God’s Word on Biblical Prosperity
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I say, can we hear it for Pastor Dean as he brings the word?
Hey, good morning, everybody.
How are you?
Good.
Can we welcome our online campus as well?
We've got 350 or so households that watch us each and every week.
We're so glad that you are with us.
Just a couple of things I just want to mention.
First of all, you may see a bunch of Raider jerseys.
And yes, that's quite a frequent thing here at Real Life every Sunday.
But you might see a few more.
We lost one of our dear brothers, Bill Drotty.
This last week, after a long battle with cancer, and they called him Raider Bill.
And so a bunch of us got online together, and they are, if I had a Raider jersey, I'd wear it.
But in honor of him, they are repping Raiders jerseys today.
And so we'll get information from the family.
For those of you who knew Bill, he sat in the back there today.
and pretty much gave everybody a hug on the way in.
Also, coming up is just an opportunity to be light in our community.
October 24th is the District 1 Autumn Festival at North Regional Park.
Now, here's the deal.
I don't want me and Amy to go by ourselves.
Come on.
How many of you guys wanna see your pastor left hanging, right?
So we got five people signed up.
I told them we'd have at least 20 to 30 people.
And again, it's trunk or treat.
You bring your own candy.
We'll be out there from 11 to two o'clock.
And again, it's just rubbing shoulders with our community.
This is how we influence outside these four walls.
And I believe God is giving us opportunities again to do that.
And so if you'd like to jump on, all the information is online at the website.
But don't leave us hanging, guys.
I don't want to show up there by myself.
All right.
All the notes today are in the YouVersion app or the Bible app.
You can scan the QR code on the screen, and those are there to encourage and strengthen you.
Hey, share those.
Tag the church.
Tag me.
And again, that just helps get the message out to influence our community and beyond.
And so appreciate you.
Last week,
Had the opportunity to speak at Real Life Church Galt, which was a church that we helped plant.
I spoke in their morning services and their night services.
We had a great, great time.
And it was a great time with Pastor Matt and Lynn Clayton.
And I did miss you guys.
Did you guys enjoy Pastor Ron last week as he challenged us?
And he launched the series.
I love Pastor Ron.
And the reason why I brought him is because I wanted you to hear a pastoral heart.
He's pastored 29 years in one place.
That is a rare thing.
And I hope you heard his heart for us.
And so I was able to just see him on the way out.
I showed up at 1230, caught the message, and it was great.
As Pastor Isaiah mentioned, we're going to save the offering to the end of the service, even though 85 or so percent of us, we give digitally.
Not just giving, I really wanna challenge us today, not just to give, but to grow in an area that we're gonna learn about today.
So whether you've already given, some of you have already given this week, I want everybody to just take an envelope.
Just take an envelope.
Everybody's gonna do this, whether you put something in it or not.
Again, it's not about giving.
what you put in it, it's actually what you're going to write on it, because you're gonna identify an area that God is challenging you to grow.
We're gonna continue to challenge our hearts in this series.
Are you guys ready?
We're talking about the flourishing life, God's word on biblical prosperity.
And this is a word that I wanna talk about because a lot of Christians get nervous when we bring up that word prosperity.
Just saying the word prosperity nowadays makes people uncomfortable and people start thinking about what has been called the prosperity gospel.
And depending on your church background, you may have a very strong reaction to that phrase because many of us have witnessed scandals.
In church, we've seen money mishandled.
We've seen people use pressure and manipulation and
to get people to give.
We've seen people take biblical principles and turn God into a slot machine.
And I just want to be clear, what we're talking about over the next several weeks is not that.
Okay, I got two.
All right.
You guys are going to hear my heart on this.
We should never manipulate people in the name of God.
We should never use scripture to feed greed.
Paul warns us about this.
We should never measure somebody's spirituality by the size of their bank account.
And every one of us, including this pastor, will stand before God and give an account for what we do with what he places in our hands.
Come on, me more than you.
He said, I'm more responsible because I'm shepherding this flock.
I'm overseeing this church.
I'm going to stand before God and give an answer for how every cent has been spent in this place.
All right.
But here's where I think we make a mistake.
Sometimes when the church sees something abused, our response is to stop teaching about how it can be properly used.
Can I say that again?
Sometimes when the church sees something abused, our response is to stop teaching about how it should be properly used.
So when something goes to an extreme, we have a tendency to run in the opposite direction.
And in trying to protect ourselves, we sometimes in error, come on, abandon truth altogether.
You see, when someone abuses biblical truth, it shouldn't cause us to abandon biblical truth altogether.
Thank you, Pastor Andrea.
I wish I had more of Pastor Andrea's on the front row.
Think about it though.
People have abused spiritual gifts, but that doesn't mean we stop believing in spiritual gifts.
People abuse spiritual authority.
That doesn't mean we stop believing in healthy spiritual authority.
And people have abused biblical teaching of prosperity, but that doesn't mean we hand the word prosperity over to the extremes.
