*Dramatic music* All right, welcome.

Man, welcome everybody.

Welcome Wesco, welcome Rancho.

I'm in Habakkuk, a book of the Old Testament, chapter three, verse 17 through 19, and Deuteronomy 6, one through 11.

Those are both books hard to find.

They'll be on the screen.

You wanna follow along in your Bible?

Habakkuk 3.

Man, it is such a good time to be part of One and All Church.

It is such a great time.

we've had in ministry.

Somebody asked me this week at Klatsch, where I live, what's your dream job?

And I said, you know, this is my dream job.

I'm not waiting for my dream job.

This is my dream job right here, right now.

And I think about a movement right now of young men and young women in our valley, Gen Zs, and now millennials are starting to come in.

A huge movement of the Holy Spirit among this age group.

God's Pantry has gone from strength to strength, feeding, clothing, counseling thousands of people.

rescuing the perishing, giving hope and future to those who were about to give up.

We're launching a movement in our own backyard of discipleship and training the next generation to go and be God's ambassadors out in our community and beyond into post-Christian Europe.

One and All Church is becoming an ascendant agency, sending out these young men and women all over the world as ambassadors of the good news of the gospel.

We have indeed in our church become a city on a hill that cannot be hidden, a path to those who are in darkness.

West Coe and Rancho are exploding with incredible growth and community.

And on top of all this, the work we're doing in India, reaching the 1040 window, the last group of people who are considered to be unreached, our work in leadership training in Africa and in post-Christian Europe, on and on it goes.

And I want to tell you, I want to brag on you a little bit.

So many of you, a great portion of you in our church, you're doing exactly what Christ calls you to do.

You're living for the kingdom of Christ.

Rather than building your own prosperity, you are dying to self and living for Jesus.

And I just want to say to you, way to go.

Way to go.

You know, the church is not just, it's not a building, is it?

It's you.

And because of what you're doing, I just can't wait to see what kind of legacy this generation, we are going, if the Lord tarries 30, 40, 50 years from now, I think they're going to look back.

And they're going to remember this season in the life of our church because of all the ambassadors and all the preachers and the teachers and the tent makers that were raised up in this church that go out all over the U.S.

and all over the world.

And I think this is the legacy that you're going to be able to leave so that when we meet Jesus, I believe so many of you are going to hear well done, good and faithful servant.

Way to go.

Now...

I was reading about some predictions for 2026.

Here's what they tell us is likely to happen.

First of all, they tell us that political tension and turmoil will intensify.

I don't know how it can get any more intense.

Second, they're telling us that there will be an increased tension between the U.S., China, and Russia.

So we've had that before.

I guess we'll go back to the cold world.

This time it'll be freezing.

They tell us that AI companies...

will be created this year, beyond years past, for companionship.

So I did not know that 49% of American men 18 and up are unmarried.

So almost half the men in America are unmarried.

But the problem is they're not looking for marriage.

They would rather have an AI wife.

This is remarkable.

Now, that's not true about all of them, but a great percentage.

I'm also told that there's gonna be a severe drought in California.

You guys do know we live in a desert, right?

There's always drought in California.

But I did hear some good news.

Gen Z will lead the millennials back to Jesus.

Isn't that something?

I don't know in the past where a younger generation has led an older generation back to Jesus, but there are some trends evidently showing that the Gen Zs are so much on fire with their faith that they will actually lead the millennials back to God.

And then I read one I have a hard time believing.

It says that Pastor Jeff will become a Raiders fan.

I don't know what.

I can't imagine that.

But what is the truth that we really know about 2026?

The only certainties we have in 2026 is that there are no certainties.

Other than Jesus, other than Jesus, who's the same yesterday, today, and forever.

There are no certainties.

This year, the truth is that many of us are gonna discover that we're not as healthy as we thought we were.

Some of us are gonna have job loss, salary cuts, financial losses, family issues.

Church issues.

And then there's our nation.

We're more divided than I ever thought possible that our nation could be.

Each party demonizes the other.

And now we have rioters and protesters going into a place of worship during the worship service and protesting, and they think that's okay?

We are a nation of uncertainty and imbecility.

That's who we are.

