Kings and Priests | Vision 2024 | Charles Nieman

We are delighted today to have with us an amazing pastor who has a teaching that has really gone around the world and touched so many teachers and pastors and churches. And I can't think of anybody more that I wanted to come and bring a message that I knew would challenge and touch your life than Pastor Charles Neman.

He's an amazing pastor. Started an incredible church in El Paso, Texas. And it has multiple campuses. His family is beautiful. And they're all there working together. He and his son and family and and daughter. They're precious, precious people. And he has a message that has gone all over the world.

It's impacted so many people. And I asked him, would he come and start off this series? I'll be back next Sunday and the following Sunday. This is one of the most important series of our year and I know Pastor Charles Neman has a word from the Lord today.

We're so honored. He's never been here before and I don't quite know why, but I'm glad he's here now. You're going to be blessed and you're going to hear some stuff you've never even thought about. Would you give a warm welcome to Pastor Charles Neman? God bless you.

Wow. Thank you. Thank you. God bless. Thanks. That's wonderful. Thank you. Thank you so much. God bless. Please be seated. I would love for you to go on and on, but uh I got a lot of territory to cover. Yeah. And I'm going to try to live up to that incredible introduction.

I said this first. I just want to say it now. I'm a little taken back. Uh I watch your church every Sunday morning as I'm getting ready to do our three churches in El Paso. And here I am at Free Chapel. I'm like, "Wow." Amen. Kind of kind of surreal.

All right. So, you guys ready to rock and roll? Okay. Now, I didn't tell this the first service up front. I told them about halfway through. So, I'll tell you all now. The better you respond to me, the earlier you get out. There you are. Amen. If you don't respond, then I think you're not getting it.

And I go into full-on teacher mode. Now I start repeating. Remember the multiplication tables in school. That's what begins to happen. All right? So the better you respond, even if you don't like it, act like you do. You get out sooner. Amen. I don't have anything to do till 6:30 tonight when my flight leaves.

So fair warning. All right. Love you, pastor. You know, I heard about him for years um through our mutual friend Tommy Barnett. And uh Tommy's been my pastor for over 35 years. and he was always talking to me about this incredible pastor, preacher, saxophone player in Georgia. And uh and I was like, okay.

And then I heard him heard pastor and I called Tommy and said, "You didn't tell me half how good he is." So uh so great to be here today. All right, here we go. You guys ready to do it? Pray with me. Father, in the name of Jesus, I ask you in the next few moments to speak to us.

Speak to us today. I thank you for this opportunity to come and share this incredible truth that you gave me so many years ago. And I believe it'll bear wonderful fruit here in the lives of this church and the people here and all the other campuses watching today.

Take your hand, put it on your heart and say, "Lord, speak to me today. Speak to me by your word and by your spirit. Speak to me in Jesus name." Amen. All right. I want to talk to you today and I'm going to jump right into it. All right.

I just finished this teaching at our church in El Paso. Took me four weeks. I'm going to try to summarize it for you and give you as much as I can today as pastors asked me to. So, I want to talk to you today about what I call a divine partnership.

A divine partnership that exists in this church, in our church in El Paso, and in every church in the world. a divine partnership that has been sorely neglected because of a lack of understanding. We know from Hosea 4:6 that the Bible says, "My people, listen to this, are destroyed for lack of knowledge."

Not lack of faith, not lack of zeal, not lack of worship, lack of knowledge. You know, when I was in the eighth grade, I was struggling in with a teacher in school and uh and I brought home my report card. That was back when they gave you paper report cards.

And I brought home my report card and I put his class at the back. My dad was retired Army at the time. He was active duty. Uh he did not suffer fools well, so I never acted like a fool. But uh I did put that card at the back and he got to it and he asked me what's this and I said ah dad you know that teacher I don't know I I was in the eighth grade I was blaming the teacher and it probably was the teacher's fault to a large extent and uh he wasn't the sharp the teacher honestly wasn't the sharpest pencil in the box but that's another teaching for another time and so my dad looked at me and I'll never forget my dad was very articulate he didn't believe in contracting words he was very finished every sentence But this day, he said it to me like this.

He pulled up that report card and he looked at me. He said, "Son, ain't no blessing on being dumb." I'm going to let that soak in a little bit. Ain't no blessing. It's the only time I ever heard my dad use the word ain't. Ain't no blessing on being dumb.

And I guess I looked at him kind of dumb because he continued and he said, he said, 'You'll never get the kind of you'll never live in the kind of house you want to live in being dumb. You'll never marry the kind of woman you want to marry being dumb.

