You are invited to move beyond being a hearer of the word and actively trust God with your resources as you grow in maturity. Commit to the Establish process to understand our vision, and consider how tithing supports the ministry God is raising up in your community.
Praise the Lord. Thank you, guys. Man, you guys honor well. Lord Jesus, we thank you, and we honor you above everyone and everything, Lord God. You are worthy of all honor, and you're the reason that we're here.
We're here to hear from you, to worship you, and to help others to know you in a very real way. And everybody said Amen. Amen. I want I do wanna say this. Man, we I've got a big I know sound guys are working on it.
You guys give them a big old hand. We had a a plan today to roll out something called establish. If you've been through our established dinners, they've been amazing. But we have a new way of doing establish. Part of our mission statement is to establish the believer in the local body of Christ.
And if God is calling you to be established in real church as your home church, you need to go through our established process where you get to know the vision, the mission, and the values, the DNA of who we are so that you can know, hey, this is the culture that God is the soil that God is calling you to plant in. And if it's not, well, praise the Lord. There's another local church that has the right soil. You know it's the right local church if it has the right soil for you as the seed. Let me explain.
An avocado seed does not grow in apple seed soil. Right? Right. An apple seed doesn't grow in avocado seed soil. For the seed, it has to have the right soil, which will have the right amount of moisture and the right amount of pressure and nutrients to crack open its hard outer shell so that it can grow and bear fruit.
Real church is a healthy local church for many of you because it has the right moisture, nutrients, **Holy Spirit**, word, and pressure. Right? Relationships are the currency of the kingdom. It's in the crucible of relationships that God forms us and causes us to bear more and more fruit. And so, if you come to real church and you feel that pressure to step outside of yourself and grow to look more like Jesus, and you're not allowed to just sit in the back and come every Sunday and no change happen, that means we're the right church for you.
If you don't feel that, we're probably not the right church. You need to go somewhere else that's gonna challenge you to grow. Because a healthy local church will challenge you to grow and won't allow you to just sit in the back and "play church". If you can go to a church and just sit in the back and play and no change, it would it's not a real church. I'm not just talking about a name.
I'm talking a real church as a church that makes disciples. And a disciple making church is 1 that will comfort you when you need comfort. They'll encourage you when you need encouragement, and they'll tell you truth when you think you need comfort, but you need truth. They'll push you forward. Take out the scalpel of the word and cut away the crap so that you can look more like Jesus in your life.
*Amen? You need to go to a church like that. If this ain't the 1, praise the Lord. Go find a healthy church that's gonna crack open your hard outer shell so you can look more like Jesus in your daily life and bear the fruit of the Holy Spirit at your job instead of being 2 faced and going to your job and not looking like Christ* and playing like you're a Christian. You guys hear me?
Because a Christian is a Christian. I a n is a whole new ethnicity of person. Like I a n Roman, European, African, whole new ethnicity of person that looks like Christ, not just at church, but also when they're with their wife and nobody's looking. They ain't putting on a Christian face, but when nobody else is looking, they're doing what they can to "lay down their life" to look more and more like Jesus, and where they miss it, they have a contrite, which means a repentant heart. I messed up, baby.
I'm so sorry, but it's not just by words, it's by action. It's turning in repentance. And you need to go to a church that's gonna challenge you to be all in and real. That's why we call it real church. It's been my motto since I was 14, just a real person living a real life for a real Jesus having a real good time.
Man, I I want the Lord to do whatever it takes in me to develop the character necessary to carry the call and the faith necessary to walk in the power of God. So I'm walking in power and character like Jesus did because he laid his life down to challenge us and said, you'll do the same things I do and even greater. I don't read this book like it's a bunch of fictional stories. I read this book like it's the real deal and that it's a reflection. It's called a mirror to reflect the way that we're supposed to live as empowered by the Holy Spirit.
*Amen*? So we got this whole process of established that we we planned. It's gonna be online on realchurch.usus where you can click it and go through the videos. When you get done going through the videos, you do this connect with God assessment that helps you to know how you connect with God. And then we get we get that assessment, not because we're assessing your relationship, but that just shows that you you really wanna establish in real church and and as your local church, and when we connect you 1 on 1 with somebody to help you to understand how to take your next step.
Problem is, we got all that ready and up and going on the website, and then our website went down on Friday. Yep. And the company that hosts our website, amazing company. They don't really work on Saturday and Sunday. So if you try to go to realchurch.us, you're not gonna find it.
So we're gonna do what we can to make sure that the website is up and running and good to go for you so that you can be healthily established in real church if this is the local body that helps you to take your next step with Jesus. And guess what? I I believe there's a lot of real churches in Pinellas County. A lot of churches that are gonna help you to take your next step. If this isn't the 1, we're just know, for you, that's okay.