We've lost our ability to think logically.

We're so angry that we've become insane.

Now, all that may be true.

And we've been in this series called Kickstart because we're saying that no matter what happens out there, we can control us.

That's the power we have.

We can control us.

And we've said that direction, not intention, determines destination.

that you're not just going to drift into things that you want this year.

And you've heard me use the example, just because you want a good marriage doesn't mean you're going to have one.

You got to make decisions that lead.

You got to get on the road that leads to a good marriage.

Just because you want to be healthy spiritually, just because you want to grow closer to God, just because you want to know Jesus in a more intimate way doesn't mean that any of those are going to happen unless you make some decisions now.

You make a resolve now to put a plan of action together to make sure that's your destination.

And if you don't decide now what you're gonna do with your life this year, your time and attention is gonna be pulled by the things that scream the loudest.

And you'll go through an entire year giving attention to things that have little to no ultimate meaning.

So I'm asking you, it's much like temptation.

If you wait till the time of tempting comes, To determine the way you're going to respond to it, you will fail just about every time.

You've got to make a resolution.

Your resolution in the present will dictate your behavior in the future.

This is the message Habakkuk gives in Habakkuk 3.

It's beautiful and it's transformative.

There are two chords running through this little vignette at the same time.

Let me read the passage to you.

Habakkuk 3, 17.

Though the fig tree does not bud, and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crops fails, and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen, no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord.

I will be joyful in God my Savior.

The sovereign Lord is my strength.

He makes my feet like the feet of a deer.

He enables me to tread on the heights." Now that's the passage.

I need you to repeat after me on all campuses just so we can set the stage here.

Number one, repeat after me, I love the Word of God.

Okay, on all campuses.

God loves me.

Pastor Jeff loves me.

His intentions are good.

Now you said it, no one held a gun to your head.

In Habakkuk, you arrive at a beautiful lyrical ending to a book where the author tells us that it is possible to have sustained joy even when things are falling apart around you.

He says, though the fig tree does not bud, no grapes, no olives, no fields producing food, no sheep in the pen, no cattle in the stalls.

And yet he says, beautiful.

This is the word of God.

Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior.

Now what's interesting here is Habakkuk is describing an economic disaster.

Figs, grapes, olives and grain.

Those are the four ways that the land produced for a person.

You ate these things.

These things are the manner in which you produce wealth, buying and selling these commodities.

Sheep and cattle are part of your portfolio.

They had no currency in those days, but your main investments were your herds, your flocks, and your land.

And Habakkuk is saying, what would you do and how would you respond if your portfolio is completely wiped out?

Your investments are gone.

How would you face that?

You know, I've got a friend that I'm really good friends with.

And I have a lot of respect for him because he came from what we would call the wrong side of the tracks, from a poor family.

He was determined that he was not going to allow that to affect his future.

He has worked hard every day of his life.

He's gotten up at 4.15 in the morning to drive into LA to complete his day's work, driven home, tried to take care of himself, and he's done that for over 45 years.

He's recently retired, and now he's about to enjoy his retirement by serving the church, by taking care of his family, by spending time with his grandkids, and I just thought...

How would my friend respond if suddenly the markets crashed and he had nothing?

After all that work, after all that investment, Habakkuk talks about a time when there's no harvest.

And it's in the context of the principle of first fruits, which you required in the Old Testament to give to God.

But he's talking about a time when there's no harvest.

And if there's So Habakkuk tells us the story, how do we feel?

How do we deal with life when scarcity comes?

And his answer is astounding.

But to understand what he's getting at, you also have to understand the context of something else.

And that's Deuteronomy 26.

Here's what the Bible says.

When you have entered the land, the Lord your God has given you as an inheritance and have taken possession of it and settled in.

Take some of the first fruits of all that you produce from the soil of the land the Lord your God has given you and put them in a basket.

Then go to the place the Lord your God will choose as a dwelling for his name and say to the priest in office at the time, I declare today to the Lord your God that I have come to the land that the Lord swore to our ancestors to give us.

The priest shall take the basket from your hands and set it down in front of the altar of the Lord your God.

And then you shall declare before the Lord your God, my father was a wandering Aramean.

