Let us pray.
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Loving Lord we
thank You for the goodness
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that we find in
Your plan of blessings.
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Today Father, as we walk
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through the message
entitled making sense,
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we pray that we
can make sense of
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one of the grandest
plans ever put together
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for the success of Your people.
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And so Lord guide our
hearts and minds today
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that we could be
furnished with the knowledge
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that transcends the
human understanding,
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sometimes almost to
the point of illogical,
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yet when we walk in
the path of that plan,
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we find life abundantly.
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And so Holy Spirit come now
and make this message clear,
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we pray in Jesus' name, amen.
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I'm going to begin
with the scripture readings,
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I know that
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that is the foundation
of the sermon making sense.
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You know, if I
were to spend the time
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to just give my testimony
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on how God has blessed
our lives in God's plan
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we could be
here for a long time.
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God blesses us in a way
that no one else ever could.
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Can I get an amen to that?
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Amen!
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But God has a plan for blessings
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and today, after we
read the scripture reading,
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we're going to see
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how this plan
has caused the work
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that is taking place
here in Thompsonville
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to have a
footprint around the world.
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Let's begin by reading
the scripture together.
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Malachi 3 and let's
look together at verse 10.
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"'Bring all the
tithes into the storehouse,
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That there may
be food in My house,
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And try Me now in
this,' says the Lord of hosts,
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''If I will not open for
you the windows of heaven
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And pour out for you...'" What?
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"'Such a blessing that
there will not be room enough
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to receive it.'"
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I'm going to take
you to the screen today
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and introduce
you to your church,
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to your world church.
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The Seventh-day Adventist Church
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is larger than many of
us even can anticipate.
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My wife and I
have had the privilege
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of traveling to
more than 60 countries,
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seeing the church in
New Guinea and Indonesia
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and Tahiti and Hawaii.
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And the
Philippines and in London
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and in the Caribbean and
in places around the world
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that we never
thought we'd ever go
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to Australia, New Zealand
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and we've seen
the church function
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at a cellular
level from the roots
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all the way up to the
highest location of the church
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in Silver Springs,
Maryland the General Conference.
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And God has put a plan in place
that I want to re-familiarize
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those of you that
may know it already
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but introduce some of you
that have not heard about it.
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Look at this, I'd like to begin
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by sharing the
scripture with you,
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and this is the proclamation
that Jesus put in place
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after His ascension to
give us our mission statement
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in Matthew 28:19-20.
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The Lord says in His word,
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"Go therefore and
make disciples of..." What?
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"All nations,
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baptizing them in
the name of the Father
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and of the Son and
of the Holy Spirit,
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teaching them to
observe all things
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that I have commanded you
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and lo, I am with you always,
even to the end of the age."
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When the Bible
says, "Go therefore
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and make
disciples of all nations."
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The intent is God
wants His Church to be in
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how many nations?
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All nations,
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and as we sit here
today there are roughly about
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276 recognized
countries in the world.
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And in many of them
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either in obvious
statistics or in undercover work
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God has allowed His
church to have His territory.
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In fact our territory
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as a Seventh-day
Adventist movement,
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our territory is the world.
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How much church God has called
us to be in all the world?
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Pastor C.A. has
seen the church function.
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I've gone to places
where I've had an interpreter
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when I preach to
the people from Poland.
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I've had an interpreter
down in I was in New Zealand,
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so I was in Australia
at a Polish camp meeting
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and I preached
from Friday to Sunday
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and all my
sermons were interpreted.
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The only way that
they knew what I said was
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through an interpreter,
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God used the gift of tongues
to communicate His message
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from English to
those who were Polish
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down in the
country of Australia.
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I was at Cook...
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I was at a Cook
Island at the cam meeting.
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I spoke in the
Philippines and in Europe,
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taught the Sabbath
school lesson once in Germany
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through an interpreter.
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I was in Africa...
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in Zimbabwe and Zambia,
South Africa, Pretoria...
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And as we look
at the World Church
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from the way that
God intends it to be,
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in order for the
church to be around the world,
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we have to have a
method and a system
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to get us into all
the different components
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of the world.
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Matter of fact, our
territory is the world
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but our message is
salvation through Christ alone,
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can you say amen?
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Not a unique message,
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it is the message of
the Christian church.
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We don't have salvation
through our 28 fundamentals,
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we have salvation
through Jesus Christ alone.
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The church has been
established to preach Christ
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and Him crucified to
point people to Christ,
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but our mission also is not
just to point people to Christ,
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but our mission is to
make disciples of all nations.
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And a disciple is simply
somebody who follows Christ,
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somebody whose life is
molded after the life of Christ.
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But in our structure
as a church through elders
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and deacons and deaconesses
and personal ministries,
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through women's
and men's ministries,
00:07:00.65\00:07:02.72
through Sabbath school,
through our mission fields,
00:07:02.75\00:07:06.15
through our outreach programs
00:07:06.19\00:07:07.76
helping people
to build in places
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where a
building was not possible
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through their resources,
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God has given us a footprint
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in almost every
country of the world,
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what do you say?
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Almost every country,
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you got to get out of
Thompsonville sometimes.
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Right, Pastor C.A.?
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You got to get out
and spread your wings.
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You got to see the
church 'cause you know,
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especially if you've come
from a different denomination,
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some people for the most part,
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you go to a
church or a local church,
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I'm not going to
mention denominations
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but you go to a
local church and that's it.
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When the money comes in,
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it goes into the either
the pastor's bank account,
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that's not how it
happens in the Adventist Church,
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nothing you give this morning
goes into my pocket directly,
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can you say amen?
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My salary stays the same
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until the headquarters
decides to give me a raise.
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That may happen
once every three years.
00:08:00.14\00:08:02.81
I remember we got one
raise after five years
00:08:02.84\00:08:05.75
and it was just
for the cost of living,
00:08:05.78\00:08:08.05
and one thing you need to
know about an Adventist pastor,
00:08:08.08\00:08:10.42
we are not Adventist
pastors for the money.
00:08:10.45\00:08:13.36
As a pastor you
can could say amen,
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we are not in
this for the money.
00:08:19.26\00:08:23.70
I remember being
talked to by a pastor
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from a different denomination
00:08:26.50\00:08:27.90
and he had come and he
was given the privilege
00:08:27.94\00:08:30.31
of sharing with
some of our pastors
00:08:30.34\00:08:32.51
and after his
sermon he said to me,
00:08:32.54\00:08:34.54
he said, "I got
more money in my pocket
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than you make in a month."
00:08:36.75\00:08:40.52
And he pulled out his wallet,
he had quite a few thousand.
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And I said to him
in a very humble way,
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"We don't do this for the money,
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we do this for the glory of God
and the validity of His order."
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So that's why we tell the
truth as it is in God's word
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'cause we don't sell out,
we don't try to have services
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where I tell you
what you want to hear
00:09:05.77\00:09:08.21
so that you can
give me more money.
00:09:08.24\00:09:10.91
When you write your
check and your tithe,
00:09:10.95\00:09:13.62
it goes straight front
and I'll show you today,
00:09:13.65\00:09:16.08
it goes straight
from that offering
00:09:16.12\00:09:17.62
but I don't even see it.
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I don't know what comes in,
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I don't know
whether you give or not
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and I choose to not know that,
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that's between you and the Lord.
00:09:25.39\00:09:29.60
I don't do favors to other
church members for money...
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but when the money comes in,
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because we have
a worldwide work,
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we have a
worldwide headquarters.
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This is an aerial view
00:09:44.45\00:09:46.18
of the General
Conference headquarters.
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This is if I could summarize it,
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this is where all the
work in all the countries
00:09:52.62\00:09:56.79
in all the cities
and all the nations
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and all the languages,
00:09:59.66\00:10:01.66
this is the main headquarters
in Silver Springs, Maryland
00:10:01.70\00:10:06.20
where everything that
happens in the Adventist Church
00:10:06.23\00:10:09.40
flows right into
that one location.
00:10:09.44\00:10:12.41
We've got a video that I'm
going to show you right now,
00:10:12.44\00:10:15.48
that will give
you an understanding
00:10:15.51\00:10:17.45
of how this
functions in the world church.
00:10:17.48\00:10:20.38
Notice the
screen, probably from...
00:10:20.42\00:10:22.35
Welcome to the headquarters
00:10:22.38\00:10:23.72
of the Seventh-day
Adventist World Church.
00:10:23.75\00:10:26.15
Opened in 1989,
00:10:26.19\00:10:28.06
this building known as
the General Conference,
00:10:28.09\00:10:30.59
houses five separate entities.
00:10:30.63\00:10:33.23
Please join us as
we take an inside look
00:10:33.26\00:10:35.43
around the building.
00:10:35.46\00:10:37.17
We start up to in
the visitor's center,
00:10:37.20\00:10:39.70
here you can view a
timeline of our church's history
00:10:39.73\00:10:43.14
and watch videos on initiative
00:10:43.17\00:10:44.84
sponsored by the
Seventh-day Adventist Church.
00:10:44.87\00:10:48.21
Next we come to
the King is Coming
00:10:48.24\00:10:50.31
by Victor Issa.
00:10:50.35\00:10:51.88
This sculpture has ten figures
00:10:51.91\00:10:54.25
representing
different regions of the world.
00:10:54.28\00:10:57.15
Each figure is made from bronze
00:10:57.19\00:10:58.82
and weighs about
as much as a person
00:10:58.85\00:11:00.76
of the same size would weigh.
00:11:00.79\00:11:03.02
The angel represents
00:11:03.06\00:11:04.39
the guardian angle of
the child it is carrying.
00:11:04.43\00:11:07.90
Each morning
employees gather here
00:11:07.93\00:11:09.93
in the auditorium for worship.
00:11:09.96\00:11:12.03
This place
seats up to 800 people
00:11:12.07\00:11:14.80
and is used for
meetings, conferences
00:11:14.84\00:11:17.51
and video productions.
00:11:17.54\00:11:19.64
We are now entering the atrium
00:11:19.67\00:11:21.68
where many events
like concerts are held.
00:11:21.71\00:11:24.55
Also here is a
Rebok Memorial Library
00:11:24.58\00:11:27.68
which houses over 14,000
books on a variety of subjects.
00:11:27.72\00:11:33.02
The blessed hope by Nathan Green
00:11:33.05\00:11:34.82
was unveiled during the
General Conference session
00:11:34.86\00:11:37.03
in Atlanta in 2010.
00:11:37.06\00:11:39.53
The painting is part of an
art gallery called Eden to Eden,
00:11:39.56\00:11:43.47
the church leaders are
planning for the headquarters.
