That name, the First Baptist Bible Church is a little bit of a tongue twister. Brother Abels will be glad to know we're getting ready to rename it the Church of the Burning Stump. And so that's what we're, come up with something. Good to be here again. I appreciate it. Brother Abel is like, I'm going to step back up now. But I'm glad to be here. Thank you for the invitation, Brother Abel. Thank you for the hospitality. I'll tell you what, we love coming to this church. We love the folks here. And I want to say to the visitors, if you're first time visiting, come back when Brother Abel is preaching. He's one of my favorite preachers, and that's no doubt about that. And so I know you'll be blessed. And good to be here. I'm excited about being a part of the Faith Promise Missions. missions, as you know, is the heartbeat of God. And I feel very deeply about that as well. I just wanted to see some churches started. I think that's what we're supposed to be doing. We're supposed to be out there starting churches. And we were able to do that in Florida. We started four churches out of the church there in Wesley Chapel. And the Lord just blessed. I think that's what we're supposed to do. And so just to be a part of this and actually to be invited to be a part of this is just exciting for us. And I'm excited that this is the day, you know, Lord willing, I know it's throughout this month, but I understand what Brother Abels is saying. And I had that same problem and not problem, but I had the same situation in Florida. I'm like, no one would turn cards in on Sunday. Faith promised. I'm like, going to have to drop all of our missionaries." And then they came in and it was usually more than what happened. And so I finally had to get used to that too, Brother Abels. I'm like, OK, I'm not going to worry about that. So in Arizona at the Church of the Burning Stump we're trying to... I've got to stop that right now. But there in First Baptist we're trying to like, OK, let's do it today. Let's do it today. Let's turn them in today. And also I want to thank Brother Mallard for some confirmation of the Lord's will this morning. I was going to preach. If you'll turn with me in Matthew chapter 26. Let's go ahead and turn there. Matthew chapter 26 if you're able to stand. If you won't mind, I was going to preach out of this passage of Scripture, or my second option that I was weighing heavily was about four leprous men in 2 Kings chapter 7. And early this morning I got confirmation on this passage. And so thank the Lord that He knows what He's doing. Matthew chapter 26 and verse 6. Bible says, now when Jesus was in Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, there came unto him a woman, having an alabaster box of very precious ointment, and poured it on his head, as he sat at meat. But when his disciples saw it, they had indignation, saying, To what purpose is this waste? For this ointment might have been sold for much, and given to the poor. When Jesus understood it, He said unto them, Why trouble ye the woman? for she hath wrought a good work upon Me. For ye have the poor always with you, but me ye have not always. For in that she hath poured this ointment on my body, she did it for my burial. Verily I say unto you, wheresoever this gospel shall be preached in the whole world, there shall also this that this woman hath done be told for a memorial of her. Thank you. You may be seated this morning. So I want you to pay attention. I'm going to kind of try to move along here just a little bit this morning. Today, again, Lord willing, filling out the faith promise commitment cards and asking the Lord what you would have Him what he would have you give for the next 52 weeks as it pertains to Faith Promise Missions. And I agree with Brother Abel's wholeheartedly. You don't have to fill out a card, but it just certainly helps with the budget and knowing and having the church being able to know what Abel will do for missions for this next year. And that's why it's called, you know, we step out in prayer by faith and fill out this card. And just what Brother Mallard said even in Sunday school is just, you know, not one penny less of what the Lord wants you to do and not one penny more. praying and seeking diligently his face to be involved in and I think that that's super important that that that there's be a hundred percent participation I don't understand why we cannot all be involved with faith promise missions I was thinking during Sunday school if there's I don't know how many families make up Brian Baptist Church but let's just say there's 50 there ought to be 50 There actually ought to be 60-some or 70 cards come in because you can have teenagers with part-time jobs and so forth and so on that can get involved. There just ought to be participation in this great commission that God has called Bram Baptist Church to fulfill. And so, again, just one more time, this is different than the tithe, and I'm not going to spend a lot of time here, but this is different than the tithe, which really doesn't require much faith. Giving of the tithe requires two simple things, a calculator and obedience. But giving above and beyond the tithe for an offering such as Faith Promise Missions requires faith in God and to provide that offering and just