This message was given at Grace Community Church in Minden, Nevada. At the end, we will give information about how to contact us to receive a copy of this or other messages. Let's take our Bibles and turn to Galatians chapter 6. We'll begin reading in verse 6. The one who is taught the word is to share all good things with the one who teaches him. Do not be deceived, God is not mocked. For whatever a man sows, this he will also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption. But the one who sows from the Spirit will reap eternal life. Let us not lose heart in doing good. For in due time we will reap if we do not grow weary. So then, while we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, and especially to those who are of the household of faith." This is the word of the Lord. Our text this morning is verse 6. The one who is taught the Word is to share all good things with the one who teaches him. The title of this sermon is, This is an Awkward Sermon. Do you know what October is? October is Pastor Appreciation Month. Like I said, this is an awkward sermon. I actually didn't know that until a couple of years ago. I've debated whether or not to tell you this story up front and I think that I will. And again, it fits into the awkwardness of it. In the summer of 2000, I'm sorry, I'm going in the opposite direction of Vic. In the summer of 1993, Ariel and Ashley and Zach and I, Alex was not around yet, met in a home in Mendon and there were five or six families. And we were deciding whether or not we would come here to plant Grace Community Church. As I laid out my plan to get a church started, one of the things that we had said at that particular meeting was that we would have to have some kind of idea of what the financial support would be for us in those early days. We had figured that with a little bit of help from Sierra Community Church in South Lake Tahoe, and from our home church in Portland, that the core group would need to come up with $800 a month. And so, with five families or so, I guess, we had them fill out little pledge cards of what they would plan to give on a monthly basis. And so, we had them all in an envelope. We got back in the car. headed back over the hill and I was a little anxious to see what those numbers were. And so while I was driving, I had Ariel open up the envelope and she's going through the pledge cards and it equaled the grand sum of $400. Well, $800 was, of course, shoestring. So, Ariel asked, what are we gonna do? I said, what do you mean, what are we gonna do? We're gonna go. Well, we won't have enough money. God will provide for us. God will provide for us. We're going by faith. We're not going because You know, nobody plans a church to be rich. And we went and God provided for us. Ministry should never be about money. And as we start this sermon, The awkwardness of it is fairly straightforward, and that is, this verse is about money. And so, I want you to know that I hope that what was said of John Calvin by Pope Pius XI, I think, could be said of me. And that is, Pius said of Calvin, the problem with that heretic is that he's never cared one bit about money. Now, the heretic part, of course, I don't want, but the other part I do. So we've been looking at chapter 6. of Galatians as we've trod through this book step by step. And in verses 6 to 10, we get to some very specific application of keeping in step with the Spirit. So we saw in the first part, verses 1 to 5, that keeping in step with the Spirit means that we restore the fallen and we bear one another's burdens in love and humility, and we take personal responsibility before God for our duties one to another. We not only fulfill the law of Christ by bearing one another's burdens, but we also make sure that we each carry our own load. Keeping in step with the Spirit, Paul then begins to apply in more specific terms. Keeping in step with the Spirit means, verses 6 to 10, that we do good to those around us. It means that we actually support those who teach the Word. We sow to the Spirit and we seek to do good to everyone, especially those who are of the household of faith. Keeping in step with the Spirit has some very concrete expressions of what that looks like. There's a connection, I think, between 6-2, bear one another's burdens and thus fulfill the law of Christ, And verse 6, which is, let the one who has taught the word share all good things with the one who teaches him. And that connection, I think, is made by a paraphrase by J.B. Lightfoot, who sees the connection like this, paraphrasing Paul. I spoke of bearing one another's burdens. There is one special application I would make of this rule. Provide for the temporal needs of your teachers in Christ. Now, I could not honestly bring myself to focus an entire sermon on the importance of you supporting me, or Jason, or Charlie, okay? When I told my dear brother Tom Schreiner, the title of my sermon, which is, this is an awkward sermon. He replied back and said, how about this, ha ha ha, pay me. No, I'm not going to do that. Here's the plan for the sermon and you can see how I'm trying to avoid as much awkwardness as possible. First, we're going to look at the responsibilities of those who teach the Word. Then we'll look at the responsibilities of those who are taught the Word. All right? And so we begin with the responsibilities of those who teach the Word. Notice in verse 6, Paul says quite clearly, the one who is, notice this, taught, all right, that's passive, the Word, is to share all good things with the one who teaches him, which is active. And so here the word