 Okay, so Acts 20 verse 32, let me read. So now brethren, I commend you to God and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up and give you an inheritance among all who are sanctified. So this is Paul who is speaking to the efficient church elders, the leaders. He's meeting them for the first time and he's saying, you know, I commend you to God, which means I'm, either you can say I recommend or I present you to God and do the word of His grace. Okay, so it's an important thing that he's doing for these leaders that he's saying, I'm commending you to God and to the word of His grace. You know, we might understand that this is the last time he's meeting them. He has spent about three years in Ephesus teaching them, you know, equipping them, various things about gifts and everything. And this is the last time he's saying them. So he's doing something very important. He's saying, I'm commending you to God. Okay, and to the word of His grace. Okay, and it does two things that he's mentioning here. He says, which is able to build you up. God and His word, it's able to build you up, make you strong, build you up and give you an inheritance among all who are sanctified. Right? So one of the things that the word of God does, build us up like nothing else can. Right? To build us up spiritually, nothing else can do that except the word of God. So he's saying, I'm presenting you, I'm commiting you to God and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up. And not only that, but really open up your lives and to give you an inheritance among all the saints. If we need to receive anything, it's through the word of God. If we need to receive, you know, if you need to receive strength, if you need to be built up in the inner man, it's because of his word. Right? So he's doing something important. So even as we, you know, start this course, let's make that our prayer. Lord, I commit myself to you and I make myself available for your word to saturate my life so that I can be built up and I can receive an inheritance among all the saints. Yeah? So why don't we just pray that, pray this verse over ourselves. Right? Father, we thank you Lord. We thank you for your presence. Lord, we thank you for your word. And yes, Master, we make ourselves available. Lord, we present ourselves to you Lord. And as people who don't have anything to hide, nor can we hide anything from you Lord. So we present ourselves to you as we are Lord. We make ourselves vulnerable to you Lord. And we say, Father God, we've got nothing to hide. Yes Lord, everything about us, within us, around us. Master, we surrender, we yield. We surrender ourselves to you. To your plan, to your purposes. Lord, to your shaping, to your molding. Lord, to your refining. God, we surrender ourselves to you. And oh God, we surrender and yield to your word. Lord, to your, the spoken word, the quickened word, the logos, the written word. We, we commit ourselves Lord. And Lord, may we continue to hear your word which builds our faith Lord. And even right now Lord, I pray that even as we commit ourselves Lord, to you and to your word, I pray that each one of us will be built up strong in the inner man. That each one of us, oh God, will be opening up our lives to receive that inheritance. Lord, from you, Father God, that you have set for us, Father God, even as we set us apart as the saints of God. Thank you, we give you all the praise and glory in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. Okay, so I hope you all had a good break. I know no break is long enough or sufficient enough and you can get back, you realize that I wish, with a few more days. But yeah, welcome back. Online students also a very blessed new year to you. And yeah, so let's get started with this new subject, new course, that is, which is financial stewardship. So it's an interesting course because it deals with an interesting aspect of life, which is a necessary aspect of life, which is money, right? Whether we like it or not, each human being on this world needs money, right? We can say, you know, I don't need money. But then, you know, even in ministry, we need money. We need money to transact, we need money to maybe hire things. We need money to buy for everything. If you look around the Bible College, you realize that you need Bible College needs money to function, right? To have students, to have the hostel going, right? To pay the electricity bills, to pay the internet bills so that we can do these classes online. So we see that money is an integral part of our life. Okay. So sometimes based on our experience, life experience, maybe, you know, we sometimes have our own perspective of money, saying, okay, money is bad or money is evil, based on the use or abuse of it that we have seen or experienced, right? Maybe we've seen money being used as a bribe. Maybe we've seen money being used for as a tool of manipulation. Maybe we've seen money, you know, people greedy for money and so on, right? And then we see that, oh, money, it causes only evil, it causes only, you know, greed, and it causes one to go away from God, right? So as believers, as Christians, some of us are going to be in, you