Participants: Dwight K Nelson
Series Code: NP
Program Code: NP160604A
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00:08 >> Good morning, church family. 00:10 I am so very excited to be here on this particular Sabbath, 00:15 because we're talking I believe as a whole on a topic that, 00:19 until recently, I hadn't really given much thought to, and that 00:22 is the difference between wants and needs a little bit. 00:27 I take so many things for granted, including waking up. So, I wake up and I just kind of 00:32 go throughout the day like, "Oh, this was meant to happen," but in reality, there's so many 00:36 things that are a gift from God. And oftentimes, I think I want God, I think I want the things 00:43 that He can do for me. But to actually get to a place where I recognize the need for 00:48 Him and to have that be the longing of my life and everything that I do, I think 00:54 that is very important. So, I would invite you to bow your heads and close your eyes 00:59 with me as we say our opening prayer, and then we're gonna go right into a song, and I believe 01:05 it should be familiar to you. So, let's bow our heads for prayer. 01:09 Dear heavenly Father, Lord, we thank You so much for this gift of the Sabbath, Lord. 01:13 We thank You so much for all the gifts that You give us and all of the things that You provide 01:19 for us that meet our needs. And so, Lord, today may we recognize that need for You in 01:24 our lives. In Your name, amen. 01:27 ♪♪ 01:56 [ "Praise to the Lord, the Almighty" plays ] 02:02 Sing "praise to the Lord." 03:42 ♪♪ 03:51 [ "Enough" plays ] 05:33 ♪♪ 07:50 ♪♪ 08:01 [ "Draw Me Close" plays ] 09:43 ♪♪ 12:02 Amen. 12:06 >> Good morning, boys and girls. Nice to see you on this -- What is this? -- the first Sabbath of 12:11 June. You look so Juney. So spring/summer. 12:14 Nice to have you. Say, you know what? Here's what happened. 12:18 I got a gift for you. I have a gift for you today. A man came in. 12:21 I do not know the name of the man. Connie, who was working the 12:27 guest welcome station downstairs, told me a gentleman came in and he gave me four 12:33 packs of money and he said, "The pastor is to use this in a children's story, please." 12:40 And he disappeared. Well, now I have four packs of money, and I'm thinking, "What 12:44 kind of a children's story do you get out of four packs of money?" 12:46 "Ohh! Wow!" I said. "I do see this." Can you see this from where you 12:53 are seated? Where am I supposed to show this? 12:55 Right here? Can you see this? This is a silver dollar, pure 13:00 silver, one ounce. Don't know what it's worth. But this is a silver dollar that 13:05 a friend of mine gave me. This is not what I'm giving to you. 13:09 A friend of mine gave this to me. And I'm telling you what. 13:13 Did you know this about American money? Any coin that America mints, any 13:18 currency that America prints has four English words on it. Four English words. 13:24 A special prize to you if you can guess the four English words. 13:29 Okay, because so many hands go up, just call it out. >> In God we trust! 13:35 >> "In God we trust." Isn't that something? All American money says "In God 13:42 we trust." Go figure. In God we trust. 13:49 Hey. Anybody here -- Come on -- Anybody here know what it means 13:53 to trust? This is really a difficult word. What does it mean to trust? 13:57 Anybody here know what it means to trust? See, I told you it was hard. 14:00 You're thinking right now, and you're thinking, "I don't know what kind of answer to give the 14:03 pastor." Yes, sir. >> You know you can trust them. 14:06 >> It means that you know you can trust them. That's exactly right. 14:10 Very good. And how about you to add? >> Also that you know that you 14:13 can believe them. >> You know that you can believe them. 14:16 The two of you have chosen a word. Those two words are what we call 14:19 synonyms. Perfect. "Believe." 14:21 You know that you can trust. So, American money -- Hey, can you see this? 14:26 Who can I show this to so that everybody knows that I'm not making this up? 14:30 Anybody here read? Anybody here read? All right, sissy with the 14:33 glasses. I know you read. Look at this. 14:36 Can you read those words? >> In God we trust. >> In God we trust. 