Find 1 that's going to challenge you. I just I'm kind of biased. I believe this is the 1 for you. But I'm supposed to. I'm the pastor.
Amen? Amen. Okay. So our prayer is, like they said, this your first time or you've been coming here for a long time that you encounter the power and presence of God, that you by encountering his power and presence, his love in a real way, it pushes you into the valley of decision. Because you can't encounter his love, his presence, and not be placed in the valley of decision where you have to choose.
I'm either going all in for you, I'm going deeper levels of surrender, or I'm staying the same. And to stay the same is to reject Jesus and choose yourself. So don't walk away from church just being a hearer of the word and deceiving yourself thinking you got it. It's what James says. You can hear the word and not put it into practice, and you open up your life to *deception* because you think you understand, but your life doesn't because you didn't put it into practice.
Don't be that church goer. Be the person that really knows Jesus. When you say, Lord, Lord, he knows you too because you've been active in relationship, not just in listening. *Amen*? Amen.
You guys okay? Yeah. Good. Because I love you enough to tell you. Alright.
So we're gonna dive in and get like to the Corinthians series again. Man, I'm excited. I've been wanting to preach this message and not knowing how to get past these scriptures. Because in in Corinthians, we've been here for almost, I don't know, 2 years or going verse by verse through Corinthians, we'll always go back to the Corinthians series, and if the Lord leads us somewhere else, we'll go there, but then we'll come back to Corinthians. And so, it's it's my goal.
I wanna get through Corinthians by the end of the year, might not happen. But, we're going verse by verse through it and I'm excited about today. So, this is just the next thing on the docket in Corinthians. Don't shoot the messenger. Okay?
I'm just giving you the message. Now, the next thing on the docket in Corinthians, it is a "hot button topic". I'm gonna warn you. It is a hot button topic. It's something that people have crossed their arms over and fought about and said, you know, I'm not going to that church because they teach this or I'm not go Look, it's a hot button topic.
I'm gonna do my best to give you the word. You judge it according to the word, and if it lines up with the word and shifts it and then you don't think that way, then shift how you think because we're supposed to line our life up with the way the word speak the word says it. Amen? Amen. Now, I'm wrong, you don't see it in the word, walk away.
Deal? You sure? Alright. Let's dive in. I'm gonna give a little bit of a a recap just because I know a lot of people weren't here when I talked about a lot of these things.
And go on our Spotify, Apple Podcast, any podcast app, you can go and listen to any of the Corinthians messages. I think all of them are on audio. We have a lot of them on video on our website when our website gets back up. And or on YouTube, realchurch.us YouTube. So *1 Corinthians-9* titled Paul *surrenders* his rights.
First sentence. I've already preached this message. Spent a whole message on these first 4 words. Am I not free? Reminder, when you gave your life to Jesus, you died with Christ.
It's no longer you who live, but Christ who lives in you. You are free in him. Free from what? You're free from sin. Anybody who has died from died to sin has been set free from it.
*Romans-6*. So you're free from it, but you have the freedom to choose it. Why would you? When you choose to sin, you choose disobedience, it cut cuts up your life and prevents you from experiencing a lot of the amazing covenantal promises with God. So walk in that freedom.
Don't use your freedom to continue in stupid sin that's just going to cut you up and cut other relations up around relationships up around you. Amen? Amen. Alright. That's the 2 minute version of that message.
And he goes on, am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus our Lord? Are not you my workmanship in the Lord? If to others I'm not an apostle, at least I am to you. If you are the seal of my apostleship in the Lord Oh, no.
For you are the seal of my apostleship in the Lord. Spent a whole another message teaching on this, and what an apostle is, and the offices of the church. By the way, go back and listen to that podcast. An apostle is someone that is anointed by God to bring culture change to an area. That's what apostle is.
They're anointed by God to be a pioneer and bring culture change to an area. When an apostle went into a new region, it was a Greek or Roman term that was secular at the time. So they were the the lead of an armada of ships that would go into a region, and they were commissioned with this taking over this new colony and changing the culture of that colony to mimic the culture of the capital city of the empire. So that when the emperor or the king came to that new colony, they felt at home. What does an apostle do in the kingdom?
Same thing. An ambassador of the kingdom of heaven, going to plant something, to pioneer something, and shift culture, and then raises up prophets, evangelists, pastors, teachers, and equips the church for the works of ministry so that when you're equipped in ministry, you can now go to your job and your family and be an ambassador of the kingdom of heaven and change the culture. Right? What's in you impacting the world around you in a real way? Go check out that message on Spotify or on our YouTube channel.
You can check it on our website when it's back up because it will be in Jesus' name. Alright. So now, we get to the hot button topic. Almost. Verse 3.
This is my defense to those who would examine me. So apparently, there were some issues. Paul had planted a church in the city of Corinth, and now it's been a bit, and he's hearing about issues. They have issues with their leader. They wanna examine him.