know, ministry in maybe a full-time kind of a setting, or maybe each one of us will be doing some form of ministry. But we need to understand and have the right perspective of finances, right perspective of money. Okay. So once we do that, we would see that, you know, all the responsibilities that come with it, you know, and all the liberty or the freedom that is there that God gives us with regard to money. So we don't have to be weighed down. We don't have to have money, have a hold on us. But we can actually use or hold money in the right way, right? So this course is about finances, the right perspective about finances, and also one important aspect which is stewardship, which means our responsibility, how to responsibly use money which God puts into our hands. So this course is about that. And also, so it's a short course. We will have one class or one hour per week at the, today's Wednesday. So it's one hour per week. It's a short course, but it's a very significant one, right? So I just want to ask you, right? So what do you think for a Christian, for a pastor, for a church, for a ministry, what do you think is money necessary? I just shared my views. What do you think is money necessary? Is money a necessary evil? What do you think? What are your thoughts, online students also? Pastor, money is necessary for our living. Money is necessary for our living. Is it necessary evil? No, it's not evil. Okay. The greed of money is evil. It's depending on how we use it, okay? We can't do anything without money. Some support we'll have to give financial support. But then the Bible says money is the root of all evil. So you're dealing, you're living dangerous lives. You're carrying this evil thing in our hands. I'm just looking at some of these responses, Miriam. Is the money essential? Okay, Miriam. Same thing. Yeah, what could I say? We just want to use the mic. It's written like love of money is essential for all the root cause of all evil. Money is definitely a good tool to satisfy our needs, but not agreed. So yeah, so I wantedly left out that first part because that's the thing. Love of money, that's the root of all evil, which means that like how a plant is rooted in something, because of that it blooms, it flowers and so on. So it's like something that the plant draws. So a person, if it has intense craving or love for money, then that becomes a root. And because of that root, there are a lot of things. He was going to bear fruit, greed, selfishness, all that is going to come. Yeah. Okay, I just want to place before us one verse. Okay, we will come back to it over and over again. Okay, let's look at 1st Timothy, chapter 6. Okay, 1st Timothy, chapter 6. And we're looking at verses 17 and 18. Okay, so let's look at, okay, Sanjay, money is a resource like any other valuable resource. It depends on how we use it for good or for evil. Yes, so true. Right. Okay, so 1st Timothy 6 verse 17 says, command those who are rich in this present age not to be haughty, not to trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God who gives us richly all things to enjoy. Verse 18, let them do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to give, willing to share and so on. Okay, verse 17, command. Okay, so it's a command. So Paul is telling Timothy, command those who are rich in this age, this present age, not to be haughty, which means not to be proud, not to be boastful or proud. Then he says, 2nd thing, what does he say? He says, not to trust in uncertain riches. So don't put your trust in it, you know, because money has this power or ability where you can depend, you know, you put your trust in it. If you have money in the bank, if you have carrying money in the wallet, in the pocket, you begin to lean or depend on it. So he's saying, don't trust because money has a quality, it is uncertain. It can be there and you might have to use it and then it can be gone. It won't, it may not be there. So he's saying, do not put your trust in uncertain riches. Then the second part of it, but in the living God. So he's saying, you put your trust in the living God. Now the last part is very important. Put your trust in the living God who gives us richly all things. Okay, so he's talking about God. He's introducing God, this aspect of God to these people. To Timothy and Timothy was an Ephesus again saying this aspect of God, this characteristic of God, who is he? What is he like? He is the one who richly gives us all things, which means God is a generous God. He's a giving God, right? He's not holding back. He's not withholding. So he's a God who gives, who gives us richly all things. What is that? To enjoy. Okay, so we see a God who's generous. To enjoy means, okay, how do you describe enjoyment? What are the some of the things that you enjoy? Anything? Huh? A chakana? Good food. You know, maybe you play, enjoy playing some sport. Maybe you enjoy, you know, some leisure thing, you know, maybe you enjoy going on, you know, going to the mountains or looking at nature. You enjoy. It fills you with delight. Maybe you enjoy listening to music or playing music. You enjoy, right? So God, just picture that. You know, sometimes we read