00:11:43.50\00:11:46.74
Finally, this globe lights up
00:11:46.77\00:11:48.34
to represent each
of the 13 divisions
00:11:48.37\00:11:50.97
and over 130
unions around the world.
00:11:51.01\00:11:55.24
This is the whole of history
00:11:55.28\00:11:57.15
celebrating the 150
years of the church's history.
00:11:57.18\00:12:01.62
Adventist Risk Management
00:12:01.65\00:12:03.15
provides solutions
for minimizing risk
00:12:03.18\00:12:05.72
within the
Seventh-Day Adventist Church.
00:12:05.75\00:12:08.82
The Adventist
Development and Relief agency
00:12:08.86\00:12:11.16
is a humanitarian arm
00:12:11.19\00:12:12.73
of the
Seventh-day Adventist church
00:12:12.76\00:12:14.73
providing emergency
relief to communities
00:12:14.76\00:12:17.43
all around the world.
00:12:17.47\00:12:19.43
Here we have the
North American division
00:12:19.47\00:12:21.67
which represents the church
00:12:21.70\00:12:23.14
in the United States and Canada.
00:12:23.17\00:12:26.71
At noon, each day employees
gather here in this chapel
00:12:26.74\00:12:30.38
to pray for each
prayer requests they receive.
00:12:30.41\00:12:34.55
Now we come to the
Harry Anderson display
00:12:34.58\00:12:37.02
which includes a self
portrait and his personal easel.
00:12:37.05\00:12:41.29
Harry Anderson is well
known for his illustrations
00:12:41.32\00:12:44.49
in the Bible story series
and also secular publications.
00:12:44.53\00:12:49.43
We're now in the office
of President Ted N.C. Wilson,
00:12:49.46\00:12:53.34
he was elected during the
General Conference session
00:12:53.37\00:12:55.57
in 2010,
00:12:55.60\00:12:57.41
also located
here are the offices
00:12:57.44\00:12:59.81
of the nine
general vice presidents.
00:12:59.84\00:13:03.48
The building also
includes the offices
00:13:03.51\00:13:05.38
of hundreds of
General Conference employees
00:13:05.41\00:13:08.18
who work to
ensure religious liberty,
00:13:08.22\00:13:10.52
education, healthcare and more
00:13:10.55\00:13:12.75
for millions of
Adventists worldwide.
00:13:12.79\00:13:16.36
Hope Channel is
the newest extension
00:13:16.39\00:13:18.23
of the General
Conference building.
00:13:18.26\00:13:19.93
Hope Channel is the
official television network
00:13:19.96\00:13:22.70
of the
Seventh-day Adventist Church.
00:13:22.73\00:13:24.97
This is the studio where
they record popular shows
00:13:25.00\00:13:28.24
like 'Let's
Pray,' 'Cross Connection'
00:13:28.27\00:13:30.94
and 'Hope Sabbath School.'
00:13:30.97\00:13:33.17
Another studio in the building
00:13:33.21\00:13:34.71
is a
communication department studio.
00:13:34.74\00:13:37.21
Each week A&N
video is recorded here.
00:13:37.25\00:13:41.25
Finally, we come
to the widest state,
00:13:41.28\00:13:43.25
here we have the painting
of Christ of the Narrow Way
00:13:43.28\00:13:45.99
by Elfred Lee.
00:13:46.02\00:13:47.62
This mural illustrates
Ellen White's first vision
00:13:47.66\00:13:50.99
and shows a narrow
path in which believes
00:13:51.03\00:13:53.40
in three angels'
message of Revelation 14,
00:13:53.43\00:13:56.56
are traveling
toward the holy city.
00:13:56.60\00:13:58.93
If you are
hungry after your tour,
00:13:58.97\00:14:00.74
you can eat in our
completely vegetarian cafeteria.
00:14:00.77\00:14:04.11
The cafeteria serves
employees and visitors everyday
00:14:04.14\00:14:07.48
from 11:30-1:00 pm.
00:14:07.51\00:14:10.48
If you would like
to visit us in person,
00:14:10.51\00:14:12.41
you can make an appointment
by visiting Adventist.org.
00:14:12.45\00:14:18.35
So amen? Amen!
00:14:18.39\00:14:20.46
That's a summary of
the General Conference,
00:14:20.49\00:14:23.69
that's the newer buildings,
00:14:23.73\00:14:25.39
they were located at a
different location then.
00:14:25.43\00:14:27.60
And as we sit here
this morning, this is as of,
00:14:27.63\00:14:32.00
actually the
statistics are even more recent
00:14:32.03\00:14:34.04
than that as of October 2016,
00:14:34.07\00:14:37.21
you are one member,
let's all raise our hands.
00:14:37.24\00:14:40.44
Come on, let's all raise it.
00:14:40.48\00:14:41.81
You are one person
00:14:41.84\00:14:44.18
among 19,126,438
00:14:44.21\00:14:50.89
and after I just
mentioned that number
00:14:50.92\00:14:52.32
it's already changed
because the Adventist church
00:14:52.35\00:14:55.29
3,000 plus people a day
become members of your church.
00:14:55.32\00:15:01.66
Come on say
amen some body. Amen!
00:15:01.70\00:15:03.20
These are not just statistics,
these are souls being added,
00:15:03.23\00:15:06.40
people receiving the gospel.
00:15:06.43\00:15:07.97
So when you walk through
the doors of this building
00:15:08.00\00:15:09.80
which in by the way
3ABN is the physical owner
00:15:09.84\00:15:13.14
of this building and 3ABN,
00:15:13.17\00:15:17.08
hey, and I'll tell you about
their function and the growth
00:15:17.11\00:15:19.21
of the Adventist church.
00:15:19.25\00:15:20.58
When 3ABN came
into existence in 1984,
00:15:20.62\00:15:23.32
from 1984 to the present,
00:15:23.35\00:15:25.29
the growth of the
church has exploded
00:15:25.32\00:15:28.26
because of the
footprint that 3ABN had
00:15:28.29\00:15:31.19
long before Hope Channel.
00:15:31.23\00:15:33.16
Hope channel is the
new arm, a new media arm,
00:15:33.19\00:15:36.56
if you ever get a chance to
go to the General Conference
00:15:36.60\00:15:38.23
you see Hope Channel,
00:15:38.27\00:15:39.93
Hope Channel
would be representing
00:15:39.97\00:15:41.30
maybe this sanctuary,
00:15:41.34\00:15:43.41
not even as
larger the sanctuary,
00:15:43.44\00:15:45.51
and 3ABN you've seen
the footprint of 3ABN.
00:15:45.54\00:15:48.48
The first worldwide televising
of the General Conference
00:15:48.51\00:15:51.41
was done through 3ABN.
00:15:51.45\00:15:53.72
The first large
worldwide evangelistic series
00:15:53.75\00:15:57.05
was shown to the
world through 3ABN
00:15:57.09\00:15:59.69
which was Mark
Finley back in 1995.
00:15:59.72\00:16:02.99
So 3ABN is a part
00:16:03.02\00:16:04.36
of the exploding
growth of the church
00:16:04.39\00:16:06.19
although it receives no
funding on a monthly basis
00:16:06.23\00:16:12.83
from the
Seventh-day Adventist Church.
00:16:12.87\00:16:15.00
And I'll show you how all of
these entities are supported.
00:16:15.04\00:16:18.37
Out of the 19 million members,
00:16:18.41\00:16:20.74
it is broken down
into 13 divisions.
00:16:20.78\00:16:23.38
Here is a color chart of
how the world work is laid out
00:16:23.41\00:16:28.42
and those areas
that I just covered
00:16:28.45\00:16:30.02
are seen very quickly in
a splash, just in a splash.
00:16:30.05\00:16:34.26
I'm not going to take a
whole lot of time on this
00:16:34.29\00:16:35.62
because we also have a video
that we're going to show you
00:16:35.66\00:16:38.86
that introduces you to
how the church is located
00:16:38.89\00:16:42.80
in different
regions of the world
00:16:42.83\00:16:44.90
it's called our
connection, look at this video.
00:16:44.93\00:16:48.47
We are people and we
love to get connected.
00:16:48.50\00:16:53.64
We connect as
families because of birth,
00:16:53.68\00:16:56.44
we connect as
friends because we click
00:16:56.48\00:16:59.65
and we connect as
communities because we care.
00:16:59.68\00:17:03.55
Seventh-day
Adventists are people
00:17:03.59\00:17:05.72
who connect in
communities called congregations
00:17:05.75\00:17:09.12
which in turn
connect to form conferences,
00:17:09.16\00:17:12.53
who connect together
to form unions, divisions
00:17:12.56\00:17:16.23
and the General Conference.
00:17:16.26\00:17:18.73
Why do we connect?
00:17:18.77\00:17:20.67
It starts with a
connection to the Creator,
00:17:20.70\00:17:23.41
who invites us on
a spiritual journey.
00:17:23.44\00:17:26.74
When we journey together,
00:17:26.78\00:17:28.24
we can help each
other along the way.
00:17:28.28\00:17:31.21
This journey is a
journey of a lifetime.
00:17:31.25\00:17:34.52
And as we learn, and grow
00:17:34.55\00:17:36.75
life becomes filled
with meaning and purpose.
00:17:36.79\00:17:41.62
Our greatest joy
00:17:41.66\00:17:43.06
is in helping
others along the way.
00:17:43.09\00:17:45.99
Wherever you
are on your journey,
00:17:46.03\00:17:48.30
we believe that we
have something to offer,
00:17:48.33\00:17:51.43
that can make
your life more whole.
00:17:51.47\00:17:55.70
So the next time you
see a Seventh-day Adventist
00:17:55.74\00:17:58.24
remember, you're not looking
at someone who stands alone,
00:17:58.27\00:18:02.54
they are
connected to a World Church
00:18:02.58\00:18:05.01
that has 18 million members,
gathered in 13 divisions,
00:18:05.05\00:18:10.59
comprised of 122 unions,
formed by 600 conferences,
00:18:10.62\00:18:16.79
serving in 140,000 congregations
00:18:16.83\00:18:20.20
in 208 countries,
00:18:20.23\00:18:22.86
who worship in 924 languages
00:18:22.90\00:18:26.23
and they all want
to connect with you.
00:18:26.27\00:18:28.94
Could somebody say
hallelujah somewhere?
00:18:34.21\00:18:36.85
This is a
beautiful church, amen?
00:18:36.88\00:18:39.61
And by the way as of the
production of this video,
00:18:39.65\00:18:42.02
the numbers have increased.
