Latest / Koinonia Christian Center / Living Covenant Conscious Financially Part 5 | Made For It Part 2 | Pastor Trev Evans

Transcript

Living Covenant Conscious Financially Part 5 | Made For It Part 2 | Pastor Trev Evans · Koinonia Christian Center

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Good afternoon family. I hope you all
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are doing well. Listen, God has been
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good to us. He's been gracious to us.
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And when we think of all that he has
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done for us and not just what it is,
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what he's done, but who he is more
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importantly, then I believe praise rises
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up out of us. Listen, my name is Pastor
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Trev and it is my absolute joy to be
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able to be with you today in the place
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of our pastor, our senior pastor and
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founder, Bishop Rosie S. O'Neal. Uh I am
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just thankful for her. You know, listen,
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uh you know, we are fresh off the heels.
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Been about a week or two uh since we
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have come out of our 40 days of fasting
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and praying and uh Bishop Ed was
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teaching uh every day, sometimes twice a
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day. And uh when you go through
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something like that, you need a minute
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to kind of pull away and to refresh. And
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we're just thankful that she is doing
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that today. Uh however, she has left the
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lesson uh for us to get into today. So I
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want to uh definitely uh get into that.
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And before I go any further,
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announcement on the front end. Uh if you
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are seeing this before May 1st, we want
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you to join us May the 1st at 12:00 noon
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for the National Day of Prayer. We will
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be hosting and leading a time of prayer
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in our community on the uh steps of the
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Pit County Courthouse that's located at
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100 West Third Street here in
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Greenville, North Carolina. So, if you
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can pull up on us, take your lunch break
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uh and come and be a part of a time of
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prayer as we gather together as a
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community uh to seek the face of God.
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Amen. So, I'm excited about today's
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lesson. As you know, we are in a series
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uh on uh financial being financially
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covenant conscious. Uh on this past
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Sunday, Bishop uh preached her face off
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and taught her face off when she uh
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talked about that we are made for it.
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And she gave us three primary words on
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this past Sunday. She gave us attitude,
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alignment, and
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awareness. Attitude that you and I must
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make an adjustment. And I mean a quick
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shift in our attitude as it pertains to
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uh what God wants to do in our lives
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financially. We were made for more. He
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came that we might have an abundant
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life. Uh to put on an old sermon from
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years ago, there's a shouldness to our
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blessing. And you and I, regardless of
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where we are, what we've been through,
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what we've seen, what has happened to
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us, what people may have done to us, we
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must quickly embrace the fact that the
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abundant life is for us. And so Bishop
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called us to make a make a shift in our
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attitude on Sunday. Then she moved to
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alignment and she said that you and I
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must be in alignment with God. There's
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no way we can ask for, believe for,
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declare the blessings of God if we're
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walking out of alignment with his word.
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And so we want to be in alignment
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financially with God in returning the
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tithe and giving some kind of offering
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and being a blessing to your pastor. And
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those of you who are not members of
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Corona, you want to be a blessing to
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your pastor and that is scriptural. That
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is found in Galatians chapter 6. That is
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scriptural. And we want to be in
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alignment with God. So she talked about
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attitude. She talked about alignment.
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And then she talked about awareness and
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that you and I must be aware that the
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enemy has a plan for our money. And
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because the enemy has a plan for our
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money, we must have a plan. You got it?
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Listen. You can wander into debt, but
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you cannot wander out. You will have to
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have a plan. You got it. And so, we must
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be aware of the tactics. And you got to
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go back to Sunday and here are some of
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the practical things that bishop gave us
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uh in being aware. So, we must be aware
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of the tactics of this world, but we
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also must be aware of our own plan that
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is supposed to dictate and guide how we
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handle our finances. So, there's uh
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there's attitude, there's alignment,
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there's awareness. And today we're
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talking about action. You got it. But
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before I get deep into action, Bishop
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wanted to make sure that uh this concept
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that we are made for it is nailed down.
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That we were made to be able to delay
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gratification. You and I have the
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ability to do that. You know, we've been
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created in the image of God according to
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Genesis 1 27. We've been made in the
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image of God. You know, and I want you
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to make a note of this. I didn't give
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this uh to John, but uh I want you to
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make a note of Exodus
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3:14. When Moses has received
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instructions from God to go and tell
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Pharaoh, let my people go. Moses comes
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to God and say, "Okay, God, I got it
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with Pharaoh. But now, when I go to the
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children of Israel and they're going to
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ask me who it is that is sending me,
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what do I say?"