to be faithful to give what He has given us. And it's exciting, I've been given the Faith Promise Missions for over 27 years and God has always provided. I just, with extreme excitement, we enter into our Faith Promise Missions and we just had ours at the end of January, your pastor preached it and actually I mentioned I think this last week that all three of the missionaries were the same missionaries that we had, so it was kind of like a reunion. But God has always provided. And so the hope will be that you'll be challenged from God's Word to help fulfill the Great Commission to be involved in that, to hold the ropes for these missionaries. Now the title of the message this morning is Extravagant for Christ. Extravagant for Christ. I mentioned that I was going to tell you how to give. I think I accidentally said I'm going to tell you how much to give. I can't certainly do that, but I can tell you or help us to tell you how to give. And the title is Extravagant for Christ. Webster defines extravagance as giving beyond reasonable limits. That's what extravagance means. It's a compound word derived from extra, which means beyond, and vagary, which means to wander. And so extravagance literally means to wander beyond or to go outside the limits. To wander beyond or go outside the limits. Now the word extravagance, however, is most always used in a negative connotation. You know, when you use the word extravagance, that's extravagant. It has a negative connotation to that. It's usually associated with an act or a purchase of something excessive or wasteful. For example, if you, you know, some say, well, you've spent an extravagant amount of time playing golf. No, that's dumb. That actually, some would say that, but that's, let me come up with another one. Some would say, if you spend an extravagant amount of money on a purse, you're overdoing it. And I'd say, amen, that's exactly right. So why are some things extravagant? Because in the view of some, the cost far outweighs the value of the object. You follow me on that? It's extravagant because in the view of some, the cost far outweighs the value of the object that you're buying. Now, but what is seen as extravagant by one person may not seem so extravagant by someone else. I mean, that's just a fact. I might spend, and I don't know why I'm talking about golf. It's right here in my notes. I might spend $300 on a golf club, and I think it's well worth it. Amen, it is well worth it right there. Someone else might think that $15 on a golf club is too much. You don't have to amen all the time. I'm just saying, just only when it's appropriate. I don't know. I'm carrying a burden in Sunday school. So anyway, now I do, I think that, I personally think that $6 for a cup of coffee is way too much money. I mean, like, you know, there's a McDonald's, I'm almost a senior, you can get it for like a buck 90 or something like that, they almost give it to you at a certain age, and so, you know, $6 for a cup of coffee is too much, and others will get two of those a day. Two of those a day. Did you realize, by the way, that's $84 a week for missions? But at any rate, let me go on. Because Dina's over there going... Just kidding. So here's what it does. Here's what it does. Basically, folks, it all... Listen to me. Basically, it all comes down to what you deem is valuable. That's what it really boils down to. What do you think is valuable? What do you believe is valuable? Now, what we call extravagant has everything to do with our value system. With my value system and your value system, what we feel is important and what we feel is precious, that's what it's going to boil down to. Now in our text this morning we find a good illustration of this principle as we find an extravagant act of worship towards the Savior. The Gospel of John identifies this woman as Mary the sister of Martha and Lazarus. And we know Mary to be a devoted follower of Jesus Christ, she certainly was. And she was as well as her brother and sister, they loved to have the Lord stay at their home when He traveled by and all that good things. But why the extravagant gift? Why would she do something like this? We understand from the scriptures that during Jesus' three-year ministry, Mary had truly been blessed by Jesus, hadn't she? For example, she had been forgiven, she had been saved from her sins. That's a pretty important part right there. I mean, that's something that she could be very thankful for. She had been taught eternal truths by the Savior. Jesus Christ had raised her brother Lazarus from the dead. I'm just saying she was the recipient of many blessings at the hand of the Savior. So Mary comes to Jesus after truly she had received much and she was extremely thankful. So she comes to our Lord and our Savior with an alabaster box of ointment and pours it on His head. Look in verse 6, it says, Now when Jesus was in Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, there came unto Him a woman having an alabaster box, we know it to be Mary, a very precious ointment, and poured it on His head. as he sat at meat. Verse 8 says, But when his disciples saw it, they had indignation, saying, To what purpose is this waste? For this ointment might have been sold for much and given to the poor. Now we understand, and