00:18:42.05\00:18:43.39
When this video was made
it was at roughly 18 million
00:18:43.42\00:18:46.72
but every day 3,000
more are being added
00:18:46.76\00:18:48.52
around the world
00:18:48.56\00:18:49.89
and thus, we have a
total of 19 million.
00:18:49.92\00:18:52.56
Look at the screen again,
00:18:52.59\00:18:53.93
I'm going to
bring this up to you.
00:18:53.96\00:18:55.30
Look at these
statistics and this is as of
00:18:55.33\00:18:57.20
and these were
put out as of 2015.
00:18:57.23\00:19:00.07
How many churches?
00:19:00.10\00:19:01.44
but then 69,000 companies,
00:19:01.47\00:19:06.04
what's the difference
between a church and a company?
00:19:06.07\00:19:08.04
A company is a newly
formed body of believers
00:19:08.08\00:19:11.01
that somebody might say,
00:19:11.05\00:19:12.38
"Hey, let's put a church
in the town right over here,"
00:19:12.41\00:19:15.78
and they maybe
meeting in a storefront
00:19:15.82\00:19:17.95
or a newly renovated building
00:19:17.99\00:19:20.56
but they're not yet to the place
00:19:20.59\00:19:21.92
where they have
all the pieces in place
00:19:21.96\00:19:23.43
to be an official church,
that's considered a company.
00:19:23.46\00:19:27.40
So 81,000 official churches,
69,000 you add it up together.
00:19:27.43\00:19:31.50
Eight and six is
14, 150,000 roughly.
00:19:31.53\00:19:35.97
When Sabbath comes in 151,000
locations in various languages,
00:19:36.00\00:19:40.71
all over the
world people are saying
00:19:40.74\00:19:42.81
happy Sabbath, feliz
Sabado and wish I had a language
00:19:42.84\00:19:45.91
that I could do
that in but I can't.
00:19:45.95\00:19:47.48
Amen!
00:19:47.52\00:19:48.85
Ordained
ministers, I'm one of 19,000,
00:19:48.88\00:19:52.22
Pastor C.A. is one of
19,020 but that's ordained,
00:19:52.25\00:19:56.52
that's not pastors in total
00:19:56.56\00:19:58.56
because you have to
get to a certain level
00:19:58.59\00:20:00.56
before you are ordained.
00:20:00.60\00:20:02.13
So these are the ones
that have gotten to that
00:20:02.16\00:20:03.87
after five years of service
or eight years of service,
00:20:03.90\00:20:06.47
they are ordained but
pastors that just come
00:20:06.50\00:20:08.77
out of the
seminary or out of college.
00:20:08.80\00:20:11.27
So when you add that up together
00:20:11.31\00:20:12.64
not counting
laymen and missionaries
00:20:12.67\00:20:16.11
that from week to week
are carrying this gospel
00:20:16.14\00:20:18.41
all over the
world, more than 19,000.
00:20:18.45\00:20:22.48
Look at the employees, 279,000.
00:20:22.52\00:20:25.75
I'm going to round it up
00:20:25.79\00:20:27.12
because more
employees has been added
00:20:27.16\00:20:28.62
since these
statistics had been added.
00:20:28.66\00:20:31.79
In the countries
where work is established,
00:20:31.83\00:20:33.70
215 countries
00:20:33.73\00:20:35.16
so far we have publicized
our presence in 215 countries.
00:20:35.20\00:20:40.94
We don't talk about
where we are in countries,
00:20:40.97\00:20:43.84
where
Christianity is not allowed
00:20:43.87\00:20:46.74
but I want to say we
are there, what do you say?
00:20:46.78\00:20:50.48
I remember being at
the General Conference,
00:20:50.51\00:20:51.85
I think it was 2005 or 2010,
Pastor C.A. may remember this.
00:20:51.88\00:20:55.85
There was an Asian gentleman
that came out on stage,
00:20:55.88\00:20:58.45
he was from China.
00:20:58.49\00:21:00.82
Now all these other countries,
a lot of people are coming out
00:21:00.86\00:21:03.32
all their
different colors, you know,
00:21:03.36\00:21:04.69
in their beautiful
outfits and he came out,
00:21:04.73\00:21:07.23
they say and they
mentioned the country
00:21:07.26\00:21:10.00
and he came out by himself
00:21:10.03\00:21:11.83
looking as you may
picture a Chinese guy,
00:21:11.87\00:21:16.10
that's a farmer made
out way out on the country
00:21:16.14\00:21:18.54
and he came out in this
arena where almost 80,000 people
00:21:18.57\00:21:22.98
and he stood in the
center of this massive stage
00:21:23.01\00:21:26.15
and he said these
two words, "I'm here."
00:21:26.18\00:21:29.05
And he looked at
his church family
00:21:32.29\00:21:33.89
that surrounded him
in this massive arena.
00:21:33.92\00:21:37.23
Many, many stories
in this football stadium
00:21:37.26\00:21:40.10
and I believe 2005,
was that in St. Louis?
00:21:40.13\00:21:43.67
Yeah.
00:21:43.70\00:21:45.03
That was St. Louis.
00:21:45.07\00:21:46.40
It was one just, yeah,
00:21:46.43\00:21:47.77
he looked at this
massive contingency
00:21:47.80\00:21:50.07
and he said, "I'm here."
00:21:50.11\00:21:52.97
And it slowly
caught on and he said,
00:21:53.01\00:21:55.74
"I've been waiting all my life
00:21:55.78\00:21:59.71
to see my church."
00:21:59.75\00:22:03.08
And I tell you there
were many, many tears
00:22:03.12\00:22:05.49
but that place erupted
00:22:05.52\00:22:07.49
for the glory of God,
breaking into that new field.
00:22:07.52\00:22:11.03
But there are some
places we can't publish
00:22:11.06\00:22:12.73
because we cannot let those
who don't want us to be there
00:22:12.76\00:22:16.70
know we are already there.
00:22:16.73\00:22:19.63
We have publishing
languages 974 languages,
00:22:19.67\00:22:23.27
you saw in the
videos there are 940,
00:22:23.30\00:22:25.11
now they've increased that
00:22:25.14\00:22:26.47
because every day in
languages and dialects,
00:22:26.51\00:22:29.11
the Bible is being translated
00:22:29.14\00:22:31.58
so that people of
other people groups
00:22:31.61\00:22:33.01
can understand this gospel.
00:22:33.05\00:22:35.08
And publishing houses,
we have 62 publishing houses
00:22:35.12\00:22:37.92
which would be
something like Review and Herald
00:22:37.95\00:22:40.02
or Pacific Press,
00:22:40.06\00:22:41.39
in London it's
the Stanbrook Press
00:22:41.42\00:22:42.76
and there are many
other publishing houses
00:22:42.79\00:22:44.66
around the nation.
00:22:44.69\00:22:46.33
What about schools?
00:22:46.36\00:22:47.70
We have teachers,
our teachers here today,
00:22:47.73\00:22:49.66
look our teachers stand,
come on our teachers stand.
00:22:49.70\00:22:52.77
Come on, come on,
standup, come on, Miss Haney.
00:22:52.80\00:22:56.14
Can we give them a hearty amen?
00:22:56.17\00:22:58.47
They are two of the teachers
00:22:58.51\00:23:02.68
in the 7,792
schools, that the church...
00:23:02.71\00:23:09.32
God has allowed the
Seventh-day Adventist Church
00:23:09.35\00:23:11.49
to plan around the world.
00:23:11.52\00:23:13.12
And we have seen many of them,
00:23:13.15\00:23:15.42
we've got, we've
seen many of them
00:23:15.46\00:23:16.93
but we have not been to 7,000,
we haven't even been to a 1000
00:23:16.96\00:23:20.26
but the total enrollment
as of these statistics
00:23:20.30\00:23:22.50
were 1.8 million students,
00:23:22.53\00:23:24.90
they're going through
our halls, our universities
00:23:24.93\00:23:27.30
from kindergarten
to elementary school
00:23:27.34\00:23:31.27
to junior academy,
to academy, to college,
00:23:31.31\00:23:34.74
to university, to seminary.
00:23:34.78\00:23:40.45
Then there's 175 hospitals,
it's a worldwide work.
00:23:40.48\00:23:43.69
The nursing homes and
retirement centers are 140.
00:23:43.72\00:23:46.35
Then clinics and
dispensaries, in other words,
00:23:46.39\00:23:49.26
the dispensaries would be
somewhat like in South America
00:23:49.29\00:23:52.49
where they would
have a medical boat
00:23:52.53\00:23:53.90
that goes from
community to community,
00:23:53.93\00:23:55.83
from town to town,
from village to village
00:23:55.86\00:23:57.93
and they carry on
medical work from a boat
00:23:57.97\00:24:00.44
because they will go
into places like the Amazon,
00:24:00.47\00:24:02.34
where there are no hospitals,
00:24:02.37\00:24:03.87
where the people
don't come to the cities,
00:24:03.91\00:24:05.44
so they go to the
people that are out
00:24:05.47\00:24:07.18
in these remote areas.
00:24:07.21\00:24:08.71
These are called dispensaries,
00:24:08.74\00:24:10.28
385 clinics and
dispensaries combined together.
00:24:10.31\00:24:14.15
Then orphanages and
children's homes is 29
00:24:14.18\00:24:16.69
and food industries,
00:24:16.72\00:24:18.05
where many of the
foods that we eat,
00:24:18.09\00:24:20.42
some of these substitute
foods that are temporary
00:24:20.46\00:24:23.16
that we are not taking
to heaven, amen somebody?
00:24:23.19\00:24:27.20
The transitional foods,
00:24:27.23\00:24:28.56
these are made in
various places around the world
00:24:28.60\00:24:31.17
like Loma Linda in
Cedar Lake and places down
00:24:31.20\00:24:34.14
and this is a
picture, if you've never been
00:24:34.17\00:24:35.50
to a General
Conference session before,
00:24:35.54\00:24:37.57
this was a
General Conference session
00:24:37.61\00:24:39.01
on Sabbath morning in
San Antonio, Texas in 2015.
00:24:39.04\00:24:42.68
Let me say something, I
was there, can't you see me?
00:24:42.71\00:24:46.58
I'm in the crowd,
Angie's in the crowd.
00:24:46.61\00:24:50.42
When you walk out
on Sabbath morning
00:24:50.45\00:24:52.35
and you hear
them singing one song,
00:24:52.39\00:24:55.79
I want to tell you, I
stood there with my cellphone
00:24:55.82\00:24:58.19
going like this just
videotaping in the circle,
00:24:58.23\00:25:01.26
I downloaded those
videos and it didn't lose those,
00:25:01.30\00:25:03.67
my phone had an
apocalyptic experience
00:25:03.70\00:25:06.13
as we could just die.