14:39 You want to see that? In God we trust. You want to see that? 14:43 In God we trust. Anybody want to -- Little boy that's crying, do you 14:46 want to hold the silver dollar? >> I want my mom. >> You want your mom? 14:50 You'll be with her very soon. [ Laughter ] Yeah, she's not gonna lose you. 14:56 Yeah. What do you think about that little coin? 15:00 Doesn't it feel heavy? That's a silver dollar. Wow! 15:04 Wouldn't you like to have a silver dollar? Tell your mother. All right. 15:08 [ Laughter ] Thank you. She's gonna find you. 15:13 Let's do it out loud together. In...God...we...trust. Do you know what that means? 15:21 That means no matter what happens, God's gonna take care of us. 15:24 No matter what happens to you, no matter what happens to me, no matter what happens to you, God 15:29 is gonna take care of you, and I think that's just the greatest news I've heard all day. 15:33 How many are thankful that God will take care of us no matter what happens? 15:40 In God we can trust. Now, before I give you your gift -- because we're gonna give 15:44 you the gift. You're gonna go home with money today. 15:47 I need a young prayer, somebody to pray. Somebody to pray. 15:54 Sissy, your hand went up first. You have to come all the way through, but come on down. 15:57 I'll get your microphone ready while you're coming. Okay, let's close our eyes. 16:00 Let's fold our hands. Here comes sissy. Here comes sissy. 16:04 What's your first name, sissy? >> Cassie. >> Cassie? 16:07 All right, let's close our eyes and fold our hands as Cassie thanks Jesus for being the God 16:14 we can trust. >> Dearly Father, thank You for this day. 16:17 Thank You for everything that You gave us. Thank You for Sabbath school 16:20 today. Thank You that You let us came to church to worship You. 16:24 >> Amen. >> Thank You for the surprises that we end with pastor. 16:29 Thank You for everything that we got, dearly father. Amen. >> Amen. 16:32 Cassie, that was a beautiful prayer. Beautiful prayer. 16:35 All right, now, here's what we're gonna do. We're gonna start with Cassie. 16:38 Cassie's gonna get to come to the front of the line, and then you have to be -- The youngest 16:42 kids here get to go first, 'cause Pastor Rodney has money that you're gonna take home. 16:47 Pastor Jose has money you're gonna take home. This man gave it to us. 16:51 And Pastor Ben has money you're gonna take home. So you can go there, here, or 16:54 there. Can't go to all three. Just go there, here, or there, 16:58 all right? As you go back to your seats, boys and girls, God go with you. 17:01 And you're saying those four little words in your heart. "In God I trust." 17:11 [ Piano plays ] 17:19 >> ♪ Sweet hour of prayer ♪ ♪ Sweet hour of prayer ♪ 17:27 ♪ That calls me from a world of care ♪ 17:35 ♪ And bids me at my Father's throne ♪ ♪ Make all my wants and wishes 17:50 known ♪ ♪ In seasons of distress and grief ♪ 17:59 ♪ My soul has often found relief ♪ ♪ And oft escaped the tempter's 18:15 snare ♪ ♪ By thy return, sweet hour of prayer ♪ 18:28 ♪♪ 18:35 >> ♪ Sweet hour of prayer ♪ ♪ Sweet hour of prayer ♪ ♪ May I thy consolation 18:50 share ♪ ♪ Till from Mount Pisgah's lofty height ♪ 18:59 ♪ I view my home and take my flight ♪ >> ♪ In my immortal flesh I'll 19:14 rise ♪ ♪ To seize the everlasting prize ♪ 19:25 ♪ And shout while passing through the air ♪ ♪ Farewell, farewell, 19:41 sweet hour of prayer ♪ ♪♪ 19:52 >> ♪ Sweet hour of prayer ♪ ♪ Sweet hour of prayer ♪ ♪ Thy wings shall my petition 20:07 bear ♪ ♪ To Him whose truth and faithfulness ♪ 20:17 ♪ Engage the waiting soul to bless ♪ >> ♪ And since He bids me seek 20:33 His face ♪ ♪ Believe His Word and trust His grace ♪ 20:45 ♪ I'll cast on Him my every care ♪ ♪ And wait for thee ♪ 21:04 ♪ And wait for thee ♪ ♪ Sweet hour of prayer ♪ 21:40 >> Thank you, Jeannie. 21:50 Let's pray. Oh, God, what a poignant reminder that we've been 22:00 designed, created, and bred by the God of the universe for that sweet hour along with You, 22:12 hearts open to each other. Please give us the grace and the courage to insert it into our 22:25 already busy lives. Given the journey of this nation right now, now more than ever, 22:35 dear God. That sweet hour of prayer. Bless us now in the Word we pray 22:40 in Jesus' name. Amen. 22:44 History is woven with the lives of brave and influential widows. 