The word prosper, prosperous, and prosperity appears repeatedly through the Bible.
Dozens of times, depending on what version you use, the New King James Version, almost 100 times.
So whatever we believe about prosperity, we can't pretend that the Bible is silent about it.
The Bible teaches us clearly on the topic of prosperity.
Everything I learned about finances I learned in church.
I learned not how to tithe, I learned what a tithe was.
I didn't even know what tithe meant.
I was 18 years old, I was in Louisiana, I was sitting there and Pastor Mark Hankins, he taught about the tithe.
I didn't know what it was, so I looked in my wallet and I just gave half.
Then I found out it was 10%, I said, man, God got a deal, right?
I had $108 in my wallet.
I gave 54.
Now listen to how good God is to teach me the principle of just giving, not just the tithe.
And I remember kind of being remorseful after I found out it was only 10%.
Anybody with me, right?
I remember I got back.
I used to drive 75 miles just to sit under the word.
I remember getting back and my uncle saying, hey, I need you to come down to my house.
My grandfather lived on top of the hill.
My uncle lived on the bottom of the hill.
I need you to come down.
I went down and he said, hey, your grandfather gave me money for groceries.
Now don't tell him
That I didn't use his money because I'm going to give it to you.
And he did the old, you know, cup the hand right there, right?
He said, you don't say a word.
I won't say anything.
On the way back up to grandpa's house, I looked at that.
$54. $54.
I'm just saying that's how God began to teach me how to give.
The Bible has a lot to say about finances, amen?
How you earn, how you spend, how you give, how you deal with debt, how you honor God with what comes into your hands.
And here's what I want us to learn and understand through this series.
God doesn't want money to control you.
He wants his word to govern how you handle money.
Amen.
You see, two things are very different.
These two things are very different.
Because whether we realize it or not, there are two fundamentally different systems of thinking about provision.
The world's economy and, come on, the kingdom economy, or God's economy.
Now when I say God's economy, I'm referring to a kingdom way of living, thinking, and handling money.
In the kingdom, come on, how many know we should recognize that we have a different source?
Come on, we should have different priorities.
We should have a different attitude towards what it means to be an owner and a steward, a different approach to increase, a different approach to generosity, a different definition of success when it comes to our finances.
And this is where I believe the church gets into trouble.
We can become so determined not to be associated with the extremes of what people deem a prosperity gospel that we never teach God's people how to live according to God's principles of prosperity, which include provision, stewardship, generosity, and a flourishing life.
How many believe it's God's will for you to flourish?
Yes.
Come on.
All right, three of you.
That's all right.
Hopefully there's more of us by the time this series is over.
But God's will is that we flourish, not just in our financial lives, but in every area of our life.
And when we don't know God's way, we default to the world's way.
Especially in this area of finances.
In other words, we can love Jesus, come to church, we can worship, throw our hands in the air, pray, read our Bibles, and still handle our finances exactly like everybody else.
Come on, same anxiety.
Same consumerism.
Come on.
How many boxes from Amazon did you get this week, all right?
Same impulse buying, same, like some of you are like, oh yeah, I got me, pastor, right?
Come on, same obsession with more, same fear of not having enough, same reluctance to give, and that's what I wanna challenge today.
Again, if you're a guest with us, I don't talk about money every Sunday, all right?
It's all right.
But again, everything I learned when I thought about it, everything I learned about finances, I learned in the church.
It's interesting.
Everything.
I didn't know anything.
Everything.
That's what I want to challenge today because I don't believe Jesus came merely to change where we spend eternity.
Come on, how many know the gospel should change how we live right now?
Right?
It should change our relationships, our priorities, our identity, our ambitions, our attitude.
And yes, it should change our relationship with money.
So today I'm interested in teaching you a biblical gospel that produces biblical prosperity and a flourishing life.
And that means we have to be willing to recover some truths that may have been abused.
Come on, how many know you can reject greed, come on, without rejecting increase?
Amen.
Come on, you can reject materialism without rejecting God's provision.
You can reject abuses of sowing and reaping without throwing away the law of sowing and reaping.
See, the answer to bad theology isn't no theology at all.
It's biblical theology.
So before we talk about a flourishing life, I want us to answer one foundational question.
The first one is this.
What does it actually mean to prosper?
When we allow the Bible to define prosperity instead of allowing the culture or the extremes or the headlines to define it, we'll discover something much bigger than money.
We'll discover a picture of a life that is rooted, fruitful, resilient, purposeful, and flourishing.
And one of the clearest pictures of a life that is flourishing is in Psalm chapter one.
Look at Psalm chapter one, verses two and three.
It says this, but his delight is in the law of the Lord.
and in his law he meditates day and night.
He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water that brings forth fruit in its season, whose leaf also shall not wither, and whatever he does shall what?
What did you say?
Say it again.
What?