00:25:06.17\00:25:08.27
But I got those videos
00:25:08.30\00:25:09.64
when I was standing
there on Sabbath morning
00:25:09.67\00:25:11.01
and I saw so many people with
their iPads and their phones
00:25:11.04\00:25:13.44
just spinning
around, just crying
00:25:13.48\00:25:16.61
and taking pictures and
videos of their World Church
00:25:16.64\00:25:19.11
because once every
five years, we get together
00:25:19.15\00:25:21.65
to rub our elbows with
a hundreds of displays,
00:25:21.68\00:25:25.22
the thousands of people.
00:25:25.25\00:25:27.46
3ABN had a gigantic display
00:25:27.49\00:25:30.26
at the last
General Conference session.
00:25:30.29\00:25:31.93
We had to stay at
our booths in ships
00:25:31.96\00:25:35.93
because we needed a break
00:25:35.96\00:25:37.30
with all the handshakes
and that hugs and the pictures,
00:25:37.33\00:25:39.37
we were blinded by
the many flash bulbs
00:25:39.40\00:25:43.24
but how wonderful it was
to touch the lives of people
00:25:43.27\00:25:46.11
all over the world.
00:25:46.14\00:25:48.28
But let me tell
you how it works.
00:25:48.31\00:25:50.21
Look at this
chart very carefully.
00:25:50.25\00:25:51.58
We're going to
follow the blessing.
00:25:51.61\00:25:53.42
So now you have the
tithe envelope with you,
00:25:53.45\00:25:55.55
it all begins with
you on Sabbath morning.
00:25:55.58\00:25:58.52
Open that tithe
envelop till you see the place
00:25:58.55\00:26:02.36
where the name and address goes.
00:26:02.39\00:26:03.73
Now I'm not going to
tell you yet what to do it
00:26:03.76\00:26:05.09
but just hold it there because
I'm going to walk you through
00:26:05.13\00:26:07.00
how this happens.
00:26:07.03\00:26:08.36
On Sabbath morning this
00:26:08.40\00:26:11.43
and I'm going to use this
ten dollar bill as an example.
00:26:11.47\00:26:13.87
This ten dollar
bill starts a journey,
00:26:13.90\00:26:17.21
if you were a ten dollar
bill, you would be able to,
00:26:17.24\00:26:21.71
if you were a ten dollar
bill in the Adventist Church,
00:26:21.74\00:26:23.85
you would be able to
travel around the world
00:26:23.88\00:26:25.68
because a portion of this
00:26:25.71\00:26:27.78
touches every one
of these entities.
00:26:27.82\00:26:31.45
It begins in Thompsonville
and then you have Marion,
00:26:31.49\00:26:35.52
you have Thompsonville,
you have West Frankfurt,
00:26:35.56\00:26:37.56
you have
Mt.Vernon, you have Metropolis
00:26:37.59\00:26:41.76
and other churches
in Southern Illinois.
00:26:41.80\00:26:44.63
When they collect
offering on Sabbath morning,
00:26:44.67\00:26:47.14
if it's tithing, it
all goes to the next IC
00:26:47.17\00:26:50.91
which is the
Illinois Conference,
00:26:50.94\00:26:52.74
100 percent.
00:26:52.77\00:26:56.01
What percent did I say?
00:26:56.04\00:26:57.91
100 percent of your
tithing leaves this building
00:26:57.95\00:27:02.72
on a journey to the Illinois
Conference, 100 percent.
00:27:02.75\00:27:07.26
So some people may say,
00:27:07.29\00:27:08.62
"Well how is it on
the back of the bulletin,
00:27:08.66\00:27:10.09
it seems like we
didn't make the budget
00:27:10.13\00:27:11.56
and I gave a
large tithe last week
00:27:11.59\00:27:13.46
because they left,
00:27:13.50\00:27:16.06
it began a journey to
help the worldwide work
00:27:16.10\00:27:19.47
and portions of it comes
back for the pastor's salary,
00:27:19.50\00:27:23.84
for the teacher's salary.
00:27:23.87\00:27:26.24
But then it starts the
journey to help the work
00:27:26.27\00:27:28.28
in the Illinois Conference,
00:27:28.31\00:27:30.01
that's why you have
the percentage there
00:27:30.05\00:27:31.61
on the right side,
00:27:31.65\00:27:32.98
percentage of
your dollars go there.
00:27:33.01\00:27:34.35
Then from the
Illinois Conference,
00:27:34.38\00:27:35.72
a percentage of that goes
to the North American division.
00:27:35.75\00:27:40.26
There's a work
in this conference
00:27:40.29\00:27:41.62
that each of us contributes to.
00:27:41.66\00:27:43.06
Give you an example,
00:27:43.09\00:27:44.43
when we first started
back in 2004 in Thompsonville,
00:27:44.46\00:27:47.00
we had that little
small church down the way
00:27:47.03\00:27:49.23
before 3ABN build the
building, anybody remember that?
00:27:49.26\00:27:51.97
If you drive down 149 today,
00:27:52.00\00:27:53.44
you can see it on
the left hand side,
00:27:53.47\00:27:55.20
it's just about a mile
and a half to two miles
00:27:55.24\00:27:56.87
from here on 149.
00:27:56.91\00:27:58.77
We were there.
00:27:58.81\00:28:01.28
One of the blessings we have
00:28:01.31\00:28:02.91
and this is by the work of 3ABN,
00:28:02.94\00:28:04.71
by the blessings of
3ABN, very few churches
00:28:04.75\00:28:07.22
get to establish
this kind of blessing
00:28:07.25\00:28:09.32
is when Sabbath morning comes
00:28:09.35\00:28:11.29
most of the
expenses of this building
00:28:11.32\00:28:13.72
are covered by Three
Angels Broadcasting Network.
00:28:13.76\00:28:16.83
Amen, somebody?
00:28:16.86\00:28:18.36
We could not physically afford,
00:28:18.39\00:28:20.30
financially afford a
building of this size.
00:28:20.33\00:28:24.57
Because God has
people all around the world
00:28:24.60\00:28:26.43
that helps to keep
His work going forward.
00:28:26.47\00:28:29.27
Many of our expenses,
the majority of the expenses
00:28:29.30\00:28:31.47
to carry this building
forward are covered by 3ABN
00:28:31.51\00:28:34.08
and we cannot thank them enough.
00:28:34.11\00:28:37.11
But on a legal level,
00:28:37.15\00:28:39.41
all the churches
in all the world,
00:28:39.45\00:28:44.25
there's not a single
building owned by any pastor.
00:28:44.29\00:28:48.52
We don't own any
churches, we don't own it,
00:28:48.56\00:28:51.13
nothing is in my
name in this church
00:28:51.16\00:28:52.99
except the suit I
have on, that's it.
00:28:53.03\00:28:56.26
So I could be here
for a certain period time
00:28:56.30\00:28:57.80
and go on and
another pastor comes,
00:28:57.83\00:28:59.57
that's how the
church is designed.
00:28:59.60\00:29:00.94
So I have no personal motivation
00:29:00.97\00:29:03.61
to try to swindle
you out of your money
00:29:03.64\00:29:06.14
but it goes from here,
00:29:06.17\00:29:07.51
it goes to the
Illinois Conference
00:29:07.54\00:29:08.88
and portions of it comes back,
00:29:08.91\00:29:10.25
then a portion from
the Illinois Conference
00:29:10.28\00:29:12.21
goes to the NAD, the
North American division,
00:29:12.25\00:29:15.92
to the union,
got the Lake Union.
00:29:15.95\00:29:17.55
I cut out one step, it
goes to the Lake Union,
00:29:17.59\00:29:21.12
I have one step I missed here.
00:29:21.16\00:29:22.56
Then from the Lake Union to
the North American division,
00:29:22.59\00:29:25.53
from the North American division
00:29:25.56\00:29:26.93
to the General Conference.
00:29:26.96\00:29:28.30
I had one step, I forgot there.
00:29:28.33\00:29:29.90
So we have a five, that dollar,
church, conference, union,
00:29:29.93\00:29:36.44
division, General Conference.
00:29:36.47\00:29:39.37
And then, the
projects that are suggested
00:29:39.41\00:29:42.94
on a three month
basis and many of you
00:29:42.98\00:29:45.71
who have Sabbath school lessons
00:29:45.75\00:29:47.08
on the back of your
Sabbath school lesson,
00:29:47.12\00:29:48.68
you see that mission project,
00:29:48.72\00:29:50.05
anybody know what
I'm talking about?
00:29:50.09\00:29:51.79
They said, we're
going to build a church in
00:29:51.82\00:29:53.62
and they mention
where it's going to be
00:29:53.66\00:29:55.16
and once every 13 weeks,
00:29:55.19\00:29:57.43
it's called 13 Sabbath offering,
00:29:57.46\00:30:00.10
on a Sabbath to
Sabbath basis in your class,
00:30:00.13\00:30:02.70
the teachers pass
around a little envelope says
00:30:02.73\00:30:04.83
this is for the
mission offering,
00:30:04.87\00:30:06.30
this is for
Sabbath school expense.
00:30:06.33\00:30:08.77
Meaning, all the
stuff that happens here,
00:30:08.80\00:30:11.11
you participate
in making that happen
00:30:11.14\00:30:13.07
and the work that happens
in places around the world
00:30:13.11\00:30:15.14
that can never afford it,
00:30:15.18\00:30:18.15
happens by your willing,
00:30:18.18\00:30:22.52
your willingness to
give to God's cause.
00:30:22.55\00:30:25.12
But now let's look at
that, let's go on and see this.
00:30:25.15\00:30:27.59
So the point of the matter
is when everyone gives together,
00:30:27.62\00:30:31.13
every need is met.
00:30:31.16\00:30:33.73
Let's look at
this very carefully.
00:30:33.76\00:30:35.93
Here's the tithing envelope.
00:30:35.96\00:30:37.90
On the tithing
envelope, if you open it up...
00:30:37.93\00:30:42.10
You're going to see
00:30:45.57\00:30:46.91
on this front cover right here,
you see your name and address.
00:30:46.94\00:30:50.61
I'm going to break
down to four sections
00:30:50.65\00:30:52.28
because you have, let's
look at that is in blue,
00:30:52.31\00:30:54.62
it says tithe, then what else
00:30:54.65\00:30:56.69
is the next blue
section is a local church,
00:30:56.72\00:30:58.59
you see that?
