Money Matters: Seek First - Archie Callahan

0:00Welcome to the Bridge Church, Virginia Beach podcast, where we connect all people to the person, power, and purpose of Jesus. Wherever you are listening from, we are so glad that you are joining us. Now let's listen to this week's message. Hey, bridge. We began a brand new series today called Money Matters. It's going to last three weeks. Today, we're going to talk about seek first, aligning our priorities. We're so excited about what God's doing here at Bridge Church. We're one church, three campuses, God's moving by His mighty power. We're excited about what God's doing in North Carolina. Yeah, we're getting ready to build a building in North Carolina. We're raising the needed funds. And we wanted to give you a sneak preview of what that building is going to look like on our 16 acres of land down in Kurdut County.

1:02Check out this video right now. Doesn't that look great? Man, we're excited about what God's doing in Kurdut County, provision for the vision. We need to align our priorities with God. Let's look at Proverbs chapter 3 verses 9 through 10. He says, honor the Lord with your wealth, with the first fruits of all your crops. Then your barns will be filled to overflowing, and your vats will brim over with new wine. Let's go to Matthew chapter 6 verse 33 in the New Testament, which is a part of the sermon on the mount that Jesus preached. He said this, but seek first the kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Did you know when we prioritize God in our lives, He takes care of every need, including our finances.

2:02God provides for His children. See in life, oftentimes we worry about finances. We worry about provision, but I believe we need to stop worrying and trust God. Why worry, put God first. See worry attacks us all, worry can suck the life out of you. It can suck the life out of life. I remember one time sitting in a college class, and I had my own struggles with anxiety and worry. I felt the Holy Spirit speak this to me. He said, don't worry, but begin to saturate your worry with worship. I mean, you can't worry and worship at the same time. I believe as we worship God, we begin to see God and we begin to trust God at a greater dimension. And I believe as we step into the presence of God, God begins to saturate our worry with

3:03His presence. God provides for His children. In Matthew 6, Jesus gives us an overview, and He talks about worry. He talks about prayer. He talks about giving. He talks about fasting. And He says this, don't worry about what you will eat, what you will wear, where you will live. Don't worry about tomorrow, because tomorrow has enough cares of its own. And then He says, seek first, my kingdom. I leave a small group every Thursday on Appanera Bread at 6.30 in the morning. And there's this guy, Frank. Frank is a retired Navy guy. He had served many years, and he was a lieutenant. And he raised four kids on a lieutenant pay. At one time, he says he had three girls in college, and his son was in trade school.

4:04And he was nervous about provision, but because he trusted God with the tithe by putting God first and honoring him with the tithe, which is the first 10% of his income, God supplied every need that He had. His three girls went through college. His son was put through trade school, and all the provision that they needed came into their hands, because why? Because God is able to provide. See, we don't need to worry. We need to put God first. Say that with me. God first. That's what it is. It's the God first lifestyle. And when we put God first, we began to saturate our worry with worship. Because when you put God first, all the other idols are pushed out of our lives. And we began to see Him as the provision that we need in life.

5:05See, God has given us finances. In fact, God owns everything. The Bible says the earth is the Lord, and the fullness thereof. And so God owns everything, everything that I have comes from God. He is the owner. I am just a manager. Did you know we are called to manage the blessings of God. And one of the blessings of God that comes to us is our finances. First Corinthians 4.2 says this, moreover, it is required of stewards that a man be found faithful. I believe God is looking for faithful stewards. That word steward actually means to manage. And there are five areas of stewardship for all of us. Number one, it is our life. God wants us to steward our life. That's what we have received.

6:05Number two, He wants us to steward time. Every person has been allotted a certain amount of time. You've been given time. How are you spending your time? How are you managing your time? How are you stewarding your time? Number three, it's our talents. What you have been given to use. Each one of us have talents. Are we using those talents to maximize our lives for the glory of God? Are we wasting our talents? That's not waste our talents, but help us, let God help us maximize the talents that He's given us. Number four, is our possessions what has been entrusted to us? I mean, there's been a lot of things entrusted to us. Are we stewarding those possessions in a way that brings glory and honor to God?