22:53 Famous widows. You know them. In fact, I'm gonna put them on the screen for you right now. 22:58 You guess who it is. When you see the face, guess who that widow would be. 23:02 Face number one. Who's that? You have to be a history major 23:06 to get that. That's Mary Todd Lincoln. Mrs. Lincoln. 23:10 Face number two. Now, you have to be from the U.K. to get that one. 23:15 That's Queen Victoria. Come on. That's Queen Victoria. Face number three. 23:21 Yeah, Americans know that face quite well, actually. 23:24 Face number four. Still alive very much and well. 23:28 Coretta Scott King. Face number five. 23:33 Let's see how you do on this one. 23:35 Alive today. Do you recognize that face? 23:38 She is the national hero, Nobel Peace Prize winner of 23:41 Burma, Myanmar, Aung San Suu Kyi. 23:47 There she is. And well-known newscaster. 23:49 Put the last face up. Do you know who that belongs to? 23:53 Yep, that's Katie Couric. The list of famous widows is a 23:57 long one, but the list of not-so-famous widows is even 24:01 longer. Reading a book review about a 24:06 widow author named Becky Aikman. Her book -- "Saturday Night 24:11 Widow." "Saturday Night Widows." 24:13 From the review -- Put it on the screen for you. 24:30 Some of you listening right now that know. 24:57 Brave widows, young widows, not-so-young widows, elderly widows in this parish. 25:03 We have many of you. You may be sitting near one of these women right now. 25:14 We're talking about human beings to whom I tip our collective hat. 25:26 Let's do a little mini series, "The Widow Factor." We're talking about human beings 25:30 who have to go on living and loving and who have to go on serving and working, who have to 25:36 go on worshipping, who must survive without that young or not-so-young life partner. 25:45 And in the midst of the grief, they go on suffering, because a widow's grief never ends. 25:51 The mourning subsides, but the grieving never fully wanes, even if she remarries. 25:59 And I happen to know, because my mother, God bless her, my mother, no matter how happy her 26:08 remarriage, will never stop missing my father. And so we begin 26:17 "The Widow Factor" -- three widows, three stories, three compelling reasons why we, too, 26:22 like they, can live on the edge with God. Let's go. Story number one. 26:28 This dramatic story begins with the words "The brook dried up." Go with me to 1 Kings 17 in your 26:36 Bible. 1 Kings 17. 1 Kings 17. 26:43 I'll be in the New International version. Didn't bring a Bible, you got 26:47 your little device. Find it there. Pull the pew Bible out. 26:50 It's page 247 in your pew Bible. 1 Kings 17:7. "Some time later" -- 26:58 This is from the NIV. 27:08 Now, look, we haven't even gotten to the widow yet, but we run headlong into this 27:12 compelling piece of truth. And I want you to stick this away because you're gonna call 27:17 it back one day. And here's that piece of truth. When the nation is under 27:21 judgment, divine judgment, the good and the bad, the righteous and the unrighteous mutually 27:28 suffer the consequences. That seemingly innocuous point is vital for you and me to learn 27:36 as we face the future in a nation that is rapidly -- and I've got to say this up front -- 27:41 rapidly before our very and stunned eyes, you cannot believe what we're seeing now in this 27:49 nation. You want to talk about the political process? 27:52 Let's not. Let's keep worshipping. 27:58 The nation is moving under judgment from Almighty God. My friend Tim Aka, a chartered 28:09 investment finance analyst, presently investment officer for the General Conference, a member 28:14 of this congregation. He flies back and forth. His wife Sharon is here heading 28:17 up the Distance Learning at the NAD and here on campus. Tim wrote a provocative book 28:21 entitled "End Game Economics," in which are these words -- put them on the screen for you. 29:00 Just track the cycles. Then Tim inserts a rather graphic illustration to buttress 29:05 his point. And this is his line here that the financial world is being led 29:08 by those who are looking out for their own survival. He says let's imagine that the 29:11 global economy is a crowded airplane. You're on the plane, I'm on the 29:14 plane. This plane is running out of fuel. 29:17 It is almost on empty, and it is way too far from a runway to possibly land. 29:22 And so what does the pilot do? He throttles up, he lifts the nose of that plane, it's 29:27 climbing higher and higher and higher until he can reach the right height so that those who 29:33 have the golden parachutes can jump out of the plane while the rest of us are strapped in. 29:38 And you can picture it. 29:40 Now, Aka makes this point. "Sadly, many passengers" -- in 29:44 this imaginary plane -- "are convinced at this ascent" -- in 29:48 the economy... 