And he went down to Egypt with a few people and lived there and became a great nation, powerful and numerous.

But the Egyptians mistreated us and made us suffer, subjecting us to harsh labor.

Then we cried out to the Lord, the God of our ancestors.

And the Lord heard our voice, saw our misery, toil, and oppression.

So the Lord brought us up out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm.

with great terror and with signs and wonders.

He brought us to this place and gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey.

And now I bring the first fruits of the soil that you, Lord, have given me.

Place the basket before the Lord your God and bow down before him.

Then you and the Levites, that's the priests of the Old Testament, and the foreigners residing among you shall rejoice in all good things the Lord your God has given to you and your household.

Now go back again, notice verse two.

Take some of the first fruits of all that you produce from the soil of the land that the Lord your God is giving you and put them in a basket.

Now, if you're a farmer, and we're in the Old Testament context here, and your income came during harvest season, you planted, you watered, you weeded, whatever, then the harvest came in, and then for several weeks you collected the produce, and at the end of that collection, you're going to discover what it is that you've been rewarded for all of your labor.

And when the harvest was in, Only then are you going to know how much you've made for the entire year.

So even though most of us are not farmers, the idea still rings true because we don't know how much we're going to make in 2026.

Do we have any guarantee at all?

We don't.

We assume a certain number, but you don't know if your investments are going to grow or dissipate.

You don't know if you're going to get your bonus or not get your bonus.

You don't know if you're going to get the contract or not get the contract, the gig or not get the gig.

In reality, none of us in the room really knows what this year is going to bring.

Now, listen closely.

Remember what you said?

You said, Pastor Jeff loves me.

You said, Pastor Jeff has my best intentions in mind, and he does.

We are after a spiritual principle here that we've got to get into our heads.

Because in reality, most people violate the spiritual Because most of us wait until everything is in, and you see how much you had, and then you say, what don't I need?

What can I live without?

And that's what we end up giving away.

The operative statement here is...

This is how much I can afford to give away.

I want you to realize this is the antithesis of what God says to do and what our attitude toward our stuff should be if we're truly following Jesus.

You don't wait until it all comes in and then decide what you can or cannot give.

That's not first fruits, that's called last fruits.

That means when the harvest time comes and you begin to bring it in, the very first part.

Even though you really don't know how big the harvest is going to be, even though you're not sure what the yield is eventually going to be, it doesn't matter.

You gave the first part.

You gave before you knew how much you were going to be making and you laid that at the altar.

So what's the principle?

It's really simple.

If you wait until everything is in, you end up giving God the surplus.

The surplus is the part you give without impacting the way you live.

Now, The good news for you is we're not collecting money.

We've already done that at the end of last year.

So those of you who have already shut me out because you think I'm taking your money, I'm trying to give you a spiritual principle here.

You did well, I'm so proud of you.

This is for the coming years, okay?

Listen to me.

Because anytime God gives you a precept, he doesn't give it for him, he gives it for you.

The surplus is what you give while...

You're still doing everything you want to do, going everywhere you want to go, buy everything you want to buy.

That's the surplus.

It's what you give.

It's the thing you think you can't afford without changing the way you want to live.

God says to his people, Israel, I don't want you to give the leftovers.

I want you to give the first overs.

I want you to give out of the heart of your income.

I want you to give past the place you can afford so that sacrificially.

I want you to give to the point that you have to give up something else, that it changes the way you live.

Now let's pause for a moment.

The skeptic in me when I was younger and I heard these messages, because nobody likes hearing them when you're a new Christian, you'll give up everything except this.

And I would often think as I would hear my pastor in East Tennessee talk about this, why does God need anything from me?

I mean, come on, God owns a cattle on a thousand hills.

Why does he want anything?

And over time you begin to discover the answer.

Asking you to give the first fruits is not for him.

It's for you because first fruits is an act of worship and acknowledgement that he provides everything that you have and it keeps you constantly aware of your dependence on God's provision, which in turn leads to trust and lack of worry and stress.

You see how this works?

If you're giving the first fruits to God, here's what you believe.

You know what?

It all belongs to God anyway.

And you know what?

God knows my need.

And if I have a need and he wants to meet it, he'll meet it.