00:30:58.62\00:31:00.12
The next one is what?
00:31:00.16\00:31:01.89
Conference Ministry
and the next one is what?
00:31:01.92\00:31:05.19
World Church.
00:31:05.23\00:31:06.56
That's how the
money takes a journey.
00:31:06.59\00:31:09.76
Now it happens one of two
ways, today in the bulletin,
00:31:09.80\00:31:13.13
open your bulletins,
let's look at this together.
00:31:13.17\00:31:15.90
Show you how the World
Church, so there are people
00:31:15.94\00:31:17.87
that are under
certain regions of the world
00:31:17.91\00:31:21.18
waiting for us collectively
00:31:21.21\00:31:23.68
as a people to
help them build a church
00:31:23.71\00:31:25.91
where they have none.
00:31:25.95\00:31:28.52
Watch this, North
American division,
00:31:28.55\00:31:31.39
today it's going to the
North American division.
00:31:31.42\00:31:34.09
Remember that right
there, look at that.
00:31:34.12\00:31:35.46
Let's go back real quickly.
00:31:35.49\00:31:37.73
The North American,
NAD, today the offering
00:31:37.76\00:31:40.20
is going to the
North American division
00:31:40.23\00:31:42.66
which means they have a project
that they've established,
00:31:42.70\00:31:45.70
that these funds
that we give today
00:31:45.73\00:31:47.97
and what happens
when the deacons come by,
00:31:48.00\00:31:50.57
if you don't write anything down
00:31:50.61\00:31:53.27
and you just drop
this into the plate,
00:31:53.31\00:31:56.31
it goes to the
North American division.
00:31:56.34\00:32:00.52
If you put it in the envelope
00:32:00.55\00:32:02.68
and you don't say
anything am I right,
00:32:02.72\00:32:05.82
it goes to the
North American division
00:32:05.85\00:32:09.02
because that's what
the offering for that day
00:32:09.06\00:32:12.23
was designated for the
North American division.
00:32:12.26\00:32:15.36
On the Sabbath when we say
it's the local church budget,
00:32:15.40\00:32:18.33
turn your bulletins
around, let's look at this.
00:32:18.37\00:32:22.40
I'm going to go
through that very quickly here.
00:32:22.44\00:32:25.61
On the Sabbath when we say
it's the local church budget,
00:32:25.64\00:32:28.01
you've seen this
from week to week
00:32:28.04\00:32:29.41
and you wonder
what on earth is that?
00:32:29.44\00:32:34.12
Whenever we say
local church budget,
00:32:34.15\00:32:36.69
now this was earlier in January,
00:32:36.72\00:32:38.09
I think the first week
but now you look at it today
00:32:38.12\00:32:40.96
on the back of the
bulletin, hey and it's higher.
00:32:40.99\00:32:43.56
Amen, somebody?
00:32:43.59\00:32:45.43
That means we get
four or five weeks
00:32:45.46\00:32:48.53
to cover our local expenses,
00:32:48.56\00:32:50.87
and by the way
for people that say,
00:32:50.90\00:32:52.80
why is he talking about
money on Sabbath morning.
00:32:52.83\00:32:54.97
Jesus talked about money
more than He talked about hell.
00:32:55.00\00:32:59.57
Because He says,
where your treasure is,
00:32:59.61\00:33:03.11
there will your heart be also.
00:33:03.14\00:33:06.18
So when you see
this and the offering,
00:33:06.21\00:33:08.25
if the offering today is
not for local church budget,
00:33:08.28\00:33:11.19
the question is how can we give?
00:33:11.22\00:33:12.95
Let's go back a few slides here
00:33:12.99\00:33:14.46
and I'll break
this down for you.
00:33:14.49\00:33:15.96
It starts that way
00:33:15.99\00:33:17.33
and on the back
of the tithe envelop,
00:33:17.36\00:33:18.69
that's simply what you see.
00:33:18.73\00:33:20.26
You see that, but it
starts this way, look at that.
00:33:20.30\00:33:22.76
This is where it
shows, a local church budget
00:33:22.80\00:33:24.80
and these percentages by the way
00:33:24.83\00:33:26.37
are suggested on
the tithe envelop,
00:33:26.40\00:33:27.90
look that again, you see that?
00:33:27.94\00:33:30.27
How much of your
income belongs to God,
00:33:30.31\00:33:32.74
somebody tell me?
00:33:32.77\00:33:35.74
I know that always hangs
you, people say ten percent,
00:33:35.78\00:33:40.25
that's not what I asked you.
00:33:40.28\00:33:41.82
I said how much of your income
belongs to God, how much of it?
00:33:41.85\00:33:44.55
All, that's right.
00:33:44.59\00:33:46.05
Everything you
have comes from God.
00:33:46.09\00:33:49.69
But now the next question
is how much of your income
00:33:49.72\00:33:52.03
is holy to the Lord?
00:33:52.06\00:33:55.26
Here it is, the tithe
ten percent of your income
00:33:55.30\00:33:59.53
that belongs to the Lord.
00:33:59.57\00:34:01.74
We are giving to
the Lord what is His.
00:34:01.77\00:34:05.11
Here's the
text, Leviticus 27:30,
00:34:05.14\00:34:07.44
this is one of the
text, notice what it says,
00:34:07.48\00:34:09.71
"All the..." What?
00:34:09.74\00:34:12.61
"Tithe of the land,
whether of the seed of the land
00:34:12.65\00:34:16.89
or of the fruit of the tree,
00:34:16.92\00:34:19.09
is the Lord's
together it is..." What?
00:34:19.12\00:34:21.69
"Holy to the Lord."
00:34:21.72\00:34:25.03
So the question is how
do we make that happen?
00:34:25.06\00:34:27.20
Let's look at this,
how do we make that happen?
00:34:27.23\00:34:29.40
Let's go ahead and
look at the tithe envelope
00:34:29.43\00:34:30.87
and how you fill that out.
00:34:30.90\00:34:32.23
So now I put their
John Doe Smith Wesson.
00:34:32.27\00:34:36.34
So when this tithe envelop
shows up in dean's office
00:34:36.37\00:34:40.28
and she doesn't know who it is,
00:34:40.31\00:34:42.84
she only has a
couple of options.
00:34:42.88\00:34:44.38
Well, the money is in here,
00:34:44.41\00:34:45.75
will go to the
offering of the day
00:34:45.78\00:34:47.12
that's usually the first choice
00:34:47.15\00:34:48.48
because you didn't tell
us where you wanted to go?
00:34:48.52\00:34:51.45
So sometimes she
goes to the pastor,
00:34:51.49\00:34:53.39
"What do we do?"
00:34:53.42\00:34:54.76
"Well, is there any name?" "No."
00:34:54.79\00:34:56.12
"Well, put into the
offering of the day."
00:34:56.16\00:34:57.83
But if you want you
might to go specifically,
00:34:57.86\00:34:59.66
let's look at the
breakdown of this.
00:34:59.69\00:35:01.03
The first area you see is tithe,
00:35:01.06\00:35:02.60
what do you see there?
00:35:02.63\00:35:04.43
And I'm suggesting that
maybe the person's income
00:35:04.47\00:35:08.20
is if the income was a $1000
then one tenth of that is what?
00:35:08.24\00:35:12.84
$100.
00:35:12.87\00:35:14.21
Now just for
your own information,
00:35:14.24\00:35:16.64
people often pay
off of their net.
00:35:16.68\00:35:19.61
Some people pay off their gross
that's between you and Lord
00:35:19.65\00:35:21.82
but at least pay off of your net
00:35:21.85\00:35:24.09
'cause some
people have insurance
00:35:24.12\00:35:25.45
and all that comes
out of their tithing
00:35:25.49\00:35:26.89
and they pay that when
they get their taxes later on.
00:35:26.92\00:35:30.39
Then you have church
budget, combined budget,
00:35:30.43\00:35:33.29
that local amount $50,
00:35:33.33\00:35:36.80
when you don't
put anything there,
00:35:36.83\00:35:39.63
this decides this languishes.
00:35:39.67\00:35:43.41
When we don't put
anything for the local church,
00:35:43.44\00:35:46.11
you'll hear the elders saying,
00:35:46.14\00:35:47.74
"Well, we didn't make
our budget this month."
00:35:47.78\00:35:50.21
"Well, we didn't."
You know what happens?
00:35:50.25\00:35:52.25
That means personal
ministries can buy more books,
00:35:52.28\00:35:55.78
Don and Janelle
always passing out materials,
00:35:55.82\00:35:58.19
they don't have the
money to do it this month
00:35:58.22\00:35:59.59
because that percentage
00:35:59.62\00:36:01.42
that comes from our local budget
00:36:01.46\00:36:02.89
couldn't go in there.
00:36:02.92\00:36:04.46
And you'll find
out about that tonight
00:36:04.49\00:36:05.99
in our business meeting,
you need to be there to see
00:36:06.03\00:36:08.40
how your church
works, it's powerful.
00:36:08.43\00:36:10.70
And I'll say this
also, every church member
00:36:10.73\00:36:13.67
has the right to ask
for a financial report
00:36:13.70\00:36:19.24
to know where
their moneys are going.
00:36:19.27\00:36:21.14
Praise the Lord?
00:36:21.18\00:36:23.01
The Lord wants us to be people
00:36:23.04\00:36:24.38
that are not
slothful in business.
00:36:24.41\00:36:26.51
Very important, but we
go down the list again.
00:36:26.55\00:36:29.08
So let's just to say we put
$50 toward our local church,
00:36:29.12\00:36:32.75
that is a
suggested amount but whatever
00:36:32.79\00:36:35.39
and tithing is a
set amount ten percent,
00:36:35.42\00:36:37.96
offering is whatever you feel,
00:36:37.99\00:36:39.36
God is impressed you to
be able to afford to give.
00:36:39.39\00:36:42.40
Then others put church expense
and what is church expense?
00:36:42.43\00:36:46.33
Well, when the
insurance gets due,
00:36:46.37\00:36:48.67
that comes out
of church expense.
00:36:48.70\00:36:51.44
We have other
needs at the local level,
00:36:51.47\00:36:52.97
that are covered
by church expense.
00:36:53.01\00:36:54.71
Come tonight and you'll find out
00:36:54.74\00:36:56.08
what they are in specific.
00:36:56.11\00:36:57.55
Then Sabbath school expense.
00:36:57.58\00:36:59.08
When you get a
Sabbath school lesson,
00:36:59.11\00:37:00.45
guess what?