Let me tell you a little bit about the city of Corinth as a reminder, for those of you that missed those messages. Corinth was a major port city in the Roman Empire of the day. It was kinda like if you took New York City back in the day when you would go to New York to "make a buck" and start a business, and Las Vegas, you go there to party and you put them together. That's the city of Corinth. You go and move there to make a buck because it's a major port city in trade, 1 of the major trade capitals of Rome.
But then also, it was a party city. So you go on vacation to the verb that they used was to Corinthianize. It's like what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, what happens in Corinth stays in Corinth. So in Corinth, they had this goddess worship, the the cult of Aphrodite, which was the goddess of love and fertility. They And had all kind of temple prostitutes, and that was kind of the culture of the city.
But there was also many other gods, the god Hermes, and I mean hundreds of gods. And then they also had emperor worship, the the Roman cult that worshiped the emperor as God. It was a messed up city. And Paul was sent there to bring the culture of the kingdom of heaven and plant it in the city of Corinth and it became a great growing church with lots of issues. Right?
So how did Paul go to the city of Corinth? In 1 Corinthians-2, we say we see his his strategy. His strategy was to know nothing except the gospel and the power of the gospel. So he came preaching Christ and **Christ crucified** in demonstration of power. So Christ and Christ crucified, and man, there were healings and deliverances, I'm sure.
There were miracles, a demonstration of power that helped to to solidify the gospel in the city of Corinth, and revival started to happen, and it started to grow. And I wanna point this out too, very important for the rest of the message. *1 Corinthians-3*. This is why Paul did what he did. Verse 1.
But I, brothers, could not address you as spiritual people, but as people of the flesh, as infants in Christ. I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you are not ready for it. And even now, you are not ready, for you are still of the flesh. For while there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not of the flesh and behaving in only a human way? Or NIV says, as mere humans.
You gotta understand when you're born again, you're a new creation in Christ. You're not just a mere human anymore. You have the Holy Spirit inside of you, empowering you to live out the God given purposes he's given you. *Amen*? When he Paul says, you're still infants.
Why? Because there's divisions, Divided visions. 2 different visions. Die vision. It's not okay.
You're not in unity. There's strife. Anywhere there's strife and arguing, there's selfishness. And when anywhere there's selfishness, there's gonna be arguing in every vious thing. Is that is that the word?
Licentious thing? There you go. So, man, Paul wrote this letter to to a bunch of babies who should be mature, but they're still acting like babies in in Christ, And he's calling them out of sexual impurity, out of homosexuality, out of sleeping around. Hey, get married. By the way, we had a wedding today.
I don't usually dress up, but when I do, it's for a wedding. Same thing. People are growing in Christ and understanding that, man, if I'm really gonna follow Jesus, I'm going to turn. Otherwise, I'm just pretending. And so there's been many weddings during our "dream team" service, which the dream team is those that serve in real church, we call them the dream team.
We need you. You're all invited. Go through establish. Get established in the church and start serving, man. When you work together, you grow together, you build relationships.
And man, we have such a amazing family. You don't have to stay on the outskirts, guys, dive in. Would a dream team stand up? Everybody that serves on the dream team or leads a small group. Come on.
We honor you. Amazing people. We couldn't do church without them. That's how we set this whole thing up in an hour. Everything you see set up in an hour.
Before before it's set up like this, it looks like a school cafeteria. Ain't that crazy? Anyway, where was I? 1 Corinthians-3. So the the Corinthians are are they were a bunch of babies spiritually, because they when you're born again, you're an infant, but they should have grown to maturity, and they hadn't yet.
So Paul wrote this letter to call them out of infancy and into maturity. I'm only gonna stay here for just a second, but the Corinthians were well versed in the Holy Spirit and in the power of God. But Paul still called them infants. They were walking in tongues and interpretation of tongues, and prophecy, and discernment of spirits, and which means they're probably casting out demons, and miracles, and healing, and all kinds of stuff. They're walking in the power of God, but they're still infants.
Don't be fooled to think just because you see some miracles and healing and prophesied that you're mature. You could be like the Corinthians, and there'd be all kind of selfishness and and and division and rebellion and junk in your heart that you're really still an infant even though you're walking in power. Paul wrote this letter to call them forward. So you got these churches, whole denominations that see people walking in power, but still there's sexual impurity and all kind of a lack of order. And so they they say, well, I'm gonna just walk in the character and nature of God, and I'm gonna forget about the Holy Spirit.
It's gonna be Father, Son, and the Holy Bible, no Holy Spirit. And you go to their churches and it's just dead. Oh, they're great people, wonderful people. They teach the word with accuracy, but they're missing out on the power of the Holy Spirit. And you walk in, you walk out, and you're like, man, there's nothing there.