You'll never drive the kind of car you want to drive or wear the kind of clothes you want to wear. Being dumb, saying, "Son, ain't no blessing on being dumb." And I took it to heart. And there's no reason to live in America and be dumb. You carry a computer around in your pocket. that can access the greatest libraries and research material in the world.

And so from that day to this, I've been on a constant search to get understanding. Why? Because my people are destroyed for lack of understanding. So we're going to look at this partnership that I said has been sorely neglected because of a lack of understanding, which has resulted in several areas of frustration.

Why? Because many of God's children, hear me now, are not enjoying their purpose and are not connected to the cause of Jesus and are not in their lane because of lack of vision or maybe even worse, wrong vision. There's a partnership that exists in the body of Christ.

So, if you would, if you'll go with me to First Kings, chapter 5, chapter 1, we'll look at this partnership that God instituted and brought to us remarkably from the Old Testament to the New Testament, excuse me, in Revelation 1:5, it says, "And from Jesus Christ." I want to stop there for a moment and point out to you that John said, what he's about to say to us came from Jesus Christ directly.

It wasn't something that John surmised or connected the dots. It came from Jesus to John, John to us. And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness and the first begotten of the dead and the prince of the kings of the earth. Now watch. Unto him that loved us.

So, here's the first question I'm going to ask you. Is that us, the same us that's in this sanctuary today? Okay, you didn't respond good enough. So, here we go. Okay, if you get out late, it's your fault. I warned you. All right. So, is that us to save us that's in this room today?

Are we the ones he loved? Right. There you go. And unto him that loved us and washed us from our sins in his own blood. Is that us? The same us? Yeah. that's in this room today or in the in the other campuses. Verse six, and has made us.

Is the us in verse six the same us that's in verse five that's in the sanctuary today? Yes. And made us, look at it, kings and priests unto God. Now, fascinating, right? When I read this years ago, I was fascinated that this obvious Old Testament term was brought into the New Testament, kings and priests.

We don't think about kings and priests today, but God brought this Old Testament terminology into the New Testament. Now, every time I teach this around the world, I have people come up to me later and say, "Wait a minute, Charles. Nothing came from the Old Testament, the New Testament."

No, there were a lot of things that came from the Old Testament, the New Testament. Have you ever heard of faith? Faith came from the Old Testament and New Testament. Love. Love came from the Old Testament, the New Testament. Forgiveness. Come on, talk to me. Yeah. It came from the Old Testament, New Testament. water baptism, communion.

Now, not everything came from the Old Testament, right? Animal sacrifice, all that stuff under the law. Thank God we're not back under the law. All right? But a lot of stuff came. But listen, everything that came from the Old Testament, the New Testament, when it passed through the blood of Jesus, it got better.

It got better. Remarkably better. All right? And so this divine partnership was brought. Now let me talk to you for a moment about this divine partnership. Okay. What we find here is that he is referencing two godcreated god orained callings. Now I'm going to stop right there and take you to another incredible set of verses. 1 Timothy 1 verse 9 and 12.

All right. I love these verses because they contain some of the pillar words of Christianity all in two verses. Some of the really most substantial words. All right. First Timothy 1:9. For it is God who has saved us. How many of you are grateful for salvation? Amen. For it is God who has saved us.

Is that us? The same us, right? For it is God who has saved us. But he continues. He said he saved us. Now watch what else. and called us with a holy calling unto his purpose and grace. Right? Do we agree? These are the big words of Christianity, right?

Salvation, calling, holy calling, purpose, grace unto his purpose and grace. You jump down to verse 12, for this cause. And Paul said, "Because I know that I'm connected, hear me now, to the cause of Jesus Christ." Then he goes on to say, "I know whom I believe in and I am committed or it has given me resolve."

All right. So where did all this come from? All of the listen the salvation, the calling, the holy calling, the purpose, the grace, all comes from the cause. The cause of Jesus Christ. In John the 18th chapter, Jesus summarized his life in six words. For this cause, I was born.

For this cause. Do we all agree today that Jesus had purpose and vision? Do we all agree today that Jesus had calling and a holy calling? Yeah, he had all of it. Where did it come from? The cause. Please get this. We we miss this. There's not a lot of talking about the cause in Christianity.

But in fact, it is the cause that created everything else that affects our lives today. And Jesus said it was for this cause. Did he have purpose? Absolutely. Did he have vision? Absolutely. But it was the cause that created it. Are you with me so far? Okay. And that cause, get ready, has been handed to us.

His cause is now our cause. So we have this cause, right? And this cause when we embrace it creates in us the assurance we know whom we believe. and it gives us commitment or resolve. I think that a lot of Christians don't have the life that God wants them to have because they don't understand their place in relationship to the cause or that they have not found their purpose and they don't see that they are empowered, they are given the power which is the other definition of grace to fulfill that purpose.