00:37:00.48\00:37:02.32
They ain't free
00:37:02.35\00:37:04.32
but that's how we
study around the world,
00:37:04.35\00:37:05.89
can you say amen to that?
00:37:05.92\00:37:07.26
All the, in other words
00:37:07.29\00:37:08.62
we are part of
the family of God.
00:37:08.66\00:37:11.63
Do you know of any family
00:37:11.66\00:37:14.56
that lets you live in that house
00:37:14.60\00:37:16.50
without contributing anything?
00:37:16.53\00:37:18.63
You got to be
really young to say yes.
00:37:18.67\00:37:20.97
So I remember my dad,
when I was growing up,
00:37:21.00\00:37:23.14
the moment I got a job,
00:37:23.17\00:37:24.81
stacking shelves in
the local grocery store,
00:37:24.84\00:37:28.14
I came to visit,
00:37:28.18\00:37:29.51
"Well, how much
you going to give me?"
00:37:29.54\00:37:31.35
I said, "Am I paying rent now?"
00:37:31.38\00:37:32.71
He said, "No but you're
not living here for free."
00:37:32.75\00:37:36.08
And you know, the sad
statistic is this is true,
00:37:36.12\00:37:39.12
the sad statistic is
00:37:39.15\00:37:41.92
that in most
cases 30% of the church
00:37:41.96\00:37:45.96
is carrying the other
70% that for the most part
00:37:45.99\00:37:49.70
don't give anything.
00:37:49.73\00:37:52.93
Because they don't understand
00:37:52.97\00:37:54.30
that this is
their committed to God.
00:37:54.34\00:37:55.67
You see tithing is
not the most you can do,
00:37:55.70\00:37:58.31
tithing is the least you can do.
00:37:58.34\00:38:01.28
It your commitment
that God is your God
00:38:01.31\00:38:04.01
and when you
don't give the church
00:38:04.05\00:38:06.28
begins to die out slowly,
00:38:06.31\00:38:08.65
all the things we
showed you that happens
00:38:08.68\00:38:10.72
and people are getting
the gospel in all the world,
00:38:10.75\00:38:12.62
it starts to fade away
and before you know it,
00:38:12.65\00:38:15.46
when
Thompsonville is not faithful,
00:38:15.49\00:38:17.89
then it makes the
conference smaller,
00:38:17.93\00:38:20.00
then the union,
then the division,
00:38:20.03\00:38:22.23
then the GC and
then all these projects
00:38:22.26\00:38:23.97
that are designated
people remain in darkness
00:38:24.00\00:38:26.20
because there's
nothing going out there.
00:38:26.23\00:38:28.20
It all begins with
us, you do that section.
00:38:28.24\00:38:30.94
The building fund, if
we have a building project.
00:38:30.97\00:38:34.31
Then you have
evangelism, local evangelism
00:38:34.34\00:38:36.78
and then at the
bottom, I put in red
00:38:36.81\00:38:38.38
because I mentioned to you 3ABN
00:38:38.41\00:38:39.98
does not get any monthly funding
00:38:40.02\00:38:41.68
from anything we send
to the General Conference.
00:38:41.72\00:38:43.69
How do they exist?
00:38:43.72\00:38:45.79
By us including
them in our giving.
00:38:45.82\00:38:47.62
So at the bottom I
put there for my example
00:38:47.66\00:38:49.56
Three Angels
Broadcasting Network,
00:38:49.59\00:38:52.49
that's how you and so 3ABN
00:38:52.53\00:38:54.10
can continue
carrying the gospel,
00:38:54.13\00:38:55.86
they can continue
thriving, amen, church?
00:38:55.90\00:38:58.53
And guess what? When
they thrive, we exist.
00:38:58.57\00:39:02.44
If we say, "We don't care
whether 3ABN makes it or not,
00:39:02.47\00:39:04.74
I'll tell you what?
00:39:04.77\00:39:06.11
They don't make it,
this church is gone.
00:39:06.14\00:39:10.01
It's a month by month
00:39:10.05\00:39:11.38
and we're all
stewards of God's work.
00:39:11.41\00:39:13.11
Then it goes to
the one, next one,
00:39:13.15\00:39:14.88
the conference ministries
00:39:14.92\00:39:16.25
which you see on
your tithing envelope.
00:39:16.28\00:39:18.29
Very quickly, evangelism
00:39:18.32\00:39:20.06
and we've
explained those in details
00:39:20.09\00:39:21.42
and then finally,
you get the bottom
00:39:21.46\00:39:23.39
where you put the
total on your tithe envelop
00:39:23.43\00:39:24.96
and you send it in, and
that's how that happens.
00:39:24.99\00:39:27.73
So today, that's
what we are doing
00:39:27.76\00:39:29.70
the tithing to the very end.
00:39:29.73\00:39:31.33
You might want to try that
now if you brought your tithing
00:39:31.37\00:39:34.00
and your offering
today, look at this envelope
00:39:34.04\00:39:35.90
and use it for the first time.
00:39:35.94\00:39:37.87
So we can know who you
are, so we can help you grow
00:39:37.91\00:39:41.08
in your
spiritual walk with Christ
00:39:41.11\00:39:42.81
but now let's look
at this in reverse.
00:39:42.84\00:39:44.95
This is kind of scary.
00:39:44.98\00:39:46.88
I gave it a different title
00:39:46.92\00:39:48.25
instead of
following the blessing,
00:39:48.28\00:39:49.62
look what I
wrote, follow the curse.
00:39:49.65\00:39:53.49
If Illinois, if
Thompsonville disappears,
00:39:53.52\00:39:55.99
we're no longer giving.
00:39:56.02\00:39:58.56
Then eventually, the
Lake Union disappears
00:39:58.59\00:40:04.33
and the North
American division has no work
00:40:04.37\00:40:07.14
and then what happens?
00:40:07.17\00:40:09.10
The whole world is impacted
00:40:09.14\00:40:10.74
and they ask the
question what happened?
00:40:10.77\00:40:13.07
While the folk at
Thompsonville decide
00:40:13.11\00:40:14.78
that they don't want
to give any more, really?
00:40:14.81\00:40:18.25
So what about all this,
what about all this evangelism?
00:40:18.28\00:40:20.85
What about the schools
00:40:20.88\00:40:22.22
that we need to
build and the hospital?
00:40:22.25\00:40:23.59
I haven't even told
you about our hospitals
00:40:23.62\00:40:26.15
and our schools
and our universities.
00:40:26.19\00:40:31.03
And so when we look at that,
if Thompsonville participates,
00:40:31.06\00:40:37.63
the entire world is
blessed, what do you say?
00:40:37.67\00:40:41.34
If Thompsonville,
if it begins with you,
00:40:41.37\00:40:44.47
it all starts with us.
00:40:44.51\00:40:47.74
The blessing starts with us.
00:40:47.78\00:40:49.94
Let's say this, the
blessing starts with me.
00:40:49.98\00:40:54.08
Let's try that. The
blessing starts with me.
00:40:54.12\00:40:58.09
And let me tell you,
00:40:58.12\00:40:59.45
when you put this
in the envelope today,
00:40:59.49\00:41:02.72
it's gone past Pastor
John, he's not going to see it
00:41:02.76\00:41:06.86
but people around the
world will say, "Thank you."
00:41:06.90\00:41:09.70
Like that song, "Thank
you, for giving to the Lord,
00:41:09.73\00:41:15.60
high in the life
that was change."
00:41:15.64\00:41:20.31
That's what happens,
00:41:20.34\00:41:21.68
people are being
baptized in this church,
00:41:21.71\00:41:23.21
all the children now
can go to an orphanage
00:41:23.24\00:41:26.75
and have their food
and clothing provided
00:41:26.78\00:41:28.52
because of you.
00:41:28.55\00:41:30.65
You decided that
one soul is important
00:41:30.69\00:41:34.02
for the Kingdom of God
00:41:34.06\00:41:35.42
and finally,
let's look at this text.
00:41:35.46\00:41:38.69
Matthew says it so wonderfully,
let's read this together.
00:41:38.73\00:41:41.90
Why does God
have a world mission?
00:41:41.93\00:41:43.33
Why does He have a World Church?
00:41:43.37\00:41:44.70
Here it is.
00:41:44.73\00:41:46.07
"And this gospel of the kingdom
together will be preached..."
00:41:46.10\00:41:49.44
Where?
00:41:49.47\00:41:50.81
"In all the world
as a witness to..."
00:41:50.84\00:41:53.38
How many? "All
nations and..." What?
00:41:53.41\00:41:57.11
"Then the end will come."
Do you want Jesus to come?
00:41:57.15\00:42:02.55
How many of you
want Jesus to come?
00:42:02.58\00:42:03.92
It all begins with
you, don't be fearful.
00:42:03.95\00:42:06.69
If you have any
questions about what happens
00:42:06.72\00:42:09.66
when you write
your tithing envelope
00:42:09.69\00:42:11.66
and you put that money in,
00:42:11.69\00:42:13.19
you can see Dee
Hilderbrand or me,
00:42:13.23\00:42:15.16
you can even come
on a monthly basis
00:42:15.20\00:42:17.20
to the church board
meeting and sit down
00:42:17.23\00:42:19.10
and listen to us discuss
the business of your church.
00:42:19.13\00:42:23.10
You see here it
is, some people don't,
00:42:23.14\00:42:25.34
I've heard somebody said,
00:42:25.37\00:42:26.71
"Well, I don't
believe in church."
00:42:26.74\00:42:28.21
Or "I don't believe
in the organized church."
00:42:28.24\00:42:29.74
What you believe in
the disorganized church?
00:42:29.78\00:42:33.65
Come on now, really.
00:42:33.68\00:42:35.22
I don't believe
in organized WalMart,
00:42:35.25\00:42:36.69
I want to go to the
disorganized WalMart.
00:42:36.72\00:42:39.09
I want to walk in and out
where nowhere anything is,
00:42:39.12\00:42:41.86
really that doesn't even work.
00:42:41.89\00:42:43.29
The devil uses those
phrases to frighten you
00:42:43.32\00:42:46.09
but God has a church
00:42:46.13\00:42:48.33
that is
organized, can you say amen?
00:42:48.36\00:42:51.43
God is a God of order,
00:42:51.47\00:42:52.80
let all things be
done decently and in order.
00:42:52.83\00:42:56.74
Lift up Jesus as our message,
lift up Jesus as our only hope,
00:42:56.77\00:43:00.94
lift up Christ as our
only means of salvation.