You know what I'm talking about? But then you go to the other ones, the ones that are full of the power of the Holy Spirit, but there's no character, man. There's just there's no order. It's just chaos, and nobody wants to stay there. Am I right?
Man, we wanna be a church that understands and preaches the whole council of scripture and calls people to maturity, to lay your life down. The purpose of the power is love. It's not just power. It's laying your life down so that those around can experience the trueness of the kingdom of heaven. Character on the left, power on the right means you look like Jesus.
And you get off in 1 or the other, you get weird or just dead and all dried up and cracked and nobody wants to be like that anyway. Alright. So it's important to understand that this letter is written to babies in Christ to pull them forward out of immaturity, and the reason that Paul went to them is in the way that he did was because they were infants. Now, for the hot button topic. By the way, none of that was the hot button topic.
Alright. We're gonna read quite a bit. *1 Corinthians-9* verse 3. This is my defense to those who would examine me. Do we not have the right to eat and drink?
Do we not have the right to take along a believing wife as do the other apostles and the brothers of the Lord and Cephas, that's Peter. By the way, ministers can have a believing wife, and it's wrong for any denomination to require someone to be celibate in order to be a minister. It's anti biblical. Do you understand? It's okay to be celibate to choose that if God's leading in that direction.
That's celebrated in scripture, but it's not required for ministry as you just read. Do you understand? K. I'll read that again. Do we not have the right to take along a believing wife as do the apostles and the brothers of the Lord and Cephas?
That's Peter. Or is it only Barnabas and I who have no right to refrain from working for a living? Who serves as a soldier at his own expense? Who plants vineyards without eating any of its fruit? Or who tends a flock without getting some of the milk?
Do I say these things on human authority? Does not the law say the same? For it is written in the law of Moses, you shall not muzzle an ox when it treads out the grain. It is for the oxen that God is concerned. Does he not certainly speak for our sake?
It was written for our sake because the plowman should plow in hope, and the thresher thresh in hope of sharing in the crop. If we have sown spiritual things among you, is it too much if we reap material things from you? I told you hot button topic. If others share in this rightful claim on you, do we do not we even more? Nevertheless, we have not made use of this right.
Everybody say right. Right. But we endure anything rather than put an obstacle in the way of the gospel. Do you not know that those who are employed in the temple service get their food from the temple? And those who serve at the altar share in the sacrificial offerings.
In the same way, the Lord commanded Everybody say, the Lord commanded. In the same way, the Lord commanded that those who proclaim the *gospel* should get their living by the gospel. It's a right, and it's a command according to this scripture. And I can't tell you how many people I've heard, pastors shouldn't get paid. Right?
They only preach on Sunday. They should go get a job Monday through Saturday. Bruh, if you only knew. Paul says, write. But remember what the subtitle of 1 Corinthians-9 was?
Paul surrenders his rights. Jesus didn't die on a cross for us to be right. He died on a cross for us to become love. Jesus didn't die on a cross for us to stand in our rights, but he died on a cross for us to lay down our our rights in order to love. And love is sacrificing of yourself for the sake of another.
So what did Paul do? He laid down his right. Verse 15. But I have made no use of any of these rights, nor am I writing these things to secure any such provision. For I would rather die than anyone deprive me of my ground for boasting.
For if I preach the gospel, that gives me no ground for boasting, for necessity is laid upon me. Woe to me if I don't preach the gospel. For if I do this of my own will, I have a reward. But if not of my own will, I am still entrusted with a stewardship. What then is my reward?
That in my preaching, I may present the gospel free of charge, so as not to make full use of my right in the gospel. Paul **laid down his rights** for the Corinthian church, to start the Corinthian church and to grow the Corinthian church. People point to this, well, there you go. Pastors, ministers in the church, no reason to get paid. That's what Paul's saying.
He might have had a right, but he laid down his rights. And right, that should be the heart of every leader in a church. They should be called and it shouldn't be about the money in any shape or form. If they weren't getting anything, they couldn't help themselves by necessity like Paul said. What did he say?
I still I'm still entrusted with a stewardship. Woe to me if I don't preach the gospel. In the same way, this is my calling. This is Many of the guys on and women on staff, it's their calling. Woe to them if they don't preach the gospel.
Whether they get a paycheck or not, they're gonna do it in their daily life because it's what they're called to do. It's what we're called to do. Pay me or not. Willing to lay down my rights because it ain't about me. It's about whatever you need in order to experience the fullness of *Christ* and take steps of maturity to grow in him.
So what did Paul do when he went to Corinth? Paul and his background had a skill of making tents in Acts-18. You can go check it out. He found some others with the skill of making tents, Priscilla and Aquila, and he joined business with them. And while he was in Corinth, he didn't make use of his rights, he provided for himself.
Why? It's a good question. I'm glad you asked. So does that mean every pastor and every leader should not make use of their rights, follow Paul and go get a job That's not full time being in ministry. Well, that's not what Paul did.