29:59 The truth is, ladies and gentlemen, in a nation under divine judgment, your golden 30:03 parachute will not save you in the end. Trust me, all parachutes 30:06 collapse. Verse 7. 1 Kings 17. 30:20 In case you haven't noticed, the brooks in our land are already drying up. 30:23 I'm not just talking about physical brooks. I'm talking about financial 30:26 brooks. I'm talking about moral brooks. I'm talking about spiritual 30:29 brooks. They are drying up. Gone! 30:33 Oh, and we can save and hoard all the water we wish. "Oh, I'm gonna save this for a 30:38 rainy day." But when we go back to it, it has evaporated. 30:43 It's all going. And the brooks dried up. Even for the righteous, the 30:48 water is gone, which means that Elijah, a very close friend of God's, as it turns out, because 30:53 one day when God will become flesh and stand on a mount of transfiguration, Elijah will 30:57 show up from heaven and say, "I've come, dear divine friend, to encourage you in your 31:03 mission." Even the closest friend of God in the Book of Kings, the water 31:11 dries up, the brook dries up for him. There's no "get out of jail 31:16 free" card for the righteous, which is not to suggest that God won't take care of you. 31:22 I mean, look at Elijah, enjoying room service with a flock of ravens morning and evening, 31:27 bread and meat, bread and meat, bread and meat. Of course, he is on the lam. 31:32 He's running, he's having to hide for his life because all the king's horses and all the 31:36 king's men have been searching for this bushy-bearded, camel-haired, wind-bitten 31:42 stranger from out of that little village of Tishbe, the gall to come storming into the king's 31:48 inner throne room. Before a guard could lift a finger, the prophet pointed his 31:54 finger at this apostate and wicked king named Ahab, and he thundered, "As the Lord God of 31:59 Israel lives before whom I stand, there will not be a drop of water, not a drop of dew 32:04 until I say so," and then he vanishes to God's hiding place, which turns out to be the brook 32:09 of Cherith. We used to say "Chair-ith," but it's "Care-ith." 32:14 1 Kings 17:7. 32:20 "Then," verse 8, "the word of the Lord came to Elijah," verse 9, "go at once to 32:25 Zarephath in the region of Sidon and stay there. I have directed a widow" -- 32:31 there she is -- "I have directed a widow there to supply you with food." 32:39 May I point out to you that this widow we are about to meet is Pagan? 32:44 She's from Zarephath. That's in the region of "Side-on" or "Si-don," which 32:50 happens to be the neighborhood, the very land happens to be the neighborhood of the very wicked 32:56 Jezebel, who, through matrimony, has brought a demonic infestation to the people of God 33:01 through the prophets of Baal. This lady's next-door neighbors with Jezebel. 33:05 She works with the same false God. She calls on the same "Bi-el" or 33:08 "Bale." And yet the God of Israel -- Isn't that something? 33:13 The God of Israel knows this woman by name, and he knows her address. 33:17 What's up with that? Pagan, though she is. Wow. 33:22 Clearly God has a heart for Pagans, doesn't He? Chooses her to serve His 33:31 appointed messenger. In fact, Jesus' own words evoked this very point so unmistakably 33:40 that the worshippers in his hometown that day when Jesus spoke these words are ready to 33:43 kill him and attempt to do it as soon as the worship service is over. 33:46 And he's standing at the back shaking hands. They're out to kill him now. 33:50 Let me put Jesus' words on the screen for you. Luke Chapter 4, in that sermon 33:53 in hometown Nazareth... 34:00 He's just one of the boys. 34:20 Go figure. God chooses a Pagan widow over all the saved widows in that 34:26 land. Can you imagine that? What's up with this? 34:32 Apparently God's eye is not only on the sparrow but also on the Pagan who is living up to all 34:39 the light she, little or almost no light, but she's living up to it as best as she knows how. 34:49 And God's eye is on her. Remember the Chinese woman I told you about? 