00:43:00.98\00:43:05.95
But it was Jesus that said
that when the disciples wondered
00:43:05.98\00:43:10.65
how they're going to
help out the Roman government,
00:43:10.69\00:43:12.69
Jesus says go down to the ocean
00:43:12.72\00:43:14.12
and you're going to
see a fish open his mouth
00:43:14.16\00:43:17.99
and he found a
coin in the fish's mouth
00:43:18.03\00:43:19.79
and he says give to Caesar
00:43:19.83\00:43:21.23
what's his and
to God what's His.
00:43:21.26\00:43:24.43
Tithing is not
something separate from Jesus
00:43:24.47\00:43:27.50
but let me tell you this,
00:43:27.54\00:43:29.97
you can't pay
your way into heaven.
00:43:30.01\00:43:33.51
You can't buy
your way into heaven,
00:43:33.54\00:43:35.58
if you don't have a
relationship with Jesus,
00:43:35.61\00:43:37.05
you can have as much as you can
00:43:37.08\00:43:38.61
but you will
never make the kingdom.
00:43:38.65\00:43:41.18
But giving is a
result of a blessing
00:43:41.22\00:43:46.05
that you want to be
00:43:46.09\00:43:47.59
when the Lord has
done something to you.
00:43:47.62\00:43:49.22
I remember the story of a man
that was about to get baptized
00:43:49.26\00:43:52.09
and he was all dressed,
00:43:52.13\00:43:53.46
he had on his
baptismal robe and heap,
00:43:53.50\00:43:55.50
he had on jeans but
he forgot his wallet
00:43:55.53\00:43:58.30
in his back pocket
he said to the pastor,
00:43:58.33\00:43:59.73
"Wait, wait, don't
baptize, my wallet is no..."
00:43:59.77\00:44:02.57
Pastor said, "No leave it,
00:44:02.60\00:44:03.94
I want to
baptize your wallet too."
00:44:03.97\00:44:07.54
Some people get baptized
but they don't want their money
00:44:07.58\00:44:09.81
to do anything with it.
00:44:09.84\00:44:11.45
If you really believe
that Jesus is coming soon,
00:44:11.48\00:44:16.15
Ford, Mercury, GMC, Toyota,
00:44:16.18\00:44:20.52
Honda, Apple
Computers, Microsoft
00:44:20.56\00:44:23.26
they all organize
00:44:23.29\00:44:25.86
and so with this
beautiful background,
00:44:25.89\00:44:27.43
man, I feel like
going to get me a nickel.
00:44:27.46\00:44:30.87
With this view we are
making cents, dollars and cents.
00:44:30.90\00:44:35.90
I could tell you some stories.
00:44:35.94\00:44:38.44
David the psalmist
said "I am, I've been young
00:44:38.47\00:44:44.18
and now I'm old
00:44:44.21\00:44:46.08
and I've never seen
the righteous forsaken
00:44:46.11\00:44:51.25
or a seed begging for bread."
00:44:51.29\00:44:53.66
My wife and I
wouldn't be where we are today,
00:44:53.69\00:44:56.19
had it not been for
God's faithfulness to us.
00:44:56.22\00:44:58.69
Now notice what I
said, had it not been
00:44:58.73\00:45:00.96
for God's faithfulness
to us, we were in instances,
00:45:01.00\00:45:05.03
in situations where I
remember as a young man
00:45:05.07\00:45:07.44
and I've had so many,
00:45:07.47\00:45:08.80
I can't tell you
the more recent stories
00:45:08.84\00:45:11.44
because I'll have to change
00:45:11.47\00:45:12.87
the name to protect
those who contribute.
00:45:12.91\00:45:15.84
But God has provided for my wife
00:45:15.88\00:45:17.41
and I in so many wonderful ways.
00:45:17.45\00:45:19.28
Somebody once asked us,
he said, "What do you guys do
00:45:19.31\00:45:22.65
that people just feel moved
to help you out periodically?"
00:45:22.68\00:45:25.05
And it's not all
the time but periodical,
00:45:25.09\00:45:27.49
sometimes you don't
know how this is going to be
00:45:27.52\00:45:28.86
and somebody shows up and
blesses us with something.
00:45:28.89\00:45:32.03
But I can tell you the
stories that are in the past.
00:45:32.06\00:45:35.10
One Sunday morning I
was sitting down at our home
00:45:35.13\00:45:39.20
and we were on
our way to the airport
00:45:39.23\00:45:41.90
to pick up my wife's brother
00:45:41.94\00:45:43.57
and his wife and
their new daughter.
00:45:43.61\00:45:46.44
And I said, "Honey if I only
even make $500 dollars a month
00:45:46.47\00:45:51.15
and $349 was
for our car payment,
00:45:51.18\00:45:53.95
that's before they
put us up in the mountains
00:45:53.98\00:45:55.58
of northern California
and cut our salary in half
00:45:55.62\00:45:58.52
to see if I was
going to survive.
00:45:58.55\00:46:02.19
I said, "Honey we
don't even have food for us
00:46:02.22\00:46:04.59
let alone three
more people for a week,
00:46:04.63\00:46:08.93
what are we going to do?"
00:46:08.96\00:46:12.03
So I went to the living
room and sat down on my couch
00:46:12.07\00:46:14.44
and I sat there and I...
00:46:14.47\00:46:16.44
You don't always
have to kneel down,
00:46:16.47\00:46:17.81
you just sometimes, sometimes
you've just got to talk to God.
00:46:17.84\00:46:21.11
And I sat on that
couch, I said, "Lord..."
00:46:21.14\00:46:22.64
And my hands, I had a
prayer like the church
00:46:22.68\00:46:26.75
I was praying for, I
said, "Lord, we have a need.
00:46:26.78\00:46:33.02
I don't know how this
need is going to be supplied
00:46:33.05\00:46:34.39
but we have a need."
00:46:34.42\00:46:35.76
I'm sitting on the couch
and somebody's at the door.
00:46:35.79\00:46:38.96
I say, "Hold on,
I'm almost done...
00:46:38.99\00:46:43.43
hold on, I'm praying,
don't interrupt my prayer."
00:46:43.47\00:46:47.57
Cut the prayer
short, okay, "Who is it?
00:46:51.57\00:46:55.71
What are you doing here?
00:46:55.74\00:46:57.08
You live like
almost 40 miles away
00:46:57.11\00:46:59.55
on the other
side of the mountain?"
00:46:59.58\00:47:02.18
And our church member
said, you know, this morning
00:47:02.22\00:47:03.72
when I was having my devotions
00:47:03.75\00:47:05.72
the Lord said pastor
and his wife has a need
00:47:05.75\00:47:09.82
and she opened her hand
00:47:09.86\00:47:11.19
and put five
$20 bills in my hand
00:47:11.23\00:47:15.23
and I stood there
and I just began to cry.
00:47:15.26\00:47:18.73
I said "Lord..."
00:47:18.77\00:47:20.14
I wonder you leave your
house, she said, well, you know
00:47:20.17\00:47:23.34
it's 40 something miles away,
00:47:23.37\00:47:25.01
I left and she told me how long,
00:47:25.04\00:47:26.68
before you call...
00:47:26.71\00:47:28.58
Yes, amen.
00:47:28.61\00:47:30.01
I will answer, come
on, am I telling the truth?
00:47:30.05\00:47:32.28
Anybody got those stories?
00:47:32.31\00:47:33.65
Before you call I will answer.
00:47:33.68\00:47:36.28
And while you are yet
speaking, I will hear.
00:47:36.32\00:47:40.92
Now I said I
wasn't doing anymore text,
00:47:40.96\00:47:43.53
but I have to read
Malachi 3, I've got to do that.
00:47:43.56\00:47:46.29
Open your Bibles.
00:47:46.33\00:47:47.73
We're gonna do Malachi 3:8-11
00:47:47.76\00:47:49.66
and we're going
to call this a day.
00:47:49.70\00:47:53.23
Well you know whether
we call it a day or not,
00:47:53.27\00:47:54.84
it's a day.
00:47:54.87\00:47:57.41
We're going to go to Malachi 3,
00:47:57.44\00:47:59.37
and I'm gonna give you
God's plan in a nutshell,
00:47:59.41\00:48:02.44
verse 8 down to verse 12,
00:48:02.48\00:48:06.25
because this is
a serious question.
00:48:06.28\00:48:10.75
This is a serious question.
00:48:10.79\00:48:14.56
I don't know if it
was this church or not
00:48:14.59\00:48:17.13
but I remember
one Sabbath saying,
00:48:17.16\00:48:18.86
you know, the police
are on their way here
00:48:18.89\00:48:22.46
to arrest some of
you for robbing God.
00:48:22.50\00:48:25.23
Remember saying that.
00:48:25.27\00:48:26.90
So the police
are waiting outside
00:48:26.94\00:48:28.57
for those of you
who rob God today.
00:48:28.60\00:48:31.77
Look at the text,
Malachi 3:8, this is amazing.
00:48:31.81\00:48:35.61
"Will a man rob God?
00:48:35.64\00:48:40.42
Yet you have robbed Me!
00:48:40.45\00:48:42.38
But you say, 'Okay Lord
00:48:42.42\00:48:44.09
in what way have we robbed You?'
00:48:44.12\00:48:47.96
In tithes and offering."
00:48:47.99\00:48:50.76
See God don't need
any money, amen, somebody?
00:48:50.79\00:48:55.36
He owns the cattle
on a thousand hills,
00:48:55.40\00:48:57.40
the gold and silver
is His, if He was hungry,
00:48:57.43\00:49:00.37
He said I won't even tell you...
00:49:00.40\00:49:02.54
But giving is a
test of your heart
00:49:06.91\00:49:10.41
and somebody once said,
"I can't afford to give,
00:49:10.45\00:49:12.08
you know, what I said to them,
you can't afford not to give.
00:49:12.11\00:49:15.72
Look at what He promises.
00:49:15.75\00:49:17.09
Let's go past
verse 9, go to verse 10.
00:49:17.12\00:49:20.16
"Bring all that
tithes into the storehouse,
00:49:20.19\00:49:23.46
the place where you worship,
the place where you fellowship,
00:49:23.49\00:49:26.43
the place where all your needs
are being supplied spiritually,
00:49:26.46\00:49:30.63
that there maybe..." What?
00:49:30.67\00:49:32.53
"Food in My house
or meat in My house."
00:49:32.57\00:49:35.20
And the Lord says,
"And try Me now..."
00:49:35.24\00:49:37.17
And I love the Hebrew that says,
00:49:37.21\00:49:38.57
if you don't
believe Me, test Me.