Paul did that for the Corinthian church, but he didn't do that 1 that for others. Let's look. Let me show you. *Philippians-4*. Look, this is just what was next on the docket for Corinthians series.
Okay? Stay with me. Philippians-4:14. Yet it was kind of you to share in my troubles. I'm sorry.
I don't think I gave this to you guys. Oh, you pulled it up anyway. Look at you. Yet it was kind of you to share in my trouble. And you, Philippians, yourselves know that in the beginning of the gospel, when I left Macedonia, no church entered into partnership with me in giving and receiving except you only.
Even in Thessalonica, you sent me help for my needs once again. Not that I seek the gift, but I seek the fruit to the increase of your credit. Verse 18. I have received full payment and more. I am well supplied, having received from Epaphroditus the gifts that you sent me, a "fragrant offering" and sacrifice acceptable and pleasing to God.
And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches and glory. To God the Father be glory forever and ever. Amen. So the Philippian church, man, that they supplied Paul. Paul that wasn't a tent maker at this point.
Paul was receiving every need that he needed from the gifts and offerings of the Philippian church to his ministry as he went to other cities to set up the gospel. So why is it then in the city of Corinth, he didn't make use of his right when he obviously taught other churches? Remember, the Corinthians were infants. When he came, he was pioneering, and a lot of people were just born again, spiritual infants in Christ. They weren't ready for that.
He didn't make use of his right. He didn't teach them about tithes and offerings because they were just immature. And so he gave them what they needed. The next paragraph says, he become all things to all people so that he might win some. Laying down his preferences because it ain't about him anyway, but sacrificing in order to help the Corinthians grow in *maturity*.
Let's look at the pattern of Jesus. Jesus taught, depending on how you count, 38 parables. Do you realize money, possessions, *stewardship* wasn't the number 1 thing that he taught? It was the kingdom of God, *repentance*, judgment, everything that goes with entering into and recognizing the kingdom of God around you, which means entering into a relationship with the Father. You know what the second biggest topic he taught was?
Money, stewardship, and possessions. So once you understand the kingdom, 16 of the 38 parables was on money, stewardship, and possessions. You know why? Let me tell you why. I'm glad you asked.
*Matthew-6*, I believe. Verse 19. Do not lay up for yourselves treasure on earth where moth and rust destroy. This is Jesus. And where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven where neither moth nor rust destroy, nor thieves do not break in and steal.
Here's why. For where your treasure is, there your heart is also. Jesus taught the kingdom of God. But you better believe now, like Paul, once you get born again and you're an infant, Jesus is coming for your money. He's coming for your money because where your treasure is, your heart is also.
And until you surrender control to the kingdom of God, you still have control of your life. But by surrendering control of your finances to the kingdom of God, I'm not saying to real church or let me in control of your money, I'm not saying that. I'm saying by surrendering and walking in biblical principles, your finances to control the kingdom of God, your heart is in the kingdom of God and your whole life will begin to revolve around kingdom purposes instead of self will. Amen. Watch this.
Verse 22, the eye of the lamp is the lamp of the body. So if your eye is healthy, King James, New King James says, single. A single eye is a healthy eye. An eye that's singularly focused. Now, think about that in the rest of these verses.
But if your eye is your whole body will be full of light. But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is that darkness? Now, here's the context. No 1 can serve 2 masters.
Remember, single eye. For either he will hate 1 or love the other, or he will be devoted to 1 and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money. So he wants you to be born again. He wants you to give your your life to Jesus, understand that you're a part of the kingdom of God, but you better believe he's gonna put pressure.
He's coming after your money. *Jesus* is. Why? Because he wants to be your only master, and he doesn't want you to have a double eye because then you're full of darkness. He wants you to be singularly focused on him because he knows you can't serve both God and money.
1 Lord, *Jesus Christ*, *surrendered* in every other area of your life. He wants all of your heart. So what did Paul do? When he went, Corinthians weren't ready for it When he went to Corinth. So he didn't teach them about that because they were still infants.
But now he wrote them back in first Corinthians and he starts talking about it. In 1 Corinthians-16, actually, he's calling them from infancy to maturity. *1 Corinthians-16*, now concerning the collection for the saints as I directed the churches of Galatia, so you also are to do on the first day of every week, that's a Sunday. Each of you should put something aside and store it up as he may prosper or other versions say it like as he prospers, so in in percentage of your income, so that there will be no collecting when I come. And when I arrive, I will send those whom you accredit by letter to carry your gift to Jerusalem.
So that's not even talking about tithes and and the Corinthian church, like how they operate it day in and day out. That's an offering from the Corinthian church over and above to support Paul's ministry or not just Paul's ministry, but to support another church in Jerusalem that was going through it because of the the drought at that time. So Paul now is pulling them from infancy into maturity, not just teaching them about, man, supporting those that are ministering to you, but also being a radically generous church that gives offerings over and above to help other churches that are in need. You follow me? Hey, guess what?