teach, and we need to spend just a little bit of time on this, the word teach here is not the normal word that Paul uses for teach. I found it very, very interesting that the normal word for teach, which is used dozens and dozens of times, is not here. A different word is used here that's only used eight times in the New Testament. a mere eight times. And two of those eight are used in the same verse right here. Now, the word itself has the idea of to teach in a systematic or detailed manner. To teach or instruct carefully. Sometimes the idea is information that's communicated in the form of a report or most of the time it is the beginning of careful religious instruction. Now, in the New Testament, it is used in a passive sense, that is, of being taught or informed a few times. It's used that way one out of the two times here in Galatians 6. But for instance, in Luke 1.4, Luke says, speaking to Theophilus, so that you may know the exact truth about the things, and here's our word, that you have been taught. There it is in the passive sense. Acts 18.25, in reference to Apollos, this man had been instructed in the way of the Lord. Romans 2.18, the same way, knowing his... speaking of the Jews, they know his will and approve what is excellent because you are instructed, there's our word, from the law. It is used a couple of times, just simply of hearing or a report or receiving information. Interesting, both of those usages are in Acts 21, where speaking about Paul, they have been told about you, Acts 21, 21. And then just three verses later, verse 24, and all will know that there's nothing to the things which have been told about you. Paul does use this in a different way in 1 Corinthians 14, 19. He says, in the church, I desire to speak five words with my mind so that I may instruct others also, rather than 10,000 words in a tongue. And so, the idea really is, on the one hand, when it's used actively, to verbally instruct, to verbally teach, and to do so in a careful and even detailed manner. When it's used in the passive sense, it is to be instructed or to be taught. What's interesting about Galatians 6.6 is that Paul takes the same word and uses it twice, and I think the purpose is Paul is emphasizing the fact that he's talking about those who labor in carefully teaching and instructing the people of God. So what's the content of what they teach or what is the content of what is taught? And it's very simple. It is, Paul just simply says, the Word. The Word. Now, when we hear the Word, we immediately think of the whole Bible from Genesis to Revelation, and that's true. But I think more specifically, when Paul says the Word, he's actually talking specifically about the Gospel. But I don't think, if you look at Paul's usages, I don't think that what Paul has in mind is just the gospel in that Christ died for your sins, was buried and raised from the dead, the gospel as it were in the nutshell form, but rather the gospel in the Christ-centered scriptures. In other words, when Paul talks about the Word, he's talking about the Gospel, but when he talks about the Gospel, he has an expansive view of the Gospel, which takes into account the whole counsel of God, understood with Jesus Christ at the center. So Paul could talk about 1 Corinthians 1.18, about preaching the Word of the cross. Again, that is not just simply or explicitly a confined message to the death of Jesus, but rather Paul sees the cross as central to the entire revelation of God. Paul could talk, for instance, in 1 Corinthians 2.14 that he was determined to know nothing among them except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. And so Paul is determined to preach Christ. He's determined to preach Christ crucified. And so in Colossians 1.28 it says, and we proclaim Him. That does not mean that Paul had a truncated, reductionistic, minimalistic view of the gospel because he could turn around and say in Acts 20, 27, I did not shrink back from declaring to you the whole counsel of God. And so how do you put these things together where Paul says, I was determined to know nothing but Christ and Him crucified, we proclaim Him, and I preach to you the whole counsel of God, And the answer is actually quite simple. We'll see it this afternoon in a sense. And that is, when Paul talks about the whole counsel of God, he's talking about God's divine revelation in the Bible as seen being accomplished or fulfilled through the person and work of Jesus Christ. So the Christ-centered scriptures, that is what is taught. Now, the question, if you're going through trying to follow Paul's logic in Galatians 6, the question is why in dealing with bearing one another's burdens, restoring the fallen, carrying our own load, and then sowing to the Spirit, not growing weary and well-doing. Why in the world does Paul take this passage, which deals explicitly with the material support of those preaching the Word, teaching the Word, why does Paul put this in right here? Now, this is my theory. Some people look at this verse just as if it is this general principle or general axiom that this is what you're supposed to do, but I think that in light of the Galatian heresy and in light of the book of Galatians as a whole, that when you think about what the Judaizers were doing, I think that it's very possible to look at it like this, that the Judaizers, that is the false teachers, had come into the Galatian assemblies and had begun to undermine the true teachers in the Galatian assemblies, and then the undermining was not just simply undermining their teaching and their authority, but it was then also