1 Timothy 4:9-10
9Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. 10For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.
Ecclesiastes 5:10
10Whoever loves money never has enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with their income. This too is meaningless.
Matthew 6:21
21For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
If we trust God with our eternity why is so hard to trust him with reality? We are stewards of the possessions we have. We only get to look over them for a short time while we are here on earth. Even the best of us will be forgotten in just a few short generations. With every dollar we have we need to consider what are we supporting. How can we have the most impact with the power contained in this vehicle?
If you have Jesus Christ you are already the richest person on the face of the earth. Your Father owns it all and we will inherit it all.
Connor and his wife Kaitlen created a family mission statement:
“To bring the Kingdom of Jesus to the city of Indianapolis through the giving of finances and the loving of Children”
Hebrews 13:5
Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.”
Local Church
The local church is the most powerful organization on earth and your pastor has the most important job and he can’t do it without you! This is my first love and receives our families first fruits.
The local church is where people are equipped to do the work of Christ every other hour of the week. The local Church should be a sending place not a destination.
Proverbs 3:9
9Honor the Lord with your wealth, with the firstfruits of all your crops;
Leviticus 22:21
When anyone brings from the herd or flock a fellowship offering to the Lord to fulfill a special vow or as a freewill offering, it must be without defect or blemish to be acceptable.
Don’t give God your leftovers. Christ was your perfect sacrifice. He was a lamb without blemish. When you create your budget please put the local church line on the top. This should be the first check your write not the last.
Multiply Indiana
Multiply Indiana is a church planting organization that is 3 years old, and has helped plant and support 16 different acts of God through the state. We pray, fast 1 meal a week, and give 3% beyond our commitment to the local church to this organization. 100% of the funds are given directly to church plants. Just 3 days ago we received a vision from God to plant 100 churches in 5 Indiana by 2030. I believe that many of our church planters are right here in this room today.
Nexus
This is a 30,000 sq feet social enterprise incubator and accelerator located on the top floor of the new Mercy Road facility located across the freeway from the pyramids. This social enterprise will be self sufficient after 1 year. Nexus has a master lease on the second floor of the facility and then sub-leases the spaces out to tenants and co-workers. We require all businesses to have impact statements. I love to challenge business leaders that there is more than one bottom line in business. We believe the local church already contains ALL the solutions to all of the hurts of the world. It is up to us to implement the change.
Panhurst Farms
My friend Henry was a White Supremacist who joined an organzation in Arkansas. He hurt people and he went to jail. In jail was transformed by Christ. He saw that he was deceived by the leaders of the white supremist organization and he decided to use the rest of his life to touch other lives which have been lied to. Henry inherited $300K and he spent everything he had on land for farm in a muslim nation to live and work amoung the people. He now lives on $15K per year and only has electricity at night when he runs the generator.
Community Care Network
This organization implants Chrisitan Community Builders into apartment communities across the state of Indiana. We do spiritual and secular events to bring people closer to Christ and to each other. This is led by Brad and Skie Nally and I serve with Yale on the board.
Outpost
We have 15-20 people who are part of our extended family in Christ. We read Acts 2:42-47 and we are doing our best to live out what it tells us to do.
Acts 2:42-47
42They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. 43Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. 44All the believers were together and had everything in common. 45They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. 46Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, 47praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.
Your pastor and his family needs your Love, they need your wisdom, they need you to disciple other people within this body. There are some people here who God will use to fund this organization and others. Do not be ashamed about earning money and giving it away. Pursue excellence. Do not conform to mediocrity. Keep pressing forward. Ask for advancement. Use your God given gifts to create good and create income streams. We should be creative. We should work like we are working for the Lord. We should be the ones who are promoted. We are the innovators. We are completely free to live the life God calls us to! Abnormal is beautiful. You do not need to conform to the world's standards. Think about living in a different way. Cohabitate, freelance. Do not let your spending grow with your income. Give more when your earn more. Trust Him with your eternity and your reality. You cannot outgive God.