This is actually exactly how this church was planted. When we came, we came and Courtney and I moved here, didn't know anybody. We moved in July 2017, and a church in Winnsboro, Louisiana, my dad's church, the elders of that church paid our full salary for a year and a half. I'm just gonna be very transparent with you guys. Is that okay?
Paid our full salary for a year and a half. They said until your church can be "self sustaining". So you know what they paid us? $48,000 a year. My wife stayed at home, helping take care of the kids and helping in building the church.
So we had a family of 5 living off of $48,000 a year. You know why? Because it ain't about the money. It's about **"laying our life down"** for the gospel, and I can't help it but make disciples. And you know what?
He told me I'm retiring here. You know what that means? Whether you pay me or not, I'm sharing the gospel. I'm making disciples. You go, I'll leave.
I'll go get a a job until we make this some disciples, they grow in maturity, and then be able to do it full time and and and full time, you know, more effort, more multiplication of disciples. So that's just the way it is. You know what happened? So we planted the church a year after we we got here. 09/16/2018.
We planted the church. Church wasn't ready. Church, bunch of brand new believers coming from multiple different backgrounds, other people that church hurt and other things didn't didn't wasn't mature. It was infants. Did not take a salary at all.
River of life, another church helped to sow into us that same $48,000 a year for the first 6 months of the church. Praying. That's the only thing we weren't self sustaining because Courtney and I salary weren't wasn't covered by the church. And we're praying, Lord God, God sent 1 woman, an older lady, had coffee with me. Said, hey, what's your biggest prayer request?
I said, well, if I'm honest, our church isn't self sustaining, and I pray that our church can be self sustaining Because I know River of Life could use that for their mission, that that money. And she said, well, how much do you guys make? I said, $48,000 a year. She said, well, if I wrote you a check for 50,000, would that cover it? I said, yeah.
So we got a $2,000 a year raise. And that covered the next year for so for 2 and a half years of being here planting the church like Paul in Corinth, it was the church didn't cover. But then after those 2 and a half years, people in the body began to grow out of infancy into maturity and walk in kingdom principles with their finances. So, all of sudden after that year, the church covered it. And and honestly, I stayed at $50,000 a year for the first 4 years of the church.
Man, God supernaturally provided for our family. How do you live on $50,000 a year with a family of 5 and a house in Pinellas County? Crazy. And then after 4 years, our elders gave us a raise because, just so you know, we don't just take what we want out of the offering. I know some churches are like that.
That's not us. We have a board that sets our salary. We don't set our own salary. Right? And we have a budget because we want it to be faithful to use what is given to bless you guys so that you can be healthily equipped for the works of ministry in your daily life and our whole your whole family can participate in ministry.
That's why we can rent the school. That's why we have other staff that are hired. Now, let's let's talk about what does it look like in the new *covenant* for giving and ties and offerings. How does a church move? And by the way, I'm not preaching this message because we're hurting.
You guys are radically generous. And, I'm preaching it because it's next in first Corinthians and we're in the Corinthians series. And we have a lot of brand new Christians that are learning and growing and other people that just don't know how it really works. So I'm just laying it out there. Is that okay?
You guys okay with that? Okay. So remember in 1 Corinthians-9, Paul references on how to take care of those that are feeding you spiritually. He references verse 13, verse 9 13. Do you not know that those who are employed in temple service get their food from the temple?
Those who serve at the altar share in the sacrificial offering. So he's referencing the old covenant way of doing things as a picture of how it should happen even in the new. You see that? Now, in the old covenant, it was under the Mosaic law, the way that that was required, there was the 12 tribes of Israel. 1 of them was the Levites.
They were the ones that were required to take care of the temple. The Levites were like the modern day ministers of today who are full time at the church. K? So what happened is, the other 11 tribes gave tithes. There was also temple tax and other stuff.
But for the base, there was they gave tithes to the temple. The Levites didn't have an inheritance like the rest. Their inheritance was the Lord, and their responsibility was taking care of the temple and helping the others with their worship and sacrifice. So these 11 tribes gave tithes to the temple. A portion of those tithes was for the Levites to be cared for so that they could devote their *lives* to the temple service and serving the rest with worship.
Does that make sense? So they gave tithes to the storehouse, so there was a big place that stored it. You see that Malachi-3 10 through 12. There was a storehouse that they they had and and they used that for worship and other things. Now, the people that brought the tithes, they participated in the worship with their tithe.
So it wasn't just that a portion of it went to the Levites, but also they got to participate in what they gave in worshiping at the temple together as a family. Sounds pretty similar. Now, then it was the Mosaic law, old covenant law. When there is a shift of covenants, there's a couple things that happen. With a shift of covenant, there's a shift of law.