So I'm just going to go live my life, do the right thing, leave the rest up to God, and stress and fear dissipate.

Where if you try to control it and you're trying to manipulate things, the stress is always on you because you're going about this part of your life without God.

The second thing is...

When you know, as a genuine follower of Jesus, that you are making an investment in something that lasts, it creates this healing in your soul.

Because most of what you do will not last.

So if you know that you're investing in something that is eternal and will never fade away, there's a healing that happens inside you.

Why is this relevant?

In evil times, because the book of Habakkuk is about evil times.

And the reason it's relevant is in good times, we always have a surplus.

We're easily making enough money to give it away and still live the way we wanna live.

But in economic challenging times, which could come, you can't.

Whatever you give will cost you.

There'll be a sacrifice of some kind.

And if you learn to give to God the way you should give to God in times of plenty, you will give to him the way you should in times of want.

If your heart toward God and your stuff is not right, then when evil times come, you won't give anything because there ain't no surplus.

Here's your truth bomb.

You should always be cutting into the way you live.

You should always be giving more than you can afford to give while living the way you want to live and going the places you wanna go and doing the things you wanna do.

Our giving should impact the way we eat, the way we live, the way we are entertained, the way we vacation and the clothes we wear, everything.

That's the first principle.

You should give sacrificially, not just out of the surplus.

How do you like the sermon so far?

God loves you, I love you, I have your best intentions in mind.

We're talking about a spiritual principle.

There's not an offering after this service to try to get your money.

I'm giving you a principle, man.

I'm trying to give you something from scripture that is for you.

Second, you should give joyfully, not just out of duty.

The thing about it is in the Old Testament, you weren't allowed just to walk up and put your money down and leave.

Oh, I love this.

No, no, no, no.

The priest shall take the basket from your hands and set it down in front of the altar of the Lord your God.

Then you shall declare before the Lord your God.

And what comes after that?

What are you declaring?

A testimony about the grace of God in the gospel.

Here's what it says.

Take some of the first fruits of all that you produced from the soil of the land, the Lord your God has given you and put them in the basket.

Then go to the place the Lord your God will choose as a dwelling for his name and say to the priest in the office at that time, I declare today to the Lord your God that I have come to the land and the land swore to our ancestors to give us.

Well, it's a little testimony.

What you're basically saying is this.

And even though I've worked very hard, and I know this is the first fruits, I know that the only reason I was able to do anything with my labor, and the only reason I was able to work hard, is because everything I have is a gift from God.

We were slaves in Egypt.

We had no hope, no future.

And we would have never gotten out of Egypt had it not been for God and his power.

He intervened miraculously and saved us.

We're not saved by works, not because of what we have done, but because of what God has done.

We are saved by grace.

Therefore, the land that I have, the future that I have, the hope that I have are all gifts from God.

You're never allowed just to give.

Now, every time I read this passage, I think of my grandfather.

My grandfather, He was mean, just a mean man.

He had one tooth and he chewed Red Man tobacco and he was just mean.

He called my grandmother names I can't repeat here.

He was a gambler and an alcoholic and those two things together are horrid because you're angry all the time because you're losing money and you're drunk.

But I remember going to the store when my grandmother would send my grandfather just to buy some milk and bread and I didn't understand it at the time.

When I was a kid, I would go with my grandfather.

And when he bought the milk and bread, he would take the money out and just slam it on the counter.

He was so mad that he had to give any of his money away, even the milk and bread.

His attitude was terrible.

And I always wondered, why are you being so mean to this lady who's just trying to help you?

Slam it on the ground, take it and walk home.

Well, I know why.

Because he hated giving the money for anything other than his alcohol or his gambling.

When you give, you're commanded in the Bible to connect the giving to the gospel.

Did you know that?

When you give your first fruits, you're supposed to remember that everything you have, everything in your possession is a gift from God.

You celebrate the grace of God over the past and you hope for future income.

And you know that it's dependent on the continuing grace of God in the future.

Now, some of you are going to say, well, you know what, Jeff?

I'm not an Israelite.

I work very hard.

I'm not a farmer.

This does not relate to me.

Of course it relates to you because everything that you have is not yours.