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When they asked me for ID, what do I
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say? What do I give them? And God
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replied to Moses in Exodus 3:14, he
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said,"I am that I am." He said, "Go and
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tell them that I am." In other words, I
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am whatever it is I need to
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be. And you and I must understand that
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you, we have been created in the image
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of God. And whatever the situation calls
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for, we have the ability to be what's
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needed. Or I hear a old sermon in my
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head. Bishop preached changing shape to
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meet the need that you and I have the
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ability to be whatever the situation
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calls for. We have the ability to
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fulfill uh every assignment to overcome
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any obstacle and to meet any challenge.
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We have that why not in and of ourselves
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but we've been created in the image of
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God. And if that is true about that, so
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it is true when it comes to our
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finances. We have the ability, catch
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this, to delay
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gratification. We have the ability to
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say, "No, Bishop," she touched on it on
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Sunday. Colossians chapter chapter 2,
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verse 6, I believe I called for that
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one. Colossians chapter 2, verse 6, it
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says, "For out Colossians chapter 2."
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Yeah, there it is. It says, "As you
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therefore have received Christ Jesus the
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Lord, so walk in
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him." As you have received Christ, then
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that is how we are to walk in him. That
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is how to we are to walk out our lives.
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And so how do we receive Christ? We
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heard the gospel. We believed the
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gospel. Then we started living by faith
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and making adjustments in the things
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that we could see because of something
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we couldn't
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see. You got we we made we heard the
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gospel. We believed the gospel. Then we
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started walking by faith according to
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what we heard. And then we started
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making by the power of God making
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changes in our
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lives in the things that we could see
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based off of what we could not
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see. In other words, you and I have the
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ability to make the necessary
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adjustments in our lives. We can change
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what we see as it relates to our
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finances. We have that same ability. We
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have the ability to delay gratification.
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This is why I believe even God gives us
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uh the practice to sharpen this
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ability. That's what I believe fasting
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and prayer does. Fasting is the
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intentional staying away or abstaining
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from food for a period of time for a
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spiritual reason. And when we do that,
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we sharpen, we strengthen that muscle to
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be able to say no.
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If you can walk past a pound cake or you
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can walk past that snicker bar and say
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no to that, then surely you can say no
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to a sale. You got it? Surely you can
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say no to the impulse, the the I got to
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have it
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impulse. You feel me? Now, we ain't
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calling for a fast. I believe you should
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you should uh periodically have one on
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your own. But I believe this is what God
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gives us to help strengthen that ability
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that we have to delay
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gratification. You got it? Go to 2
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Corinthians chapter 4 verse
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17 and 18. 2 Corinthians chapter 4 verse
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17 18. You and I have the ability to say
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no. I want you to put the word no in the
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chat. Come on. Let's start now. You got
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it. Let's start now. Put the word no in
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the chat. I believe that's a word that
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we have to reintroduce into our lives if
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we're going to get a handle on our
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finances. Just Just start now. Just
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start now. Just Yeah. Just put it in the
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chat. Say no. No. That's all you got to
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do. Say no. You know, you know, it's two
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words. There you go. There you go. It's
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two words. Say no. But I believe we're
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not saying no for
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forever, but we will say no for a period
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of time. You got it? Catch this. I'm
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coming back to the scripture. Just give
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me one second. If if catch this,
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somebody put this in the chat or you
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write it down for yourself. If we can
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for a period of time live like no one
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else, then later we'll get to live like
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no one else.
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I'll say it
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again. If we can right now learn to live
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like no one
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else, then later down the road we'll get
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to live like no one else. If you and I
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can find a way to live like no one else.
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What does that mean now? You don't
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probably most of your friends have cable
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or YouTube or some sort of streaming
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service to watch TV. But if you can find
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a way now to live like no one else doing
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without
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it. If you can find a way now to live
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like no one else and and and sacrifice
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the vacation for right now. If you can
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if you can now right now learn to live
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like no one else. Meaning you don't have
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the latest and the greatest and the
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hottest and the newest now. Then later
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in life you'll get to live like no one
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else. You won't be picking up a third or
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second or third job. In fact, you'll be
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well off enough to be able to retire.