There's also a shift of *priesthood* and also a shift of the financial system. K? So when Jesus came, Jesus fulfilled the old covenant and instituted a new covenant. So that means there's a shift of law. What are we under now?
The law of the spirit who gives life. So we know his voice, it's written on our hearts, and he leads us in line with the principles, character, and nature of God as revealed in scripture. He'll never lead us lead us against that. And then we hear him, we believe, and we obey. And we grow in our understanding of a relationship with the father through the Holy Spirit because we're under the law of the spirit in the new covenant.
Number 2, high priest system. A new priest with a new covenant. The Levitical priests was the old covenant. Hebrews chapters chapter 7. There was this crazy dude that he's not he wasn't crazy.
I just said that because his name sounds crazy, but forgive me, Lord. Melchizedek. Verse 7. For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the most high God, met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him. And to him, Abraham apportioned a tenth part of everything.
He is first by translation of his name, king of righteousness, but also king of Salem, that is "king of peace". He is without father or mother or genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but resembling the son of God, he continues a priest forever. So *Melchizedek* verse *Hebrews-7* verse 16 and 17, who has become a priest, and this is talking about Jesus, not on the basis of a legal requirement concerning bodily descent, but by the power of an indestructible life. For it is witnessed of him, you are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. So *Abraham*, the forefather of faith, in Romans-4:12, it says that we are supposed to walk in the footsteps of Abraham by faith.
Right? In Galatians-3, it says that we're children of Abraham by faith. This is the promise, so we receive the covenantal blessing of Abraham. This is the new covenant back to the promise that was to Abraham. So when the old covenant went to the new covenant, the law went to the law of the spirit.
The priest went from the Levitical priest to Jesus, our high priest forever in the line of Melchizedek, which is king of Salem and king our king of peace and king of righteousness. It's a representation of Jesus. It make sense? So we have a new law. We have a new priest, but we also have a new financial system.
It's not law anymore. The tithe was law back in the old covenant. If you do it, you're blessed. If you don't, you're cursed. That's the way the law was.
But now we're in covenant, and we follow in the footsteps of our *father Abraham, the father of faith*. What did Abraham do? He tithed a tenth of the "spoils of war" to Melchizedek. What should we do? The same.
We tie the tenth of the spoils of war to Jesus, our high priest, who's in the line of Melchizedek. Under you understand? King of righteousness and king of peace. Why is it the spoils of war? Well, Jesus on the cross said, it is finished.
He forever vanquished the enemy and victory is in Christ. And then he gave us authority in him. Take dominion. Go make disciples of all nations. The "gates of hell" will not prevail.
So as we go and we experience covenantal blessing and experience the culture of the world around us shifting, we are blessed because of that materially. And out of covenantal promise instead of like a law, cursed if I don't, blessed if I do, we follow in the footsteps of *Abraham* and and and by faith we offer a tenth to Jesus. Does that make sense? It's a covenantal act of faith, a gift because of the covenantal promise. Now, when you're tithing, *Hebrews-7:8*, in the 1 case, tithes are received by mortal men.
But in the other case, by 1 of whom it is testified that he lives. It's talking about Jesus. So even when Abraham offered to Melchizedek when the in the old covenant law where people offered the tithes to the Levitical priests, and they it was received by mortal men. When people today, the storehouse is the place where you receive spiritual word that challenges you to grow, where you have people that are laying down their lives full time for the ministry to help your family be equipped in the works of ministry so that you can go and be a blessing to your community. That's the storehouse.
It's the body of Christ. We tithe to Jesus, the body of Christ is the church. If this isn't your local storehouse where you're receiving the word that's challenging you to grow, don't tithe here. Go tithe somewhere else that's that is your local church. Does that make sense?
Wherever is challenging to grow by the word and you're consistent there in community, that's where you tithe, following in the footsteps of Abraham. K? So what it said here, in 1 case, tithes are received by mortal men, but in the other, by the 1 who it is about whom it is testified that he lives. Meaning, even though we're giving as an act of faith to people, *Jesus* is the 1 that's receiving it. You see that?
*Hebrews-7:8*. So it's an act of faith. We tithe by faith in covenant. It blesses the *storehouse* so that the people can walk out their ministry, the people that are called to it to lay down their life, and then your family is blessed. So those of you that call Real Church home and you're tithing, what's happening is we're able to lay our life down full time to think about, not just me and Courtney, but there's other people on staff that are able to lay our life down to have a kids ministry.