34:56 Remember that, last time we were together? Yeah, just came back from that 35:01 two-week evangelistic mission to China, in the city of Xiamen. You remember? Buddhist temple? 35:06 I see her, crowd whirling around her. She's acting as if she's all 35:10 alone with her God, a golden Buddha. And you remember that look of 35:14 anguish that I describe, this utter desperation. Something is breaking this 35:18 woman's heart, and I'm standing there absolutely frozen. I cannot move. 35:22 I can't take a picture. This is too holy a moment. She is pleading her heart out. 35:28 And by the way, I want to thank those of you, God bless you, who have contacted me and said, "You 35:31 know what, Dwight? I'm praying for that woman, too." 35:33 Good on you. Good on you, 'cause I'm still praying for her. 35:38 Her heart is break-- Something has broken it. She's pleading. 35:44 And I made the point then, and I'm gonna make it all over again. 35:49 Wrong God, but the right God hears the misguided prayer [snaps fingers] and answers it. 36:00 Got a letter from a viewer saying, "Hey, that can't be true. 36:02 You got to come to God in the name of Jesus." Oh, yes, you do, if you're a 36:06 follower and disciple of Jesus, you got to come in the name of Jesus. 36:09 But what about the billions who lived before Jesus was here? Were their prayers all not 36:13 answered? Of course not. I can't imagine the God of this 36:17 universe saying, "Oh, wrong language. Can't hear you. 36:20 Talk to my hand. My face ain't listening." [ Laughter ] 36:24 I can't imagine that at all. Clearly God has a heart for Pagans. 36:30 This widow has been pleading with God to save her life. "Save the life of my little 36:33 boy." And guess what? Praying to the wrong God, but 36:35 the right God hears her prayers and answers her prayer. It's just about to be answered 36:40 while we're watching. One more reason, by the way, why you and I need to have hearts 36:44 for -- We need to have hearts for the Pagans, as well, our Pagan associates, our Pagan 36:48 acquaintances, our Pagan neighbors, our Pagan playmates, our Pagan world. 36:57 We need to have God's heart for them, as well. So, what is this? Verse 10. 37:03 So, Elijah -- God gives the instructions. Elijah went to Zarephath -- 37:07 verse 10 -- And when he came to the town gate, a widow was there gathering sticks. 37:11 And so Elijah's thinking, "Man, I wonder if this is the widow. I wonder if this is the woman. 37:14 How do I know? There could be a widow beyond the gate. 37:17 Let me just try this out." And so he calls out to the woman picking up the sticks. 37:23 "Would you bring me a little water in a jar so that I may have a drink?" 37:28 And something in this bushy-bearded, camel-hair-clothed stranger 37:34 obviously not from these parts, probably an Israelite, maybe a holy man. 37:39 Something about him impresses her. She turns to get him a few drops 37:45 of water she'll find somewhere when he says, "Yo, just a minute. 37:48 I thought about something else. I'm really hungry. Sorry to do this to you. 37:52 I'm really hungry. Could you also make me some food? 37:55 Bring me a little bit of bread then you take care of your family, whatever needs you 38:00 have." [ Chuckling ] Wow. The woman turns to him in 38:04 verse 12 and says that "surely as the Lord your God" -- aha, he is an Israelite. 38:08 I know the name of that God -- Yahweh. "And surely as Yahweh, your God 38:12 lives," she replied, "I don't have any bread, only a handful of flour in a jar and a little 38:17 olive oil in a jug. I'm gathering a few sticks to take home and make a meal for 38:21 myself and my son that we may eat it and die." It'll be the last meal on Earth 38:25 'cause there's nothing left in that pantry. Zero. Nada. Nothing. 