7:07And five, but not least, is our finances. Is what we have labored for, the increase that we have labored to get. Are we honoring God in our finances? We're talking about aligning our lives with God and aligning our priorities with the Kingdom of God. So there are several areas that we can begin to prioritize when it comes to money. And Dave Ramsey in his financial peace university gives us how to prioritize our money. He gives us five different ways and these are in the correct order that he teaches financial peace. Number one, he says, Tithe. Some of you are saying, what is a Tithe? A Tithe actually means a tenth or the first 10% of our increase. And Dave Ramsey says, hey, honor God with your money first.

8:08Number two, he says, pay all your expenses after you give God what it is. Why? Because a Tithe represents faith. It doesn't take faith to give God the last. It takes faith to put God first. Then he says, pay your expenses. Then he says, save up an emergency fund of $1,000. Why? Because if something breaks, we don't have to put it on plastic. We can use that $1,000 emergency fund to pay for an accident, to pay for something that goes on the bling that stops working, a car repair, a home repair. He says, save an $1,000 emergency fund. Number four, he says, retire debt. Did you know the borrower is a slave to the lender? I must say that one more time. The borrower is a slave to the lender.

9:12I believe it's God's will that we come up with a plan to get out of debt. See, God doesn't desire us to be enslaved continually in our lives. He wants us to rise above and to retire the debt. Number five, invest. An investment. You can never make a withdrawal until you've made a deposit. So I want to encourage each one of you to learn to invest your money for the future. Don't depend on the government. Don't depend on other people. Learn to steward the finances that God's given you in a healthy way so you can prepare for the future and leave an inheritance for your children. That's right. Leave an inheritance for your children. When we begin to think about tithing and money, oftentimes people become very resistant

10:13when you talk about money in church. They don't understand that Jesus spent a lot of time talking about money in the New Testament. The gospels contain more warnings about the use and misuse of money than any other subject. Did you know one out of every four verses in Matthew, Mark, and Luke talk about money and possessions? Jesus talked more about money than he did heaven and hell combined. See Jesus understood that money impacts us all. One verse in every six verses in the New Testament deals with money and possessions. Half of Jesus's parables, half of the short stories that Jesus tells in the New Testament. Talk about money and possessions.

11:14Money is a big deal to Jesus and if it's a big deal to Jesus, it should be a big deal to us. How we steward and how we use it and even the misuse of money. I believe God is looking for faithful stewards when it comes to finances. And if we can faithfully steward a little, God will increase us and give us more. See, money needs to be prioritized in our lives. We need to put God first in our lives. Let me ask you this. Have you worried about money over the last 24 hours? Have you been concerned about provision over the last 24 hours? If so, we often struggle in the area where we're ignorant or where we lack knowledge. So as we increase in knowledge, freedom comes. Jesus said this, you will know the truth and the truth will set you free.

12:19Paul said this in Philippians 4.19, my God will supply all my needs, not my grids, my needs according to His richness in glory by Christ Jesus. God has a desire to supply every need we have. We don't have to worry about the future, the present, the past. We don't have to worry about how we're going to make ends meet the thing we need to do. As we need to begin to align our priorities with God's kingdom. That's right, align our priorities with God's kingdom. Tithing is a principle. In the new covenant, we don't tithe under law. We tithe under love. In the old covenant, the tithe was empowered by the law. In the new covenant, the tithe is empowered by grace.

13:19Paul speaking to the church at Corinth and 2 Corinthians chapter 8 and number 9. He says this about the churches at Macedonia. He says they were in extreme poverty, but they excelled in the grace of giving. They excelled in the grace of giving. Paul says that giving is a grace. That you know when we tithe, God empowers our act of obedience by His grace. To living the God first life, trusting God with the first 10th and allowing God to multiply the 90% that is left over for our lives. See, money matters because money matters to God. And money matters often create conflict in relationships. It creates conflict in homes.

14:20It creates conflict in businesses because money really does matter in our lives. And money, guess what, money is just a test. It's just a test of our obedience. Jesus said, if you can't handle the riches of this world like money, how can you handle the true riches of the kingdom of God? Because handling physical, worldly money indicates how well we can handle the spiritual blessings of God. Can I ask you this question? How are you handling the finances that God has given you? Are you handling them well? Are you managing them well? Are you stewarding it well? Because that's a good indication with what God can entrust to you spiritually.