a matter of them, as it were, siphoning off, perhaps, even the support that was being given to the true teachers. And so Paul's giving a corrective here. So what are the responsibilities of those who teach the Word? Well, number one, those who teach the Word have the responsibility to study the Word. Now, you might think that that's probably the most self-evident thing that you've ever heard. But I will tell you, it needs to be said. The first responsibility of those who teach the Word is to study the Word. You remember that glorious text in Ezra chapter 7 and verse 10. It says that Ezra set his heart to study the law of God and to do it and to teach its ordinances in Israel. And so before Ezra ever opened his mouth to teach the ordinances of God's Word to Israel, he set his heart to actually study the Word. Paul could say in 1 Timothy 5, verse 17, let those who labor, who agonizimai, I think the word is kapi'ah, who labor to exhaustion, Let those who labor in the word and doctrine be counted worthy of double honor. And so, for Paul, there is this very clear idea that if a person is going to teach the word, they must study to show themselves approved unto God, a workman that does not need to be ashamed, one who has accurately handled the word of truth. To labor in the Word is to labor to understand it. It is to labor to unfold and to draw out its meaning. It is to labor in trying to explain it. And it is to labor in trying to apply it. That is the primary work of the ministry. Now, wouldn't you know that in God's providence, This week, I saw a blog for pastors that had a number of pastors that were interviewed on how much time they spend preparing their sermon. There was one that stood out to me. I won't tell you who it is, but he lives in Seattle. He boasted that he spends one to two hours in sermon preparation and said, I basically spend as much time in the study as I do in the pulpit. I thought, you've got to be kidding me. Where is the room for doing the hard work of exegeting the text in the original language? Where is the hard work of trying to outline the text? Where's the hard work? You can't do that in an hour, I promise you. Then I found out about this service that's provided. Now, this is not a typical sermon service. You can actually, believe it or not, you can subscribe to sermon services that will provide you an outline of a text, a story, and maybe for an extra quarter, a poem. This is different. This is called the Docent, D-O-C-E-N-T, Docent Research Group. It says, each docent team provides excellent sermon research for pastors who desire to inform and transform an audience, who need stories, metaphors, and statistics that connect with their audience. Pastors who require a team that will execute the pastor's specific ideas, questions, and instructions. For pastors who need smart researchers who are well-read and well-trained. Pastors who value visionary and skillful communication. And pastors who speak to culturally savvy congregations. So I said, what do I need that for? We're in Minden, Nevada. Our approach... Oh, listen to this. The print is so small. Because preaching is highly personal, A docent's approach is relational. We start by forming a relationship with pastors to determine their research needs. How about telling the pastor, study for yourself? I guess they wouldn't be in business. Then dedicate a team of seminary trained researchers to provide weekly research briefs according to the pastor's specific instructions. Our passion is to serve pastors by providing excellent specialized sermon research. Our joy and our calling is to serve, serve, serve. There's more that I could read, it would make you sick. Here is my conviction. This is a hill I'm willing to plant a flag on and die for, and that is, If a man is called to the ministry, then he is called to the arduous, diligent study of the Word of God. And if he's not willing to do it, then he should do something else! If he's not willing to do it, let him sell insurance, let him sell Christian insurance, let him sell beanie babies, I don't care, but he shouldn't be preaching the Word of God! The first responsibility is to study and to study and to study. That is the preeminent responsibility of those who teach the Word. Second responsibility, those who teach the Word have the responsibility to, by grace, live by that Word. The Ezra passage is so crucial. Ezra set his heart to study the law of God and to do it. The Apostle Paul could say to Timothy, watch closely over your life and your doctrine, for in doing so, you will save yourself and those who hear you. Yes, that's exactly what Paul says. 1 Timothy chapter 4 and verse 16. Keep close watch over, notice the two things, your life and your doctrine. Now, here's a newsflash. Pastors are sinners who need the grace of God. Those who preach the word need the very grace that they preach. A preacher cannot live in denial of the very truth that they preach, which means, on the one hand, their life has to be at least moving in the direction of godliness and righteousness, but it also means that they had better be preaching a merciful Savior and a gospel of grace. Every once in a while, in having Conflict with unnamed persons. Not very often, I can count on maybe one hand this has happened. They'll say, and you call yourself a pastor? So then after I punch him in the face, I'll say, yeah, and I'm a sinner, and I've never made any bones about being a sinner. And in fact, I'm a big sinner, and I thank God I've got a big Savior, and a big gospel, and lots of grace. Right? Now, Do we blow it? And the answer is yes. But