of course you've been reading your Bible much or heard any messages certainly on this, we know that this alabaster box of ointment was very, very expensive. I mean it was really expensive and the Gospel of Mark tells us that the ointment was spikenard and most likely imported from India. In another passage, Judas recognizes, of course he would, recognized its worth as 300 pence, which is roughly about a year's labor, year's worth of salary at that point in time. So what did you make last year? You don't have to answer out loud. But what did you make last year? Well, that's what this ointment was worth. That was the sacrifice that she had made. What did you make? I mean, that's a lot of money. It might not be a lot of money, but it's a lot of money to you for sure. So we simply just need to understand that this was probably Mary's most valuable possession. I mean, it's probably something that she had tucked away somewhere, maybe even an heirloom that had been handed down from her family. She had probably been saving it for a super important event, maybe when she was going to get married. That's when she was going to use that and they were going to go to the sandals. at the desert. Sandals, get it? The sandals in the desert. So maybe she was going to use it maybe even for her wedding. You know and interestingly enough she didn't even use it for Lazarus' burial. Do you remember that? Her brother Lazarus passed away and she didn't even pull it out for that point in time for his anointing. But in one act of love here, she broke open the container and poured it all out upon Jesus Christ. She just didn't pour out just a little bit, okay, let me think about this, you know, a little bit, no, no, the Bible says she poured it all out upon Him. Here's what happened, she was being controlled by love and adoration for her Savior. That's what she was controlled by. And being controlled by that, you know what she did? She gave, she gave. Driven to express her faith in her Lord And love for him personally she was willing to give all that will not We don't know that that's all that she had but a major portion of what she had You see, the most significant person, I think we need to understand, the most significant person in Mary's life was the Lord. Now let me just ask you this morning, who is the most significant person in your life? And it shouldn't even, you know, I mentioned this I think earlier this week, I love my wife, man. My wife and I are one flesh. I'm not even one flesh with my children, but I am with my wife, but my Lord comes first. I love Him more. And if we can keep the Lord first, if He's the most significant person in your life, and if you'll love Him, then you'll be able to love others. If you'll put God where He needs to be in your life, then you'll be that husband or that wife that you need to be for your spouse. You'll be that parent that you need to be for your children. I love my children. I'm telling you what, I would do anything for my kids, relatively speaking. I would do anything for my children, but I love God more. And so the Lord was the most significant person in her life. He was the Messiah, the Savior and Lord of her life and family. Now the good news is, everyone thought her act of worship was beautiful. In our passage, everyone's like, oh Mary, way to go. No, that's not what they thought, is it? Not at all. Unfortunately, her extravagance, her act of worship was criticized by others. Look in verse eight. It says, But when his disciples saw it, they had indignation, saying, To what purpose is this waste, Mary? What purpose is this waste? Do you understand what they're saying based upon what she is doing for her Savior? It's atrocious. It's disgusting is what it is. The other Gospels tell us the criticism was initiated by Judas, and to that we can understand. We understand that Judas was going to have his hand. They weren't even saved. I mean, we know that, but the criticism was backed by the other disciples, something I don't understand. I mean, should they not have had the forethought to understand, oh wait a minute, this is the Savior, the Messiah. This is the Christ of whom we have been waiting. I mean, they should have sold the farm and bought more ointment, you know, to anoint him with. They should have done anything that they could have for him. What was their problem? Well, going back to what I mentioned earlier, they had a difficult time ascertaining the value or the worth, if you will, of the object which happened to be the Savior. Man, they had a hard time ascertaining the value, the worth of our Savior. They couldn't see how much, if I could say it this way, I know it sounds maybe a little off, but they couldn't see how much Christ was worth. If I could say it that way. How much eternal value Christ was bringing to the earth and to them personally. Now listen, here were good men of God. I mean, they were good men. Men who had given their hearts to the Lord. They had followed Him. They had forsaken all and followed Him. And even they themselves are asking, What are you doing, Mary? Why would you do that? That's kind of silly. What's the purpose of this waste? I know Judas initiated that, but other Gospels tell us we understand that the disciples were in on that. And so why would you give that