should people cheat God yet you've cheated me but you asked what do you mean when did we ever cheat you you know what that tells me that what God is about to say to them they didn't even realize was a really big deal to God and because it wasn't a big deal to them they thought it wasn't a big deal to God you could not like birthdays you could not like celebrations but if you're married to someone that does and you forget their anniversary and you forget their birthday and if they get upset at you and you think you could say back what's the big deal it's not that big of a deal to me well we have a couch you could sleep on I'm kidding I'm kidding it's a big deal pay attention to what's a big deal to God you have cheated me of the tithes and the offering the tithe and the offering tithe actually means 10% it's it's a tenth it's its tenth of what you bring in so 10 percent of what comes in belongs to God that's the tithe notice that the tithe and the offering are separate because the offering is not the time you offer the tithe to God amen you give it to God amen but the offering is when you give and beyond or separate from the 10% that you are already marked to give to God so we're in the middle of a capital campaign that is your offering what you don't do when you give every week and we're going to take an offering in a few moments our weekly offering what you don't do when you're giving for your weekly tie they say oh I'm gonna take this tithe and I'm gonna give it to the capital campaign no the two are separate there's the tithe and then there's the offering what's the tithe tithe is 10% of whatever comes in for you you give to God so if you get paid once a week you give 10% once a week to God if you get paid once a month you give once a month 10% you got if you get paid once a year that's a really bad deal so he says you have cheated me of the tithes and the offerings due to me and listen verse 9 you are under a curse for your whole nation has been cheating me verse 10 bring all the tithes into the storehouse so there will be enough food in my temple if you do says the Lord of heavens armies I will open the windows of heaven for you I will pour out a blessing so great you won't have enough room to take it in and try it then he says put me to the test that is the only place in the Bible where God invites us to test him it's the only part in the Bible that we can ever quote God and say God I'm gonna test you in this area I'm gonna be obedient to what you're asking me to do god I'm a test to you it's the only part in the Bible put me to the test you know as somebody that has finished high school and then my fair bit of colleges went to four of them one of them twice I'm not a doctor I've taken a lot of tests I've been around a lot of moments where I had to take this you know what I realized when it comes to taking a test there are several different types of test takers everyone's a different type of test taker there are the there are the prepared test taker and he prepared test takers and he prepared my daughter's right here in the front row she's a prepared test taker she prepares herself she gets ready for every test there are the prepared test takers there are the unprepared test takers you know I'm talking about those that you knew a test was coming but you didn't think you really should study so you decided when I go I'm gonna pray and I'm gonna pray one of those prayers God if you allow all of this knowledge to come to my remembrance I will serve you for the rest of my life you know what I'm talking about the unprepared test taker and then there's the unaware test taker come on how many of you love the unaware test taker there they're walking in and they don't have the same feelings or emotions as everybody else everybody else is shook and scared because they know this test is about to be hard but they're unaware so they just come in like everything's all good like what's up man that's a great day it's a Friday and they don't even get it and then all of a sudden they realize and then they hit with them that's today you know what I mean like that's you know like that underwear you know what I realize is that unawareness is a dangerous thing man when you're unaware when you're unaware of what you should be doing next to what you should be doing you could find yourself in a very dangerous territory pastor Ralph preached brilliant last week about what time it is and we actually have a little countdown and that countdown in the middle is the countdown until our generosity offer and the reason why we wanted to put the time in front of you is because we wanted you to know what time it is every Sunday is a day that we touch this season that we're currently in is where we store up our offerings and we get ready for the capital campaign will we always be in a season of an offering no as a church this is actually one of the what the second time of the third time that we've ever done this in our 34 year history but right now between now and November 24th it is time for us to get ready to give an offer from so time is as me and as me and pastor Ralph we're actually meeting a few weeks ago he was in my house and nobody else was in my house my dog Jack was at the groomers my wife was at work kids we're at school and Ralph was just laid up on my couch he had his laptop on his belly he was like this I don't even know how he does that cuz it hurts your neck but he was he was like this he's he must have really long fingers by the way he was just typing he was typing away and we're talking and I'm not lying down I'm I'm kind of pacing around and we're we're brainstorming and we're talking about things together and it hit me that Ralph could lay out like that because there's nobody else here but had the house been a different environment I would have been like what are you doing let me help further make this point gyrus since you're gorgeous and I love you I need you to come up here you're gonna come up here because you're my favorite cook so I need you to cook you're gonna stand over here in the kitchen okay this is the kitchen right here and I wanted to put you here so