The primary teaching of Jesus all through the New Testament is that you are not the owner.

You are the tenant.

You are not the owner.

Everything you have has been given to you by God, and how you invest it matters.

How many parables did Jesus tell based on this one truth right here?

Your talents, your abilities, who gave them to you?

A good friend of mine, I was at Coffee Clatch because I lived there.

Things do really happen at Clatch.

And a friend of mine looked at me, so we asked him to come to church, and he came over Christmas Eve, and I really appreciated it.

And we sat and we were having a conversation, and he said, you know, how do you do that?

And I thought, how do I do what?

And he said, how do you just go out on that stage in front of all those people, and you don't say uh and what, you just kind of go and you, how do you do that?

Now, for a minute I didn't understand what he was talking about.

But then it got me that if he's never been to a church and seen someone communicate like this, He's probably thinking, how does that happen?

And finally it dawned on me what he's asking.

And I said, hey, look, there's only one answer for what you're asking.

And the answer is God.

And then I told him what I told you a million times.

I'm under no illusion.

I am a hick from Tennessee.

You've heard this accent?

These are my people right here.

If you go back to where I live, if you go back one of these days, I'm gonna take Pastor Matt.

I'm gonna take you.

These are my people.

Now you think you're laughing and that's okay, but I know who I am and I've made my peace with it.

I know who I am.

There are only two of us that have ever made it out of Elizabethan Tennessee.

Jeff Vines and the others, Jason Witten.

Now I don't know who Jason Witten is, but he's in the top 10 all time of tight ends and probably will be inducted into the Hall of Fame.

Jason and I got out.

Now the question is, the question is how did we get out?

God.

That's all.

God gave me a certain group of abilities that have equipped me to be your pastor here at SoCal, and God gave Jason Witten the ability to catch a ball and hold on to it after getting hit by a few Mack trucks.

Both of us, though, will tell you there's nothing special about us.

Everything we have, Jason and I are where we are because of God, period.

Your health and your talents and your abilities, your acumen, everything is from God.

I live with the clear understanding that I could forfeit the gift that God has given at any time.

And God has the sovereign right to take it away.

You say, well, Jeff, I work hard.

Yeah, okay.

But your body was given to you by God.

Your drivenness.

I was driven.

I spent a lot of, okay, but that was given to you by God.

Your personality.

You're not self-made.

There's no such thing as being self-made.

And deep inside, you know it.

Everything you have.

And you're supposed to drill that into your heart.

That's what the people of God are supposed to do.

You're drilling that into your heart every time you give so that you come to the point where you say, ah.

I only have what I have because of the staggering generosity of God, the grace of God.

Therefore, I will give this gift to him for his purposes in his world.

I'm not the owner.

I'm just the tenant.

And when you do that, you'll start to give cheerfully because you'll say, God has secured my future by grace.

And because my future is secure, I'm the wealthiest person in the world, along with my other brothers and sisters.

I have an inheritance that will never fade away.

You will give cheerfully and willingly because you have recapitulated the gospel.

You know, Jesus said, and Jesus said, for where your treasure is there, where your heart be also.

Why did he make this statement?

Because Jesus is saying that whatever your heart most treasures holds in the highest regard will be the place your money goes most effortlessly.

You will always spend joyfully on what your heart most treasures.

Now let me give you an example of this.

Your children are Dodger fans.

Let's say you're in the house.

Your children are Dodger fans.

They really want to go to the game, but you detest the Dodgers because you're a Giants fan.

Yeah, you get it.

You get it.

You find out what the Dodgers are charging for a game.

You find out that the hot dogs are $16 and they stink.

They used to be good, but Farmers is out.

But you still fork over the cash, but it hurts.

Because to you, supporting the Dodgers in any way is killing you.

Your heart's just not in it.

Now contrast that with someone who loves the Raiders.

I mean they love the Raiders.

And their children love the Raiders.

The whole family of losers loves the Raiders.

And you discover how much the games are, and how much the food is, and how long you have to stand in line to get it while listening to the obnoxious Raider fans yelling, Raiders, as you're walking into the stadium.

You're a Raider fan, and you follow their every move.

Who cares how much anything costs?

