Don't Take It | Herbert Cooper - Audio

Taking Ground: Don’t Take It Joshua 1:6 Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their ancestors to give them. (NIV) 1. We are making preparations to start a 6th People’s Church location in 2020. 2. We are looking to purchase property or a building near the area where we’re starting our 6th location. 3. We are aggressively looking to buy land or a building for our Indianapolis campus. 4. Keep meeting needs through our local, national and global missions 5. Visit BUILDTHEDREAM.TV to see all projects Joshua 6:16-19 The seventh time around, when the priests sounded the trumpet blast, Joshua commanded the army, “Shout! For the Lord has given you the city! 17 The city and all that is in it are to be devoted to the Lord. Only Rahab the prostitute and all who are with her in her house shall be spared, because she hid the spies we sent. 18 But keep away from the devoted things, so that you will not bring about your own destruction by taking any of them. Otherwise you will make the camp of Israel liable to destruction and bring trouble on it. 19 All the silver and gold and the articles of bronze and iron are sacred to the Lord and must go into his treasury.” (NIV) 1. To live in the promised land you cannot take the devoted things Joshua 7:11 Israel has sinned; they have violated my covenant, which I commanded them to keep. They have taken some of the devoted things; they have stolen, they have lied, they have put them with their own possessions. (NIV) Joshua 7:20–21  Achan replied, “It is true! I have sinned against the Lord, the God of Israel. This is what I have done: 21 When I saw in the plunder a beautiful robe from Babylonia, two hundred shekels of silver and a bar of gold weighing fifty shekels, I coveted them and took them. They are hidden in the ground inside my tent, with the silver underneath.” (NIV) Genesis 3:3 but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’ (NIV) Genesis 3:6 When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. (NIV) Malachi 3:8–9 “Will a mere mortal rob God? Yet you rob me. “But you ask, ‘How are we robbing you?’ “In tithes and offerings. 9 You are under a curse—your whole nation—because you are robbing me. (NIV) 3 Things You Must Know About the Tithe 1. Tithing is giving 10 percent of our income to the local church where we worship Malachi 3:10 “Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the Lord Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it. (NIV) 2. The tithe belongs to the Lord Leviticus 27:30  “ ‘A tithe of everything from the land, whether grain from the soil or fruit from the trees, belongs to the Lord; it is holy to the Lord. (NIV) 3. We give the tithe first Proverbs 3:9–10 Honor God with everything you own; give him the first and the best. Your barns will burst, your wine vats will brim over. (The Message) Matthew 6:33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. (NIV) Malachi 3:8 “Will a mere mortal rob God? Yet you rob me. “But you ask, ‘How are we robbing you?’ “In tithes and offerings. (NIV) 5 Life Changing Truths About Giving Offerings 1. You’re not giving your money away, you’re sowing it into your future 2 Corinthians 9:6  Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. (NIV) 2. You decide the amount of your harvest by the amount of seed you sow 2 Corinthians 9:6  Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. (NIV) 3. God meets your needs by sowing seeds 2 Corinthians 9:8 And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. (NIV) 2 Corinthians 9:10-11 Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness. 11 You will be enriched in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God. (NIV) 4. Giving is a cheerful decision 2 Corinthians 9:7 Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. (NIV) 5. God meets the needs of others when you sow seed 2 Corinthians 9:12-13 This service that you perform is not only supplying the needs of the Lord’s people but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God. 13 Because of the service by which you have proved yourselves, others will praise God for the obedience that accompanies your confession of the gospel of Christ, and for your generosity in sharing with them and with everyone else. (NIV) 2. The results of taking the devoted things You negatively impact your life and the lives of others Joshua 6:18 But keep away from the devoted things, so that you will not bring about your own destruction by taking any of them. Otherwise you will make the camp of Israel liable to destruction and bring trouble on it. (NIV) Genesis 3:23 So the Lord God banished them from the Garden of Eden, and he sent Adam out to cultivate the ground from which he had been made. (NLT) Malachi 3:9 You are under a curse—your whole nation—because you are robbing me. (NIV) 3. Surrendering the devoted things to God brings blessings into our lives Malachi 3:10–11 Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the Lord Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it. 11 I will prevent pests from devouring your crops, and the vines in your fields will not drop their fruit before it is ripe,” says the Lord Almighty. (NIV) VIDEO TESTIMONY: DONNA Vision 2019/2020 commitment card on screen