to the Savior? That's what they didn't understand. They just didn't understand her devotion. Now listen, this world doesn't understand our devotion, and there's even unfaithful Christians out there, or backslidden Christians, or whatever you might want to call, that doesn't understand a proper devotion to Jesus Christ. But I'm just telling you what, we need to understand fully and confidently what the Savior means to us, and our needed devotion to Him, and how He deserves all, He deserves everything that we have. My life, my love, my all belongs to my Savior. That's what we need to fully comprehend here. What are we talking about? We're talking about faith, promise, mission is great. We're gonna meet next Sunday. We're gonna meet the following Sunday and Wednesday. What are we talking about? He needs my all. This week just happens to be one week of a greater purpose and that's our all. And so that's what we're trying to understand here. But Jesus understood her devotion and he commended her for it. Look in verse 10. When Jesus understood it, he said unto them, Why trouble ye the woman? I love that. Why trouble ye the woman? For she hath wrought a good work upon me. Verse 11 For ye have the poor always with you, but me ye have not always. For in that she hath poured this ointment on my body, she did it for my burial. Now, he reminded them that there's always gonna be the opportunity to give to the poor, and that's a fact. I mean, there's always opportunity to do that. I'm telling you, at our church at First Baptist, we get, I bet, well, sometimes it's worse than others, or not worse, or worse, or sometimes it's more difficult. We have, at least a couple times a week, sometimes multiple times a week, people calling and asking for money. They think that we're supposed to pay their electric bill. People don't even wanna go to church. They don't even want to go to church. And I'm like, well, where's your home church? Well, we don't have a church. How long have you been in the Valley? Three and a half years. And you want me to pay your electric bill? I don't understand that. But there's always going to be the opportunity to give to the poor and that's the truth. People will always be in need. They will always be with us, he says. And Jesus is saying, but I won't be around forever. In fact, I'm not going to be around much longer. You see the timing, here's the thing, the timing of Mary's gift was perfect whether she realized it or not. Whether she fully comprehended what she was doing, the timing was perfect because she was preparing him, she was anointing him for his burial. Because you see, when you're in the will of God, and when you're doing what you're supposed to be doing, the timing of what you do is going to be wonderful. The Lord knows. The Lord knows what needs to take place, when it needs to take place, and how He's going to get it done, and whom He's going to use. And if we're where we are supposed to be, wait a minute, I didn't say that right. If I'm in the right spot, if I'm reading enough, I'm praying and I'm where I need to be, then the Lord's going to be able to direct me and guide me with my life and with my job and with my family and with my finances and with everything that entails because again, our life devotion belongs to Him. It's an amazing thing to understand, and I know that you understand this, that Christ pretty much has it all under control, doesn't He? He knows what He's doing, doesn't He? He knows where you live, He knows what's going on in your life, He knows the struggles, the difficulties that you're going through, and all He's wanting from you is to surrender to Him, and He'll direct your path. That's an amazing thing. Very thankful. So here was Mary's last opportunity to express her love for her Savior. So here's the point I want us to get this morning. Listen, Mary had a burning desire to give an extravagant gift to her Savior. She had a burning desire, she had this devotion, she had this unction to give an extravagant gift to her Savior because she recognized the fact that she served an extravagant God. He is an extravagant God. Let's just think for a moment about what God has done for us and how much he has given us. You know, you've been blessed with the blessings of salvation. Do you know Jesus Christ is your personal Savior? I'm just saying, do you know for certain that you're going to go to heaven when you die? And this isn't necessarily a salvation message, but I mean, every message we need to talk about, you know, do you know for certain you're going to go to heaven when you die? I don't know the hearts of everyone in here. I mean, I tell you what, I've had church members, I've had an assistant pastor come into my office and get saved. I'm just saying, well, I'm a member of this church, I'm a charter member, so what? I mean, do you know Jesus Christ is your personal savior? Where are you gonna spend eternity when you go to heaven? had to have a visitor even as we speak. All right, you know, this last couple weeks have been visiting our church and I haven't had an opportunity to get a chance to talk to him. But one of my faithful, one of our faithful church members did. And he said, hey pastor, he said, I don't know that that man saved. And I said, why, why, why do you say