38:38 It's not easy being a widow, is it? Unless your husband left you a 38:43 nest egg of earnings, of savings, of a retirement fund. It's not easy being a widow, 38:47 particularly if you're young. And we have young widows. You're too young, you're too 38:52 poor to retire, if you have children that have to be fed and clothed and educated and need 38:56 health insurance. It's not easy being a widow, period, in any period of 39:02 history. But with all the sincerity I can muster, I need to say if you're 39:08 a widow listening right now or watching right now or here right now, I need to say there is a 39:13 God in this universe who loves you dearly and is committed to care for you. 39:24 I love this picture of God. Oh, if you're a widow, don't ever forget it. 39:28 Psalm 68. The psalm is -- put it on the screen for you, this word 39:32 picture of God. He's a father to the fatherless. He's a defender of widows. 39:40 Is God, this God in his holy dwelling. God, oh, God sets the lonely in 39:46 families. You know a widow? You know a widow, do you? 39:50 God has given you the mission to set that lonely one in your 39:55 family. He sets the lonely in families. 39:59 Wow. Do you know what that means? 40:06 Sister widow woman. 40:09 That means God will take care of you. ♪ Be not dismayed ♪ 40:21 ♪ Whate'er betide ♪ ♪ God will take care of you ♪ ♪ Beneath his wings of love 40:35 abide ♪ ♪ God will take care of you ♪ 40:41 Sing it out. You know the chorus. 41:16 So Elijah says to the woman, verse 13, don't miss this. 42:08 Apparently, ladies and gentlemen, apparently when it 42:11 feels like you're giving away your future, God steps up and 42:15 gives you a brand-new present, and that's present spelled 42:18 N-O-W. Let me repeat that. 42:21 When it feels like you're giving away your future -- and that is 42:25 precisely what the widow is doing. 42:27 She has one meal left in her future, and God has just asked her, "Now, I want you to give 42:33 that meal away. You give it to me." When you're giving away your 42:37 future is when God steps up and gives you a brand-new present, a brand-new now, a new paradigm, 42:47 because you dipped into the future for the sake of my present. 42:52 Wow. What a God. God will take care of you. Through every day or all the 43:02 way, he will take care of you. That's the point. Malachi 3:10 -- You ever heard 43:07 this promise? Let me put it on the screen for you. 43:09 Malachi 3:10, God speaking... 43:16 And then I want you to do this. 43:29 "I will take care of you through every day or all the way. Just bring to me my tithe. 43:36 I want you to bring that water, bring me that flour, bring me that oil. 43:40 Return it to me. Give me the security of your future, and I will open the 43:45 floodgates of heaven and give you a present like you have never lived a now before in your 43:50 life." Wow. "I will take care of you." 43:58 The young widow of Zarephath is enduring proof that God will take care of you and God will 44:05 take care of me and God will take care of us. No matter what the times are 44:10 ahead for this nation, He will take care of us. That little widow didn't have 44:17 a -- That little widow didn't have a tithe envelope like this. She went home to the cupboard. 44:22 You know what she did? She just cleared the whole thing, just cleared it out. 44:26 God is not asking that of you and me. Nope. 44:30 All He quietly asks for is His tithe. 10 pennies given out to these 44:37 kids -- "One of those belongs to me," God said. "That's my tithe." 44:42 Oh, and offerings. 10% and offerings -- Well, whatever you can give. 44:48 "Dip into the future. Sure, but I'll give you a new present." 44:58 Could be another 10% for the offerings. There are people here that are 45:02 already doing that, and there are many people here who are able to do that. 45:06 Another 10%. Whatever your tithe was, just spread the rest out. 45:10 It could be another 5% maybe. 5% of your income. Could be another 2%. 45:17 I'm gonna share something fascinating with you. If everybody in this 45:21 congregation -- this is a university congregation. Trust me, university professors, 45:26 you know, they're not getting wealthy teaching at Andrews University. 45:34 We're a little university parish, but last year we gave over $5 million -- returned over 45:39 $5 million to God. Put that number on the screen for you. 45:42 $5 million. You multiply that by 10 to know the income of those who tithed. 45:47 The aggregated income is $50 million sitting right here beside you right now. 45:52 It's a little tithes. It's just all put together. Do you know what would happen if 46:00 we said, "Hey, what if we gave 2% of our income?" Okay, 10% goes back to God. 46:04 It belongs to Him. But what if we took 2% from the other 90% that's left and we 46:08 gave it to church operating just to keep this church going? Do you know how much that would 46:12 be? 1% would be -- Come on, just before you put it on the screen. 