Amen. Thank you, John, so much. Excellent special number this evening. Please take your Bible with me tonight. Turn to Proverbs, the 31st chapter. Proverbs 31 this evening. As you're turning there, We're continuing our series on finance. By the way, on top of your lesson, it says Lesson 6. You should cross out the 6 and change that to a 5. That was a typographical error on my part. Actually, I don't know how to count. No, it was an error on my part. I wasn't paying careful attention. So change that to a 5. Lesson 6 will come next week. We've been very practical the last few weeks in discussing the matter of our Christian stewardship And every aspect of our stewardship is something for which we will one day stand before the Lord. Christian people are called upon to be wise with everything that is entrusted into our care. Now one of the most basic and fundamental of human rights is the right of property ownership. This right is implicit in the teachings of the earliest teachings of the Old Testament. As an example of this, we have in the Ten Commandments the commandment, Thou shalt not steal. The reason stealing is possible is because not all property is community property. I have private property that belongs to me. For you to take my private property that belongs to me without my permission is stealing, and one of the Ten Commandments says, thou shalt not steal. Incorporated in that commandment, then, is the principle of private property ownership. By the way, this is one of the places where communism has it all so wrong. In communism, it is a community ownership. It is the idea of from each according to his ability, to each according to his need. That is a principle of Marxist communism. That is one of the reasons that communistic economies do not work, because they do not glorify the biblical principle of private ownership. Now having said that, it means that I as a Christian must take a sanctified view of owning and handling all of the property that is entrusted to me, including my finances. Now tonight, we're going to talk about a couple of things that might be uncomfortable for some, but I hope you'll listen to what I have to say, and it might be a delight to others. I want you to hear carefully what I'm going to talk about tonight. First of all, Proverbs 31, look at verse 10. Proverbs 31, verse 10. Speaking of the virtuous woman tonight, we're going to talk about spending money. So I thought I'd talk about the virtuous woman, because she did know how to spend money. Proverbs 31, verse 10. Who can find a virtuous woman for her price is far above rubies? The heart of her husband does safely trust in her so that he shall have no need of spoil." I taught on this some time ago and I said the word spoil is the idea of a windfall. In other words, her husband can trust her. She's not going to break the bank. He's not going to have to win the publisher's clearing house. He'll have no need of spoil. Verse 12, "'She will do him good and not evil all the days of her life,' this virtuous woman. Verse 13, she seeketh wool and flax and worketh willingly with her hands. She is like the merchant's ships. She bringeth her food from afar. She riseth also while it is yet night and giveth meat to her household and a portion to her maidens. Now, verse 16. And I want you to see this because this is not something you would typically think that a woman of that culture would be involved in. But Proverbs 31.16 says, of the virtuous woman, she considereth a field..." That is a piece of real estate. That is ground. "...she considereth a field and buyeth it with the fruit of her hands, she planteth a vineyard." Now I want you to pause with me for a moment. This Scripture is teaching that the virtuous woman had the knowledge and the ability to purchase real estate, and not just to buy a piece of property, but to consider the field, the worth of the field, its value, in this case, verse 16, particularly in relation to horticulture, to consider the possibility of that field as being productive for a vineyard, She considered the worth of the field, she made an offer on the field, and she bought that field, handling what we would consider today, most of us, to be a major business transaction. Now there are several instances in the Bible where individuals purchase a field. One of the ones that we think of, comes to mind right away, would be Genesis chapter 23, where Abraham purchased a burial ground for his wife Sarah. And you'll remember he purchased this burial ground from the sons of Heth. Now, Abraham was very, very well respected. And if you read Genesis 23, you get the idea that the sons of Hathor were offering to give Abraham the field free of charge. Well, that isn't exactly the case. In that Near Eastern culture, when someone was very highly respected like Abraham, it would have been customary for the sons of Heth to offer it to Abraham to say, well, we'll just