15:22So we need to align our priorities with the kingdom of God, put God first in your finances. So when we tithe, when we take the first 10% of the increase that God has given us, whether that's weekly, whether that's bi-weekly or whether that's monthly or whether we own a business and we take draws off of that business, when we tithe, we align our heart with God's heart. We're putting God first. The tithe goes all the way back to the book of Genesis where God took Adam and Eve and put them in a garden. He says, there's a tree that stands in the middle of that garden, don't touch it. If you touch it and you eat of it, that day you will surely die. That tree represented the tithe of God, the first fruits of God. It represented God's sovereign authority in their lives. And when they touched it, the Bible was clear.

16:23They would die. They did die spiritually. Their relationship with God became disconnected. They had to leave the garden wide because their heart was no longer aligned with God's heart. Number two, we align our priorities with God's priorities. When we tithe, we're aligning God's priorities, our priorities with God's priorities. That is so important when we think about that. Where's your heart? Where's your life? Matthew 6.21 says, for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. I can tell you exactly where our heart is. It's wherever we place our treasure. If our treasure is in the house of God, our heart is going to be in the house of God. Look what it says in Proverbs 3, 5 and 6, trust the Lord with all your heart, lean

17:29not in your own understanding, but in all your ways, acknowledge Him and He will direct your path. What is directing your path when I trust the Lord with all my heart? Let me ask you this. Does God just have a piece of your heart or does He have all your heart? Solomon said this in Proverbs 4.23, guard your heart with all diligence. For from it flows the well springs of life. I have to guard my heart against greed. I have to guard my heart against coveting somebody else's material blessings. I have to guard my heart from the honoring God with my heart and with my finances. So I have to guard my heart. The heart is the issue of life. See, when we give to God, it must come out of a heart of love. And bridge church is a generous church.

18:31It is a giving church. But what if everyone in bridge church began to honor God with their first 10% of all their increase? See, we align our priorities with God's priorities. And then we honor God by making Him first in our finances. We honor God. That's when we talk. We honor God by making Him first in our finances. Are we putting God first? Are we honoring God first? Look what it says at Matthew 6.33, seek Him first. Seek Him first. How do we do that? By having our heart aligned with God's kingdom. After all this worry in chapter 6 of Matthew, Jesus says seek first the kingdom and his

19:32righteousness and all these things that you have need of will be added to you. See in life, we get in a rat race and we want more things and we go after things. And God says if you put me first, the things that your design will naturally come your way because I already know what you have need of before you even ask. All I'm asking you to do is to put me first, honor me first. We honor God by making Him first in our finances. We align our priorities with God's priorities when we tie. So we need to put God first, seek Him first. What are you seeking? What are you desiring? Are you putting God first in the area of your finances? My mom taught me this a long time ago. She said, son, you can never out give God.

20:33My mom taught me how to tie at the early age of about seven when I began to work for my neighbor and cut my neighbor's grass and my mom would say, son, your neighbor, your neighbor just gave you three dollars. We're going to honor God by giving Him 30 cent on Sunday and I said, no mom, that's my money. She said, no, that's God's money. This two dollars and 70 cent is your money that He allows you to spend and steward well. But we're going to take 30 cent and we're going to give it to God on Sunday and she taught me the principle of tithing. She taught all her children that principle why because she saw it work in her life and she was faithfully obeying God by honoring God first and God supplied every need that she had ever had. She learned to honor God and she taught her kids how to honor God. Look here, Solomon said, honor the Lord with your wealth.

21:38Honor the Lord with your wealth. I'm going to say that one more time. Honor the Lord. That word honor means to put first. It means to respect, to revere. Honor the Lord with your wealth with the first fruits, the tithe. That's how we honor. Honor the Lord with your wealth with the first fruits of all your crops or your increase. So He tells us that we need to honor God and He shows us how to do it with the first fruits with the tithe, with the first 10 percent. We honor God with our wealth. See tithing is very important to God and as we become disciples and we follow Jesus, we need to allow Jesus to speak truth into every area of our lives. He wants us to manage our marriage as well. He wants us to manage our business as well.