I could say to you what's cooking good-looking no okay okay yeah stand right here you can stand right don't cook yet just just stand right there uh Maria Maria come up here Maria Maria needs you to come up here because I don't know anyone else that enjoys folding like you do come here she loves to fold okay so you're gonna you're gonna fold here you're gonna take this stuff out and I want you to I want you to like you know wave it and yeah nope don't so you're gonna stand here but not yet okay not yet Chloe come up here you're my daughter come up here little I'll come up here it's funny that we still call you little owl when you're like taller than everybody okay you two you stay right here Chloe you stand right here you two are in a fight it's okay because if she was like your real sister you would fight her okay I I know this because I have a son and he does this okay so you two are fighting but this is how you're gonna fight like it don't don't hit him all right Chloe here's usually gonna do this because that's how kids fight do that can I do that yeah you do that - yeah at the same time okay not yet not yet not yet that's enough that's enough okay so we got we got that I need a um oh I need a loud I need a loud talker who could I have Daphne I want you to be a loud talker come up here come up here grab your husband's phone and grab your phone or something just give her something yeah definitely come up here Daphne you're gonna stand right here and you're gonna be loud okay you ready for this death you were born ready I love it one of the funniest people on earth definitely standing right here you're gonna face out and when I say go you're gonna be loud okay okay when I say three we're gonna play some noises you're gonna fold you're gonna talk loud you're gonna cook because barrel you cook and you're gonna fight don't knock him out 1 2 3 go stop how ridiculous would that be stop folding you're ruining my sermon it's fine how ridiculous would it be how ridiculous would it be for someone to come in the house while all that's going on it's my house live in this house part of this house and instead of getting involved there's a billion different places that I could help I can keep the kids from killing each other I can help my wife in the kitchen there's some extra laundry to fold but yet I think it's the appropriate time to relax thank you guys you could grab a seat can I tell you that it is not the time to kick back and relax it is not the time to live obiviously as you're a part of our church this is the season where you get involved this is the season where you don't just show up and sit and receive a good word but it's a season where you activate the word that you've heard and now you start to serve on the team you start to worship passionately you start to invite others and here we go you start to tithe consistently because if you walk into this house on a weekly basis while all this is going on and remove yourself from being a part of the capital campaign or remove yourself from giving your 10% what you are doing is you are taking advantage of the house but you're not taking ownership of the house there is a great difference between owning something and renting something if I'm just writing something if I'm just using it for a short time to get by well then it will just help me but I'm not really gonna put in any into it because it doesn't matter but when I'm an owner I care about the house I care about what's going on in the house I'm concerned with this store house I need to make you aware that after 34 years we've done a lot of things great we have fed the homeless we worship we pray but you know we don't do well we don't tithe consistently on a weekly basis our tithes and our offerings will fluctuate they go up and they'll go down they'll go up and they'll go down and what you don't realize is is that your tithe is your test God is testing you to show you where you are see this is the beautiful thing about a test when I take a test it's not only showing the teacher where I'm at it's showing me where I'm at when it comes to God the Father he knows where we're at and he wants to show us that when we choose to deny his decrees when we choose to say no to his will into his way when he what he has told us to do what we are doing every time is flunking miserably it's time to take the test it's time to step up to the plate it's time to stop just walking in and relaxing like like everything is all good and looking around listening and thinking well they don't really need me they have enough singers well they don't really need me they have enough people serving on the host team well they don't really need me they have enough people in the production ministry well they don't really need me to give my money because look around the lights are on the screens are there they must be good when in actuality that's not true but most importantly it's not why we gave in the first place we give because we were instructed to we give because God commands us to we serve because we want to be the arms and the feet the hands of Jesus that's why we give that's why we serve that's why we play the role that we play it's time to it's time to take a test the beautiful thing about this test is that God says test me when you take the test of tithing he says test my generosity because if you think I'm gonna leave you where you're at you're dead wrong I am going to provide for you way more than you could possibly understand I want to take the next few moments and I want to give you three points when it comes to the tithing test but before I do can I just establish two things one I want to establish that tithing it's in the Bible people will argue that tithing is an Old Testament concept mainly they will argue that tithing is something that is just a part of the law of Moses and you could say that and sound profound but all you're really doing is exposing how ignorant you are of the Bible because one of the first times we ever hear about tithing is with Abraham 2,500 plus years before the law is introduced mckissick dec talks about tithing amor in the story of mucosal Dec 500 years