 Okay, right, welcome once again. Why don't we just pray and get started, right? The tube light is seen, is it? Okay, you can bring it down a little bit. Okay, why don't we just pray, right? Father, we thank You, Lord, for this day that You've given us, Master. Yes, Lord, today is the day, this is the day that You have made and we will rejoice and we will be glad in it. Father, we thank You that in every day You are there, right from the beginning to the end, and Master, every moment, every hour, Lord, You are there, Lord, we thank You. And Lord, we pray that You will speak to us today, even as we look into Your Word. Lord, we pray that You will write Your Word upon our hearts, God, and enable us, even what we learn, Lord, that we would be able to put into practice daily in our lives. We thank You. In Jesus' matchless name, we pray. Amen. Okay, so we've been, we've been learning about principles, right? It comes to biblical stewardship. We've been learning about the principles that, yeah, so let me just, so we've been looking at some of the principles there that God has placed in His Word. He's put in His Word. And why is it there? It is there because God wants us to take it and apply it, right? Use it in our lives, right? And we're talking specifically about, you know, God's plan to prosper us. And we're talking about that. And we see that God has placed these here because He wants us to, first of all, be aware of it, right? Because a lot of things don't happen because the church or the believers are not aware, they are ignorant of some of these principles. So what happens when you're ignorant of some of these principles? You know, you might be very, very sincere, right? You might be sincere in our hearts. You might be, you know, full of faith and sincere and, well, God's grace covers our lives, that's for sure. But what happens is that we are not able to fully walk in what God has for us. Fully walk in, fully receive, appropriate, be successful to the extent that God wants actually for us. Now, so God leads us to the truth because Holy Spirit is there dwelling within us. So He prompts, He speaks, He leads us to the truth, right? So our responsibility is not to be ignorant but to have knowledge of the truth, right? But not just have knowledge of the truth and say, okay, you know, this is good, that is good, appreciate the truth, but also to specifically walk in it. Like walk in it meaning, take the truth, apply it in our lives, okay? Not to be ignorant but be aware of the truth, to apply the truth daily in our lives, right? And see the fruit or the end result of applying the truth of God's Word, right? So that is why we have these principles. God has given us these principles almost on anything, right? Any subject matter that you can think of, God has given us these principles. So we need to be aware of it and walk in it. Okay, so we looked at some principles last class, okay? Remember any of them? A lot happens in a week, I know. So anyone online folks can, what is it that you remember? Sorry? Releasing the work, when it comes to work, work needs to be diligent and work is a way by which God prosperes. Okay, very good. Any other? Putting God first, right? And practicing righteousness, right? So putting God first, what does it mean? That means you give him importance, right? You have him as top priority in your life, right? So and the worst scripture verse that we can think of is, well, the Lord's teaching, he says, seek first the kingdom and his righteousness. So seeking righteousness, doing righteousness, doing the right thing and having that right standing with God. Where God is saying, seek first the kingdom and his righteousness and all these things, right? He's talking about things like necessities, everyday necessities, food, clothing, shelter, right? Will be added to you, okay? And he says all this in the context of worry, right? Matthew chapter 6, it's all about worrying about the future and, you know, worrying about, about providing for our needs. And in that context, he says this, right? Anything else that we recall? You want speaking? God's word, yeah, speaking God's word in faith, declaring God's word in faith. So that's a, that's a principle of faith that we've been learning that declaring what God says, not only over our lives, but over our finances also, that, that we don't keep saying, yeah, that, you know, I'm poor, I'm poor, I'm poor, right? Well, whatever God declares that though he was, you know, he was rich, he was made poor so that we could be made rich, right? In all ways, right? So that's the, that's the reality of it all, that great exchange that happened on the cross. So what do I do? I don't declare. There could be some facts, right? That is, that's another thing, right? The fact could be that bank is empty. Bank account is empty. The fact could be that, you know, there is, there's no provision for the next day. But those are the times when we continue to be faithful to declare God's promise. Those are the times, right? Well, when things are going fine, praise God, right? We declare, we say, okay, God, you know, this is who you are, and I'm so glad and happy and joyful and we celebrate all that. But what about times, when times are difficult, when times are challenging, right? Those are the moments when we continue to take the promise of God's word, continue to declare that God, you are faithful. You have promised. Now, well, there could be certain things happening in our lives that take some time. There could be some hindrances, like we saw. No, there could be hindrances to, you know, to God given prosperity. Yes. But we know that God is true. He is faithful. He