The psalmist shows us a tree, a tree that's planted, a tree that's rooted, a tree that's well watered, a tree that's fruitful, a tree, here it is, that can survive changing seasons, even difficult seasons.
And then the psalmist says this at the end, whatever he does shall prosper.
I remember in college, and again, this just doesn't work in the financial area, but I remember I had a tough time with algebra.
I was terrible at math.
And all I needed was one class so that I could transfer from Santa Rosa Junior College to the school that I wanted to go to.
And I remember reading this verse and I said, God, you can help me with my math class.
And seriously, I read this every day before I went into that math class.
And you know, come on, I got the C minus.
Come on, I've been...
I'm not going, I didn't get no A plus, but I did pass.
Notice where prosperity begins.
In the word of God.
His delight is in the word of God.
He meditates on it day and night.
His life becomes rooted in the river of God's truth.
And this causes him to bring forth fruit.
Amen.
Biblical prosperity then is a fruit before it's a financial result.
That's important because how many know you can have money and not be flourishing?
You can have a successful business and be failing in your personal life.
You can have a large bank account and no peace.
Come on.
You can have possessions and no purpose.
You can have a financial increase while your soul is decreasing.
So when the Bible talks about prospering, we have to think bigger than money, and yet we can't pretend that biblical prosperity has nothing to do with material provision either.
It can include provision, resources, increase, and success.
You see, biblical prosperity is always understood with God's greater purposes in mind.
And there are several Hebrew words.
Did I tell you I was going to teach today?
I love word studies.
There are several Hebrew words translated with the idea of prospering, prosperity, or being prosperous in the Old Testament.
I'm going to start there.
And it's the word salak.
Everybody say salak.
That's the original Hebrew word.
But look at on the screens what this word means.
It is a wealth, wealthy word.
So much confidence.
This is what one word means.
Look, to prevail, to succeed, to avail, to make a success, to make rapid.
This is the Strong's Concordance, by the way.
To grant prosperity, to make victorious, to be helped, to become useful, to give success, to thrive, to achieve purpose, to break out, to push forward, to come mightily, to go over and be good, to be suitable, proper, or fitting for a purpose, to be profitable, to advance toward a purpose successfully.
That's right.
Now look at all of what it means.
Now after seeing the definition of the word prosper, if I told you it's not God's will for you to prevail, come on, for you to succeed, come on, for you to avail, for you to be successful, would you agree?
You see how we can throw out the baby with the bathwater?
We would not agree.
Absolutely not.
Can you just put those words up again on the screen?
Come on.
This is God's will for your life.
God wants you to be flourishing in every area of your life.
It doesn't mean my life is without testing or trials or troubles.
But it does mean that God has designed my life to triumph over the enemy and not be trampled on by him.
And throughout scripture, God gives us examples of people prospering in difficult economic times.
Has anybody paid $6.99 a gallon for gas lately?
Come on.
Let me just give you some examples.
Isaac sowed in a famine and reaped a hundredfold in a famine.
Elijah in a drought, God fed him by the ravens.
Come on, the widow of Zarephath, down to her last meal, come on, and her flower never ran out.
The prophet's widow in 2 Kings 4-7, one jar of oil paid her debt and fed her family.
The Shunammite woman in 2 Kings 8-6 lost seven years to famine and God gave it all back.
Biblical prosperity isn't the absence of difficulty, it's the presence of God producing fruitfulness in the middle of your reality.
Come on.
Now look at the, that's the Old Testament.
Look at the New Testament.
I love the New Testament picture of this word prosperity.
I pray, 3 John chapter two, verse two and three.
Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health just as your soul prospers.
The Greek word translated there is oodow.
Everybody say oodow.
It's built around this idea of being helped along a good road or journey, having things go well along the way.
So here's my definition.
According to John, a person who is prospering is on a journey down a profitable path that leads someone to experience true prosperity and success.
I love that picture because prosperity isn't just a destination.
Prosperity is a journey with God.
Prosperity is, come on, it may take you a lifetime, come on, to get to a place where you're like, I'm prosperous.
Come on, in other words, you're walking with him, you're learning his ways, you're submitting your decisions to his word, you're growing in wisdom, you're becoming more generous, you're more content.
Come on.
You're stewarding what he entrusted you.
You're allowing him to transform your heart from the inside out.
And along that journey, your life begins to flourish.
And that's why John says, prosper in all things, be in health, just as your soul prospers.
That's huge because God isn't merely interested in increasing your wealth.
He's interested in developing a healthy soul.
God doesn't want your resources to outgrow your soul.
Come on.
God doesn't, let me say it this way.
God doesn't want, come on, our resources to outgrow us as a congregation, right?
He wants, this is what he's doing.
He's preparing us for what's ahead.
See, if your resources outgrow your character, what God intended as a blessing can become a burden.
And biblical prosperity starts on the inside and works its way out.
It leads me to my second question that I want to ask you today is, who gives us the ability to produce what you have?
Who gives us the ability to produce what we have?