So they wander through life. You know, I'm sure this happens to Pastor Jensen, but it happens to me in El Paso. Almost every day of my life, I have people just walk up to me and start talking. Okay? And a lot of times they'll start like this. Hey, you're that you're that Charles guy from Abundant Church, right?

And I'll say, "Yeah, I'm that Charles guy from Abundant Church." I always think 47 years have given my life and I'm that Charles guy from Okay, but at least anyway. Amen. They could call me other things, but they don't. They might think it, but they don't call me that.

But, uh, so say, "Yeah." And they'll say, "Hey, you know, I' I've I've done all this all my life, and I just want to ask you a question. There's got to be more than this, right? I love that question. There has to be." And you know what the answer is?

Yeah. There has to be. There has to be more than life. See if you can agree with me then. just making a bunch of money and having some occasional fun and getting more stuff. There has to be. Now, God's not against you enjoying stuff. Don't get me wrong.

All right? The pipe that brings the water to the house still gets wet. But the reality is this, right? God wants to bless you so you can be a blessing. Let me try that again. I said God wants to bless you so you can be a blessing. Charles Neman translation of that verse, I will bless you and then you'll imitate me.

Amen. You'll live like I live. And how many of you agree today God lives at the highest level? All right. So, it's a divine partnership that exists. Now, the vast majority of you here, now I'm going to have to jump right into this. Are you ready? The vast majority of you here today are called to be kings in the church of Jesus Christ.

You are called to be kings. The word kings means men and women of influence. Men and women of influence. You are called to be kings. And all of you king, I'm going to prove it to you in just a moment. All of you men and women here called to be kings.

Guess what? You have a kingdom. And that kingdom exists to advance the cause of Jesus Christ in the earth and to give you the purpose that God has for your life. In Proverbs 19:21, the King James says text says the council of the Lord shall endure. The literal Hebrew text says the purpose of Yahweh.

Yahweh in the Hebrew means redeemer, deliverer, savior. that can only be referencing Jesus Christ. So, it is the purpose of Jesus that will stand forever. All right. Now, write this down if you're taking notes. Are you ready? As kings and priests. Okay. Now, I I didn't share this in first service.

There's an advantage to come to second because I remember things I didn't share in first. All right. So, here we go. Each of us as children of God live life on two levels at one time. Please get this because this is going to save Pastor Jensen from a lot of emails.

Okay? Two levels at one time. All of us, no matter who you are in the body of Christ, all of us have a personal life. All right? And you don't lose that personal life when you become a child of God. It shocks people when they see me, people in my church when they see me at a grocery store.

It shocks them when they see me at a bookstore. If you really want to freak them out, I go to a movie and I and they go, "Pastor," and I know what they're thinking. "Shouldn't you be home praying or something? Shouldn't you be home studying? You shouldn't be here watching John Wick.

You should be at home." Yeah, I know. All right. But I don't lose my personal life. You don't lose your personal life. So write this down. In your personal life, you will function as a king and as a priest. I'll explain this to you in a moment. You'll function as a king and a priest.

But as a child of God, you don't just have one life. You have two lives. You have another life inside the church of Jesus Christ, inside the kingdom working for the cause. And inside the church of Jesus Christ, you will function as a king or as a priest.

Now, I always have people, this happened to me all over the place, especially in America, because Americans like to write their own gospel. Amen. I've never had this question asked in Asia. Only in America. But pastor, I don't believe I'm either one. Did you see a third option?

I said, did you see a third option? No, you did not see a third option. So, quit writing your own gospel. One of the biggest struggles we have in Christianity is this phrase. Yeah, I know the Bible says that, but I think Okay, let me help you. in your walk with God.

I've been walking with God for over 50 years. It took me a while to figure this out. Let me help you and save you some frustration. Are you ready? God doesn't care what you think. I know. I know. I have been arguing with him over verses all my life.

There are verses in this book I dearly love and there are verses in this book I would not have written them like that love your enemy verse. Yeah, I'll love them when they're dead. How's that? How's that? I'm good with that. And if I'll just get you to look over there, Lord, I'll send them to you sooner.

I got a list right now. Don't look at me like you're Snow White. All right. So, your primary the primary responsibility of the priesthood inside the kingdom of God or the ministry, write this down, is to provide vision. Now, why is vision important? You got to go back and study out the root word of the word vision in the Old Testament.