give you the field. Now, they weren't actually intending just to hand the field over. That wouldn't be part of their culture, just to give it away. But it was customary to offer it that way, and then it would be customary for Abraham, which he did, to say, no, no, but I will buy the field. And then they would press upon him, no, we'll give you the field. And Abraham would say again, no, I will buy the field, just as is recorded in Genesis chapter 23. And finally, the price is named for the field. Now, most likely, the price was considerably less than the field was worth. And that would reflect the honor that the sons of Heth were giving to Abraham in relation to that burial ground, which was considered, by the way, to be very prime ground. And so Abraham made the deal, pardon me, the Bible says he measured out the amount of silver and he purchased that ground. In other words, he made a major financial transaction. I want everyone to pause for a moment. Every day, almost every day, we make financial transactions. Some of them are wise. I am fearful that many of them are foolish. I want you to listen very carefully please tonight. We must be good stewards of what God has given us. Tonight I'm going to talk about a custom that was very well practiced in Bible times. A custom that is still practiced all over the world except in the United States of America in most cases. Let's look at our lesson outline, the introduction. Financial success hinges upon money management. We've emphasized that. Stewardship requires that one get as much, quote-unquote, bang for the buck as possible. Therefore, financial success and good stewardship demand the strategic distribution of funds. You like that? That's fancy words for spending money. What grandma used to call spending your money wisely. Now listen carefully. Though it is technically my money, we would say, it is really God's money. And I don't have a right to waste or to throw away God's money. Here's the key principle. I should learn to purchase everything at a bargain price, believing that everything is on sale. Now I want you to listen really carefully. The minute I talk about this, almost invariably somebody gets offended. And they say, well, there's almost this automatic thought, well, pastor, if you got a good deal on something, that means someone else got a bad deal. That is not what we're talking about here. What we're talking about here is always a win-win situation. Before I get into this, let me preface it, and I've included this in the lesson outline. I am first a Christian. I am a careful steward of the things that God has entrusted me. But my integrity is paramount. I am never, ever, ever, ever out to rip someone else off. Does everyone understand what I'm saying? That means all my business dealings need to be honest. If I'm selling an automobile that doesn't work quite right, I need to explain to the person that may buy it, hey, it has a brake problem. Why? That's the honest thing to do. You don't just let them test drive it and cross your fingers and pray, Lord, help the brakes to work one last time. You don't. You don't do that, okay? Because you have integrity. And because everything you do represents the Lord's work. Now, having said that, you are also a steward. And it is incumbent upon stewards that a man be found faithful. And in our faithfulness, that includes a caution with the money that God has given to us. So if I'm going to be careful with my money, it means I am not going to waste my money on things that are not a good deal. Now let's look at some ideas, some principles, remembering that the Proverbs 31 woman, she knew how to consider a field and buy it. Let's make a deal. Point A. Learn to negotiate price for big-ticket items. These preachers, what is that? I was about to say begging. It's not called begging. It's called bartering. It's called making a deal with an individual. You go to someone who's selling something and you seek to negotiate the price. You say, well, pastor, we don't do that in America. We should. We should. We're the only nation in the world where that kind of bickering back and forth is not regularly practiced, even on consumer items. Negotiation is not rude. It is good stewardship. Price negotiation is the normal practice throughout the world, except in America. However, we do negotiate for automobiles, don't we? And we also negotiate for a home. I don't know of anybody who walks up to a house for sale and makes an offer and says, I'll give you full asking price right off the bat. People don't do that. And normally you don't do that with a car salesman. If you do, you're really getting ripped off. You go to buy a car. It's not a matter of whether or not you're getting ripped off. It's usually just by how much are you. You would want to negotiate the price. We do that for some large things, but let me ask you this. Why don't we do that on other things to