You see, we sometimes look at what we've built and we think, I worked for this.
I'm a self-made, you know, whatever it is, right?
I earned this.
I produced this.
And you didn't.
You did work, you did earn it, you did produce, but God gave you the ability
And that's exactly what Moses warns Israel not to forget.
Deuteronomy 8, 11 through 17.
I'm not going to take time to read it all, but God warns Israel about what happens when they begin experiencing increase.
He says, you're going to build beautiful houses.
Your flocks are going to multiply.
Your gold is going to multiply.
Your possessions are going to multiply.
And when that happens, God warns them, don't allow your heart to become lifted up and begin thinking, I did it.
Look what I did.
No, he says my power and the might of my hand.
The temptation, let me say it this way, is to say my power and my might, come on, have gained me this wealth.
In other words, God doesn't want us to confuse the resource with the source.
How many know your employer isn't your source?
Yes.
Come on, your business isn't your source.
Your investments aren't your source.
Your education isn't your source.
Your talent isn't your source.
Come on, how many of you know those may all be resources God uses, but ultimately God is your source?
Look at Deuteronomy 8, 18.
After he gives him that warning, he says this, and you shall remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth that he may...
establish his covenant which he swore to your fathers as it is this day.
It doesn't simply say God gives you wealth, it says he gives you the power to get wealth.
He gives you the ability, come on, the opportunity, the wisdom, the strength, the creativity, the ideas, the relationships, the skill, the capacity, the favor, the open doors.
We were just meeting with an entrepreneur in our church, Pastor Isaiah and I, and it was so awesome because the person was sharing their idea that God gave them while walking through an airport.
And I loved it because this person already has a business in our church, and they were sharing with us how God gave her the idea.
Yeah.
I love that.
And because she recognized the source, come on, she's seeking God for the course.
Come on, she's saying, God gave this to me and he's gonna show me how to do it.
And we were meeting and just saying, how could we partner?
How many know God wants to launch more than just ministries and missionaries from this place?
He wants to launch businesses from this place.
Come on, he wants to launch entrepreneurs from this place.
And we're just talking and dreaming together about the idea that God gave her.
You see, God is the one who gives you the capacity to produce what you have.
True biblical prosperity points us to God's promises and God's greater purposes.
It says, God, everything you place into my hands has a purpose.
And that's the shift I believe that we have to make.
Prosperity isn't about possessions, it's about purpose.
Can we just say that?
Prosperity isn't about possessions, it's about purpose.
It's living rooted in God's word, walking with God.
It's this journey, right?
Becoming fruitful, advancing his purposes, stewarding what he entrusts to us, having enough to accomplish what he calls us to do.
How many of you know it takes money to do what God has called you to do?
And becoming a blessing to others.
He's blessed us to be a blessing.
That's a flourishing life.
And it leads me to my third question and my final question.
How do we actually live a flourishing life?
You see, are you guys okay?
I got my teach on today, so I hope it's all right.
Once we understand the definition of prosperity, we have to understand why God's way of handling money looks different than the world's.
Because there's two different economies.
And in fact, this message is titled A Different Economy.
Which one are you living by?
The world's economy or
and God's economy.
Jesus said this in Matthew 6, 31 to 33, therefore do not worry, saying what shall we eat, what shall we drink, or what shall we wear for all these things the Gentiles or the outsiders seek, for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.
But what?
Seek first all the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.
Jesus contrasts two ways of living.
One life is consumed with what am I going to eat?
Come on, what's for dinner?
What am I going to drink?
What am I going to wear?
Where am I going to live?
And we say worrisome thoughts.
It sounds like this to us on our end.
How am I going to make it?
Come on, do I have enough?
How am I going to fill my tank this week?
I'm just telling you, to be honest, I wish I didn't have a F-150 right now.
I mean, it's 50 more dollars.
I'm about to get a Tesla or something.
Pastor Isaiah's got two.
He's like, I don't know what you're talking about.
He's like, he ain't never been to a gas station in the last two years.
Anyway.
What if something happens?
Again, how am I gonna get through this?
See, Jesus says that's how people who don't know the Father live.
And then he gives us another way.
Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness.
Come on, and all these things will be added to you.
Come on, that's not just a verse about our priorities.
That's not just a verse about our priorities.
That's a verse about a different economy.
The world's economy starts with what do I need?
God's economy starts with who shall I seek?
And that's why I want to show you these two ways of living.
Are you guys okay?
You guys with me?
of thinking, and I got this chart from the late Pastor Bill Krause, his wife Cindy, his wife's here, and his daughter's, his family's here on the second row.
They gave me a book that he made, and I saw this, and I said, that's what I'm talking about right there.
I've tweaked it a little bit.
He would say man's system, God's system, and I'm just putting world's economy first.
God's economy.
It's on the screen.
Are you guys all right?
So when it comes to our source, the world's economy says, my paycheck is my source.
In God's economy, God is my source.
Can you just say that?