before the law is introduced yes the law does tell us to tithe but the law was fulfilled through Jesus it was fulfilled but it does not mean that you throw away the principles of the law you know what other principles we've learned from the law of Moses do not steal if we're going with your rationale am I able to steal someone steal from someone and it be okay now and when I get caught up like no it's not a big deal it was under the law of Moses says don't commit adultery imagine that get caught pass the crisps cheats on his wife hey guys not that big of a deal suddenly the law law fulfilled we're good why is it when it comes to this principle when God tells us to tithe we're looking for arguments to get away from him when in reality we should be looking to take part in it because of everything he's given us so one tithing has been in the Bible it was not introduced to us by the law and number two it's existed way beyond the law Jesus talks about tithing look at Luke 11 42 it says what sorrow awaits you Pharisees for you are careful to tithe even in the tiniest income from your herb gardens but you ignore justice and the love of God you should tithe yes but do not ignore the more important things what is he saying he's saying there are things that are really important like justice and mercy and helping the poor those things are really important and what he's correcting them on is that they have been ignoring that someone could argue yeah but pence that's what the verse is about it's not about tithing but it is because he says but tithe Jesus this is red-letter talk right here Jesus says but tithes but but give it anyway you know what I realized or what I think if Jesus were here he would be saying the opposite to us here's what I mean here he's talking to these men because they are not concerning themselves with justice and the love of God like they should we are a church that concerns ourselves with justice and love we we have the kid we have the community outreach to the COC we feed the homeless we we care about those but mental health we offer free counseling we we feed we feed people we provide we provide a furniture for families we do all those things but when it comes to the tithe we've been very inconsistent as a church and my prayer for you my prayer for all of you is that you catch this revelation and you take hold of the test that God has placed in front of you another thing to read is Hebrews chapter 7 verses 1 through 10 the reason why that is so important is that because this book was written after the law was fulfilled after Jesus died and resurrected that was the moment that the law was fulfilled there was a man who would become Paul but his name was Saul Saul was still not saved Saul gets saved becomes a follower of Jesus his name turns to Paul then he's responsible for almost 50 percent of our New Testament one of the books he writes is Hebrews and in the book of Hebrews chapter 7 verses 1 through 10 he talks about tithing and he talks about Amakusa dec and even says this in verse 8 here mortal men received tithes here mortal men received times you're not going to want to miss this but there he receives them do my times make it a heaven Jesus sees my times here on this earth mortal men receive types but there he receives them of whom it is witnessed that he lives it is time to get aware and what you think is not a big deal listen is a very big deal to God these people this community was operating doing all the things that believers do and they thought they were in right standings with God but they weren't why because they refused to give just because tithing isn't a big deal to you doesn't mean it's not a big deal to God I want to give you three points about the test of tithing number one write this down tithing is a test and God expects you to ace it every time tithing is a test and God expects you to ace it every time what does that mean that means you give every time you get paid you give 10% every time because every time you get paid listen it is a test test of what tests of your heart are you gonna put God first do you realize that that our Bible one of the main focuses throughout the whole Bible the the central theme of the Bible is stewardship God cares so much about stewardship II he cares about how you handle things how you handle your marriage how you handle your family how you handle your finances like like take this for instance there are five hundred versus five hundred plus on faith 500 plus verses on prayer 2300 plus verses on stewardship of the 30 power bowls 18 of them are about stewardship God will build his church but he expects us to steward it especially when it comes to our finances tithing is a test that you take every time you get paid Malachi 3:10 says this bring all the tithes into the storehouse so there will be enough food in my temple bring all the tithes bring all the tithes into the storehouse so there will be enough food in my temple if you do says the Lords of heavens armies I will open up the windows of heaven for you I will pour out a blessing so great you won't have enough room to take it in try it and put me to the test if you were to look at Malachi 3:10 you would realize that when he says all he means all he says bring all the 10% of all the people that they tithe bring it into the storehouse because every person matters bring in all of them the whole ten percent of all the people into the storehouse what is the storehouse the church bring the whole ten percent into the church so there listen our missional minded he is so there will be enough food in my temple what does that mean so that he could provide for those that come to the temple I don't know about you but when non-believers come into this church people that just don't know were people that are on a journey whatever you want to label them but people that that don't call this church home or maybe don't call Jesus Savior when they come I want them to be so blessed by the abundance of what we have so that we could help them so that we could walk them along on the journeys that they're on so that we could provide for them so that we could show them