I'll give you the definitions. The word vision number one means it has pulling power. Vision has pulling power. It creates in you the corresponding actions to bring the vision to pass. Are you writing that down? It creates in you the corresponding action to bring the vision to pass.

If I have a vision for five years and I'm not any closer to it than I was five years ago, I don't have a vision. I have a dream. I I know. I'm sorry. I don't have time for you to warm up to me. This is my last service today.

All right. So, it's got to have it. I was at a friend's house one time eating dinner and they had a picture of a supermodel in the refrigerator and I went in to get some water and I was like, "Well, that's odd, right?" So they had this picture of the supermodel and the guy saw me and he said to me, "Hey," I turned to his wife and said, "Hey, sweetheart, tell pastor why you have that picture."

I think it was uh Cindy Crawford on the refrigerator. And I was like, I really don't want to get into this. I don't All I want is some water. That's all I want. I don't want to get into this. And she said, "Sure. That's what I'm going to look like."

And I went, "Well, good for you, right?" And he said, "Tell pastor how long the picture's been up there." I was like, "Oh my god, this is not going to end well." All right. She went, "Shut up." He said, "Five years." Now, my gut reaction, I got to tell the whole truth, nothing but the truth.

My gut reaction was 
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 She said, "That's my vision." I thought, "No, because it's not creating the corresponding actions to bring the vision to pass." I'm not throwing rocks at her, but I'm just trying to give you an illustration. All right? That's the nature of vision. Vision number two, the Bible says vision keeps you in your lane.

It keeps you in your lane. Think about that in the light of 1 Corinthians 9. Run the race that you may obtain the prize. How are you going to obtain the prize if you don't finish in your lane? You got to stay on course. Could I hear a good amen today?

Right? You got to stay on course. You got to stay in your lane. So vision keeps you in your lane. That's why you need, you have every right to expect that when you come to church here that whoever is speaking is going to do whatever they have to do during the week to get the vision of God to speak that vision into your life.

You have every right to expect that. Every right to expect that. That's why I don't come in off the golf course and speak to you. Amen. I'm not against playing golf, but I'm not going to play golf on Sunday morning before I come to church. I'm going to do whatever I have to do before I get during the week to get ready to speak to my people, to speak to you.

You have every right to to expect that. Okay? So, that's the priesthood or the ministry's primary responsibility to speak God's vision. All right? It's why it's called vision teaching. All right? Proverbs 29:18 says, "Where there is no I'm going to give it to you the way it reads in the literal text. where there is no progressive vision.

The people live, King James text says they're destroyed. The Hebrew text says the following. They live without restraints like wild untamed horses. They wander and they're scattered. They wander through life. Scattered. Live without restraints. Doesn't that speak about our society today? Right? live without restraints. Why? Can I tell you why?

Do you might you wonder why so many people are wandering around? I'm gonna summarize it. Because they do not have the priest of God speaking the vision of God into their life. Because if they had the priest of God speaking the vision of God into their life, they would know their lane.

They would be pulled towards that fulfillment of vision. They would know their purpose. They would understand the cause. They would be connected. And they would understand what they were here to do. And they wouldn't be wandering through life. I know that sounds overly simplistic. I know it's more complicated than that, but that's really the solid foundation of what we're looking at here.

All right. So, what is the pri the primary responsibility of the priesthood is to provide vision. Well, the primary responsibility of the kings is to provide provision for the vision. All right. At this point, if I was back home, I would say, "Welcome to Big Boy and Big Girl Church.

Okay. So, I'm going to make I'm going to make some statements to you about this. We can have a great vision. Pastor just gave you some. He's got more coming in the weeks to come. He showed you about what the vision has been. And I'm assured that he's going to show you what the vision's going to be.

Because the King James, I mean, the the Hebrew text is where there is no progressive vision. The nature of God's vision is it progresses. It's never static. It doesn't stop. It's always in in progressing. Amen. I know probably there's some of you that come to church and go, "God, would this guy ever stop?"

Probably not. Because the vision of God is progressive. Every year it's going to get a little bigger, a little more, a little more challenging. Amen. Why? Because there's always more to do. And I submit to you today, I know a lot of you would connect these dots on your own, but let me get you there a little quicker.

I will submit to you today that the vision progresses in direct relationship to how much provision is provided by the kings. Was that too blunt? 
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 You see, you can have we can have all the vision. All the vision great vision. We can have vision that fulfills God's purpose for our communities.

We can have vision that makes a difference like Jude said in Jude 1:22. We can have that kind of vision. But my family, here's the hard reality. No matter how much God wills that vision to happen, it's not going to happen without provision. Okay, I'm going to wait for you to hand clap that because that that's a fact.