22:40He wants us to manage our relationships as well, where we work well, but He also wants us to manage our finances well. I've never known a day in my life that I didn't have. I've been practicing this principle since age seven. Was faithful through high school when I worked at McDonald's. I was faithful through college and most college students are broke, but even when God would increase me by somebody sending me a check or me working while in college, I would take the tithe and give it to God. David said this, I was young and now I'm old, but I've never seen the righteous forsaken or their seed begging bread. David was saying when you honor God and you put him first, God will honor you through provision. We are God's children.

23:42Let's learn to put God first in everything. Tangi and I, we tithe monthly. That's how we get paid monthly. We give back to God first. Why is it first? Because it takes faith to give to God first. Did you know even Jesus is called the first fruits of the resurrection. Meaning He was the tithe of God. For God so loved the world that He gave. How many, you know, when we become givers, when we become generous, we're taking on the nature and the character of God. For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, the whosoever believes in Him will not perish but have everlasting life. Jesus was God's tithe to the world.

24:46He was the first fruits. He was the only Son. He was the begotten Son given for you and God was willing to give His very best. See oftentimes we think God's trying to get something from us. When in fact, He's trying to get something to us. When we begin to honor God and put Him first, I can't count the blessings that God can send our way. I believe as we honor God in the area of finances, He meets every need that we have. Notice Paul didn't say, He'll supply all your greets. He said, He'll supply all your needs. And when you really begin to become a disciple and a tour in Christ, you begin to recognize. He began to recognize that God owns everything, not just the 10%.

25:48The 10% is what He asked for, but He owns everything. Everything is His, everything that I have in my home, my clothes, my shoes, my vehicles, my finances, all that is God's. And He's given me the ability and He's called me to steward it well in a way that honors Him. See, honoring God first is not a hard thing, no, it's not a hard thing, but a hard thing. Honoring God comes from the heart, and Jesus speaking to the Pharisees and the New Testament in Matthew, He said, these people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Did you know it's possible to sing worship songs and praise songs and not truly worship God because it's lip service and not heart service?

26:49See, worship is a posture of the heart, praise is a posture of the heart. All giving to God and all generosity flows out of gratitude, praise is gratitude, praise is thanksgiving, praise is thanking God for what He's doing and for what He will do. So when I'm praising God, it comes out of a heart of gratitude. When I give and I worship God through the giving of time and the giving of an offering, guess what I'm doing? I'm saying Lord, I am grateful, I am thankful, I am so honored that you're my father. I want to worship you by bringing what's already yours. So I'm going to bring the time and I'm going to bring an offering saying Lord, I thank you for my job, I thank you for my physical help, I thank you for the provision that you've given me, I thank you for my business, I thank you for my children, I thank you

27:49for life, I thank you that you woke me up this morning and because you did that Lord, I'm bringing you something from a heart of gratefulness and thankfulness because you have looked after me and you have saved me. All generosity flows from a grateful heart. Oning God first is not a hard thing, it's a heart thing. And Jesus was the heart of God given to all of us for salvation. It's a money matters because money matters to God, money shows us where our heart truly is. I want you to bow your heads, I want to pray with you today. Lord, I just thank you, God that your word is true and it speaks into every part of our lives. I pray right now that you had touched your people supernaturally.

28:51To help us to trust you, God, if we can trust you for eternal life, if we can trust you for salvation, surely we can trust you with our finances. We can trust you with our marriages and our kids and our businesses. God, you are trustworthy. God, I thank you for supernatural provision, I thank you for what you're doing at Bridge Church and God, we thank you for the finances to build that campus in Kurdut County. We know it's coming in from the north, the south, the east, the west, God, we're going to put you first, we're going to honor you and God, as we talk over the next two weeks about money, God, may we not close our hearts, but may we open our hearts. God, revive us, do a work in us in Jesus' name, amen. Thank you for joining us today. If you would like to connect, text Bridge to 94,000, visit our website at bridgechurch.tv

29:55and follow us on all social media platforms. Thank you for listening, now go out and be the bridge.