46:15 What's 1% of that income? 1% would be $500,000, right? 2% would be twice that. 46:22 $1 million. Would you put that on the screen, please? 46:25 $1 million -- 2%. If everyone who's tithing just gave 2%, I mean, you gave 10, 46:29 returned 10 -- just 2 more to church operating. That's line 2 in the tithe 46:33 envelope. It's line 2. Just put 2% there, we'd have 46:36 $1 million every year. Do you know what that funds? That funds a basket full of 46:41 ministries like Sabbath schools and periodicals and office staff and physical plant and air and 46:50 heat and insurance and a bunch of outreach ministries. Just 2%. 46:57 We'd have $1 million at the end of every year. Wow! 47:01 And then if you said, "Oh, no, wait! What about our church schools? 47:03 Dwight, don't forget our church schools." Okay, let's throw our church 47:06 schools in. If we gave only 1% to our church schools -- You know Ruth Murdoch 47:08 Elementary School and Andrews Academy? I mean, Byron's up here. 47:11 He's one of our faculty in both of those schools. If we gave 1% -- Let's put that 47:14 on the screen. $500,000. $500,000 -- half a million going 47:19 to our little church schools. You know what? Our children would rise up and 47:23 call us, bless it. They'd say, "Wow! Thank you." When you break it down, it's not 47:28 a lot of money. It's tapping into your future for a new present. 47:35 And God has a present for you when you step out for him. Just ask that widow. 47:41 He'll take care of you. Yes, He will. And by the way, I need to just 47:44 insert this before I hurry on. Not a single penny will go to any of us pastors simply because 47:48 all of us are paid out of the same -- paid the same way -- By the way, you can pastor a 47:52 3,000-member church like this or a 30-member church in Michigan, the same in California, doesn't 47:56 matter. Everybody's paid the same. But all of our wages come from 48:03 the world tithe fund of the Seventh Adventist Church. And in our area, it's Lansing 48:06 that administers that. Which means even if you don't give a penny in these offerings, 48:13 even if you don't give a penny, we're still here to love you and to bug you. 48:18 And we'll keep bugging you. Mm-hmm. It just goes with the turf. 48:24 Although the day is coming -- let's get serious -- perhaps more rapidly than we are aware 48:28 when a moral and spiritual famine will sweep this nation into a time of judgment we have 48:32 never experienced before. Just look at the faces. Just look at the faces of 48:35 Americans now. Ask yourself, has something happened to this country? 48:39 Of course something's happened to it. Somebody knows we're running out 48:42 of time. Someone is ratcheting it up. It's happening while we're 48:45 watching. Watch this political process to the end. 48:48 You'll see. Israel, for all the blessings the Lord God had poured upon 48:53 that chosen nation rejected their creator, renounced their savior, and the rest is history. 48:58 The tragic history of a nation, a land, a people who abandoned the God who had given them their 49:04 blessing. Just abandoned. The people who printed out all 49:08 their money "In God we trust" and who eventually forgot that God, whoever He was. 49:15 What's gonna happen? 49:18 I scribbled these words on the page for Revelation 13 in my 49:21 Bible written by a woman who lived about a century ago, and 49:24 the words go like this. "Upon all the nations -- 49:27 Of all the nations upon which the sun shines, none has been 49:33 blessed by God more than the United States." 49:37 None. This nation has been blessed. We are under judgment. 49:44 You will hear that again and again as we stretch into the future together. 49:50 The times we have worried and fretted about -- [ Scoffs ] "Don't worry," God says. 50:00 "I'll take care of you. I'll take care of you." That little lady in a 50:05 compilation called "Last Day Events" -- I'm gonna put this on the screen because 50:09 this is good. There's a sentence that's kind of a throw-in because it's not 50:12 the sentence I'm going to but it comes first, and so I'm gonna put it on the screen. 