All right. Now, the reason why some of you hesitate about clapping that is because it almost sounds disrespectful. Because for decades, the American church has hid behind this facade. That's a lie. And the facade that's a lie that we've hid behind is we tell ourselves that if God wills it, it will happen.

No, it won't. We need to tear down that facade and face the truth. Just because God wills something does not guarantee it's going to happen. I can prove it to you. In Timothy, God said he wills that all men be saved and come into the knowledge of the truth.

But you know, and I knew know that somewhere in this great regional area that you live in last night, one or two men or women dropped off into eternity unsaved. Wait a minute. How can that be? It's God's will that all men be saved. How did they die not being saved?

Because just because God wills it doesn't guarantee it will happen. We got to quit thinking that way. The reason why things happen is because God has entered into partnership with us and he has created a partnership inside the kingdom of God between the kings and the priests. Amen.

First Corinthians chapter 3 says we labor together with God. We labor together with God. And that laboring is defined by verse 7 or verse six that says we plant, we water, God gives the increase. God gives the increase, but he gives the increase off of what we plant and we water.

Now, I don't know why he decided to do it that way, but he did. Could God have done it without us that quick? That quick. But whatever reason, he decided to do it with us. I don't know. I didn't write the book. I just live in the kingdom.

Amen. All right. So, let me read these statements to you. Right? So, no matter how God ordained the vision, it goes nowhere without provision. The kingdom doesn't happen advance or advance because God simply wills it. Kings, I'm going to read some statements to you. Okay? The vast majority of you in these campuses today here and the other campuses are called to be kings.

How do I know that? Because in the nation of Israel, there were 11 tribes called to be kings and one tribe called to be priests. There's always going to be more men and women called to be kings than called to be priests. Okay, let me help you. If you are not at this moment in this room working in full-time ministry, you are called to be a king.

Did that help you? Well, pastor, I think someday I'll be in ministry. Then we'll call you a priest. Today you're a king. God doesn't bless you based on what you're going to be. He blesses you based on what you are. All right. So, kings, please understand when you go into the marketplace, which is today's battlefield, please see your daily lives as being vitally important to God's kingdom.

Please realize, I'm I'm begging you. Please realize that what happens Monday through Friday in your life is a spiritual event that directly affects what happens here on Sunday. You're going to quote unquote war for two things. Number one, so you can provide provision for God's vision. Number two, so you can fulfill your purpose for his cause.

Please don't see the kingdom as a weakened thing that doesn't apply to your life and purpose. Hear me, please. Your giving and your serving are vital, critical for his cause. The term there has to be more to life. You're right. There is. God has marked you for his purpose.

You were born for his cause. And your happiness is affected by how you understand the cause of Jesus and his kingdom and how you live in your special place in it. There's a statement I want to read to you that I wrote down that has absolutely motivated me and I hope it does it for you.

The cause of the kingdom affects every part of our lives. It gives us vision and purpose and guides us all our days. Listen. And directs and affects our choices and our decisions. LA this Monday of this last week, I celebrated my 75th birthday. And looking back on that, I realize that there are many decisions I made, right?

And there's a few that I'm like, "What in the world were you thinking?" And you know why I have some of those? Because I did not allow that decision to be affected by the cause of Jesus Christ. Cuz if I had, I would have made a better decision.

Could I hear a good amen today? And listen, the cause of the kingdom, when we live this way in front of our children, it will set them up to live fruitful lives. It will put them in a place to be a blessing to God's kingdom and to be a blessing to others.

And may I ask you a question? Isn't that what we all want? That's what I want for my daughter, for my son, for my grandchildren. That they will understand this way of living. And they learn it by me living it in front of them by prioritizing the kingdom and the cause of Jesus Christ. by bringing them into we just gave our heart for the house offering the first Sunday of November and I brought my grandkids into it and they were aware of it and I encouraged my son and my daughter to let them know this is what our family is doing that we doing this above our tithe or offering because of the cause of Jesus Christ.

Life cannot only be about making money, about having some occasional fun. Thank God there's much more to it. And our last couple of minutes, oh, I'm doing good. You had missed a good opportunity to say amen to the fact that I'm doing good, but I can't wait for you now.

Okay, I'm just going to warn you. You got to catch up. You got to make up for that one. All right. There's a verse of scripture that when I think about all this, it just resonates in me. It's new Nehemiah 2:20. I love this. Listen to this. And the God of heaven, he will prosper us.

And the God of heaven, listen, he will prosper us. And therefore or because of this fact our response is therefore we his servants will arise and build. We will arise and build. The word aride means we will complete that which God is prospering us to do. Oh, I love it.