be a good steward of God's money? Let's continue. Point two. By the way, ladies, I know, I know, you're about to say, oh pastor, this just embarrasses me. You know, my wife cringes. when I start this at a store. She does. She goes off into the ladies' section and pretends she doesn't know me when I start to price Hagel a little bit with salespeople. But ladies, do you know you do the same thing sometimes? Because how many of you, you don't have to raise your hand, but you'll ask, you'll look at a dress that you want, and you'll say to the clerk, you'll say something like this, hey, when's that going to be on sale? When's your next big sale coming up? Well, all you're doing is asking when you're going to get a better price. So since you've already gone that far, are you following me? You could go one step further and make an offer sometimes. I know some of you are thinking this is unrealistic, but we're going to get into this in a moment. Point three, your goal is not to rip off the store, but your goal is to create a win-win situation for both you and the store. When you pay full price, only the store wins. Did you know that? And we do that in America. How many of you have ever been to Mexico? Have you been to Mexico? Okay. You know, they don't expect you to pay full price. They're shocked if you do. They'll take your money. They're not going to refuse it. But they're expecting you to go back and forth a little bit with them. It's part of their culture. It should be more that way in our culture. You're not trying to rip someone off, but you're trying to get a better deal than you otherwise would have gotten. Point four. Ethical negotiation is always honest negotiation. Integrity is always the paramount concern for a Christian. So if I'm going to make a negotiation, I need to be honest. In other words, don't tell them you're having some kind of financial crisis if you are not. It is okay to want to get a better price just for the sake of saving money. Point five, big ticket items include real estate, appliances. I would never Ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever pay full price for an appliance. No way. No way. They're all on sale. Why? Because the appliance stores, that's a cutthroat business. They want your business. They want your business even if you cut into their profit margin and save some of the Lord's money to do it. Appliances. Furniture. Never, ever pay full price for furniture. No way. No way. You know why? There's furniture stores all over this area. They'll kill for your business. I'll talk more about that. Never pay full price for furniture. There's no reason to do that. Where am I? Oh, cars. Of course not cars. Recreation equipment, etc. So many large ticket items you don't need to pay full price. Okay, preacher, how do you do it? Understand the process. Genesis chapter 23, there was a very subtle process of negotiation between Abraham and the sons of Heth. All of the Middle Eastern cultures are famous for negotiating price back and forth. The Jewish people are so good at this that they have a reputation for price negotiation. Well, Pastor, you know, that's something they're made fun of for. Yes, but guess who has all the money? The Jewish folks do well with that. We would do well to learn the same thing. Understand the process. Point number one, it is best to talk directly with someone who has the authority to negotiate. If a sales clerk becomes uncomfortable or refuses negotiation, ask politely to see the manager. Now you say, well Pastor, are you talking about in a retail store? I absolutely am. I'll give you an example. A couple years ago I was in Marshalls, right down here on 36, the discount store. And I noticed before Christmas they had this little, it was a reproduction CD player, but it looked like an antique radio. How many know what I'm talking about? A little wooden case, kind of attractive, nice little thing. They had several of them before Christmas. I think they were $129 before Christmas. Then after Christmas, a couple of them were gone, but they still had a couple, and I watched them. They went down in price, I think, to $90-something. And then there was only one left, and it was out of its box, so it was a floor model. It was out of its box, and it was sitting on a clearance table, and I think they wanted $75 for it. Now, I had seen it at $129, something like that, and had watched it gone down to around $75 on the clearance, table and I wanted to buy it and I had $50 in cash in my pocket so I found the manager and I said hey can I talk to you about this and he came right over and I said I'd like to buy this I said no one else wants it it's the only one you have it doesn't even have its box it's obviously the floor model I said I'll give you $50 for it and you know he smiled and said sure I'll take 50 for it And took 50 for it. Now why did he do that? Because in a store like Marshall's