is good. And he doesn't want, we know his heart, that he doesn't want to withhold. He doesn't want to keep us in a place of, or put us in a prison of poverty. God wants to raise us up. Okay, so what do we do? In those moments, you take God's word and we declare God, this is who you are, and this is who you want me to be. Okay, so we also saw how we need to honor God in our finances, right? Honoring God enough, and that's the last thing we saw, right? Last class. Especially, you know, when it comes to giving, honoring God. So it's not about, not only about receiving, right? But also giving. So where do we give? To whom do we give? Right? Giving to God is actually worshipping him, acknowledging that he is our provider. So when we, you know, and typically when we, you know, worship and when there's an offering and when we give, it is not that, you know, it's a ritualistic principle or practice that has been handed down, or this is the way, you know, church's function. So we need to do it. No, it's not that. It is a spiritual principle. And yes, it is something that is laid out in scripture for us. But this is an act of declaring to God, Lord, I worship you. So when you look at giving, we need to look at it that way. Giving to God, maybe an offering. We need to look at it that way that it is an act of worship. So when we think of worship, we think of songs. When we think of worship, we think of words spoken to God, right? When we think of worship, we also think of a life that is lived in a consecrated manner, a holy life, right? Like it's Romans chapter 12 and verse 1, do not conform to this world, right? But be transformed by the renewing of your mind. And before that, that you offer yourselves as a living sacrifice, which is a reasonable act of worship, right? So you're giving yourself as a living sacrifice. So when we consecrate our lives to live in holiness, that is also an act of worship. So we think of all that as acts of worship. But what about giving? So let's look at that. So what are we saying when we give? We are actually saying, Lord, whatever you have given me through various means, Lord, I'm bringing to you and I'm acknowledging that you are my provider. So actually, you're giving part of your life, right? If you look at it, suppose you're a person who is working, who's earning, like how much time do you spend on, you know, maybe in office or business or work, whatever, in your profession, how much time do you spend? Sorry, 8 to 10 hours, right? Sometimes if you're starting off in an organization and maybe probably more, 12 to 14 hours, in a day. So the most part goes into that. And in return, you're getting a remuneration or salary or an end of the month. So it is literally your life, whatever you poured out, your life, you know, seconds, minutes, hours you have spent and you're getting a remuneration and that salary actually represents whatever you poured in, whatever you poured out. And you're actually taking that and you're saying, Lord, I worship you, a portion of it and you're saying, God, I worship you. So literally, you know, it's your life that you're giving and you're acknowledging, Lord, this is yours. You know, you think of it that way because it's time put in. It's part of your life, which will never come back, right? So, you know, all this 9 hours or 10 hours or whatever, you know, every day that has been put in and into 6 days or, you know, 60 hours in a week, that's not going to come back, but you put in and you know, being remunerated for that or getting a salary for that. And out of that, you're going and saying, Lord, I worship you. So there are several references on offerings and giving in the Word of God, right? And we see in the Old Testament, it was a very solemn moment. It was also a joyful moment. It was a celebration, right, when people came and gave unto the Lord. It was a celebration, right? So, if you look at, you know, 1 Chronicles, chapter 16, right? It's there in the notes, page 21, 22, chapter 16 says, honor and majesty are before him. Strength and gladness are in his place. Verse 28, Give to the Lord, O families of the peoples. Give to the Lord glory and strength. Give to the Lord the glory due his name. So that we understand, okay? Give him glory, give him praise, right? Then it says, Bring an offering and come before him, O worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness, okay? In the same, you know, in the same vein or in the same context is saying, worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness. Bring to the Lord an offering and come before him, right? So, we see that our money actually represents our life, right? Don't read too much into it. I'm just going to say, I represent my life. You know, every time we look at it, it's my life, you know, we're not saying that, saying that something of your life you gave in order to receive that, right? So, when you bring it back to God, it's like bringing your life to him, bringing your time and effort and everything to him and in worship, right? So, next time, you know, when you're, whenever you're, you know, the time of offering, there could be a teaching, there may not be a teaching, right? But you personally do it as an act of worship. You tell the Lord, Lord, I thank you. I acknowledge that you are true to your word and thank you for your provision. I thank you for your promises and I'm worshiping you God. You know, in doing this, I'm worshiping you, right? Okay, let's look at one more scripture reference. 