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You'll be going on vacation. Not when
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there's a sale, but when you want
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to. Yeah. You'll be going on vacation
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when you want to. See, because right
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now, oh
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Lord, I'm coming to second Corinthians.
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I declare 2 Corinthians chapter 4. I'm
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coming to it. But right
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now, the lack of finances in our lives
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and our inability to control
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it, it dictate, it dictates to us when
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we can go on vacation and how long we
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can stay.
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But if we can learn now to to to to
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delay gratification in the moment, then
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we'll come to the point where money is
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not telling us where to go and how long
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we can stay. We'll be able to dictate
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that whether you want to go to Dubai and
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stay for seven days or for two weeks.
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That'll be not because you got to get
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back to your second job. It'll be
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because you had the finances to do it.
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You got it? So if we can learn now to
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live like no one else, then I believe
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later we'll get to live like no one
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else. 2 Corinthians chapter 4:1 17. 2
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Corinthians chapter 4 verse 17. It says,
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"For our light afflictions, which is but
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for a moment is working for us a far
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more exceeding and eternal weight of
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glory." Verse 18, while we do not look
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at the things which are seen, but at the
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things which are not seen. For the
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things which are seen are temporary, but
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the things which are not seen are
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eternal. What is that saying? That we
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are built for this. We are we are made
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for this. We are made to look at
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hardship and redefine hardship. We're
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able to look at difficulty and redefine
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difficulty. We're able to delay
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gratific. We're built for this. This is
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how God wired
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us. You got it? You and I have the
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ability, catch this, to
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decide. Uhhuh. To embrace. Here come
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three words from the fast. Watch this,
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Elonza. It ain't nothing new. We have
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the ability to decide to embrace
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disruption,
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discomfort. Y'all know what the third
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one is? Discon disconnection. We have
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that
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ability. We have that ability to decide
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that that I'm going to embrace
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disruption. Disruption of what? Of my
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routine.
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I'm used to going to Starbucks and
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paying $7 for my my medicine ball. So,
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because I want to delay gratification
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because I have a goal, because I have a
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plan, I'm not going to pay $7 to $8
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right now for for a cup of tea. I'm
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going to go get me a box of tea for $5.
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Go get me some Splendor for eight.
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Splender is $9 a box. What in the world?
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Get you some Splender for $9. What's
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that? That's about 14 right there. And
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then get you a little honey. If you
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don't get organic honey, maybe that's $8
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$10. Okay. So, what we looking at now?
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$24 for as many uh tea bags you have.
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It'll probably be 10 or 12 tea bags. So,
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for $24, you have you have 10 or 12 cups
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of tea rather than one cup for
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$8. But I can endure this light
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affliction because it is working for me
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a far more exceeding weight of glory. I
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have a greater future if I can endure
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this now. I can endure the disruption. I
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can endure the I can endure the
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discomfort of telling myself no. Cuz
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that's not comfortable. You don't mind
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telling other people no. But boy, it's
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something else to tell yourself no.
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That's not comfortable. You got it. But
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we can decide to embrace the disruption,
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the discomfort, and the
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disconnection. The disconnection from
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from some of my favorite things to
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do. You got it? So that means coming up
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uh in the in the fall, you know, I was
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looking at uh Bishop has has us in this
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series and I was looking at uh our own
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bills. My wife and I have been looking
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at our own budget, our spending plan and
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uh Lonzo, sure enough, I forgot that I
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had uh what you call it when you uh the
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football what is that the package for
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watching the football games. Now you
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can't but watch but mostly one game at a
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time honestly and pay attention to it. I
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had this package where I had like six or
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seven games. And even with the package,
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I I didn't watch but one game at a time.
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And catch this, I told myself when I
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first got it, I was going to cut it off
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when football season was
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over. It's April. Basketball season has
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come and gone. March Madness has come
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and gone. The NFL draft has come and
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gone, and I'm still paying for
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it. But I need to disconnect from some
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of my favorite things to do. So now when
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it comes to in the fall, you know,
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whatever is on CBS, whatever's on Sunday
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Night Football, that's what I'm going to
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have to watch. You got it? Why? I can
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embrace this light affliction cuz I have
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a far more exceeding weight of glory. I
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have a greater goal in mind. You got it?