All right. 1 Chronicles chapter 29. I'm going to show you some verses. There was a time in my life when I sat where you sit and I used to come to church and I love the praise and worship. I love the teaching. I love all the goods. I love seeing everybody.

But I got so angry when the pastor would get up and talk about giving. I would turn in my chair. One Sunday I was hitting my watch like this. I was a punk. He should have taken me outside and beat me up. And he could have. He was an offensive lineman for TCU.

Was huge. But I was a punk and I got so bad about it one day that my wife or show is now in heaven looked at me one day and said, "I'm no longer going to sit with you in church because I'm tired of the way you act during the offering."

So I went home and I began to study so I could go back and prove the pastor wrong. I'm glad I did. It changed my life. So as I started studying giving, I came across this chapter. And what the occasion is is that David is gathered all the rulers, the kings of Israel, the princes and the rulers.

You can read about them in verse six, the guys in the room. And he's going to talk to them about building the temple. He's not going to build it. Solomon is. But he's going to ask them to give. And he starts off telling them, all right, we don't have the time.

All right? But he I want to see I want you to see in verse two he says now I have prepared with all my might for the house of my God. I want you to look at the personal programs. All my might for the house of my God.

My God. I think it's important that as you pray and you're seeking the Lord now and every month about your giving and your serving and the things you do as kings that you make it personal. Can I get a good amen today? You're doing it for the house of my God, not the house of God.

My God. Is he your God? Yes, he is. He said, "I've made I've made I've prepared." The word prepared means I've made provision. And then he lays out and what you discover is is he announces to the people that everything that's needed to build the temple, he already has it in the warehouses.

This is not how you do a building program. You don't start the building program and tell everybody you're going to ask to give that the budget's already met. I should have been there to help David. Bless his heart. All right. That's a good testic expression. Bless your heart.

All right. So he he starts off that and he tells them and he says, "I've made provision with all my might." That term means with all my substance, all my wealth, all my ability, all my capacity, everything. But here's the part that shocked me. Look at verse four.

Moreover, wh what? What do you mean more over? What are you giving more over? See, we don't have this mindset in Christianity, especially American church. What we have is meet the budget mindset. What's the budget, pastor? What's the budget? What's the budget? Oh my god. That's the budget.

David had a moreover approach. Okay? He said, "Moreover," and here's the reason why. Now, I got to read this to you. He said, "Moreover, because I have set my affection to the house of my God." The literal Hebrew text, David said, "It is my delight to give to the house of my God.

It is my de personal pronouns again, my delight, my God. It is my delight to give to the house of my God. You and I choose what we're going to delight in. Say amen. We choose. We choose. I delight in watching college football. I watched Georgia and Tennessee last night.

Not because I had a horse in the race because I delight in college football. Some of you don't. I do. I delight in hot fudge brownie Sundays with extra hot fudge. Some of you don't. Some Some of us do. I delight in Mexican food. If you don't delight in Mexican food, you're not going to heaven.

I'm sorry. Amen. I don't know. I Yeah. And I understand why some of you don't delight because you don't get the real deal like I do. I think I'm going to have some tomorrow now that I think about it. All right. So, we choose what you're going to delight in.

So, in the weeks to come, as pastor asks you to give, it's my prayer is that you'll delight in it. and not only for vision but for every month that you'll delight in it. Okay, just a couple more thoughts and then I'll let you go. All right. So then he gives above that according to today's monetary scale and gold and silver alone he gives an additional $1.2 billion above the budget.

What what did he just do? He just created an endowment for the temple. It's one thing to build a building. It's another thing to maintain it. It's one thing to start a projects. It's another thing to make it ongoing. Amen. All the colleges have endowments. All the hospitals have endowment.

The only organization to believe in endowments is the organization that created it, the church. because we're meet the budget mindset especially in America. It's tragic when you think about it, right? Luke 6:38 says to give because you believe God has given to you. 3% of the American church tithes.

We are the lowest rate of any part of the church in the world. 3%. 90% of the church in Sweden that most of us consider a socialist country tithes. 98% of the church in Asia tithes. 3% of the American church ties. We walk around declaring all the time, we are the most blessed country.

We are the best country. We are the greatest country. And we are the most ungrateful part of the body of Christ. Don't look at me cuz I'm preaching good. Amen. Oh, the guys are coming up. That means I'm out of time. All right. Then the people came and they gave another 1.8 billion.

So as I looked at this, I asked myself a question. I said, 'What do these guys know that we don't know? Cuz they knew something I didn't know. And I found the answer in verse 14. But who am I? And what is my people that we should be able to offer so willingly after this sword?