00:49:38.61\00:49:41.64
Try Me out and I could tell you,
00:49:41.68\00:49:44.61
we could tell you that
throughout our marriage
00:49:44.65\00:49:48.18
from year to year,
00:49:48.22\00:49:49.55
from one situation to the other,
00:49:49.58\00:49:52.15
we have tried our
best to lose stuff
00:49:52.19\00:49:56.52
that God
wouldn't even let us lose.
00:49:56.56\00:49:59.89
Then He says, "And
try me now and this,"
00:50:05.87\00:50:08.17
Says the Lord of hosts,
"If I will not open for you,
00:50:08.20\00:50:11.11
the windows of heaven and do..."
00:50:11.14\00:50:12.47
What?
00:50:12.51\00:50:13.84
"Pour out for
you such a blessing
00:50:13.88\00:50:16.21
that there will not be
room enough to receive it."
00:50:16.24\00:50:20.02
If you want to know
how rich God is tonight
00:50:20.05\00:50:22.75
as the little boy said tonight.
00:50:22.78\00:50:26.82
Tell you Ellen
described with a little boy
00:50:26.86\00:50:28.36
and I'm going to
have the deacons in place
00:50:28.39\00:50:30.79
because we're going
to have the offering now
00:50:30.83\00:50:32.73
and the tithing.
00:50:32.76\00:50:34.10
Little boy was sitting
next to another little kid,
00:50:34.13\00:50:36.90
you may have heard the
story before me so bear with me.
00:50:36.93\00:50:41.34
And the little rich kid
told the little poor kid,
00:50:41.37\00:50:46.88
he said, "You see that hill?
00:50:46.91\00:50:52.55
You see that house on that hill,
00:50:52.58\00:50:54.95
that's my daddy's house."
00:50:54.98\00:50:59.49
Little boy had nothing to say.
00:50:59.52\00:51:02.12
He said, "Hey,
come here with me."
00:51:02.16\00:51:03.63
Took him down to
the, "You see that boat?
00:51:03.66\00:51:06.93
That's my daddy's boat.
00:51:06.96\00:51:08.46
Beautifully laid out,
beautifully laid out."
00:51:12.03\00:51:15.47
Then he heard this,
00:51:15.50\00:51:19.77
"See that plane
that just flew over,
00:51:19.81\00:51:21.94
that's my daddy's plane."
00:51:21.98\00:51:23.55
And that little boy who had
just appeared in tattered jeans
00:51:23.58\00:51:26.48
didn't know what to say.
00:51:26.51\00:51:28.98
He just sat there
00:51:29.02\00:51:30.79
and feeling
crushed in his spirit
00:51:30.82\00:51:32.92
and God gave the
little boy something to say.
00:51:32.95\00:51:37.89
He said, "Hey, wait a
minute, wait a minute.
00:51:37.93\00:51:41.73
You see the house on that
hill, my daddy owns that hill."
00:51:41.76\00:51:47.17
He said, "You see that
boat floating on the water?
00:51:53.07\00:51:55.28
My daddy owns the water."
00:51:55.31\00:51:56.98
He said, "You see that
plane flying in the air?
00:51:59.01\00:52:02.18
My daddy owns the air.
00:52:02.22\00:52:06.15
My father is rich
in houses and land,
00:52:06.19\00:52:09.19
he owns the cattle
on a thousand hills
00:52:09.22\00:52:12.73
but you'll never know
it unless you try him.
00:52:12.76\00:52:16.00
You ain't trying
him to bless me...
00:52:16.03\00:52:18.67
'Cause as I said and brother,
all your treasures know that
00:52:18.70\00:52:22.00
and nothing you put today
00:52:22.04\00:52:23.37
is coming
directly to my account.
00:52:23.41\00:52:25.21
If my check fail to
show up, I ain't calling you,
00:52:25.24\00:52:27.18
I'm going to
call the conference.
00:52:27.21\00:52:31.35
Because there are other
people in other churches
00:52:31.38\00:52:32.88
that are all contributing
to the welfare of this church.
00:52:32.91\00:52:37.22
The God has
called us as a people,
00:52:37.25\00:52:39.89
if you really believe
God, If you believe He is God,
00:52:39.92\00:52:43.12
then you will also believe
there is nothing hard for God.
00:52:43.16\00:52:47.26
God ain't your
homie, God ain't your boy,
00:52:47.30\00:52:52.27
He is your savior.
00:52:52.30\00:52:54.24
He wants to bless you
but you got to try him
00:52:54.27\00:52:56.97
and when we do and
when we are faithful,
00:52:57.01\00:52:59.87
not only will we never have
to stand up here on any Sabbath
00:52:59.91\00:53:03.14
and say, "We did
make our budget."
00:53:03.18\00:53:06.82
But we'll say, "Oh,
you are so faithful,
00:53:06.85\00:53:10.22
we are now able to
add another program
00:53:10.25\00:53:12.65
to the local church."
00:53:12.69\00:53:14.02
You don't think
that personal ministries
00:53:14.06\00:53:15.39
wants the funds to
give out more tracts
00:53:15.42\00:53:17.23
for men's ministries,
that pavilion that's outside,
00:53:17.26\00:53:20.03
that pavilion that JR
and his team worked on.
00:53:20.06\00:53:24.23
You know that happen
00:53:24.27\00:53:25.60
because of
you're faithful giving.
00:53:25.63\00:53:28.40
He came up with a vision,
00:53:28.44\00:53:30.24
we could put a
pavilion out there,
00:53:30.27\00:53:32.07
put it before the church.
00:53:32.11\00:53:33.44
You know, how
some of you make it
00:53:33.48\00:53:34.81
from month to month when
your check doesn't show up
00:53:34.84\00:53:36.41
you know, it's private
you come to the church to say,
00:53:36.44\00:53:41.02
"You know I'm not
making it in this month."
00:53:41.05\00:53:42.75
We save to the church,
00:53:42.78\00:53:44.22
they write a
check to help you out,
00:53:44.25\00:53:45.59
that's benevolence.
00:53:45.62\00:53:46.96
Tonight you'll find
out how much money goes
00:53:46.99\00:53:49.12
through this little
tiny body of believers
00:53:49.16\00:53:52.49
and you'll
understand it only happens
00:53:52.53\00:53:53.96
because you trust God.
00:53:54.00\00:53:56.70
When we're going to Africa,
show you how to work works.
00:53:56.73\00:54:00.44
When we were going
to Africa few years ago
00:54:00.47\00:54:03.94
my wife stood up here and
put that before the church.
00:54:03.97\00:54:07.04
It was a number of years ago,
00:54:07.08\00:54:08.41
Abby was a lot
younger than she is now.
00:54:08.44\00:54:10.28
I never forgot what she did.
00:54:10.31\00:54:13.72
She was saving up
money for a laptop,
00:54:13.75\00:54:17.09
it's a $100 she
had, she was saving up
00:54:17.12\00:54:21.49
and she said I want to
give you this Sister Angie
00:54:21.52\00:54:24.86
because they need it more
in Africa than I needed here.
00:54:24.89\00:54:28.13
She gave that $100
00:54:28.16\00:54:31.10
and then it moved
everybody else to start giving
00:54:31.13\00:54:34.30
and she gave some
shoes, nice red dress.
00:54:34.34\00:54:38.17
Everybody else started giving
00:54:38.21\00:54:39.54
'cause that young
girl decided to do that.
00:54:39.57\00:54:41.51
She said their needs are
more important than mine.
00:54:41.54\00:54:43.55
We went down to Africa
and we were able to put about
00:54:43.58\00:54:46.61
seven or eight
children in school
00:54:46.65\00:54:49.62
with the giving
that people have,
00:54:49.65\00:54:51.05
not a penny went in our pocket.
00:54:51.09\00:54:53.22
We have video of the little girl
00:54:53.25\00:54:54.59
wearing the dress that Abby sent
00:54:54.62\00:54:55.96
and somebody else
wearing the shoes that she sent,
00:54:55.99\00:54:58.76
that's what giving is all about.
00:54:58.79\00:55:00.36
Systematic,
disinterested benevolence,
00:55:00.40\00:55:03.26
you know that means?
00:55:03.30\00:55:04.63
Give expecting nothing in return
00:55:04.67\00:55:07.30
and when you expect nothing,
00:55:07.34\00:55:09.24
God can trust
you with everything.
00:55:09.27\00:55:11.67
Loving Father in
heaven, we are praying right now
00:55:11.71\00:55:14.08
for the tithe and offering
because today our church
00:55:14.11\00:55:16.95
has learned about
your benevolent system.
00:55:16.98\00:55:19.51
This is a massive church,
00:55:19.55\00:55:22.08
yet every person
every, every grain
00:55:22.12\00:55:24.89
of wheat is needed
00:55:24.92\00:55:27.09
for the whole
harvest to be plentiful.
00:55:27.12\00:55:29.56
Every apple on
the tree is needed
00:55:29.59\00:55:31.89
for the bushels to be filled.
00:55:31.93\00:55:35.06
Every member is needed
00:55:35.10\00:55:36.87
for another soul to
be added to the kingdom.
00:55:36.90\00:55:39.57
So Father help us to understand
00:55:39.60\00:55:41.44
that all we've
got to do is try you,
00:55:41.47\00:55:43.74
just put you to the
test and we will understand
00:55:43.77\00:55:48.81
that our God is always faithful.
00:55:48.84\00:55:51.01
As the deacons
come forward Lord today,
00:55:51.05\00:55:52.68
we pray that You
bless the offering,
00:55:52.71\00:55:54.58
that You'll blessed
it to the overflowing
00:55:54.62\00:55:57.29
and then when these moneys
come from unselfish hearts
00:55:57.32\00:56:02.22
for You love a cheerful giver.
00:56:02.26\00:56:05.33
That those who give cheerfully,
those who give abundantly
00:56:05.36\00:56:09.40
and not just out of necessity,
you'll pour back into them
00:56:09.43\00:56:13.20
as you said in Your
word it will be pressed down,
00:56:13.23\00:56:15.37
it will be shaken together,
it will be running over.
00:56:15.40\00:56:17.54
That's Your
blessing, that's Your promise,
00:56:17.57\00:56:19.24
You've said that.
00:56:19.27\00:56:20.74
Bless Your children
00:56:20.78\00:56:22.11
for the
furtherance of the gospel,
00:56:22.14\00:56:24.05
for the preparation of
the soon coming of Jesus
00:56:24.08\00:56:26.48
this we pray in
your precious name amen.
00:56:26.51\00:56:29.52