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Oh, so so we we are made for this. Write
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down Hebrewsap 11 24-27. I can't go to
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it. I'm not going to go to it, John. But
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Hebrews 11
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24-27. And it talks about Moses making a
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choice, making a decision to not stay in
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the house of Pharaoh and to to uh to
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embrace and to receive and to eat of all
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the delicacies and all of the amazing
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things that were in Pharaoh's house. He
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he he uh decided not to embrace that,
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but he he embraced his assignment from
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God to go and be with the children of
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Israel who were in some challenging
15:39
situations. But he did it. He
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forwent what it is he could see because
15:45
he was following him who was
15:48
invisible. That's what verse 27 says.
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So, so you and I have the ability to
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choose and make a decision to embrace
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the hardness or the challenges right
15:59
now. We can delay gratification for a
16:03
greater good. Why? Because we were made
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for this. We were built for this. You
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got it? This is how God has wired us.
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And so, you know, Bishop wanted me to
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make sure that that was nailed down. And
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she said, "Tra, now you can't you can't
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uh you can't get up from there until you
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look at action." Because with attitude,
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with alignment, with awareness, we need
16:29
action, corresponding action. Go to
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Proverbs chapter 6 verse 6-8.
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Proverbs chapter 6 verse 6 through8. You
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and I need corresponding action. And
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look at this. Look at where we're going
16:46
to look at the model that God gives us
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on how we should act. You would think,
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you can leave it up, but you would think
16:55
that God would use maybe the lion, the
16:57
king of the jungle, or maybe a bear that
17:00
has uh crazy strength. But no, look at
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what the Bible gives us as an example on
17:07
how we should act. Proverbs chapter 6
17:10
verse 6, it says, "Go to the ant." Now,
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you and I spent our whole lives trying
17:14
to destroy ants. There's a there's a
17:18
multi-million dollar industry that is
17:20
made to try to get rid of ants for
17:23
years. And they still
17:26
here. They still here. Look at this. It
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says, "Go to the ant, you slugard.
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consider her ways and be
17:34
wise. Which having no captain, overseer,
17:38
or ruler, provides her supplies in the
17:42
summer, and gathers her food in the
17:46
harvest. Let me read it again.
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Go to the
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aunt, you slugard. Consider her ways,
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how that ant handers their business, and
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be
17:57
wise. Which having no captain, nobody
18:00
standing over top of them, no overseer,
18:02
no ruler, provides her supplies in the
18:05
summer, getting busy in the heat when
18:08
it's hot outside. The aunt is not
18:10
chilling. Bring me back up. I'm good.
18:12
The aunt is not chilling. And I know we
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on the verge of summer. I know we are.
18:18
Okay. And I know you probably got plans
18:20
in the summer. Okay. I'm not trying to
18:22
kill your plans. This is to make
18:25
sure that when we go on vacation, that
18:29
vacation doesn't follow us
18:31
home. What does that mean? When I go on
18:35
vacation, I want to plan a kind of
18:37
vacation where I can pay for it and it
18:40
doesn't follow me home and I'm having to
18:41
make payments five months after I went
18:43
on that vacation. You got it? It says,
18:46
"Look at the ant. Check out the ant and
18:48
how the ant is diligent that in the heat
18:51
is gathering supplies and in the harvest
18:54
is bringing in what is what what is what
18:56
it needs." You and I must have the type
18:59
of action as it pertains to our money.
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We need the same diligence of the ant as
19:05
it pertains to our money. Now, on
19:07
Sunday, Bishop gave us a spending plan.
19:10
And big ups to everybody. Big shout out
19:12
to everybody cuz I don't think there was
19:14
one spending plan left in the seat here
19:16
at church. So absolutely amazing job.
19:19
You got it. But if you did not get a
19:21
spending plan, you can go to our website
19:23
at kccfamily.com, click on resources,
19:26
and an electronic version of uh that
19:29
spending plan is there. Now the spending
19:31
plan, some people may call it a budget.
19:33
It is a revealing document that shows us
19:38
uh where we are financially. You got it?