It's the Raiders.

And I'll tell you something about Raider fans.

They are loyal, man.

They're not very smart, but they are loyal.

But when they spend their money, when they spend their money, it doesn't even feel like they're partying with anything.

They don't give it a second thought.

Do you know why?

Where your heart is, there will your treasure be also.

Whatever your heart rests in, the best of you goes there.

That's how you know where your heart really rests.

This is how you know if your relationship with God is just an abstract.

Yeah, I believe in God.

Yeah, I'll give some of my resources to the unfortunate.

You'll slam your money down to the offering plate like my grandfather does.

Okay, fine.

Or whether you've experienced the grace of God and that you know that without him, you'd be lost.

And you've actually experienced his grace and you know his love and you dote on him.

You rest in his grace.

If that's you, you will give.

You'll have no problem with it.

Giving sacrificially will actually be a joy to you.

Giving past where you can afford to give and still live the way you would ordinarily live will be a pleasure.

You'll give to the degree that it changes the way you live and you'll like it.

Just like a Raider fan will fork out 100 bucks to watch the Raiders lose and not even think about it.

That's how you know whether or not your relationship with God is personal or impersonal.

If you can't give sacrificially and joyfully, that tells you that something is wrong with your heart and your relationship with God.

And as challenging as that is, Habakkuk, oh boy, he moves to another level.

He goes in an area that, I mean, this is difficult for all of us because he asked the question What do you do when there's no first fruits?

What if God is not providing any food at all and we're about to starve?

What if God is not providing any protection and we're about to be overwhelmed and defeated by foreign invaders?

That's what Habakkuk chapter one and two is all about.

It's about the reality that sometimes God allows the working of the plans of evil men to accomplish his good.

What do you do then?

And oftentimes when God allows the wicked men to prosper, the righteous get swept up in it.

So if the unrighteous make horrible decisions about the American economy, the righteous are not shielded from those ramifications.

We also would live in a time of poverty.

During the Great Depression, it wasn't only the non-Christians that suffered.

Everybody suffered because of bad decisions and a few other things.

So what do we do then?

Habakkuk says, I want you to know...

But it's possible that even in those situations, to rejoice in the Lord and to be joyful in God your Savior.

Now notice you don't rejoice in the circumstances.

He's not asking you to dance and shout and jump up and down because everybody's in poverty.

He's simply saying, even in that moment, though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord.

I will be joyful in God my Savior.

Now, here's the question.

How is that possible?

How is it possible?

In the past...

Well, let me give you the answer.

The answer is, once again, a recapitulation of the gospel.

Because you know in the past your sins have been forgiven.

You stand before God without condemnation.

You know that in the future you're going to be given a new body and a new heaven and new earth where all sad things will become untrue.

And with everything else going on in the world around you, you can still have joy.

You can maintain peace and joy because you know that you've got God in your heart and your future is secure.

You know, as I've gotten older, I've started speaking these words to Robin, my wife, and I had no idea the impact that these words would have.

And if I did know the impact, I would have said them so much earlier.

But a few years ago, I looked at my wife and I said, you know, Robin, I don't understand why marriages are breaking up and why men get older and they go through midlife and all of a sudden they have a mistress and why Christian leaders are pursuing things they should never be pursuing.

But I looked at my wife and I said, I want you to know something.

I have everything I want and need with you.

I never knew the impact that would have on her.

So now I repeat it.

I have everything I could ever want and need right here in my home.

Most rational people would look at what Habakkuk has said, and they would say, you know what?

I know I'm supposed to say I have everything I could ever need in Christ.

But it's hard when I'm struggling to make ends meet, when I'm deeply saddened by physical challenges that I have, when I'm deeply troubled about my kids or my grandkids.

I want to rejoice.

I do, but I just can't.

And Habakkuk is standing there saying, even in the midst of all this.

I can still trust God.

I can still rejoice in God.

That doesn't inspire me.

Do you know what it does?

It crushes me.

You've heard me say this numerous times.

Part of me wants to say to Habakkuk, good for you.

Good for you.

It's too high.

I can't attain it.

I could never be like that.

When I try to be like Habakkuk, I'm miserable.