here's the thing, there is a difference between warts and leprosy. The man who suffers from moral leprosy disqualifies himself from ministry. Everyone has warts. Some warts are bigger, nastier, more disgusting than others. But the fact is, is that we all have warts. But here's the point, and that is that the life of the preacher is not separated from his ministry. It is not. And so he has a responsibility by grace to live what he preaches. Number three, those who teach the Word have the responsibility to feed God's people so that they can grow and mature in Christ and that those who don't know Christ can hear the voice of the Good Shepherd. So it's to study, it's to live, and then it's to proclaim. That's the responsibility. And so Paul says again, we proclaim Him, teaching and admonishing every man, so that we may present everyone mature in Christ. The goal of of teaching the Word and preaching the Word ready in season and out of season, week after week, month after month, year after year, decade after decade, as long as God gives breath. The goal is to see God's glory in the salvation of those who hear the Word. And the way that I understand it, every sermon is a salvation sermon. And I don't mean by that close your eyes, bow your heads, and then walk up to the front. What I mean by that is every sermon is a salvation sermon in that that sermon brings us either closer to Christ and closer on our way to heaven or in the opposite direction. So believers need salvation sermons, unbelievers need salvation sermons, Sometimes the Spirit of God will take the preaching of the Word and use it to bring new life and a new birth to somebody who's dead in trespasses and sins. He also uses that Word to preserve the saints and to cause them to grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. Week by week. Do I care that when I say, do you remember when I was preaching in Mark in 1996, I said this and this, and you guys look at me like, what? Do I go, you know, I worked really hard on that point. I don't understand why they don't remember it. Do you think it bothers me that some of you go, he preached through Mark? Yeah, 130 sermons worth, sure did. Does it bother me? The answer is no. Because the preaching of the word very rarely comes to us in these spectacular, sensational ways in which there then is a spurt of growth. The preaching of the word comes to us like your wife's cooking. If you think I'm gonna make a joke about my wife's cooking, I'm not gonna do that. I do all the cooking. I look back over 26 years And I can remember things that happened during dinner, but I don't usually remember what I was eating. But here's the reality. I am alive and healthy today because of 26 years of faithful meal preparation. And the fact that no meal stands out as super spectacular in my mind is not a reflection on the ability of the cook. The reflection of the ability of the cook is that I am alive and healthy today. And so the fact that you're persevering, the fact that you're growing is a sign of the power of God's Word. And so, the responsibility is to feed God's people so they can grow and mature in Christ. And so, does it get discouraging that we don't see more people saved? And does it get discouraging that we see the same problems over and over and over again? And the answer is, well, of course that's discouraging. But that's why Paul says, be ready in season and out of season. And you don't just do this when you see the harvest. You don't just do this when you see the results. You get up week after week, month after month, year after year. You're called to do the exact same thing over and over and over and over and over again. And you're called to do it because it's God's Word and His promises are attached to His Word. And it's not your gifts, it's not your abilities, it's not your skills that has any impact on the results. It is the grace of God. It's the Spirit of God. And so you know what? I take that Ephesians or Galatians passage that we looked at last week. Hey, I got to bear my own load. I have responsibility before God. And you know what? As I dispense what God gives, then you have a responsibility to do something with it. And I can't help it if you do something with it or not. Number four. Brief on this. Those who teach the Word have the responsibility to guard the Word, stand for the truth of the Word, protect the purity of the Word and doctrine. So we're to contend for the faith, once for all delivered to the saints, Jude verse 3. We are to guard the gospel as the standard of words that has been entrusted to us, 2 Timothy 1 13. And so the teacher of the Word has the responsibility to teach sound doctrine and refute error. We have the responsibility to protect God's sheep by protecting the purity of the Word. And by the way, that is exactly what Paul is doing in the book of Galatians. He's protecting the purity of the gospel, and he's protecting the purity of the word, and he's protecting the sheep in the Galatian assemblies by, as it were, going on, really, the attack against false teachers. Now, you know, the thing is, is that you don't do this every week. A good friend of mine, I won't tell you who he is, but he's got a Scottish accent, and lives in Southern California, not Northern California. He found that in his preaching, he would continually be gravitating towards pointing out the errors of this person, this person, and this person, and they were all TV preachers. Finally, one dear old saint came up to him and said, ''Pastor, we think that you probably ought to stop watching TBN so much.'' It's not everything that we're called