19:41
And so if we are going to have the
19:43
abundant life that God wants us to have,
19:46
we must, somebody say in the chat, we
19:50
must we have to have a spending plan in
19:54
place. We have, like Bishop said, we
19:56
have to take some time to tell our money
19:58
where to go or we'll spend all of our
20:01
time wondering where it went. If you
20:03
ever got paid on Friday and looked up on
20:06
Monday and didn't know where the money
20:08
went, you know exactly what I'm talking
20:10
about.
20:12
You got it? So, we have to have a
20:13
spending plan. So, what I want to
20:15
encourage is everybody's in different
20:17
places. You got it? Some of you already
20:19
have a spending plan. You have a budget.
20:21
You're faithful to it. You're working it
20:22
every month. It's like clockwork. You
20:25
got it? So, you should be looking maybe
20:27
to help somebody. And if you're going to
20:29
help somebody, don't be arrogant and
20:30
cocky acting like you, you know, you
20:32
always had it together. Be humble. All
20:34
right? Or maybe you can help somebody.
20:36
Maybe you had a spending plan and you
20:38
had a budget in place and you, you know,
20:40
you kind of put it down, got away from
20:42
it and started doing your own thing.
20:44
Pick it back up. Dust it off. You got
20:47
it. Look at it again. Maybe you never
20:51
had a spending plan. You're like, "Yo,
20:52
you know what? I'm just, you know, I
20:54
keep it all in my head and I'm handling
20:56
my business, doing it, you know, the
20:57
best way I can." I want to encourage you
20:59
to give this a shot. Okay? I want you to
21:02
give it a shot because the the spending
21:04
plan, the budget, it is a tool to tell
21:07
our money where to go and it is a
21:08
revealing document. Can I just share
21:10
with you? You think you know how much
21:11
you spend on food, but if you don't have
21:13
a budget, you have no
21:17
clue. You have absolutely I'm going to
21:20
take me a sip of water on that cuz I
21:21
know that's right. I know that's
21:25
right. You have no clue on what you
21:29
spending on food. That's one of those,
21:32
you know, that's one of those things
21:33
where it kind of just gets away from us.
21:36
You go to Burger King and get a number
21:37
three. My son loves a number three. You
21:38
can go to Burger King and get a number
21:39
three. An Impossible Whopper, that is
21:43
$12.94 for a meal.
21:48
$12.94 for one meal. You if you go and
21:52
do that at
21:53
least twice a
21:56
week, that's at least eight times a
21:58
month.
22:00
That's That's crazy. By the end of the
22:02
year. Now, am I saying don't ever go to
22:04
Burger King? No, I'm not saying that.
22:06
What I'm saying is let's be
22:08
intentional. Let's put a plan together
22:11
in place and be intentional so that when
22:14
we do go, we're not spending money that
22:17
we don't have. You got it? Okay. So, we
22:20
we need the spending plan. We need the
22:23
spending plan. It is the revealing
22:24
document that tells that helps us to
22:26
tell our money where to go. Okay. So,
22:28
listen. I want to take a moment to go
22:32
through what is it? Oh, am I good on
22:34
time? I'm good on time. I want to take a
22:35
moment and kind of uh maybe introduce to
22:39
some remind others of of
22:43
this what we call the baby steps. Now,
22:46
this comes from a guy named Dave Ramsey
22:49
who wrote a phenomenal book called The
22:51
Total Money Makeover. Now, from the
22:53
onset, let me go on and tell you I don't
22:54
believe a lot of stuff that Dave says in
22:56
other areas. You got it? Okay. Yeah. You
22:59
know, my my man has some interesting
23:02
views, but I cannot
23:04
deny that God blessed him, graced him to
23:09
be able to help people financially. You
23:12
got it? So, it's a book called The Total
23:13
Money Makeover. In this book called The
23:15
Total Money Makeover, he gives what is
23:16
called the seven baby steps. And in
23:18
these baby steps, this is like a system,
23:21
a financial, it's a system to kind of
23:24
walk down to be able to get to the place
23:28
that we all desire to get to, and that
23:29
is to the place of surplus. You got it?