Say, God is my source.
God is my source.
Philippians 4.19, and God shall supply all my needs according to his riches and glory by Christ Jesus.
You see, the world's economy teaches me to trust what I can see.
God's economy teaches me to trust the one who provides what I need.
Amen.
Secondly, the second area, and when we're going through this, I want you to have that envelope in your hand.
And if there's an area that God is challenging you in, I want you just to write the word anywhere on the envelope, on the front, in the inside cover, just write the word where God is challenging you to stretch yourself to break through in that area.
The area of ownership.
What I have belongs to me.
That's the world's economy.
But in God's economy, everything belongs to God.
I am a steward of what he's given me.
Psalm 24 verse one, the earth is the Lord and all its fullness, the world and those who dwell therein.
Come on, ownership asks, what do I wanna do with my money?
The world's economy says it that way.
Stewardship in the kingdom says, God, what do you want me to do with what you've entrusted to me?
Is that okay?
The third is the area of first, or let me say it this way, priorities.
In the world's economy, it says take care of myself first.
In God's economy, again, we just read it, seek God's kingdom first.
You see, God isn't looking to become another line item in your life because what comes first reveals something about your heart.
The fourth area, you guys all right?
This is good.
The area of increase.
The world's economy says get more so I can have more.
Anybody ever get a raise and then wonder where it went?
Okay, I'm just making sure I'm in the right place.
All right.
But God's economy says increase so I can do more good.
2 Corinthians 9, 8 through 11.
And God is able to make all grace abound toward you that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work.
Everybody say every good work.
I'm not going to take time to read the rest of the verse, but it's up there.
Kingdom increase always has kingdom purpose.
Let me say to you, why is that important?
Because if you don't understand that kingdom increase has kingdom purpose, you'll squander it.
Come on, you'll subscribe to something else.
That's what it looks like, right?
How much money are we giving away on subscriptions we know nothing about or we don't use?
Anybody besides me, right?
I hate when that happens too.
You're like, man, I just spent $49.99 on something I haven't used in a year, right?
The area of giving, in the world's economy, you give from what's left.
Come on, in the kingdom economy, you give to God first.
You set it apart.
Proverbs 3, 9 and 10, honor the Lord with your possessions and with the first fruits of all your increase, so your barns will be filled with plenty and your vats will overflow with new wine.
Honoring God with our possessions prevents our possessions, come on, from owning our hearts.
Yes.
Everybody say protection.
The area of sowing.
Isn't this good?
Come on.
In the world's economy, we hold tightly to what we have.
But in kingdom economy, we sow generously and trust God with the harvest.
Come on.
How many know if you withhold from God, come on, the purpose of God can never unfold?
Amen.
2 Corinthians 9, 6-7, but this I say, he who sows sparingly will also, and he who sows bountifully will also, so let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity, for God loves a what?
I'm glad you're so happy this morning.
Listen, seed only reaches its potential when it leaves your hand.
Number eight, here's one, contentment.
The world says, whoops, let me go back.
Spending.
Say spending.
Spending.
The world says, if I want it, I get it.
Come on, anybody been guilty, right?
Yes.
We had a staff chapel this week, and I brought in a friend of mine that does financial.
He leads you through a spiritual journey with your finances.
He'll be in there a couple weeks to teach.
But you take this assessment, and you can be a supporter, a protector, and all these things.
And they put me in.
I'm a free spirit.
In other words, I like to spend.
You know, I'm a spender.
But here's my area of challenge.
God's economy says plan wisely and be willing to wait.
Proverbs 21 verse, how many know the Bible is good, right?
The plans of the diligent lead surely to plenty, but those of everyone who is hasty, surely to poverty.
Not every financial breakthrough requires a miracle.
Sometimes it requires a plan.
All right, number eight, contentment.
The world's economy says I need more to be happy.
In the kingdom economy, God is enough in every season.
Philippians 4, 11, not that I speak in regard to need, for I have learned in whatever state I am to be content.
You can read the rest of it there.
Contentment is learning that I don't need more to have peace.
Let me say that again.
Contentment is learning that I don't need more to have peace.
Number nine.
Is this setting anybody free this morning?
All right.
Generosity.
In the world's economy, we accumulate for ourselves.
But in God's economy, we are blessed to be a blessing.
Genesis 12 too, he says this to Abraham, I'll make you a great nation, I will bless you and make your name great.
Here it is, and you shall be a, come on, tell your neighbor, and you shall be a blessing.
Generosity is part of what a flourishing life looks like.
And then lastly, the area of trust.
In the world's economy we depend on what we can see.
In God's economy we trust God and obey his word.
Proverbs again, three, five through 10.
Trust in the Lord with all your heart.
Lean not on your own understanding.
In all your ways acknowledge him and he shall direct your what?
Eventually God's economy will ask us to do something that doesn't make sense according to the world's economy.
Just so you know our story, when I got here, we weren't making it as a church.