to do, but boy, when we're called to do it, woe to the ones, says Jeremiah, who withholds his sword from shedding blood. Now, those are big responsibilities. And I take them seriously. Charlie takes them seriously. Your other elders take these responsibilities. Seriously. We have our responsibility. I have my responsibility. As Charlie ministers the word, he has his responsibility. As Jason will be increasingly ministering the word, he'll have his responsibility. But there's also responsibilities on the part of those who are taught. See, if we just stopped right here, that'd be pretty good for you. First responsibility that you have is to attend and receive the teaching of the word. There is something that is incredibly incongruous, incompatible. There's a disparity between saying, man, I love the word, but I only want to eat once a week. Those who are taught the Word have the responsibility to attend and receive the teaching of the Word. And so, Peter says that you are to long for the pure spiritual milk of the Word so that by it you may grow in respect to salvation. 1 Peter 2.2, right? But do you know what precedes 1 Peter 2.2? 1 Peter 1, and the last verse of 1 Peter 1 says, this is the Word which was preached to you. We are to long for the Word of God. We are to attend and receive the teaching of the Word. In earlier days, I would say that I was easily discouraged by the apparent lack of hunger for God's Word. There was something in me that thought if the words being faithfully preached, then God's people will want to hear. I don't think that I've made my peace completely with those that don't want to hear. But I certainly don't get as worked up about it as I used to. Because I realize there's absolutely nothing that I can do that will make you stay for the afternoon or come on a Wednesday or, you know, be here for Sunday school or whatever. I realize there's nothing I can do. But I will tell you this. We are responsible for the opportunities that God gives us to hear the word. And you know what? Going to Zambia and going to China has probably ruined me. Because you see an insatiable appetite to hear the word of God. And you know what? In the States, In our culture, we give lip service to how much we love the Bible, but we often don't follow through with our actions. Second responsibility is to submit to the Word and to be changed by it. And so we're told in James chapter 1 that we're to put aside all envy and malice and so forth, and to do what? And to receive the Word. implanted, which is able to save our souls, we're to receive it with humility. And then James turns around and gives us those immortal words that don't make sure that you're not just a hearer of the word only and you deceive yourself. You're like a man that has stood in the mirror and then turned and walked away and forgets what he looks like. You're to be hearers of the word, but you're also to be doers of the Word, effective doers of the Word. And so we're responsible not only to attend to the Word and to receive the Word, but we are also responsible to submit to that Word, to be changed by that Word, and be willing to obey that Word. Sermon tasting does not bring about transformation. I think, this is just my opinion, I think Reformed people are especially bad at just simply being sermon tasters who like this guy and that guy and they listen to this guy. And let's face it, we have opportunities to hear. I listened to a sermon from Sinclair Ferguson on Friday. I don't even know where he preached it. And it was great, it was a blessing. You know, even 20 years ago, if you'd have said, I heard Sinclair Ferguson preaching, somebody would have said, well, what conference did you go to? I mean, think about everything that we have available to us as the people of God. And I will tell you, to whom much is given, much is required. Even if the internet died tomorrow, nobody here would starve. Sermon tasting does not lead to moral transformation. Receiving the word with repentance and humility and a willingness to obey is what the spirit uses to change us. Third and final responsibility, and you knew it was coming. Oh, good. I only have four minutes left. Third responsibility is to support those who teach the word. Paul says very clearly, let them share, this is verb form of koinonia, koinoniao, let them share, to give, contribute generously, all good things. No matter what you wanna make of all good things, it's material goods that he has in mind, and we know that because of the way the word's used in every other usage in the New Testament. And so what does the Bible tell us? Paul says, for instance, At the end of Romans chapter 15, he says to the Gentiles, he says, you know, you Gentiles have a responsibility to provide material blessing to the Jews because from them you've received so much spiritual blessing. It's the way it should work. Jesus could say in Luke chapter 10 and verse 7, the laborer is worthy of his wages. Paul turns around in 1 Corinthians 9, verses 11 to 14, not only picks up that the laborer is worthy of his wages, but he also picks up this, that you don't muzzle the ox while he's threshing. Yeah. Paul compares pastors and teachers to oxen. I don't think that it's a reflection of their dullness. but just their steady, consistent, faithful work. Paul says, those who labor among you in the word and doctrine be considered worthy of double honor. We know in the pastoral epistles honor has to do with remuneration, honors to be given to widows, that is they are to be financially supported. And so the Bible actually teaches us that there is to be a financial