23:32
And so with these baby steps, we will
23:35
find ourselves. I don't care. I don't
23:37
care if you are behind on every bill. I
23:40
don't care if you can pay all your bills
23:43
with half of a check. you can find
23:46
yourself in one of these seven baby
23:48
steps. And so I want to give us these
23:50
baby steps because we use the the
23:52
spending plan to tell our money where to
23:55
go as we walk down or walk through these
24:00
baby steps. You got it? So baby step
24:02
number one. Baby step number one. I'm
24:04
going to give them to you and then we'll
24:05
get back. We'll we'll we'll work through
24:07
with the time we have. Baby step number
24:09
one is to get a starter emergency fund
24:12
of $1,000.
24:14
Okay, a starting emergency fund of
24:17
$1,000. Baby step number two is to pay
24:20
all off all off pay off all debt except
24:24
the
24:25
home. Now, don't judge it yet. Just
24:27
listen to it. Okay, I ain't pay no. Just
24:30
listen to it. You got it. Pay off all
24:32
debt except the home. All right. Number
24:35
three. Go back to that $1,000 emergency
24:39
fund. And now let's make it a 3 to
24:41
sixmonth fully funded emergency fund. So
24:45
when I know my expenses, that's another
24:47
reason to have that budget because your
24:50
budget or your spending plan shows you
24:51
what it costs to run your house each
24:53
month. This is what Bishop calls you
24:55
need to know your number. You need to
24:57
know the number what it costs to run
25:00
your house. Everything from top to
25:02
bottom, from rent to toothpaste, what it
25:05
costs to run your house each month. And
25:07
whatever that is, whether it's 2500,
25:10
3,000, 4,0005, whatever that is, you
25:12
need to know your number. And then
25:14
whatever that number is, you will
25:16
multiply that number by either three,
25:19
four, five, or six. And you will have
25:22
that amount of money in your emergency
25:25
fund to fulfill baby step three. That's
25:28
what a 3 to six month fully funded
25:30
emergency fund means. You got it? So,
25:32
baby step one, start an emergency fund
25:34
of $1,000. Baby step two, pay off all
25:36
debt except the house. Baby step three,
25:38
save a three to six month fully funded
25:40
emergency fund. Baby step four is then
25:42
after you done that, invest 15% of your
25:46
income into
25:49
retirement. 15% of your income into
25:51
retirement. Now, some people, you know,
25:53
they debate this. Let me start investing
25:55
now so I can uh, you know, I can uh
25:58
maximize the time. You know, you got to
26:00
do how you see fit. Just let me give you
26:01
the seven. Okay. Number four, invest 15%
26:05
into retirement. Number five, save for
26:08
kids college if this applies to you.
26:11
Now, some of you may say, "Now, I don't
26:12
know about saving for kids college
26:14
before uh I don't know if I should uh
26:17
invest for myself before saving for my
26:19
kids college because it seems like that
26:21
I'm going to my kids going to go to
26:23
college before I need the retirement.
26:25
Can I just say now you got to do how you
26:26
see fit, but can I just
26:29
say there are multiple ways and multiple
26:33
programs for your kid to go to college.
26:36
They're not multiple ways and multiple
26:38
programs for your
26:41
retirement. I'm just saying now you
26:44
grown, you going to do how you see fit,
26:46
but just bear that in mind. You got it?
26:48
So number five is save for kids college.
26:49
Number six is pay off the home early.
26:53
go back and pay your home off early. And
26:56
then number seven, now you've been
26:58
given. We've been given all along the
27:00
way in our budget. Tithe is at the top.
27:02
You got it? But in baby step seven, it
27:05
is to build wealth and give
27:09
generously. Now, we've been giving all
27:11
along the way. You got it? We tithe, we
27:13
give our offering, we sew into the life
27:15
of our pastor. But on baby step seven,
27:18
this type of giving, I'm I'm talking
27:20
about like uh philanthropic. Isn't that
27:23
a word? Is that the right word? Yeah.
27:24
Philanthropic giving. I'm talking about
27:26
giving on another level. I'm talking
27:28
about leaving uh uh wealth to the next
27:30
generation giving. I'm talking about
27:33
that kind of giving where you go in in
27:35
in a grocery store and you turn it out
27:37
where you don't pay for somebody else
27:39
groceries. I'm talking about not just
27:41
paying for their butter and they serve.