This is nine years ago.
And I quickly discovered the first two weeks that if we didn't do something different, we were gonna be on a sinking ship.
And I went to the board and I said, hey, we're not a tithing church.
I can't get up in front of the people and say, tithe.
If we're not willing to trust the Lord as leaders, come on, how can I tell the people to trust God with their finances?
And listen, we made a decision nine years ago, nine years ago to be a tithing church.
And you know, every year we've seen increase.
Come on, every year we've seen an increase in this area.
Yeah.
Because we had to do something different.
Are we going to live according to the world's economy or God's economy?
God, we're going to trust you.
We're going to believe you.
Come on, to get us out of this rut.
Come on.
How many know what I just read to you is bigger than 10% tithing?
This is where God wants to take us.
I'm just telling you, God is challenging me.
Dean, you've got to go to the next level in your finances if you want your church to go to the next level.
Everything rises and falls in leadership.
So I'm not just challenging you.
God is challenging me.
Listen, before I ever sit down and write this message, I went through a whole workbook the last couple of weeks just so God could challenge me.
And when I came across this chart, I said, you know what?
We've got to be a people who are going to say, no matter what the gas prices, yell at me.
Come on, no matter how much bread costs in the store, listen, no matter what, listen, I'm not living by that economy.
God shall supply all my needs according to my riches and glory.
Listen, you can complain about it.
Come on, you can subject yourself, but I'm going to live above it.
Amen.
Come on, I'm going to recognize that God is my source, that God is my provider, that those things don't have me.
The possessions don't have me.
Come on, they don't own me.
I own them.
They don't tell me what to do.
Come on, I tell them what to do.
All right, okay.
Are you guys okay?
Some of you are like, well, I ain't coming back next week, but anyway.
God, I'm just telling you, if I don't teach this stuff, who is gonna teach you?
You look at what God is doing in Pastor Damien's church right now.
It is amazing.
You're talking about a church that was ready to close its door three and a half years ago when we launched Damien and Stacey out there.
And Pastor Damien just sent me the numbers.
They have given this year $210,000 to missions.
To missions.
Come on.
They're sowing back into us.
They just gave us $25,000 for the Make Room campaign.
Amen.
Listen, Pastor Damien has said, listen, we're not going to live, come on, by the world's economy.
We're going to live by God's economy.
They celebrate 100 years, come on, on the last Sunday of this year.
Three and a half years ago, they weren't going to make it to their 100th birthday.
And come on, this year they're celebrating 100 years of God's goodness and faithfulness.
Amen?
Amen.
God wants your whole financial life under his lordship.
Your earning, your spending, your saving, your giving, your interest, your investing, your increase.
Everybody say all of it.
And this is why this message is not about money.
Come on, it's about him being lord of every area of life.
And here's the thing, money is an indicator of where our heart is.
Come on, where your treasure is, Pastor Ron said last week, there your heart will be what?
Jesus isn't asking to become a Lord of one part of your life.
Come on, we see this all the time, right?
People get saved, they make a decision.
We've seen, I don't know, several hundred people give their heart to the Lord, but how many know like your wallet gets saved later?
You know what I mean?
He wants your whole life.
And maybe today money is simply revealing something deeper in your life.
Who's really first in your life?
Who are you trusting?
Who are you depending on?
What are you living for?
Who ultimately owns your life?
He wants to know where our heart is, amen?
And maybe you've never completely surrendered your life to Jesus and today he's inviting you to give him all your life.
And I would just like to make an invitation before I do the second step in this.
Is there anybody in here that you would just say, you know what, Pastor Dean?
I need to say, Jesus, I surrender.
You're my Savior.
You're my Lord.
And my life belongs to you.
If that's you today, with every head bowed and every eye closed, you just slip up and say, Pastor Dean, I need to invite Jesus Christ, not just into my life.
Is there anybody?
You say, Pastor Dean, my life is not flourishing right now.
And I want it to flourish.
And I know that the only way that can happen is by inviting Jesus into my life.
Is there anybody in this service that you would say, yes, thank you so much for being bold and lifting your hand.
Anybody else want to join this young man that lifted his hand?
Hallelujah.
How many know it's worth the one?
Amen.
We're going to pray this together on the count of three.
It's a prayer of salvation.
And when we pray it, we're going to pray with all our heart, all our mind, all our soul.
One, two, three.
Jesus.
Come on.
Jesus, I believe you are the son of God.
Come on.
Are you guys?
I'd be the wrong prayer.
All right.
One, two, three.
Dear Lord Jesus, I know that I'm a sinner and I ask for your forgiveness.
I believe you died for my sins and rose from the dead.
Right now I turn from my sin and invite you to come into my heart and life.
I want to trust and follow you from this day forward.
I confess you as my personal Lord and Savior.
Thank you for saving me.
In Jesus' name, amen.
Can we give God praise?
Pastor Taylor, can you give me that?