To so when you bring your kids, they're getting trained and equipped in the word. And hopefully, that's affecting your home to have a youth ministry. So you bring your youth, and they're around other Christian teenagers and others that can help equip them and let them know their identity in Christ so that they when they go back to school, they don't have to fall in with the bad crowd anymore. So that you have men's ministry ministry and and women's women's ministry, ministry, and all these things were able to do these things because just like the Levites, man, if if they were dependent on Israel obeying the law. And if Israel didn't obey the law, the Levites would have been poor and the temple would have been broke and it wouldn't have been able to bless the the the country spiritually.
In the same way now, as you guys are growing to maturity, you're going to learn how to step out of infancy with your finances and operate according to kingdom principles in the new covenant, tithes, not just tithes, but also offerings, so the church can be taken care of, take care of your family, overflow out of the church and impact the community around and continue to grow. *Amen*? Amen. And I'll say this, like, real practically, I'm I'm done. I'm really almost done.
So I'm a land the plane. Real practically though, like, just so you understand, if a tithe is 10%, the way that it should look is if 10 families give 10%, the first of their income to Christ, then there should be 1 family that's called to lay his life down or lay their life down to serve these families spiritually and equip them on how to do ministry in their daily life. And then that 1 family is able to live on about the average of those 10 families. That makes sense? So if the average of these 10 families is $60 a year, well, that 1 family is able to live about that about at that level.
Now as he's equipping them for the works of ministry, they start ministering their other in their daily life and growing. Next thing you know, other families start coming, and they start getting to mature. So now as there's 15 families, there's extra money, not for him, but to use that to to sow into ministry to equip the families of the church all better, maybe to get a building 1 day, or maybe maybe to to do outreach and the money that it costs to do the pamphlets and other things to outreach in the community, and it begins to grow. Next thing you know, you got 25 families. So you got 10 families that will help this 1 person be full to 1 family be full time, got another 10 families that can help this other person come on and devote his life to equipping the youth, or the worship or the children.
And as the church grows and understands in maturity, then you have people that are laying their life down to be able to serve those families and the community around, and everything is blessed. But that's not the way it works, is it? Because people have to learn and grow and be equipped. There's no pressure, but there is a challenge. Step outside of yourself and learn how to put God first, not just in your daily life, but in your relationships.
And you better believe Jesus is coming for your money. And do not tithe to a place or at a place where you don't trust him. You better go to a place that you can trust. Right? But also, don't say, well, I don't trust, so I'm just keeping to myself.
No. You're actually trusting Jesus. So you go to the place that he leads you, you receive the word, it challenges you to grow, and you trust Jesus by stepping out and following kingdom principles when it comes to finance. And watch the old covenant, you're under a curse if you didn't. Jesus took the curse of the law.
K? The new covenant, you're under the covenant of blessing, and he's a good father. He doesn't enable sin or stupidity or immaturity. So what he does do is once you know, when you choose to walk in disobedience, he allows your life to get cut up by that disobedience to train you. And when you get when you get learned, when you learn from your mistake, then all that's washed away, redeemed, and you're able to walk in the covenantal blessing because he's a good father.
If you didn't know, this is how finances in the church works. We've got a budget, amazing. What we're doing right now is what we're able to do because God has blessed you, which is blessing us. And that's awesome. But man, we wanna grow.
1 day, wanna have a building so that we can be a better at discipling people in Pinellas County. We wanna have a young adults minister full time. We wanna have the the people that are on staff now, many, really there, a lot of them are making part time salaries but doing full time work. And that's okay, they're called to it. So they're laying their life down.
Some of them have to get other jobs and other things. Why? Because that's where we are as a church. That's the level of maturity that we are as a church. But man, as we continue to walk in greater levels of maturity, then more and more we're able to lay our life down and people are able to get what they deserve so that they can lay their life down full time and be full time at youth ministry, or full time at Belong, or full time at this and that and the other.
Regardless, and not have to struggle and be muzzling of the ox. Does that make sense? Now, again, hey, don't shoot the messenger. This was next up in Corinthians. The Lord loves you.
He wants to minister to you. You guys have been a radically generous church and are radically generous. I'm thankful for our elder board that helps to budget everything. It's amazing. Go through Establish to see how we do our finances.
You'll get to see. It's awesome. I'm very thankful for the wisdom that God has given a lot of people that are on our board. And I wanna call the altar team forward because really we're done. And any anytime that people come to church, they need ministry.
We wanna pray for you. If you need healing, God wants to heal your life, heal your body, heal your mind. If you need salvation, you need to enter into a relationship with Jesus, God wants that too. If you need a prayer in anything, our altar team's here for that. We also have a baptism.
It's gonna happen out there. "In 5 minutes". So if you can "Stay around", you don't have to just run out. Stay around for the baptism. Let's celebrate what God's doing.
**Lives are being transformed**. Amen? Do you have anything? No. Nothing?
Okay. Well, go check out our established process on the website when the website's back up, hopefully, a couple days. Other than that, God bless you. Let's end like this. I'm a real person living a real life for a "real Jesus" having a real God bless you guys.