They knew two things. See, let me see how you respond. Number one, all things come of you. How many of you would say to me today that every good thing in your life comes from God? Every good thing you've had, every good thing you have, and every good thing you will have.

Amen. And where you breathe, the food you eat, the clothes you have on, the house you live in, the job you have, people that love you. Come on. Amen. Are we willing to say it all comes from him? All the good comes from him. Amen. So everything I give comes from God.

Number two, look what they said. And everything we give was yours already. It kind of puts it all back in perspective, doesn't it? God hears my tithe. I always think the angels go, they do know it's yours, right? Let me just remind you today, when you were born, how much stuff did you come out with?

Zero. When you die, how much of all this stuff are you taking with you? Zero. And if you don't know it yet, let me remind you that when you die, all that stuff you're keeping at your house, your kids are going to put it in the in the driveway and sell it to strangers.

Yeah, they are. Even if they promise they're not, they will cuz there not a thing you can do about it and get ready and you won't care. No, you won't care. Amen. Cuz all that stuff is going to look really dumb where you're living then. Amen. All right.

Is there anything good today? Are you glad you came to church? Stand to your feet with me, please. Can I pray for you? I want all you kings to lift your hands. All right. I want to pray for you. Father, in the name of Jesus, I pray that that that these words are going to resonate in the lives of these kings in here.

God, we need them so much. They are so critical. They are so vital to your kingdom, to your cause, to the advancement of your kingdom, to the vision that you have for our for the for the church of Jesus Christ. I pray for them, Lord. They have tough things.

They go to some of them go to very difficult places to work. I know at times many of them wonder if their lives are vital or important or what they're doing isn't critical, but it is. I know some of them wonder if the little bit that they can do serving here at church really makes a difference, but it does.

They are vital. They are critical. They're going to they're praying for the next couple of weeks about what to give for vision. And I pray today, Lord, in the name of Jesus, that they'll see how critical. And I pray today, Lord, that you will open doors for them that no man can shut.

That you will close other doors that no man can shut, that no man can open. I pray today, Lord, that you'll bring them to right place, right time moments. We're reminded in Ecclesiastes that the race doesn't always go to the fastest. The battle doesn't always go to the strongest.

That there is a right happening that you bring to your people. That you tip the scales in our favor that doesn't make sense. They'll get the contract that others should have gotten. They'll get the favors that others might have gotten. They'll win the race that they weren't supposed to win because they have a heart to advance the kingdom.

They're going to put your purpose above all else. They see how vital they are and how critical they are. And it gives them a special place for you to hear and for them to pray, to take dominion, to be the head, not the tail, to be above only and not beneath.

And we understand it in Jesus name. Lord, help them. Favor them in Jesus name. Can I have every head bowed and every eye closed for just a moment? There are some of you here today. I started off today talking about being saved. I know that's a term you probably have heard.

What does it mean to be saved? It means you listen, it means you come to that place in your life where you recognize your need of a savior. We all need a savior. It's the one thing we all have in common. Why? Because we've all sinned. There's not a person in here today that can say, "I've never sinned."

You just lied. You just sinned. And we all need a savior. And there's one. His name is Jesus Christ. And he said, "If any man come to me, I will find no reason to reject him." I want to give you that opportunity today before we go any further.

Look in your heart. Is Christ in you? Can you remember a time in your life where you stopped in the course of your life and received Jesus Christ? Whether you're on the floor or the risers or at one of the other campuses? Can you remember that time when you accepted Jesus coming into your life?

If you haven't, that's why you're here today. That's why he brought you here. He's knocking on the door of your heart. God wants you and his family. He loves you so much. He wants you and his family. He wants to give you forgiveness for your sins. Listen, we have a saying at our church in El Paso.

No matter what you've done, no matter how many times you've done it, no matter how many times you promise you'd stop doing it, God is still on your side. He loves you and he has a wonderful plan for your life. So, in a moment, I'm going to ask you to let us pray with you today and Jesus will come into your life.

Or maybe you'd say, "Pastor, one time I was close to the Lord, but I got offended. I got distracted. I got pulled aside." It doesn't matter why. What matters is that you're here. I want to pray with you, too. So, if you'd say to me today, "Pastor, I want to become a child of God."

Doesn't that sound beautiful? I want to receive Jesus into my life as my Lord and my Savior. Doesn't that sound beautiful? If that's you today, do me a favor. Put your hand up right now. Right now, here and at the campuses, raise your hand up, pastor. I see those hands.

Keep raising them. Keep raising them. Keep raising them. Keep raising them. Keep them up for another moment. All of you to have your hands up right now. Do me a favor. Step out of your chair and come right down here to the front. We want to pray with you personally.