27:42
I'm talking about paying for a whole
27:43
basket of grocer. That kind of giving,
27:45
that kind of fund, leaving and
27:47
establishing a
27:48
scholarship. You understand? That's what
27:50
we're talking about in Baby Step 7. that
27:52
level of giving. So again, you may be on
27:54
one of the you can find yourself on one
27:56
of these seven. We take our spending
27:59
plan, our budget, and we tell our money
28:03
where to go as we walk down these baby
28:07
steps. So I want to just touch on baby
28:10
step one. Let me just touch on baby step
28:12
one because it is critical. It is
28:15
important. If you do not have $1,000 set
28:17
to the side for just emergencies, I'm
28:20
talking to you. you need to get
28:23
$1,000 in your emergency fund like
28:26
yesterday. Now, for some of you, it is a
28:29
matter of going to your checking account
28:31
and pulling out a th000 and putting it
28:33
into another account that is separate
28:35
from your checking account. Some of you
28:37
can go and do that at the swipe of a pen
28:40
or at the the the push of your card. If
28:43
that is the case, I need you to do that
28:45
today because you need $1,000. Now,
28:48
$1,000 don't take care of everything,
28:51
but it'll take care of a lot of
28:53
stuff. When that when that when that I
28:56
you know, I had a starter to go out on
28:57
my car. I ain't I ain't seen $1,000
29:00
starter or a fuel pump. Now, it depend
29:03
on a set of tires, but usually if you
29:05
know, if you're not trying to be a big
29:06
baller, you can get a set of tires, $45
29:08
$500. So, $1,000 is not an end all, but
29:12
it is a great start to take care of the
29:15
majority of the emergencies that come up
29:17
in our lives. The reason why it's
29:18
important to do this is because if you
29:20
get started out on a plan and don't have
29:22
that $1,000 emergency fund set to the
29:25
side, it's going to derail you from your
29:27
plan and then it's going to discourage
29:28
you from continuing.
29:31
How many of you have ever I'll tell
29:33
myself I've had times where I had a car
29:36
challenge where that water pump or that
29:39
starter goes out and when that happens
29:43
and I don't have my my $1,000 my my
29:45
emergency fund. I don't only have a car
29:47
problem but I also have a money problem
29:50
cuz now it's not a matter of just
29:51
getting my car fixed. Now I'm trying to
29:52
figure out how I'm going to get the car
29:54
fixed. That's a whole another level of
29:55
stress. Imagine having $1,000 to the
29:59
side in a separate account. Not in your
30:01
sock
30:02
drawer, not in your other
30:05
drawer, not under the mattress. Cuz it's
30:08
amazing how you'll find when when you
30:11
know when it's time to order pizza. It's
30:12
amazing how you'll go in there and pinch
30:13
a little something off that thousand to
30:15
order the pizza. So, I need you to put
30:17
it away. But imagine having it away and
30:20
something happens and instead of
30:23
panicking and worrying, you go and get
30:26
that $34 $400 and go pay and get it
30:29
done. When I tell you that's another
30:31
level of peace and
30:33
relief. You ever do it, if you ever
30:35
experience it, it'll be a great
30:37
blessing. You understand? So this is why
30:39
we say get this thousand dollar saved
30:42
like
30:43
yesterday. You understand? This is why
30:45
we use a spending plan to begin to cut
30:47
begin to cut some things so that we can
30:49
get this thousand. What can you sell to
30:51
get this thousand dollars? What can you
30:52
cut out to get this thousand dollars?
30:54
What can you cut back? Can I just tell
30:56
you, oh Lord, can I in four minutes I'm
30:58
going to be done. Can I just tell you no
31:00
amount is too small to cut back? Don't
31:03
look at your spending plan and say, "Oh,
31:06
well, it's only
31:07
$25." No, it's $25 more that can help
31:11
you get to your goal faster.
31:14
So no amount is too small to help you to
31:17
get to your goal. And this is about
31:19
showing the diligence, showing God how
31:21
serious you are about
31:24
pursuing this this life that he wants us
31:27
to have. You got it? So I'm going after
31:29
this $1,000 to get this $1,000 separate
31:32
in the account because I need it there
31:34
because it will help protect the plan
31:36
that I have. It'll keep me from getting
31:39
derailed from my plan. You got it? and I
31:42
we need to focus with great intensity on
31:44
getting this thousand dollars in place
31:46
separate from my checking account. And
31:49
can I just tell you about the God we
31:52
serve that when when we lock in like
31:56
this and get diligent and serious about
31:59
the the blessing that he wants us to
32:02
have and the the the appropriate
32:06
handling of the current resources we
32:08
have. God will send the wind at our
32:10
back. I like to call it God winking at
32:13
us cuz you'll get a little blessing.