the mercy and the beauty of God I was thinking about how we as a we as a church we agreed that it's important that we don't we don't ask our church to do something that our staff isn't doing fair so how could I ask a church to tithe if the staff that works for the church is entitled so am I go oh that sounds that sounds harsh I don't think it's harsh at all because I would do this in any other area if I'm talking to the church about purity I want to make sure that the staff is living pure amen if we're gonna talk about faithfulness I want to make sure that the staff is being faithful how could I ask a church to do something and then the staff not be not be those that embody it the most so when it comes to our pastors and our staff we want to make sure that everything we're saying to you that we are leading from the front so my wife and I we're meeting someone that was in Thailand and right away this person broke down crime this person started to say that they felt like they didn't have enough money to tithe and that and that money was tight for them but then they said actually tithe for the first time this past Sunday so for the first time she tithe only three days prior which was a beautiful moment because now my wife and I got to talk with this person and encourage this person for making the right decision we then prayed with this person and offered help we may be figuring out a budget what should we cut out and when I say we're good at this my wife is good at this sure she'll cut out anything to make sure that we're on track you come home no TVs no light nothing just like the waters off like yep get the bucket huh you know didn't even know there was a well so we offer that to this person after we leave the meeting we celebrate the person for starting this journey of tithing wife turns to me says I feel like the Holy Spirit said that I'm supposed to send this person money so I did and I thought how how beautiful is that that this person that we're meeting with who's been scared to tithe because they didn't think they could afford it is now being blessed by the very same people that sat with them you know Robert Morris says Rob Moore says there are two types of testimonies hears testimony number one of people that tithe I'm blessed because I taught as a tither I'm blessed here's another testimony about the tithe I can't afford at a time you know what he says he says you'll never be able to afford to tithe until you start tithing you'll never be able to afford to tithe until you start tithing why because if you tithe and you put God to the test what's gonna happen the windows of heaven are going to open up and they're gonna pour down on your life what does that tell me it tells me that God could do more with your 90% then you could do with your hundred percent on your own if you're holding money because you're thinking you're gonna figure this out you're actually stifling the blessings of God for you now I say that but I want to be careful here because I do not want to be the church that gives to get point number to write this down tithing is not transactional it is transformational it is not transactional it is transformational I'm not giving because I get I'm giving listen because of everything I received because of what Jesus did for me on Calvary how he died how he bled how he took my place how he gives me an abundance of mercy and love and kindness and he gives me community and he gives me a church you know the Bible says that all good things come from God so anything that's good in your life whether it's a spouse or a child or a home all of it you have because of God that job that you love so much that job that pays the bills for you you got it because of God I read this I read Malachi I'm not going to lie and I go to myself but even if it didn't have that last part even if it didn't have the if you do says the Lord of heavens armies I will open up the windows of heaven for you even if it didn't have that we should still want to give I want to be that kind of church the kind of church that says because God says so and that's it that's where the conversation ends because God said so I'll give you want me to tithe outside you want me to give ten percent I'll give ten percent God you put it on my heart to give somebody a hundred dollars or two hundred dollars you put on my heart to offer this person a ride home each and every week although they never say thank you that's what you want me to do God okay I'll do it not what am I going to get in return but because you told me to do it then I'll do see if we're that kind of church oh we're gonna have so much fun serving God the conversations get so much easier you're not just giving because you're hoping that you're gonna get something out of it you're giving because there was a father who tithe his son who offered his son to take our place and we are so overwhelmed that this Jesus would die in our place that we say whenever you want from this point forward we'll give you you if I'm single you want me to wait till I'm married to have sex sure I'll do that because that's what you're requiring of me God if as a married man you want me to love my wife the same way the same way that you love the church okay I'm gonna do that God God do you want me to raise my children to serve you and live for you you want me to operate in joy and kindness because you axed I will because he gave its ready enough because I've been transformed by the surrender and the mercy and the grace of Jesus I say take my life take all of it whatever you want we have to move from the so that to the because if I do this for you so that I'll be blessed it's my wife's birthday if I buy her a gift so that she'll give me a kiss that's not really a good marriage what's a good marriage I buy her a gift because I'm so in love with her and I'm so grateful for her life I buy her a gift as a result I'm getting that kiss you know what I mean like it's we have to we have to move from us so that to of because I'm not coming to church giving so that I'll get bus I get to preach a lot around the world and there places where I preach and while I'm preaching