there is a tiered price tiering of discounts. And so when an item won't sell, it goes on clearance, it's discounted 20%, 30%, 40%. They actually have a chart that they would use to see what set of discount it's about to have. Probably the next day it was going to go down to my asking price anywhere, sometime by the end of the week. And the manager said, hey, this guy has cash. I can buy this. You can do this in a retail store. And you say, preacher, it's rude. No, it's not rude. If you're friendly and nice and laugh about it and have fun with it, it's not rude at all. And the worst thing somebody can say is no. But be sure to find a person who has the authority to do it. Most sales clerks will right away say they don't have the authority to do that, then ask to see the manager. Point two. Begin the negotiation by asking if the store can do better on a price of the item you desire to buy. If the answer is no, it is best to shop elsewhere or at least compare prices somewhere else. Most stores can do better. I'm going to give you some insight into this in a moment. And not always usually big ticket things, but sometimes even smaller things. Point three, have a target price in mind with a maximum ceiling. If the response, when you say, can you do better, if the response is below the maximum ceiling, see if you can get any lower by saying something like, that's good, but I think you could do a little better. And then be silent. And don't say a word. Do you know silence is one of the biggest pressures you can ever put on people? It's their turn to talk. And you say, I think you can do a little bit better than that. then you might want to make a reasonable offer of slightly below the first if silence doesn't work. and see what they say. You'd be amazed at what can happen. Tastefully, you might want to do this. Tastefully indicate that you intend to pay with cash. Cash has an emotional appeal and eliminates the store's credit card surcharge. Many stores are charged up to 8% for every time you use a credit card at the store. How many of you have ever been charged some extra for using a credit card? Anyone ever have? I have been at an auto repair shop. The manager at the auto repair shop said if I used my credit card to pay for a repair, he had to charge a little extra because they came back and charged him. If I would use a debit card or pay for it in cash, he didn't incur that charge. And if you know that and you're paying with cash, the store manager says, well, I'm not losing that 8% that would have gone to MasterCard or Visa or some percentage. It varies place to place, I'm sure. Point number five. If the price does not drop below the initial offer, but the initial offer is below your maximum price ceiling, you may acquiesce and purchase the item. Because you've already got an idea of what you're going to spend. Now listen carefully. Do you know what being a good steward means? I know this sounds like work. It's actually very fun. You know what being a good steward means? It means I know the retail value of stuff. And I don't buy anything, especially a big ticket item, without having an idea of what its retail value is. Because when you know what its retail value is, you have room to move around in the price and deal with them that way. If the store refuses negotiation, then you can indicate politely that you're going to shop the competitor before making a final decision. This works folks, let me tell you. I've never paid full price, do not pay full price for furniture ever. I saw several years ago in entertainment, a little cupboard thing, you put the TV in, you know, so you can shut the TV when your spiritual friends come over, lock it behind the... You know what I'm talking about? Beautiful oak, solid oak, beautiful entertainment center thing was for sale, and it was on clearance. Now let me tell you something, when something's on clearance, that means they want it out of the store. The clearance price is a better price than you would have paid otherwise, but it's not their best price. They will go way below the clearance price. It was on clearance at one of those oak stores over there near the Lafayette Square Mall. And so I went in and I saw it. I said, boy, that's exactly what I wanted. $700 is what they wanted. And it was supposedly discounted from who knows what, $1,000 or whatever it was before. And it was $700. And I called the kid over who was running the store. I said, hey, I really like this. I said, it's on clearance. It's one of a kind. I said, you guys want to get rid of it? I said, I'll tell you what, I've got a truck right now. And I said, I have $450. I'll give you $450 for this right now. And you don't have to ship it to me. I'll carry it out. Take it out the door right now. Take it off your hands right this instant. We kind of stumbled around a little bit and said, oh, I don't know if I can do that. I said, well, go ask your