it. It doesn't get it. God, he gives saying, no, you take it. Say God, no, no, no, you take it. He richly gives us all things for the purpose of enjoying. Okay. See, sometimes we feel guilty and sometimes even when we pray, you know, somebody asks us to pray for the food and we are praying. God, thank you for this food. Thank you for the people who have made this food. We're about to be blessed to our bodies. And then Lord, we remember all those who don't have food. See, nothing wrong. Right? And I also prayed that remember all those. But then, you know, it's like you feel guilty. I have this food. Should I eat it or not eat it? You know, how much should I eat it? There are others who don't have. Don't waste it. But, you know, you enjoy it. You enjoy it because God's heart is, hey, I'm giving it to you. You enjoy it. And you look at the other part. Let them do good that they be rich in good works. Meaning, you know, that they have abundance of good works. They are doing good works more and more abundantly. And they are ready to give. This should be the heart posture. Ready to give, willing to share. You know, you see the wholesomeness of it. It's not pulling in one direction. It's a wholesome thing. This is God's heart with regard to money, with regard to material things. God is one who blesses, who richly gives us all things, not just to use it for ministry, missions. These are very important things close to God's heart. But personally, he's looking at you. He knows you by name. He's saying, I'm giving it to you. You enjoy it. You know, you have certain desires. You want to, you know, use it on yourself. You want to, what shoes are those? You want to, you use it. You use it. You don't have to feel guilty about it. Well, you have enough money to buy someone else another Puma. Use it. That's what he's saying. You know, willing to share, ready to give. Right? So that is God's heart when it comes to money, when it comes to finance. It's very important for us to understand that. Because money, we see the use of it. Everywhere. Right? And sometimes even in church saying, Money is bad. We've heard messages and then we pass around the offering and put money. It's worship God with our tithes in offerings. And, you know, I remember this one thing happening. We were in church and, you know, in a Methodist church and me and my roommate that time. We were all bachelor. So the service was over and we were just standing and talking. And he said, yeah, we were just talking about work. Both of us were working in different companies. So he was talking about work. I was telling him about appraisals and, you know, maybe about incentives and ways and so on. And then suddenly he said, you know, let's, let's go outside. Let's go outside the church building. We will say inside the church building, right? So just go outside and talk about this. I mean, church, why should we do that? Let's go outside and talk about this. I mean, church, why should we talk about money and, you know, let's go outside and work. So, and that's, you know, stood with me for a long time. That stayed with me for a long time. It's almost as if God and money should be separate. Ministry and money should be separate. You know, our lives and money should be, it's like we preach something negative about it. At the same time, at some point in the service, okay, please give generously. Let's worship God with our tithes and offerings. You know, there seems to be a dichotomy, right? A paradoxical. The thing is this, that this is God's heart when it comes to money. This is God's heart. He's a generous God. You know, John 316, God so loved that he gave. You know, he gave the greatest treasure. He gave his only begotten son that whoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life. So that's God's heart. So if we change our perspective about God's heart, regarding this important subject money, then it liberates us and it totally liberates us because maybe as a working professional, it liberates us when you have more money in the bank or, you know, in your account, liberates you. Money is not taking a hold on you. You're not feeling guilty because God has exalted you or given you success and, you know, there's so much money. You know, you're not feeling guilty about it because your heart is to be rich in good works, to be generous, to be able to give, willing to share, ready to, you know, give and help others as well. Okay, so I just want to place that before us, that even before we get into this whole subject that God is a generous God. Now, our experience in life could have been, I don't know, good, bad, ugly. Maybe we didn't have enough money and that would have shaped us, shaped our thinking. Maybe we had very little while growing up. I could have shaped our thinking. So we are like, you know, we are tight-fisted about money. What if tomorrow I don't have? Yesterday I didn't have. Today I have. What if tomorrow I don't have? So we hold in, hold on. But what if your image of God changes according to what the Word of God says? Where? You realize that God is a giving God. God is not holding back, which means there must be something else happening. I need to find out what