people come up and they'll throw money on the stage and what they're saying is that they're sowing into the word and every time I see that I think to myself why doesn't someone stop them because that's not biblical I don't I don't I don't I don't get that see if you just abide by the Word of God and do everything that it says then guess what you're gonna be blessed and you're gonna get everything thank you that God has your way we have to demystify all these things that we've put on the Word of God because every time we read about someone in the Bible that's trying to pay for an anointing that is trying to pay for a blessing we see and read that they'll get rebuked you don't have to sow into my ministry you have to sow into the ministry that you are a part of because God has asked you to and then when that happens guess what blessed are the Saints blessed are the people of God that follow and live according to the way that I've commanded you to live you are not a saint because you showed up on a Sunday you are a saint because you surrendered your life to the savior that surrendered his life for you blessed or the Saints every time you get paid it's a test to see where you stand testing or the blessed I say God I put you first always I'll put you first always up I'll do what you're asking me to do not because of what I'll get but because of what you've already done for me and the crazy part is he still says I'll open up the windows of heaven he didn't have to do he already sent Jesus he already gives us he turned to me within me we we don't we already get to be in his presence and worship Him that's already enough but he still says but guess what because I'm rich in mercy I'm gonna offer you something beautiful think about how he's correcting these people he's correcting them offering them a moment of repentance and is still offering to bless them what number three I want you to write this down tithing is a test and when you test God with your tithe he a sit every time tithing is a test and when you test God with your tithe he a tsa's it every time test me in this test me in this band you could come up please test me in this bring all the tithes into the storehouse so there will be enough food in my temple if you do says the Lord of heavens armies I will open the windows of heaven for you I will pour out a blessing so great you won't have enough room to take it in try it put me to the test yeah but he said that a really long time ago you think he still means it he does because he's the God that never changes and if history proves us anything he's never failed this test before he's not gonna start now I heard a pastor share this illustration that I'm about to steal pastor Griffin can you come up here Pastor David you come up here Kito come up here yep you three awesome men just come stand right here stand right here that's the griffon you stand here please face out yep Pastor Dave you stand here move over a little bit no kid I want you over here you over here yeah thank you okay let's say I was going on in an extended ministry trip months I was going to be gone and I wanted to make sure that my wife was taken care of so instead of sending the money directly to her I send it to these men so I tell these men hey man 1 I'm gonna send you $10,000 a month all you need to do is take a thousand of that 10,000 and give it to my wife each month you get to keep the rest that's a good deal man number two I want you to do the same thing I'm gonna send 10,000 every month give my wife 1,000 keep the rest man number 3 same deal give you 10,000 take a thousand give it a gyruss keep nine for you a few months go by call gyruss on the phone with her I'm talking our how I normally talk to her hey sweet thing how you doing daddy's coming home soon you know how we normally talk it's how I talk to each other she's so mad at me right now for saying hey you gettin the money I sent you well yeah in the first of every month man number one he sends me the thousand dollars of the first day of every month at the same time so kind gets it to me right away never have to worry about man number two oh man number two man he actually sends two thousand two thousand every month why mm I don't know I know you only told him a thousand I reminded him of that but he wants to keep sending two thousand that's what he said to me two thousand every month wow that's amazing what about man number three whoo we got to talk about man number three man number three is well the first month he gave me 800 second month he gave me 400 and I haven't heard from him a month three wouldn't that be frustrating for me as a husband yeah wouldn't that be frustrated come on side a trick test it's an easy test wouldn't that be frustrating cuz I love my wife and I want to make sure she's taken care of that's my that's my bride who's the church church is the Bride of Christ and God says I'll build my church but you steward it here's how one you want to steward it I'm going away for a little bit one day we're gonna be together in glory but until that moment happens here's what I want you to do I want you to take care of the bride I want you to take 10% every time it comes in and I want you to give it to me and here's what I'm hoping I'm hoping that every time I get a report it's a good one thank you guys thank you again for watching we pray that you were blessed by the message and if you were encouraged we would actually subscribe to the page and even spread the news to your friends about what God did for you through what you just witnessed we'd also love for you to prayerfully consider partnering with us financially and if you felt led to do so you could go on our website Christ hibernacula org and you could give there we love you be blessed you

Channel: Saints Church

Views: 3,802

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Keywords: Sermon, Church, Christ Tabernacle, New York, New York City, Queens, Brooklyn, Pastor, Message, Preach, Gospel, Jesus, Saints, Saints Church, saints church ny, saints church nyc, saints church new york

Id: CtmjFXgnvTU

Length: 42min 54sec (2574 seconds)

Published: Tue Nov 05 2019