manager. Go ask your manager. So he went back. He was gone for a while. He came back. He said, no. He said, boy, he said, he can't do $450. He said, that's a real drop from $700. He said, he just can't do that. And he said, but he said, he'll go $500. He'll go $500. That's $200 off!" So you know what I said? I said, man, that's a real shame. I said, you know, now I'm going to have to go all over town comparing prices and looking at things. I've got a truck right here, I could just carry it out. I said, man, you know, maybe I'll be back, maybe I won't, but I just don't want to go $500 for this. I just want to go $450. And the kid said, okay, he'll take $450. Let me tell you, you say, well, preacher, do you do stuff like that? Sure. And if you have fun with people, don't be all tense. If you're tense and ugly and nasty and snarling, that's not Christian. But if you're enjoying talking to them, they want to make a sale, you want to make a purchase, you're kind of bantering back and forth, and you keep it light and keep it personable, then not only does it fit with your Christian testimony, you're being a good steward of the money God has given you, and I think it's very important that we learn to do this. Okay, some tips real quickly. Some tips here for you. Understand that salespeople are trained in selling. You're negotiating with them is not an affront. It is a challenge to their selling skills. If they get offended, it's because they're new at this. They should be used to it because there are people, more people than just me, do this. Point two, always have fun with negotiation. Do not become rude, angry, hurt. Your feelings are, you know, on your shirt sleeve. Don't be that way. Keep it lighthearted. This is not life and death, but it will help you meet your budget and it will help you be a good steward. Point three, For small ticket items such as clothing or household accessories, it is best to negotiate at discount stores such as Marshalls or for items that are already on clearance. Remember items on sale 25% off today are frequently 50% off tomorrow. Ask for the deep discount early and you might get it. Always negotiate for a floor sample. Point out its defects and wear. If you want to buy something, buy that floor sample. Example of this. I was with someone at Christmas time. We were walking through a store. young man and he spotted one of those jewelry cabinet things, those wooden, real pretty wooden jewelry cabinet things with all the drawers and it has little doors and a mirror and a little thing that ladies like and they hang all their stuff and it's got all those little compartments and he really liked it. It was that It was at, I think, Bed Bath & Beyond down here, one of those stores. So I'm talking about a major retailer store, and it was the floor sample item. It had a tiny, almost imperceptible scratch, which I immediately noticed. And I said to him, oh, I said, look, the floor sample has a scratch. I said, we can get this at 50% off. Now it was already on sale. I said, but let's cut the price by 50% and see what she'll do. So the sales clerk couldn't help us with it, called the manager over, the manager lady came over, and the young man was frankly mortified by this, so I took care of it. I said, look, I said, see it's got this tiny little scratch here. I said, I'll give you half price for this. I'll take it off your hands. It's the floor sample. I'll take it off your hands. Right away she said no. Okay, well, I said, okay, well, we'll just keep shopping. She was going to go lower than, so I think she said, I'll take 20% off. I wanted 50% off. I said, well, we can't do that. So we walked away. Walked around the corner. You know, it's a U-shaped aisle. Walked around the corner. We were away from the object for 10 minutes. The store manager came and found me. And she said, okay, I'll take 50% off. Just like that. Well, he had his Christmas present for his wife. And he saved 50%. Now folks, this doesn't always happen. And don't get disappointed if you leave here. I'm scared of teaching this lesson. Because I have this vision tomorrow morning, you're going to hit the stores out here and they're going to say, what in the world happened? You're going to hit all the stores. discouraged if you get turned down a few times, but if you don't ask, you won't get. But if you do ask, you are doing the store a favor because they want to move that merchandise, and you are doing yourself a favor because you're getting a better price. And watch this, you are being a good steward of the Lord's money. I'm convinced that this is a good way to go. Point four, on certain items, don't take no for an answer. Items for which you should always negotiate include furniture. All furniture is 25% off a marked price. Always. I never, never pay full price for furniture. I've never had a problem buying it at 25% off anywhere, anytime. Just, that's an