32:16
You'll get a little something that's
32:18
encouragement along the way as you begin
32:20
to get in alignment and get things
32:23
together and pull that spending plan out
32:25
and you look over it and you start
32:27
making adjustments and you start uh
32:29
delaying
32:31
gratification. You're tithing. You're
32:34
giving some sort of offering. You're
32:36
sewing some sort of seed into your
32:38
pastor's life. When you get in alignment
32:41
and start going after what God has said
32:43
and start putting to practice what we're
32:46
being taught, catch this, and you go and
32:49
get the other sheet that Bishop gave us
32:50
and she told us to underline the
32:52
scriptures and our when you start doing
32:54
what you've been taught, God starts we
32:57
winking at us. He starts blessing us
33:01
incrementally as we're uh properly
33:04
handling what it is he called us to
33:06
handle.
33:07
Listen y'all, I don't believe it's for
33:10
no reason that God has put this on our
33:12
pastor's heart for us to begin to get
33:16
ready financially for what God wants to
33:19
do. Listen to me and I'm done on this.
33:20
Let me close my stuff up. Feel like
33:22
bishop. A few years ago, our pastor told
33:26
us that we needed to start saving money
33:29
and getting ready. This how God this may
33:30
have been six, seven years ago. Need to
33:32
start saving money and and getting
33:34
things together and getting things in
33:36
order. She said, "Because we we're going
33:38
to need it." And the day that that she
33:42
was speaking of where we were needing
33:43
it, it has come and
33:45
gone. And here we are again. This is not
33:50
uh this is not just her talking. This is
33:52
the leading of God for us to get ready
33:56
and position ourselves and posture
33:58
ourselves for financial strength. I'm
34:00
telling you, don't ignore what you're
34:02
hearing. God is trying to get us in
34:05
alignment so that we can be a
34:09
manifestation and a billboard of what it
34:12
is that he wants to do in the earth. You
34:15
know, I I don't let my children leave
34:17
the house any kind of way and it gets on
34:19
their nerves sometimes because they just
34:20
be like, "Dad, really
34:21
godly." But as a parent, I can't let
34:24
them leave the house any kind of way.
34:27
Why? Because they represent
34:30
me wherever they go. wherever they are,
34:34
they represent me and their
34:37
mother. And by the same token, I believe
34:40
God doesn't want us out here
34:42
misrepresenting him as if he can't take
34:44
care of his children. As if his word
34:47
doesn't said, "I've never seen the
34:48
righteous forsaken," nor his seed
34:50
begging bread. And when you and I ignore
34:52
the words of God and don't heed what it
34:55
is he tells us to do, then we we
34:58
misrepresent him and make it look like
35:00
he can't take care of us.
35:03
Let's get an alignment. Let's get an
35:06
attitude adjustment. Let's get an
35:08
alignment. Let's be aware of the world's
35:10
plan and have a plan of our own. And
35:12
let's make an add an adjustment in our
35:16
actions. And let's go after this
35:18
increase and being
35:20
diligent with what God has already given
35:23
us so that we can we can be who he's
35:26
called us to be. Amen. Amen. Listen, let
35:28
me let me whisper a word of prayer.
35:30
Father, we thank you for this
35:31
opportunity you've given us around your
35:33
word. And Lord, uh you know, admittedly,
35:35
God, this can be a scary uh subject uh
35:39
because uh you know, wherever we find
35:42
ourselves in the baby steps, Lord, it
35:44
can be challenging. And so, Lord, I pray
35:46
for those where it's challenging to go
35:48
back and look to pull out a spending
35:50
plan, to develop a spending plan. I
35:53
thank you Lord that we don't look at it
35:55
as if it's all on us but as Bishop told
35:57
us on Sunday God we look at it through
35:59
eyes of faith trusting and believing
36:02
that you are with us.