is that? There is something else. In my attitude to this whole thing of money and God and finances, something else that is preventing, that is not really correct. Something else I need to change. Because on God's part, this is His character, this is His nature. Okay, so I think the notes are there. Online students have uploaded it. You also have the notes. So I'll give you a physical copy for, you know, for in-person class. You'll have it this week. But you can follow the notes. I'm going to share the notes here. Okay. So what is our... Okay, it's just coming up. So what is our attitude towards finances? Okay, now our attitude or our perspective about something shapes our life, whether you believe it or not. It shapes our life. Okay. If your attitude towards... Let's say you have the picture of God as being an angry God. Angry God. Okay. Always angry. Always, you know, ready to punish. Okay. How will your life be? You tell me. How are you going to approach God? Angry God. Ready to punish. Ready to, you know, always, you know, looking at, you know, thing and finding out ways to punish you. What will your relationship with God be like? What is your... What will be your perspective with God? Of God be like. We can share that. Minimal is it in... Yeah. So we... Which means that if he's going to be angry, let me avoid. Minimal interaction. And that's what we do in life, right? Somebody's always angry. You know, any... Maybe it's a family member. Maybe it's a boss. We want to keep out of the way. Right? Just want to say, okay, if it's absolutely necessary, only if it's required, I will go. Otherwise, I will stay. It's better. I have a lot of distance between myself and that person. So, if that is the picture of God, that shapes my life. Right? So, I won't say, you know, I'll enter into his gates with singing. No. Because I'm thinking, you know, what is he thinking about me? How is he going to punish me? I won't come singing to God. No. I'm like standing in a corner, just looking at my life, saying, okay, what is wrong now? I'm in the presence of God. What is wrong? How is he going to reach out? How is he going to punish? That is going to be the fear all the time. What is your attitude about anything in life? Right? That matters. So, we're going to look at some, you know, how can we have, you know, what are some good attitudes to have about money and what are some bad, not so good attitude about money? Okay. The first thing. Okay. What is attitude? Attitude is a way of thinking, a subtle way of looking at things. Right? So, a good attitude is that let God be magnified. Okay. Let God be magnified. Let praise be to God because of this finances. Okay. Let's look at this verse. Psalm 35 and verse 27. Okay. It says, let them shout for joy and be glad who favor my righteous cause and let them say continually, let the Lord be magnified who has pleasure in the prosperity of his servant. Let the Lord be magnified who has pleasure in the prosperity of his servant. Okay. So, this link between, okay, Psalm 35 verse 27. Okay. So, this whole link between, okay, God and finances and the Psalmist says, let the Lord be magnified. Look at the reason who has pleasure in the prosperity of his servant. Okay. So, in our thinking, if you're thinking like, will God be happy if there is increase in my life? Will God be happy if there are finances in my life? Will God be happy? It says here, God is not just happy, but he takes pleasure. Right? I'll give you an example. Like, when my daughter was small, child was small. And, you know, I just used to sit and just watch her. She's sleeping. Not doing anything. She's just sleeping. And she'll wake up, you know, she's tiny, she'll wake up and look at me and then she'll ask, like, what are you doing? I'm just looking at you. But why are you smiling? No. I'm just smiling. I'm happy looking at you. Right? She's not doing anything. She's not achieving anything. And I'm just taking pleasure and delighting in her. Just because she's my daughter. I was looking at her and, you know, just, she's sleeping. I'm looking at her. And that's the heart of the father. So here it says, God takes pleasure in the prosperity of his son, in the well-being, in the prosperity. We're going to look at prosperity a little later. And we're going to see that. Prosperity is more than money. Okay. Prosperity is just, money is one part of it. Prosperity is more than money. Okay. So first thing, that God may be glorified in all these finances, in all my material blessings and riches and whatever. Let God be magnified because he takes pleasure in my prosperity. Okay. So that's one, that's another thing that I need to take home. You know, God takes pleasure in my prosperity. God gives richly, God takes pleasure in my prosperity. Now, you might have a lot of questions, you know, but what about, you know, what about this person? What about that person? They're doing all this and then they're getting money. You know, will God still be pleased? We'll address that. Whatever. Those kind of questions. Okay. So, God says in verse eight and verse 18 it says, 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 swerve to your fathers as it is this