I'm going to do it. I'm going to leave my notes up there. I had the results, by the way, of the vote, and I didn't look at them because I was too busy worshiping. Amen? And that's not feigned humility. That's a determinate self-discipline to not be distracted by lesser things. And money is a lesser thing. And yet, it is something that the Lord has addressed multiple times in the word. If you'd look at 1 Corinthians chapter 15, I heard this addressed 45 years ago, we'll say. Been saved almost 48. I'd known the Lord for a couple of years. And I heard this passage expounded on. as a young believer, and it has stuck with me, and I hope I can remember it well enough to articulate it this morning. 1 Corinthians 15, beginning in verse 51. This is not in your notes in your bulletin or in the title. I don't have a title for this. We'll call it Christian Life Stewardship ABCs. Behold, and of course, whenever you see behold, it arrests your attention. Spirit of God wants you to pay attention to something. I show you a mystery, something previously not revealed, now it is. We shall not all sleep, that is be dead, but we shall all be changed. in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump. For the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, So, I'm sorry, and this mortal shall put on immortality. So, when this corruptible shall I put on incorruption, verse 54, and this mortal shall I put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, death is swallowed up in victory. Oh, won't you be glad when death is put to death? I mean, really, death is put to death. I told my Sunday school class this morning, I've officiated over 500 funerals. I'm very comfortable in a funeral because I get to cry and not feel embarrassed about it, amen? But death is gonna be swallowed up. Oh, death, where is thy sting? Oh, grave, where is thy victory? Spirit of God seemed to move upon the Apostle Paul to almost use sarcasm in a mocking sort of a way. Death, you're nothing. Grave, there's no victory in you. Not for those who are in Christ. The sting of death is sin. And the strength of sin is the law. In other words, what puts force behind a person's judgment is God's holy law. but thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. And so I would offer to you, verses 51 through verse 57, speak of sacred doctrine. Now depending upon your eschatological view, that is how you view the end times, some of you will join me in believing this is a clear description of the rapture of the church. that the Lord will appear in the air, call his church home, Revelation 4.1, come up hither. Some of you will say this is when Christ returns and he takes his own to be with him. I think it's safe to say though that all of us believe that he will return one day. Amen? And all of us believe that his people will be in his presence for all eternity. So how you slice and dice it is going to be different among us. But those different understandings are not cardinal doctrines. The fact that he is going to return is a cardinal doctrine. The fact that we will be with him for eternity is so replete in scripture that it's in fact undeniable. Bedrock truth. I am so thankful that you have your children and teenagers here. For tonight, for instance, and we were singing that last chorus. Speak, O Lord, and let me know the truth that the world is not going to be able to stand against. Now I'm paraphrasing, I don't know the verbiage exactly. But our teenagers this evening, when the three like-minded church gather, they are going to hear about the authority of God's Word why it must be trusted, and why the deception of the world can easily be overcome with the power, the authority of the written word of God. I want young people growing up on that bedrock truth. I really do, because the world doesn't have anything to offer to compare to that. The world does not have absolute truth. What they can say is, there's absolutely no absolute truth. Uh, hello. In fact, there is absolute truth, and we find it in the sacred doctrine of the pages of Scripture. And then we see in verse 58, therefore, because your life is on the bedrock of sacred theology, God-inspired truth, because of that, My beloved brethren, be steadfast, unmovable, always abounding. I like these superlatives that's given in scripture. We don't have a word in any language to describe that which is infinite other than saying infinite. And so the Apostle Paul, led of the Spirit of God, said, we're to be steadfast, we're to be unmovable, that is, we're not going to be tossed to and fro, we're going to be abounding in the work of the Lord. Because you know your labor is not in vain in the Lord. Your life is built on sacred doctrine. It's expressed through sacred duty. What I do matters. And so I want to say to each one of us in 2025, and it's really like preaching to the choir, because this church is not normal. You all are here because you want to roll up your sleeves and jump in neck deep. That is thrilling. That's why I miss you so much when I'm gone, when you're gone, when we're away from one another. I had to be almost pistol whipped last week to finally cave in to all the pressure coming my way. We can't meet, we can't meet, we can't meet. Okay, fine. Pray at home. And I tell you, Kathy and I had a worship service last Sunday morning, interceding for so many of you, reading scripture, and communing around the things of God. So we missed you, but we didn't miss out on the things of God as we met together. Are you serving in some way, shape, or form? serving in extended care. You know, we've had a bumper crop of