that? And he said, well, he told me, I asked him when he was saved and, and I said, well, I've always been a Christian. Do you know how many people say that and how wrong that is? You haven't always been a Christian. You have to be born again. How about if I were to say, if you were to come up to me and say, hey brother now, how old are you? Well, I've always been alive. You'd be like, you're dead. nuts. You're crazy. What do you mean? No, no, I've always been like, no, no. When were you born? Oh, when I, when I was I born? June 3rd, 1968. It was a great year. June 3rd, 1968. That puts me 52 to save you some time. And so June 3rd, 1968, that's when I was born. Just the same, the same as that you were born when you can point a day back when you were born. I was born in Tucson, Arizona at St. Joe hospital on Wilmot. The same way I can point back to when I was born, there ought to be a time when you can go back and say, this is when I was born again. You don't just osmos into being a Christian. It is repentance toward God and faith through our Lord Jesus Christ. So if I were to give you a piece of paper, and I think I used an illustration with chalk here last time a couple months ago, but if I were to give you a piece of paper and say, write down your salvation testimony, could you write it down of when you were born again? and say, this is when I was saved. I'm just telling you, it's a big deal. It's a matter of life and death. heaven as our home or in a place where there's weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth. After my assistant pastor come in my office and got saved we announced it to the church and that Sunday we announced it and I preached and the invitation came forward and our most faithful youth department, our most faithful girl in our youth department walked the aisle and she said, I'm not saved either. And I'm telling you what, we led her to Jesus Christ. Now, I'm not trying to put doubts in anyone's mind or heart. I'm not trying to do that whatsoever. But I'm telling you what, you need to know for certain. You need to know for certain. So let's just think about what Christ has done for us and how much he has blessed us. The blessings of salvation, the gift of the Spirit of God, the church to serve in. He gives us pastors and teachers. He answers our prayers. He's given us the Word of God to preserve us. The promise of the blessed hope of His return. And we could go on and on. I talked about this a couple nights ago. I think that you would agree that our God is an extravagant God. He has it all figured out. He has it all planned out, if I can say it that way. more accurately, he has it all planned out. And so the things that we get to do, the places we get to go, the family, the friends, the fellow Christian, the fellowship among brothers and sisters, it would have been enough for him to just save me, but he's given me so much more. We have, you and me, we have way more than we have to have in order to get to heaven. way more than we need, way more than we deserve. He goes far beyond what's necessary, and He has blessed me more than I can even comprehend. I don't even fully comprehend the blessings that I have in the person of Jesus Christ. My mind is, you know, I try to think about that, and I'm like, man, I'm a joint heir to the throne, I'm gonna be judging angels, I'm gonna be ruling and reigning. I'm like, this is a good, it's gonna be amazing. And I don't fully comprehend it, but I believe it. And all he really needed to do was save my soul, so I wouldn't have to go to a place called hell. I think you'd agree, we serve an extravagant God. So listen to this, in his extravagance, God gave what was most precious to him. Now follow me on this, I'm about done here, listen. In his extravagance, he gave what was most precious to him, didn't he? He certainly did, he gave his only begotten son to die on the cross for our sins. Well, it was God, you know, it couldn't have been too bad. You know, he died and he was crucified, buried. Did you realize, remember, keep in mind here, that when he was on that cross, when he, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Remember when the sun turned dark and it was dark for about three hours? And for the first time in our human history, but for the first time ever, for the first time, fellowship with the Father and the Son was broken. Something that's never happened before and something that will never happen again. Why would he do the fellowship with the father that you know never Lord let this cup pass from me nevertheless not my will, but thy will Why was he in such great agony in the garden? I don't think it was because he was worried about getting beaten and in his beard plucked out and spat upon He knew that he was going to have fellowship broken with the father when the sins of this world came upon his shoulders my God my God why hast thou forsaken me when the fellowship with the father was broken with the son and I'm just saying that's amazing that he did that for you and And He did that for me. That's some extravagance right there. Ask Him to do that again. No, that's not going to happen again. His compassion for the lost, listen, His compassion for the lost drove Him to extravagance. Certainly did. It drove Him to the cross of Calvary. It's