Right. Come right down here to the front right now. Out of the risers. We'll wait for you. Come now. All right. We got people that are going to be here and meet with you. Come now. Come on. Don't be embarrassed. Step out. This takes courage. I know it does.

Come, come, come, girls. Beautiful. Come down here, young man. Beautiful. Keep coming. Come on. Keep clapping for them. Give them that assurance. It takes a moment. It's a big building, right? Amen. Keep coming. Wow. It's absolutely gorgeous. Keep coming. We have room for you. There's time. Amen. They're still coming.

Come on. Look at all these people coming. Isn't this beautiful? Amen. Thank God we come to a church that believes in this, right? Hey, girls, keep coming. Look, they're still coming. Come on, keep encouraging them. My goodness. Wow. 
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 All right, I'm going to lead you in a prayer.

Are you ready? Just repeat after me. Now, I'm going to give you the words. You're going to give it the meaning. Amen. Say it from your heart. The rest of us, pray with them. Huh? Say, "Lord Jesus, Lord Jesus, I believe in you. I believe in you. You are the Christ.

You are the Christ. The son of the living God. Son of the living God. I believe you died and rose again. You died. For this moment. For this moment. So I could receive you into my life. As my Lord and Savior as my Lord Jesus, Lord Jesus, I receive you now.

Come sit on the throne of my heart. Be Lord of my life. Teach me Teach me how to live. how to live. I surrender my will to you. Be Lord of my life. Lord of my life. Amen. Amen. Can we rejoice with these people today? God bless. Stay right there for just a moment.

Thank you all. God bless. Thank you. Free Chapel. Can we show some love to Pastor Charles Neman for that incredible message? No, we could do better than that. For the cause, what a phenomenal message. I told the 9:00 a.m. he was in my wheelhouse because there's some things my mom has that I'm trying to get rid of.

I'm praying that it doesn't make it past Christmas, but y'all pray for me. But we're going to dismiss here shortly. For those who prayed that prayer, even those who are um still at your seats who prayed that prayer, we have next steps today. So, do me a favor, head out these doors to my left where we have a team that literally wants to help you make and take your next steps here at Free Chapel.

So, go out there and get signed up. If you want to give today, you can give online, you can give uh by texting, or you can give in one of our offering stations out in the hallway. As you saw, we are in our vision series. So, we're asking that you partner with us as we continue to make a global and local impact.

And one of the things we get to do because of your generosity is our chicken drive, which will be this Thursday, November 21st, at all of our East Coast campuses from 4:00 to 7:00. So, if you or someone you know needs a little help this holiday season, invite them.

We pray that we see you there. And then lastly, pastor will be back in the house next week with week two of our vision series. So invite a friend, invite a family member, but we hope to see you. Free chapel, have a blessed rest of your Sunday, a blessed week, and we will see you next week.

God bless. 
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 What a powerful message. I hope you feel encouraged and inspired as you go throughout your week. So grateful for Pastor Charles and the word he brought today. And what a way to kick off the vision series. Amazing. It was incredible. If you said yes to Jesus today, if you made him Lord and Savior of your life, we want to know and we want to get connected with you.

So text the word yes to 510510 so we can have someone reach out and we can get you connected. Like we said, there is next steps and all different things and we want you to know what's happening at Free Chapel and be able to walk alongside of you in that journey.

Yes. If you need prayer today at all, we do not want to leave you alone. We have people that want to pray for you, be in your corner, that want to be able to fight this battle with you. So, you can text the word to prayer to 510510 for us to reach out and be able to pray for you and have so many people just in your corner.

Yes, of course. And we just want to thank you so much for all your generosity for this ministry and what you are doing. Um, we also want to let you know that we are not telling you what to give. We're just asking you to take the time this week and during this series to pray with your family about what God might have you do um and and what he wants you to plant into this vision ministry.

Absolutely. And we just want to remind you this Thursday, November 24th 21st at 4 p.m. we have our Thanksgiving chicken outreach. If you know a family in need or you are or you want to volunteer, this is happening at all of our campuses in Alpharetta, Brazleton, Gainesville, Gwynette, and our Spartanber campus.

We are giving away free cases of fresh chicken. So, make sure if you know someone or if you are in need of support during this holiday season, come and join us for the chicken drive. Yes, of course. We just want to thank you so much for taking the time to spend your Sunday morning with us, this Sunday afternoon now.

And we just want to thank you and hope you have a blessed and an amazing week. Thank you so much for joining us, Free Chapel family. We'll see you next week. See you next week. 
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 Superoo. 
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 Hey, hey, hey. 
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