I want to smack Habakkuk.

Dude, who are you?

I can't leave like that.

Stop it.

And by the way, your name is funny.

But anyway, I don't want to do that.

I can't do that.

But here's the point.

The whole Bible is supposed to teach us that Habakkuk is not the one we're supposed to be looking towards.

The one we're supposed to be looking to is the one to whom Habakkuk points.

And that's what will change your heart.

When I see Habakkuk standing and rejoicing and trusting in God when everything around him is falling apart, that crushes me.

But when I look to the one, To whom he points, the one who had everything taken from him.

When he got to the end of his life, Jesus Christ only had one possession, his robe and even that was taken from him.

And on the cross, he was stripped naked and even his father's love was taken from him.

Then I began to realize what I have in Jesus.

He was a man who had no bank account, who was totally wiped out, who had nothing in his pocket.

Everything's taken from him.

And yet as he's dying, he looks up and says, Father, Abba.

Father, into your hands.

Abba, a relationship of trust and joy, of reveling in the Father's love and provision.

It's like Jesus was saying, I don't like this, Father, but I trust you, Father.

And that's the reason we can live sacrificially, joyously, graciously to an even greater degree than they did in the Old Testament.

Because remember what happened in Egypt?

Remember, God is gonna send the death angel, the last plague.

And all the firstborns are going to die.

Man, you know what?

When God sends justice to a place, do you know what?

What would happen if God sent justice to San Dimas?

Well, Ricky Reed would be in trouble.

But it's not only Ricky Reed, is it?

It's all of us.

If he sent justice into San Dimas and Wesco and Ranch, if he sent...

Man, we would all be running for our lives because nobody's So God said to them, you know, I'm going to send the death angel in, but he's coming after you too.

And the only way you're going to be spared is what?

You're going to find an unblemished lamb and you're going to put the blood of the unblemished lamb over the doorpost and the death angel will pass over.

Now here's the thing.

Do you realize the Israelites had no idea why this worked?

You and I do because we look back.

They're probably marching out of Egypt into the promised land.

They're thinking.

How did the blood of a furry little quadruped save us from the death angel?

They have no idea.

But then John the Baptist sees Jesus and he says what?

Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.

He knew those little lambs were pointing to Jesus, where on the cross Jesus Christ gave everything that he had to redeem and rescue us and to give us an inheritance that would never fade.

And here's the thing.

was costly.

It cost the lambs their lives, but they were pointing to the fact that one day God would give the ultimate.

He would pay the ultimate price.

It would cost him his son.

And Jesus gave his own life and his own blood.

And he gave it sacrificially, willingly, and generously.

So when it comes to the way we live our lives, God says, I want you to be giving people not merely the surplus, what you can afford to live without.

I want you to go past the place where it changes your life.

Did Jesus go past the place where it changed his?

He did not merely give to the point where he changed his life, he gave to the point where he lost his life.

So if he can give to the point where he lost his life, surely I can give to the point where it changes my life.

And that's the recapitulation of the gospel.

That's the reason Christ followers give under any and all circumstances.

Listen, listen, they don't give because the pastor coerces and manipulates them with guilt.

That's not the reason they give.

They don't give because the pastor promises them for every dollar you give, God will give you 10.

What a load of baloney.

somebody's forcing them to or manipulating them to, they give because that's what they want to do more than anything else because Jesus has changed their hearts and their passion and desires have become his.

And that's why they give joyfully, sacrificially.

generously.

You should give sacrificially, not out of your surplus.

You should give joyfully, not out of duty.

And you should give graciously, not out of guilt.

And what I'm asking you in 2026, do the right thing.

From Cain to Abel to Melchizedek to Jesus in Matthew 23, 23, to the apostle Paul, to the Galatians in the New Testament.

Set aside the first fruits.

Do it now.

Not because there's a great vision here, not because you love Jesus, not merely because you love Jesus and want to be part of what he's doing, although that's a good reason, not merely because people far from God are coming near.

Do it because it is the right and proper thing to do from someone who believes that everything they have, your breath, your life, your job, your ability to earn income, your talents, Everything, your personality, your insights, everything.

Is it not right and honorable to give the first fruits to the one who's responsible for everything you have?