kind of like that box, I would suppose. He was completely spilled out for you and for me. His love is so overwhelming to us that He provides everything that we could possibly need. I never want to get over that. I don't want to get over that. Notice verse 13, Wheresoever this gospel shall be preached in the whole world, there shall also this that this woman hath done be told for a memorial of her." Mary would be remembered forever. We're still talking about her today, a couple thousand years later. She's going to be remembered forever as someone who gave extravagantly for Christ. We're talking about her today. How can any amount be considered too much when it's given to our great God? Coupled with prayer, remember? I'm just telling you, don't be filling out a card. Don't be filling out this card without praying about it. You need to make certain the Lord's in it. We have, well, you just need to pray about this before you fill it out, because as mentioned, you don't want to overcommit. That's horrible. Man, you're like, ah. Then you don't, every time you fill it out, you're like, man. You don't want to overcommit, but you don't want to undercommit. You want to do exactly what Christ wants you to do. Man, I love filling out my tithe envelope every week. Mission, right down right there. You know how much it is? None of your business how much it is, but I'm just saying. But I fill it out every week, and I give it down to the Lord, and I'm like, whew. And I'm looking forward to next January already, because I just want to do more. I just want to do more. Anyway, so today, as we wrap up, but it doesn't wrap up today. As Brother Abel's mentioned, it really goes out through the rest of the month. I think you ought to wrap it up today and get all the cards in. But as it goes out through the rest of the month, as it goes throughout the rest of this month, there's really one basic need, and that is to be prayed up. To be prayed up, to make certain that your walk with the Lord is where it needs to be, and seek God's face as to what you should give. That's what it needs to be. But when we do this, let's stop listening to the world. Let's stop listening to what the world has to say. The world will tell you to what causes this waste. You know, that's what the world is going to say. The world is going to tell you that extravagance has no place regarding the things of God. Now when you buy something extravagant, you know, to go out to the lake or go out to the golf course or something, they're going to be like, oh man, that's not good. But when it comes to the things of God, the world is going to say, why would you do that? They say, take it easy on the time. Even on our time, take it easy. You go to church on Sunday night too? And you go Wednesday night? Seriously? You go to men's prayer time on Saturday night? Really? You go to Sunday school? You need to take it easy. I mean, come on. Your kids need to grow up like normal kids and have fun. Don't be a weirdo. You don't need to have your kids in there all the time. Fooey on them. And as your faith promise draws near, some would say, take it easy here. Take it easy. Don't be silly here. Don't be reckless with your finances. This world is a crazy place. Don't you know who's in office? And don't you know, listen, it doesn't matter who's in office. God's in control. But don't you know the price of gas is going up? Yeah, I know the price of gas is going up. I know all these things are going crazy. And it's been that way before. And it'll go, and it'll go. But here's the thing. When I stand before Jesus Christ, I want to be found faithful. I don't want the gas pumps to determine what I'm going to do for Jesus Christ. I want the Holy Spirit to determine what I'm going to do. So the problem with the world is, here's the problem, you need to take it easy, here's the problem with the world. With them, it's not how much money you're giving. Really, to be honest, let's just be honest. The problem with the world is it's not how much money you're giving or how much time you're actually spending at church. That's not really the problem if you wanna know the truth about it. Here's what the problem is. It's how little they value God and how little they value the souls of men. That's what it really boils down to, how little they value my Savior. That's what it boils down to. So today we have an opportunity to express our love for our Savior. That's what we have. And so let me just encourage you, don't limit what God wants to do. Don't limit that. Don't say, well, according to this, I can give $2 more this year. I'm all for planning and things of that nature. But nothing beats getting alone with God and and asking him and saying, Lord, what would you want me to do? Every year, I'll just let you know what Dean and I do. We don't really talk during our, well, I mean, we talk during our missions conference, but I mean, we don't talk about the money, you know, faith promise missions, you know, we just kind of, you know, because we're so busy usually, you know, making certain all things are well for our missions conference. And then we always meet, we've been doing this for many years, couple decades now, you know, we'll meet down at the altar and I'll say, what do you think? And she'll say, what do you