babies in the last few years. I don't even know the number. We've probably had 25 babies in the last three or four years. I don't know the number, but a lot. By the way, parenthetically, can I speak to you young couples? About this time next year, why don't we have another half a dozen? Anybody go with that? Anybody be pleased with another half a dozen Redbridge babies born this time next year? I was the only one with my hand up. Okay, praise the Lord. You grandparents, all your grandmas and grandpas' hands are up. It's sacred duty to have babies. Really? Well, go all the way back to Genesis before the fall and before the law. Be fruitful, multiply. Fill the earth. Man, now I could preach on that. Sacred duty. Be involved, doing something. And then we see in verse, chapter 16, verses one and two. Now concerning the collection for the saints. As I have given order to the churches of Galatia, even so do you, that upon the first day of the week, let every one of you set aside in store, in reserves, as God has prospered you, that there be no gatherings when I come. Don't wait till I get there to bring your offering. Do it week in, week out. Set aside a portion of it for missions, And when I come, whomsoever you shall approve by your letters, that is, whoever you vote on to be this committee, them will I send to bring your liberality unto Jerusalem. You say, what is that about? It's about sacred dollars. Just as doctrine is from the Lord, just as your life is from him and is to be used for him, so is everything you and I possess. He owns it all, right? I mean, he either owns it all or he doesn't. He's either Lord or he isn't. And I'm convinced by the authority of the word of God, he owns all there is. And he distributes it and loans it out to his children to be a wise steward over what he entrusts to you. Now in this case, There was a mission offering being communicated to the Gentile churches, the churches of Galatia, the church at Corinth, those churches in Greece, maybe in Crete as well and other places. that the brothers and sisters at the Mother Church in Jerusalem were starving, were hurting so terribly, and they cannot help themselves, because when they turned to Christ in Jerusalem, you're excommunicated from family, you're fired from your job, you're hunted down. These were hurting folks. So maybe at the Jerusalem Council, maybe at another time, it was identified and planned that there would be Gentile offering. And so the Apostle Paul said, these are God's dollars. When you bring an offering, the firstfruits, set aside some for missions. And we had a report on that this morning. And you inquired about various aspects because you recognize it's God's work to be done God's way. That is a good thing. And so folks, entering into 2025, take inventory for a moment. Am I taking in sacred doctrine upon which my life is to be founded? and continue to be built up. You see, it's not a one and done thing. It's not just that when I was saved nearly 48 years ago and I entered into the foundation, who is Christ, chief cornerstone, but I am continually, as a living stone, growing up, being fitted in the building, and being edified and strengthened. Am I doing that? Is that how my life is characterized? Am I, according to verse 58, considering what I'm to do in service to the Lord? Maybe 2025 is the year that you're going to say, I love our choir, Brother Saylor. And I do, by the way. And I'd be in it if I had enough voice left at the end of the day to participate. Maybe you would say, I can sing. Anyone here sing? Well, maybe you would say, I'm going to join choir. Or I've heard about Awana for a long time. Maybe I'm going to be a helper in Awana, or this committee, or that committee. Or I have a burden for Timbuktu. You know there's a place called Timbuktu? I can't remember what country it is. Mali? Country Mali. Spoken from a missionary. Maybe I'm gonna organize a mission trip to Timbuktu. Do they need the gospel in Timbuktu and Mali? They're probably Muslims there, are they? Yeah, I'm guessing. What is your duty, your job in God's work? And then, of course, going into chapter 16, the finances that God has entrusted to you. It's important to know what I'm gonna do with my finances. Planning, even strategically, to honor Him, of supporting this missionary, of supporting this work, of giving to, faithfully giving to church budget, which is overseen by lots of God's people. And so it was nice having a fireside chat this morning about Christian stewardship, the ABCs. Have his doctrine, God's doctrine, his theology as the foundation of your life. Serve him with vigor. Give to his work. probably bring today's message, Lord willing, next Sunday. So let's see what we said we will do in. in 2025. 93% of you said yes to the budget and so we move forward and the vote was 127 out of 137 to abstain. We will move forward with Brother Staley What is probably the largest budget in 40 years at Redbridge? Does that sound right? Since the division of 1984? I can't remember more than 680. Yeah. 40 years ago. You've been around here a while. So we'll move forward thanking the Lord for what he's done and what he continues to do in the life of his church. Are you happy in the Lord? I trust you are. And that now is not the time to retire as if you had any thought of that. Now is the time to reenlist. Doesn't mean you have to do exactly the same thing you've always done. Maybe you'll go in a different direction, in service to Him. Maybe you'll figure out a new way that you're gonna be financially supporting this ministry or that. But what you do, do faithfully.