50:16 You see it there. And here is what dying charity is. 50:22 Dying charity is, "You know what? One of these days, I'm gonna 50:24 die. When I die, I'm giving a big gift to God. 50:26 Boy, just before I die, a big gift will go to God. Not now. 50:30 Don't ask me to invest in the kingdom of heaven now, but when the day comes, just before I 50:35 die"... "Dying -- Dying charity is a poor substitute for living 50:41 benevolence." Why hold the gift off? Why not invest in the kingdom 50:46 while the money is still worth something? The day is coming when that 50:50 money is dust. Dust. Nada. Nothing. Worth zero. 50:55 And then how many of us will look at that now-worthless account and say, "My Lord, what 51:03 did I do?" [ Scoffs ] Living benevolence. 51:07 That's what life is -- living benevolence. Keep reading. 51:10 Now, here's the other sentence I want you to see, the other sentence up there. 51:20 Guess what? The closer we get to the coming of Jesus, we're not gonna be 51:24 doing less. We must be doing more and more and more. 51:26 The wants are gonna go up as the income drops. The grass will be going the 51:32 opposite ways. Wants, needs, income -- down. Well, let's just not give, then. 51:43 We do that at the peril of our souls. Giving does nothing to God. 51:47 Does nothing to God. Does everything to you, everything to me. 51:51 When I give, something is released in me, and my fingers let go. 51:59 And that's what saves a heart for Jesus. Letting go. 52:06 The wants of the cause will continually increase as we near the close of time. 52:11 Those wants go up at a critical time when economic stability and prosperity drop. 52:20 I'm gonna go to Tim Aka again. Put it on the screen for you. So, you heard from a little lady 52:26 from 100 years ago. Listen to this man who's writing right now. 52:29 I don't know where he is today, but this is his book, "Economic End Game." 52:33 Here we go. 52:50 A final line. Here it is. 52:58 Let me read that line one more time, in case you missed it the first time. 53:10 Living on the edge with God, someday we will really know what on the edge is. 53:18 But until that day comes, the little widow of Zarephath models for us a reaching into the 53:24 future, drawing from what is security there, bringing it into the present, giving it to God 53:33 and letting him grant us a brand-new present. N-O-W. Now. 53:41 I end with this line. "Great Controversy," that Apocalyptic classic, on the 53:45 screen. "The people" -- Oh, this is beautiful. 54:07 Do you know why? Because God will take care of you. 54:14 Through every day or all the way, God will take care of you. 54:25 So why shouldn't you, why shouldn't I entrust him with my little pennies? 54:40 Let's pray. Oh, God, it's not rocket science. 54:47 Talking heads. Brooding over what lies ahead for this nation. 54:58 The brook will dry up, and then what? Oh, God, thank you for this 55:05 widow who has modeled for us a heart willing to return to you what is yours and then let you 55:20 bring that brand-new present. In God we trust. Please, dear God, make that true 55:34 of each of us. In the name of Him who emptied heaven's treasury for us, in the 55:42 name of Christ Jesus, amen. [ "God Will Take Care of You" plays ] 56:08 [ Congregation sings ] 57:03 "Now to Him who was able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His 57:09 power that is at work within us, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout 57:17 all generations forever and ever." Amen. 57:25 >> I wanted to take an extra moment to let you know how grateful I am you joined us 57:29 today. I hear from viewers and listeners like you all across 57:32 this nation and literally around the world, and I'm thankful, because it's through the 57:36 generosity of the members of this congregation and people like you that we're able to 57:40 bring you this program. So, if what we shared today has touched your heart, I'd like to 57:44 invite you to become a financial partner with us. Just give us a call. 57:47 Toll-free number 877, the two words "his will." 57:50 877-HIS-WILL. Or, if you'd rather, go to our 57:54 website, www.pmchurch.tv. Either way, your generosity will 57:59 bless a new generation in cyberspace all over this planet. 58:03 So thank you. Thank you very much for your 58:07 partnership. 58:09 ♪♪ |
Revised 2017-06-01