think? I'm like, what do you think? And she'll say, I asked you first. We're at the altar. We're grown men and women down at the altar. I asked you first. And I'm like, blah, blah, blah. But we always come together. And she's more spiritual than me, so she's a little higher. And so I'm like, yeah, probably so. But we always come together, and we're always in agreement. And here's the thing. God always blesses. He always blesses, always blesses. To my knowledge, to my knowledge, not one time have we missed the offering, a weekly offering of Faith Promise Missions. And I'm not saying that because we're super spiritual. You know, I'm super spiritual. No, I'm not saying that at all. You need to know my heart on that. I'm not saying that at all. But I'm saying that because somehow God took care of us. It's always about God. Somehow God always took care of us, even in the difficult times. It's like he said, I know your heart, and I know what you want to do, and I'm going to test your faith this year. I'm gonna test it this year, and I'm going to allow you to do something that you've never done before. And it's like, okay, all right, Lord. And he provides over and over and over again, doesn't he? Let's just open up our heart to the Lord. How about we just do that as members of Berean Baptist Church. Let's open up our heart and say, Lord, I'm willing to give whatever you want me to give. Lord, I'm willing to do whatever you want me to do. And as I mentioned earlier this week, maybe God may be speaking to your heart and say, He might be saying, you know, it's not just monetary amount, it's you that I want. It's you that I want to surrender. And that's a fact. I mean, even over the... God doesn't need our checkbook. He doesn't need our wallet. What He's looking for, it's always... I'm going through the Beatitudes. Well, I've been going through Matthew on Sundays at our church, and it's always a matter of the heart. It's always a matter of the heart. Because if He has our heart, then He'll have our service. He'll have your attendance. He'll have your attention. He'll have your devotion. And it'll also have the faith promise commitment card. It's always about the heart, folks. Man alive, I'd rather have a church that's broke with 100 people with their hearts right with God than a packed church and with lots of money with no heart for God. It's always about the heart. And so let's just open up that heart to him. And maybe some young people, I'm telling you, maybe he's dealing with some young people. I was standing out there at the door, because that's kind of what I do as a pastor. I can't even stop here. I'm a guest here, and I'm opening doors for people. I'm like, hey, good to have you with us. That's not my job. But I'm opening up doors, and here comes the youth department. Man, what a good-looking, for the most part, what a good-looking group of young people. What a good looking group. You know what I'm thinking to myself? Choice servants right there. Choice servants. And so maybe the Lord's dealing with some young people. And you say, you know what, Lord? And you don't have to commit today. You don't have to say, I'm going to go to the mission field, or I'm going to be a pastor. But maybe young people, you could come to the altar and say, Lord, I just want you to know I'm willing to do whatever. I'm willing to do whatever. I just want to open up my heart to you and just let you know I'm available for service. Nothing quite like that at all. in the whole world. Really, really there should be no limit to what we give our God, should there or shouldn't be. Whatever we give Him, because whatever we give Him It's a reasonable amount because there's no extravagance. Here's what I'm trying to say. There's no extravagance when it comes to giving to our God. There's no extravagance. He's worthy of it all. With heads bowed and eyes closed this morning, members of Berean Baptist Church, have you been praying about this week? I know that you have. Are you purposefully asking God how he would have you be involved or what he would have you promise? what a joy it is to be involved in what the Lord is doing. I'm just saying there's nothing like it. There's nothing like it. It's exciting. It's fearful sometimes as well. Maybe there's some here this morning and you're like, Pastor Brother Nail, I don't know. I'm not certain. I've been a member of this church. I've been faithful, but I have doubts about where I'm going to spend eternity. Listen, Listen, sometimes the devil puts doubts in your mind and he just tries to distract you. And if he can keep you from having that assurance, then he can render you useless in your service. And sometimes it's just the devil working on you. But sometimes, folks, there's been decisions that need to be made because the person was not saved. And again, I'm not trying to put unreasonable doubts in our minds and our hearts, but we need to make certain that heaven is our home. We need to lay that aside and get that taken care of. Maybe there's some here this morning, you're like, I know for a fact, I'm not saved. I know for a fact, I'm not gonna go to heaven when I die. Oh, listen, friend, when we stand here in just a second and we have our invitation, would you come forward and let someone take you to the side?