example. Appliances, always on sale. If you have cash, huge discounts can be had for cash. Major electronics, can I give you a hint about this? H.H. Gregg, Circuit City, Best Buy. Now watch this. You walk in, you say, I want to buy a new television set. The young man or the young lady takes you over to 50 TV sets over here on the side. There are little code numbers near every television set. They're going to direct you not to the TV set that is the best for you, They're going to direct you to the TV set that has the largest margin of commission for them. It may not even be the most expensive set. There may be something that the store is trying to move out. They're offering a higher commission. They can tell by reading a tiny little code that's on the shelf where this is. How do you know? I know this because I know people who work there. And there's a little code. They'll read that code and they'll know by reading that code how much money they'll make if they sell that to you. Did you know that they have the store's permission in many cases to lower the price of that electronic item and cut into their own commission in order to make the sale? How many knew that? Sure, some of you knew it, and you know what? Take advantage of that. And you might even say to the salesman as you talk to him, you know, I know you're allowed to cut into your own commission, and it's not that I don't want you to make anything, but here, I'm going to offer you this amount for it. And then they'll either take it or leave it. It's better to make a little than to make nothing, and most of them will take it. What I'm saying is you don't have to pay full price for these items. In some stores, the flexibility is built right in on some of these items. And then if they don't refuse to negotiate on things like that, just shop the competitor. There's always someone willing to negotiate. Okay, let's make a deal. Now here at number two, let's get a deal. The Proverbs 31 woman, what did she do? She considered the field before she bought it. She didn't buy because it was an emergency. She didn't run out and grab the first thing that she saw. She considered it before. A. Find the best price in town. Number one, do not be in a hurry to buy. Impatience is very expensive. Think of your needs well before they become emergencies. Does everybody follow me on this? For example, my truck is going to need new tires. I noticed that a while back. I'm trying to get through this winter season before I have to put new tires on my truck. When it comes down to putting tires, I've already priced them in several places to try to figure out prices. I will not pay anyone's full price for new tires on my truck. I will go and make an offer at each different place for the set of tires I want. The guy who meets my offer is the guy who will get my business and perhaps begin a business relationship with me that will carry on. But I know I have the need, so I'm thinking about it now. I'm watching to see where the sales are. I'm watching to see what's taking place. If I get in a hurry or in an emergency, How many know that when you're in an emergency, things become real expensive? You know what I'm saying? You know the worst thing that can happen to you is for you to break down out of town. in a strange place hundreds of miles from home because you're a pigeon for that mechanic. Don't be in a hurry. Number two, carefully research every purchase over $100 and many under $100. What are your options? Who carries that item or similar items? Who is having a sale? Don't just see it and buy it. Again, this takes a little effort and planning, but it will ultimately pay off. Point three, buy on purpose, not on impulse. Proverbs 31 woman considered the field. It was not an impulsive buy. It is not a good deal if you don't need it. By the way, it's not a good deal if it's not in your budget. Oh, Esther, you know, so and so, it's a deal I can't refuse. If it's not in your budget, you must refuse it. Now, if it's something you could purchase for $10 and turn around and sell for $1,000, that would be fine, but then turn around and sell it. Be honest about that. It's funny how men are. My wife pointed this out to me one time. She said, Honey, every time you buy something, you preface it with the idea that you could sell it for double of what you're buying it for. She said, you never just buy something, but you always tell me how much it's really worth. And she said, then you buy it, and she said, you never sell it. She was right about that. And I said to her, I said, well, honey, women just buy consumables, plastic tablecloths, and it's gone. At least I could sell the stuff I buy. Never do sell it, but at least I could. We kid about that all the time. Shop at the discount stores first. Here's a statement. You always get mugged at the mall. Always, always, the Circle Center Mall is a rip-off unless you're shopping a deep discount