And the answer is yes.

Now, aren't you glad we talked about this in January so I don't have to talk about it again?

Yeah, see somebody, amen.

Thank you.

But can I tell, I'm finally going to show you a graph.

of why I kept talking about it in January.

See this graph?

This is our church.

41% of our families give regularly, 59% give next to nothing.

I am not talking to the 41% in our church that have already given and continue to give.

I am trying to motivate the 59% who give the leftovers or nothing at all to come on board.

Do you know what that would equal?

It would equal $4.7 million annually if that group of people started giving just $100 a month.

And I guarantee it, if the 59% did that, that's not even first fruits, but if you just did something regularly, and that's what I'm asking.

I'm asking you to take the card that you were given or that QR code on the back.

I'm asking you to make the decision up front, not to wait.

Don't wait till you find out what's going to happen.

You go now and you pray this week with your wife, your husband, and you say, what is on our hearts to set aside as our first fruits?

And you come up with what you're going to give to God this year.

Everybody can do that.

There's no number we're targeting.

I'm just saying decide.

that you're going to do the right thing.

That 59 or whatever it was percent, if we can get you on board and just...

And I know most of you, $100 a month would not be a tithe or a first fruits, but it's a start and it would do so much.

So I'm asking everyone, QR code, you've got four decisions to make.

Kickstart wanted you to establish a daily spiritual disciplines that will draw you near to God.

That's first and foremost.

Making weekend corporate worship a non-negotiable because of all the garbage you get fed during the week.

Identifying the one life with whom to share the good news of the gospel and for setting aside the first fruits of all that God has given me for his purposes in the world.

And you go to the QR code and it will take you, you fill out the form and everybody do.

I'm encouraging you to do what I had to do at a young age because I know how I think.

If I got money left over, it's going to golf.

I'm just being honest.

If I don't take it from the get-go, God will never get it from me.

So years ago, Robin and I decided we're gonna set it up and we're gonna give this much and it's coming out of our bank account on the first day of the month.

And that belongs to God, first fruits and whatever's left, that's what we have to work with.

And I'm asking all of us to do that.

Why?

Because it's the right and proper thing to do.

That's why.

And the spiritual impact across the globe and the stuff that we'll be able to do for eternity that will last forever.

But also I'm telling you, there's a healing of the soul.

There's something special and unique that happens in you when you know you're investing in something that will last.

I don't want you to do this out of guilt.

I'm just telling you right now, I do not want you to do this out of guilt.

I do not want you to do this because you think pastor Jeff's manipulated me.

Then don't do it.

Only do it, only do it if the Spirit of God has opened your eyes that everything you have comes from Him.

You're not the owner, you're the tenant.

And as a response to His grace, I'm going to set apart, set aside whatever you've determined in your family for the cause of Christ and His kingdom.

So does God love you?

Does Pastor Jeff love you?

Does he have your best intentions in mind?

Are you glad?

Are you weary of him talking about money?

You can say yes, it's okay.

It's okay.

Because let me tell you something, I'm weary about talking about it.

It's not my gift and I don't really enjoy it.

And pastors tell me I'm not supposed to say that, but what do they know?

Our future, man, if we can be the first church and we would be the first to get 100% on board, you know, we would be.

We would be.

Man, what we could do in this world for the cause of Christ.

Father, thank you for every individual here.

I especially thank you for the way that so many in this room right now and at West Coe and Rancho have given so much of themselves already.

And I pray that, Father, transcend the gap between me and them.

Would you help them to see that This message is an encouragement to them because of what they're already doing.

We're not trying to pull at them even more.

We're not doing that at all.

We want them to know that they're doing a good thing, a right thing, an honorable thing.

And for those who have struggled with this, Father, I pray they would not be beaten up or berated in any way, but their eyes would have been opened now.

And they would know that when we respond to the word of God in obedience, that the word of God, the power of God does not return void, that there's always a blessing associated with our willingness to follow Jesus.

So I pray for us in Christ's name to remember the gospel and the grace provided and the generosity from our Savior that we in turn might live out his sacrifice, his generosity, his willingness in our own lives.

In Christ's name, everybody said, amen.