or material support. Now I would say that it's more than money and you know, I was thinking of this this morning, I was putting this tie on. Martin Morales gave me this tie, isn't this a nice tie? It's way better than anything I could pick out. He just came up to me, he says, Pastor, I think this would look better on you than on me. And I said, well, I couldn't agree more. Just sharing, just sharing something good. Somebody here brings me a coffee every Wednesday. Just sharing something good. Eggs. Sharing eggs. I mean, so here's the point. It's not just about money, but it is about looking and seeing how in the world do we reflect that we actually appreciate what is given to us. John Calvin, who had so much to say about this, says it's disgraceful to defraud of their means of living, those by whom our souls are fed, and to refuse an earthly recompense to those from whom we receive heavenly blessing. Now, I told you this was an awkward sermon. But here's the point. If you're keeping in step with the Spirit, that means you're being taught the Word of God. And if you're taught the Word of God, the Spirit wants you to generously support the ministry of the Word. That's as direct as I can be. Generously supporting the ministers of the word is a matter of walking in the spirit. That's the connection in the context. So if I'm receiving the word, being taught the word, but I'm not supporting the ministers of the word, then there is something wrong. Do you understand? I mean, first of all, all of us here, to one degree or another, probably think too much about money. But giving is a spiritual responsibility. Giving is a spiritual responsibility, but it's more than that, it is a reflex. And it's a reflex that demonstrates our understanding of the gospel. Do you realize that for Paul, the indications of understanding and cherishing the gospel are not some sort of nebulous, unidentified, undefined things out there somewhere. The indications of actually understanding and cherishing the gospel get manifest in what I do with the ordinary stuff of life, like my money. Grace in the heart produces gratitude and generosity. Do you understand? That's what the gospel does. The gospel frees us up from being stingy, tight-fisted people. I love what Calvin says. It cannot be denied that if the word is prized, its ministers will always be treated kindly and honorably. I like that. So when we fail to support the ministry of the word, it may just simply be a matter of us cherishing money over what is far more important. By the way, what a wretched example to our children. What a reflection of the heart. Ever since our church has been self-supporting, it has been incredibly generous. I have no complaints at all, none. I've always taken Church's efforts to do their best as a demonstration of God's faithfulness to us, and in turn, our faithfulness to Him and an appreciation to the ministry of the Word. And so, to those who continue year after year to give generously, you help bear the burden And I say, praise God for you. I don't know exactly how to say this next part, but others get a free ride. That's about the only way I could think of putting it. Others just get a free ride and they coast along on the generosity of others and the labor of others. I don't think I need to remind us that even the widow gave her might. To benefit from the ministry of the Word and not to support the ministry of the Word is not only, I believe, an act of robbing God, but it is an act of not valuing the word and treasuring wrong treasure. So to give generously, to share from all good things, is to treasure true treasure. And it's to support something that actually is greater than ourselves. If you don't believe that, don't just think about opportunities for you to send your pastor to China or Africa or places like that. Think about what comes out every single month, a sermon audio report. How many of you actually look at that sermon audio report? Do you realize that the Word of God from this little insignificant place goes out to easily 50 different countries, almost every state in the union, places I've never even heard of, places we would never even have the opportunity to go? How does that happen? by God's people saying, there's something that is important going on here and I'm buying into it. I'm taking responsibility for my part. You have three now, this coming year, this coming year, you will have three full-time pastors. And I remind us, generously share with those who teach you the word. Indeed, this is an awkward sermon. The only thing that I could hope that would alleviate a tiny bit of my awkwardness is to know that if you're here and you're taking a free ride, you feel more awkward than I do. Let's pray. Father, we thank you for your great faithfulness to us. Lord, for two decades, you've met our needs according to your riches and glory in Christ. Blessed be your holy name. And Father, as I stand here this morning, you know how grateful I am for your people and their kindness and generosity. And we pray this morning, Lord, that we truly would see that when we cherish the gospel, it looks like something in our lives. For those of us, Lord, who have set up money as more important, maybe even as an idol, we pray that you would smash it down. And we pray, Father, that we would all, each and every one of us, be generous in helping bear one another's burdens. In Jesus' name, amen. We hope you've enjoyed this message from Grace Community Church in Minden, Nevada. To receive a copy of this or other messages, call us at area code 775-782-6516 or visit our website gracenevada.com.