Listen, if you prayed that prayer, you raised your hand, or you wanted to raise your hand and you didn't, my friends in the back, we have a New Testament Bible we want to put in your hands as well as some next steps that you can take and we can take with you on this new journey in Christ.
Amen?
Secondly, I want to talk to those of you that would say, Pastor, Jesus is already my Lord, but the question is, is he Lord over your finances?
Last week we mentioned about our 90-day challenge
And I want to just challenge you and ask you to ask yourself this question.
Have you brought your financial life under the lordship of Jesus?
One of the ways we do that here at Real Life is with our 90-day challenge.
You can fill this card out.
If you've never given before, you've never trusted the Lord in this area, this is in the seat pocket in front of you.
You can pull that out, fill that out.
Listen, test the Lord in the 90 days.
Return your tithe to him.
Give him 10%, not half.
Thank you, Jesus, right?
Come on, not half.
10% of what's already his, by the way.
Listen, put him first.
Come on, before anything else gets paid, anything else gets spent, come on.
Don't try to decide if you can afford it.
How many know you can't afford not to tithe, amen?
But honor God first.
Everybody say honor God first.
Listen, and if you don't see God show up in your finances over the next 90 days, I'll give you your money back.
No questions asked.
I believe God at his word, amen?
So listen, that's one way, okay?
The ushers are gonna come in just a few minutes.
The usher can just come.
I got one more thing before you pass the buckets.
Don't pass the buckets.
But you can just drop this in the bucket.
Just say, you know what?
I'm gonna trust the Lord with my finances.
The second is those areas that I talked to you about.
Come on, the world's economy versus kingdom economy.
Come on, is God your source?
Is he first in your life?
Come on, is he the owner of everything you have?
Come on, the area of increase, does he want you to grow in your giving, your sowing?
Come on, your spending habits?
Come on, your contentment, your generosity, your trust.
What area is God asking you to grow in?
I'm going to ask Pastor Brandon just to come and just sing a phrase of gratitude.
Just let me take a minute just to ponder, God, what area?
And I want you to just write that on the envelope.
Again, if you want to put in your offering, great.
If you've already given your offering, great.
I'm trying to learn how to pray for my church.
And I want you to write down what area is God asking you to grow in.
Pastor Brandon.
Come on.
All that I have is a hallelujah.
Hallelujah.
I know it's not much.
I have nothing else but for a king.
Hallelujah.
All right, I'm going to just say it.
Do we have the declaration from last week in the back?
If not, I'm just gonna declare it over you.
Will you guys just hold up your envelope all over this room?
And I'm just gonna say this declaration.
I declare that we are not limited to the natural economy, but we are participating with heaven's economy
where there is more than enough opportunity, finances, resources, relationships, ideas, and creativity.
We recognize that God has already broken through in the area of our finances, that he has promised through John 10, 10 to live the fullness of his life, and that these resources are spiritual, relational, not only natural.
God, we are committed to partnering with you as the source of all our provision, resources, businesses, relational capital, investments, real estate, and anything that you provide for us.
And we declare that everything we need to see our destiny in you fulfilled has already been provided by the finished work of the cross.
And we declare that it is unlocked now in the name of Jesus.
And everybody said...
Amen.
Listen, whether you put something in this envelope, that's not what this is.
This is a heart issue.
I want you to sow that thing into the bucket, or if you're taking the 90-day challenge, sow that into the bucket as the team leads us.
Come on.
I know it's not much, I'm nothing else fit for a king Except for a heart singing hallelujah, hallelujah
Oh, don't you dare shine on me.
Lift up your song.
Cause you've got a lion inside of your soul.
Get up and praise the Lord.
We sing.
Oh, my soul.
Oh, don't you dare shine on me.
Lift up your song.
Cause you've got a lion inside of your soul.
You've got a lion inside of us.
Get up and praise the Lord.
So I've cut my head.
So I've cut my head.
Praise you again and again.
So that I have this love.
We sing it all day.
Come on, can we give the Lord a clap offering of praise this morning?
God, you're worthy.
And just lift your hands to the Lord.
Father, I just thank you, God, that we are amply supplied.
You are Jehovah Jireh, our provider.
And God, I pray if there is worry in this place about our finances, God, that we would look to the kingdom, seek you first and your righteousness.
And God, I pray that everything would fall in place in Jesus' name.
And everybody said.
Amen.
Church, if you need prayer in the area of finances, especially today, I want to encourage you, get prayer, healing, get prayer, family, get prayer.
Church, we love you.
God bless you.
We'll see you soon.
Jump in a small group.
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A Different Economy: What It Really Means to Flourish
There is a word that makes many Christians uncomfortable. A word that has been stretched, distorted, and weaponized to the point where simply hearing it can trigger skepticism, even defensiveness. That word is prosperity.
And yet, depending on the translation you use, the words prosper, prosperous, and prosperity appear dozens of times throughout Scripture — nearly 100 times in the New King James Version alone. Whatever we believe about it, the Bible is not silent on the subject. So the question is not whether we should engage with it. The question is whether we will let the Bible define it, or let the culture define it for us.