sale of 75% or more. Occasionally some of the designer stores do have that. But Kelly and I were walking through the mall. We don't do this more than a half times a year I'm sure. The other day we'd gone to supper and we were walking through the mall and I was looking at men's shaving stuff at Nordstrom. So like a razor. I'm not talking about an electric razor here. I'm talking about a handle that you put a disposable razor cartridge on. The handle, which included no razor blades, the handle at Nordstrom's was $200. What are you thinking? Oh, well, Preacher, it was ergonomically designed. Are you kidding me? $200 for an instrument that's going to cut my face. $200. I could not believe the price. And it was sitting right out there. And you know, someone's going to come by and buy that thing because they have nothing better to do. How unwise. You want a preacher? If they can afford it, why not? Because it wouldn't be wise. That's why not. Even if you can afford it. If you're a millionaire, you don't just throw money out the window. $200 for a razor handle. Just unbelievable. What a bargain, huh? Shop the thrift stores. Ultimately everything is used. Oh boy. Preacher, now I'm squeamish about shopping for clothing in a thrift store. I want all my clothing to be new. Yup, it's been tried on ten times before you brought it home by possibly ten different people. At least what you bought at the thrift store was consistently probably worn only by one person. Honest truth of the matter is, everything is used. Everything is used. Do you know you can buy something that is purported to be new and not know that perhaps it had been returned and had been used? Sure. So because of that, don't be squeamish about this, but shop places where it is wise and where the prices are good. I put this in, there's a lot of old time religion in a little soap and water. Bob Jones Sr. said that. I like that statement. In other words, anything used can be cleaned up. My wife is an example of this. The unique thrift store on 38th Street near the Lafayette Square Mall. If I go into that neighborhood, I'm going to get mugged. It's ridiculous. Don't worry about that. The Lord can protect you. How silly is that? Don't be worried about that neighborhood. It's not that bad. She drives up there. Ethan shops there as well. Should I tell you a secret, Ethan? She goes up to the thrift store when it's 50% off day. She was there on Monday and she saw Denise Lopez was there too. My wife shops there, I would say conservatively, 80% of what my wife wears she has bought at the unique thrift store. I can give her $20 on half-off day and she can come out with grocery sacks full of clothing that she wears. And I'm talking about her Sunday clothing. Now you say, Preacher, well, come on, buy her something new. Occasionally I do. We go down to Christopher and Banks and she likes to shop there and occasionally buy something new. But you know what? She doesn't like to pay those prices. And she'll tell you that and she loves the challenge of finding things at the thrift store and saves literally thousands and thousands of dollars doing that and being faithful in purchasing money there. It's a good thing and it can help anybody's budget. Know, of course, you want to know retail prices and then buy the used whenever possible so you know you're getting a good deal. And remember this, high price does not mean high quality. I wish everyone understood that. There are some things that are ridiculously high priced, that are of ridiculously poor quality. Don't think because you're paying a lot of money, you're really getting a good thing. Most of the time, you're getting something very, very disappointing. Now let me give you some specific examples of good places to shop in the Indianapolis area. Value City. Excellent for clothing. Most of my suits and ties and things come from Value City. Typically do a lot of shopping there. They have good prices on things like that. Marshalls and TJ Maxx are both good for clothing and gift wear. As I mentioned, sometimes you can dicker a little bit at Marshalls. I've been successful in that. It's worked sometimes. Alright, here's a great one. Number three. C&M Appliance Company located north of Crawfordsville Road. It's either on High School or Girl School. I think it's High School Road. In a little shopping center up there. C&M Appliance. Washers, dryers, refurbished. $150 a piece. Huh, Pastor, but that's used. Yep, so is the one you have right now. Yours is just as used as mine. Did you know that? Now, here's the truth about it, though. Every church-owned property we have, when I have to replace appliances in church-owned property, I go to C&M Appliance. Ever since we bought Pastor Phillips' house, that's where I've been buying anything for this church. For years, we have purchased from them. We have never had one of his things break down. He's an older guy. He deals