day. Another important verse. You shall remember the Lord your God. Let God be part of your thinking, let God be part In all that you do, you factor in God. You will remember the Lord your God. And it says here, it is He who gives power. It is He who empowers you. It is He who gives you the ability for what? To get wealth. It is He who gives you the ability to generate wealth. Whether it's through business, whether it's through hard work, whether it's through farming, fishing, whatever it is. It is He who gives you the power to get wealth. You shall remember the Lord your God. And it says that He may establish His covenant which is so to your fathers. Okay, second thing. Firstly, that God may be glorified. Secondly, that there may be enough for the work of God's kingdom. So that's the right attitude to have about money. And there's money. Okay, is there enough for the cause of Christ? Is there, because the kingdom of God and the work of redemption is something which is close to God's heart, right? Because He sent His Son in order to redeem the world. So is it close to our heart, right? So are we, you know, when we look at time, when we look at talents, and when we look at finances or treasures, are we really concerned? Are we passionate that these are used for the work of God's kingdom, right? So is there enough for the work of God's kingdom and the kingdom of God and the extension of His kingdom? So that's a good attitude to have about money. Let's look at a couple of verses, right? Verse 25. It is actually, you know, about while building the tabernacle. Okay, so God gives Moses the design for the tabernacle. He says, okay, this is how he also gives instruction. Okay, these are the materials that you should use. This is how you will build the tabernacle. So in such, in that instruction, we see this 25 verse 1. Exodus 25. Okay, let me just go down. Okay, verses 1 to 9. Then the Lord spoke to Moses saying, speak to the children of Israel that they may bring me an offering from everything, from everyone who gives it willingly with his heart, you shall take my offering. Okay, so he's saying, okay, you take the offering from everyone who gives it willingly, you shall take my offering willingly with his heart, wholeheartedly. Then he goes on, from verse 3, he goes on to talk about what are those things. This is for building the tabernacle, right? So verse 3, this is the offering that you should take from them. Gold, silver, bronze, purple and scarlet thread, fine linen, et cetera, et cetera. It goes on till verse 7. Onyx stones, precious stones to be set in the ephor and the breastplate. And then it says here, and let them make me a sanctuary that I may dwell among them. So God is saying that I want to dwell among them, I want to speak to my people, I want to hear them, so build me a tabernacle. And then he's saying, you know, the way God says, you know, he's saying, you take an offering from everyone who will give it willingly from his heart. Okay, so not forcefully, not in a manipulative manner. If they are willing, you take it. See God's heart again, right? So we've seen it, we've seen a different side of, you know, it in man. And when man does not represent God correctly, right? God's saying, everyone who gives willingly from his heart, you take the offering. So that they may be enough in the kingdom of God, enough for God's work. Okay, so of course we are in a different dispensation. So we, you know, we need to use this differently. So we're not taking it to build the tabernacle, but for the work of God's kingdom, right? Okay, Malachi 3, and I think we have enough time for that. Malachi 3 verses 9 to 12 says, God says, you are cursed with a curse, but you have robbed me, even this whole nation. Bring all the tithes into the storehouse that they may be food in my house. And try me now in this, says the Lord of hosts. If I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you such blessing, that there will not be enough room to receive it. Verse 11, and I will rebuke the devourer for your sins, so that he will not destroy the fruit of your ground, nor shall the wine fail to bear fruit for you in the field, as the Lord of hosts, and all nations will call you blessed, for you will be a delightful land, says the Lord of hosts. So God has put in some principles. We are going to study that about tithes and offerings and so on. God says, okay, bring all the tithes. It's something that he's established. And he's saying, you know, I will do this for your sins. I will rebuke the devourer, which is then he comes to steal, kill, destroy, so that your land, everything will be fruitful. And he says, I will pour out for you, open the windows of heaven and pour out such blessing that you may not be able to, you know, even deal with it. You won't have enough room to receive it, right? Okay, so there are a couple more and then we'll go into the wrong attitudes about this. Okay, so just go through it. Maybe you can meditate on 1 Timothy 6, verse 17. Go over it. And also Psalm 35 and verse 27. Just think about these verses, you know, the scripture, and let it really sink into our hearts, right? Okay, thank you. God bless. Stop here.