Because when the Bible defines prosperity, what emerges is far bigger, far richer, and far more transformative than a bank account.
What Does It Actually Mean to Prosper?
Psalm 1 gives us one of the clearest pictures of a flourishing life in all of Scripture. It describes a person whose delight is in God's word, who meditates on it day and night. That person, the psalmist says, is like a tree planted by rivers of water — rooted, fruitful, resilient through every season. And then comes the declaration: whatever he does shall prosper.
Notice where prosperity begins. Not in a financial strategy. Not in a business plan. It begins in the word of God, taking root in a life surrendered to truth.
The original Hebrew word translated as "prosper" in many Old Testament passages carries a stunning range of meaning: to prevail, to succeed, to thrive, to achieve purpose, to push forward, to advance toward a purpose successfully. When you see the full weight of that word, it becomes impossible to reduce prosperity to a dollar amount. God's vision for your flourishing covers every dimension of your life.
The New Testament adds another layer. In 3 John 2, the apostle John writes that his prayer is for his readers to prosper in all things and be in health, just as their souls prosper. The Greek word used there paints a picture of being helped along a good road — of things going well along a journey. Prosperity, then, is not merely a destination. It is a journey with God. A lifelong walk of growing in wisdom, deepening in generosity, learning to steward what has been entrusted to you, and allowing God to transform your heart from the inside out.
And here is why that distinction matters: you can have money and not be flourishing. You can have a successful business and be failing in your personal life. You can have a large bank account and no peace, possessions without purpose, financial increase while your soul is quietly decreasing. Biblical prosperity always starts on the inside and works its way out. God is not merely interested in increasing your wealth. He is interested in developing a healthy soul. He does not want your resources to outgrow your character.
Who Gives You the Ability to Produce?
There is a warning tucked inside the book of Deuteronomy that speaks directly to human nature. God tells Israel that when they begin to experience increase — beautiful houses, multiplying flocks, growing wealth — they must guard against a particular temptation. The temptation to look at everything they have built and say, "I did this. My power and my might have gained me this wealth."
Deuteronomy 8:18 corrects that thinking plainly: it is God who gives you the power to get wealth. Not the wealth itself, but the power to get it. The ability, the wisdom, the creativity, the relationships, the open doors, the ideas, the strength, the favor. Every resource you have ever leveraged was first a gift from the one who designed you.
This is a critical shift. Your employer is not your source. Your business is not your source. Your education and talent are not your source. They may all be resources God uses, but God himself is the source. Confusing the resource with the source is one of the most subtle and dangerous mistakes we can make.
Two Economies, One Choice
Jesus laid out the contrast plainly in Matthew 6:31-33. He described a life consumed with anxious questions — what will I eat, what will I drink, what will I wear — and called it the way of those who do not know the Father. Then he offered a different way entirely: seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
That is not simply a verse about priorities. It is a verse about two entirely different economies.
The world's economy starts with the question: what do I need? God's economy starts with the question: who shall I seek?
These two economies produce radically different postures toward money and life. Consider the contrasts:
When it comes to source, the world's economy says your paycheck is your source. God's economy says God is your source, and Philippians 4:19 backs that up — he supplies all your needs according to his riches in glory.
When it comes to ownership, the world's economy says what you have belongs to you. God's economy says everything belongs to God, and you are a steward of what he has entrusted to you. Psalm 24:1 declares that the earth is the Lord's and everything in it.
When it comes to increase, the world's economy says get more so you can have more. God's economy says increase so you can do more good. Second Corinthians 9:8-11 describes God making grace abound so that his people have an abundance for every good work. Kingdom increase always has kingdom purpose.
When it comes to giving, the world's economy gives from what is left. God's economy honors him first, with the first fruits, as Proverbs 3:9-10 instructs. Honoring God with our possessions prevents our possessions from owning our hearts.
When it comes to contentment, the world's economy insists you need more to be happy. God's economy, echoing Paul in Philippians 4:11, declares that contentment is something learned — the deep settled peace of knowing that God is enough in every season.
The Invitation
Ultimately, a flourishing life is not about accumulating possessions. It is about living with purpose. It is the daily, practical decision to place your financial life — your earning, your spending, your saving, your giving, your investing — under the lordship of God rather than the pressures of culture.
Where your treasure is, your heart will be also. Money has a way of revealing what we actually believe about God. Do we trust him as our source? Do we honor him as the owner of all we have? Do we live with open hands, ready to be a blessing to others?
The tree in Psalm 1 does not strain to produce fruit. It simply stays rooted in the right place, drawing from the right source, and fruitfulness follows. That is the picture of a flourishing life — not a life without difficulty, but a life so rooted in God's word and God's ways that even the hard seasons cannot stop what he is growing in you.
The question is simply this: which economy are you living by?