mostly in Maytag and Whirlpool. I think those are the two products that he uses. He fixes everything himself. It's $150. Pick out anything you want. He doesn't want you to break up a set, but it's $150. Take it right out. Throw it on the truck. I always have a truck ready. Throw it on the truck. Bring it home. Well, I'm pretty sure what if it doesn't work? 30 days, 100% guarantee, first year, 50-50 parts and labor. $150. Now, how much does it cost to have the repairman come out and fix it? Someone said, I heard, what, $66 just to have them come look at it? And then someone said they'll fix anything for $160. Well, why not just get a refurbished one for $150? Alright, that's my, well, master, it's used. Let me ask you a question. When did your washer and dryer become a status symbol? And who's ever looked at your washer and dryer? Nobody. Nobody. And you know what? They all do the same thing. Well, my answer doesn't have all the bells and whistles. But you know, ladies, you only use two settings. I'll be honest about it. Most of us don't even know what all those buttons do. We just try to wash clothing. It's amazing. Today, washers and dryers, they've got so many buttons you can't figure out what it is and some of them will make a sandwich for you at halftime. It's ridiculous. All you want is clean clothing. And you can get that. Boy, in Indianapolis, we're blessed with that. I like C&M Appliance. I recommend them. And then I mentioned this, the 30Eth. Unique thrift store on 30Eth Street. Great place. Auctions are another excellent place. And yard sales. Ah, preacher. I can't believe you'd go to this extent. Can I say something, folks? Now listen, listen. It's biblical. The entire culture of the Old and New Testament operated the economies of those systems operate on these principles. The Lord said we're to be a good steward. The Lord would never commend a steward who wasted money buying something at too high a price. It is simply not the wise thing to do. We all believe this when it comes to a house and a car, don't we? Ah, we could lose thousands of dollars. Do you know we lose thousands of dollars when we buy things that are horribly overpriced? When we buy things that are not on sale? We're fueling manufacturers who, by the way, the average markup on merchandise is more than 50%. In some industries, such as jewelry, it can be 75%. In the funeral industry, Sometimes it's typical, it's actually typical, 100% markup and in some cases 200% markup in the funeral industry. The merchants are taking us to the cleaners because we were taught to accept that. I'm never saying to be rude, because you shouldn't be rude. But what I'm saying is there's someone who is willing to sell at your price or come very, very close to it. Here's what I want to challenge you to do, Christian. Are you pretty sure I just can't make my budget work? You know what? Before you go and buy a big ticket item, research it. Figure out what you're willing to pay, and then have fun with it. Go into stores and do this. My wife, when I start this, I know she kind of disappears to some other end of the store. But you know what? I always come away with a bargain. Or at least I come away with a story. Or at the very least, I come away with an ability to having spoken to somebody and enjoyed a conversation, It's simply a matter of doing things that will keep us within our budget. And again, as a Christian, you're not trying to rip somebody off, but you're trying to create a win-win situation where they are glad to move the merchandise, and believe me, they're happy to move the merchandise, and where you are getting a better value and are a better steward of the money the Lord has entrusted you." Now, I know this has been intensely practical tonight. So here's your assignment. Try it. I'd love to hear from someone by a week, in a week, how you were able to work out a price with somebody and get something at a better price than you otherwise would have. You will not know until you try. And when you try, it'll work. Let me caution you though, don't do this at stake and shake. Okay? Okay? Places like that, they're pretty well set on what they're going to charge. But many, many places, there's a flexibility. And you can be a better steward of the Lord's money if you'll take care of that. Let's pray. Father, thank you for your word tonight. Thank you, Lord, for the virtuous woman who did consider the ground Lord, that means she analyzed the potential deal. Father, help us to be good stewards. Help us, Lord, to have the boldness to be able to be careful with the money you've entrusted us with. Make us wise in our spending habits. Father, help us not to get so caught up in the materialism of this world that we waste our money foolishly. Lord, let us look at each dollar as something that is given by you for your glory and for your work We pray thy blessing in Jesus name. Amen. Hey one more thing