1 Chronicles 29, verses 10 to 14 and verse 16 also, okay? Therefore, David blessed the Lord before all the assembly and David said, Blessed are you, Lord God of Israel, our Father, forever and ever. Yours, O Lord, is the greatness, the power and the glory, the victory and the majesty. For all that is in heaven and earth is yours. Yours is the kingdom, O Lord, and you are exalted as head over all. Both riches and honor come from you and you reign over all. In your hand is power and might. In your hand it is to make great and to give strength to all. Now therefore, O God, we thank you and praise you, your glorious name, right? He's actually praising God, David the psalmist, King and he says in verse 14, but who am I and who are my people that we should be able to offer so willingly as this for all things come from you and of your own we have given you. So he's saying, you know, he's acknowledging the fact that God owns everything. He owns everything because he created everything. It's all his. So he's saying, of your own we have given you. All this belongs to you, God, but of your own we have given you. Look at verse 16, O Lord our God, all this abundance that we have prepared to build your house for your Holy Name is from your hand and is all your own. So he's acknowledging and he's giving. So the first thing that we see is that we worship the Lord. It's an act of worship when we give. It also reflects our relationship with him, which is a covenant relationship. So when we give, we give out of that relationship. We don't give it as a necessity. We don't give it or something bad will happen. We don't give out of fear, but we give it joyfully. And as acknowledging that God, you, we have a covenant with you. Okay, second one is also when we have a covenant relationship with people, suppose we give to people, we're talking about now giving to people, right? So we see that, okay, God, you have blessed us. Genesis 12, 2 talks about how, let's maybe look at that scripture in Genesis 12 and verse 2 where God promises Abraham and he says, I will make you a great nation. I will bless you and make your name great and you shall be a blessing. And you shall be a blessing. So God in blessing us, right, causes us or really saying, you know, I'm blessing you so that you can be a blessing. That's what he did with Abraham, in his covenant with Abraham. Abraham, I'm blessing you so that you can be a blessing. So we are, of course, not, we are in a better covenant. We are in a different dispensation, but God blesses us so that we can be a blessing. So we can be a channel of his blessing to others. When we say channel, we're saying it's like, just think of a, think of a hose or think of a, you know, something through which water can flow. God is saying, okay, I've blessed you so that you can actually bless others. You can be an instrument, you can be a channel of blessing, right, like so that blessing can flow through you to others. Okay. Thirdly, we see that, you know, this is a wonderful scripture, I think we should turn there. Second Corinthians 9. Second Corinthians 9, 6 onwards, right, 6 to 8. Okay, this is what it says. But this I say, he who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly. It's in the context of giving again, right. And he says that he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Okay. So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity for God loves the cheerful. So he's actually teaching the Corinthians and he's asking them to sow into the ministry, right. He's also talking them, talking to them about giving to the Macedonians who are actually during that time, it's something that they were preparing to give as a financial blessing to the Macedonians. And that area was actually, you know, they were not too well off. And so he was, he had spoken prior to the Corinthian church and they were actually preparing to give and also he's reminding them. And in doing so, he's giving this particular teaching about giving, right. So he says, you know, he who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly. Now that's a natural law, right. The more seeds that you spread, you know, agriculture, the more that you reap. So he's talking about that. And he's saying that let each one give as he purposes in his heart. So which means you decide. You decide between you yourself and God. You decide. Then what else? Not grudgingly. What does that mean grudgingly? Sorry. Well, not anger, like you hesitate, right. You're hesitating and you're giving, you know, okay, maybe this person is asking so and he's asked me publicly and how can I refuse? You know, it's not with the whole heart. Sorry. Yeah. So not grudgingly. He's saying, Hey, don't even don't even think like that. This is something that we planned a year ago. I'm just reminding you about it. But if you're giving, you give as you purpose in your heart. I'm not even saying that, okay, each person should give this much. Maybe saying you purpose you decide in your heart and then you give, not grudgingly. Okay. Not all of necessity meaning, Oh, I need to do this. I'm required to do this. So let me do this. Right. So they're also, you know, you're like, you're not wholeheartedly giving. It says here, for God loves a cheerful, so which means you purpose in your heart and you give cheerfully. Even you're giving, you give cheerfully. That's the requirement and it says, and God is able to make all grace abound towards you that always having all that you have always having all sufficiency in all things may have an abundance for every good work. So this is, this is a principle. So he's saying, you know, this is showing this time and then there's reaping, showing time reaping. So he's saying that this is how it is. This is what it is. In God's eyes, when you give, it is like sewing. It is like sewing. You sew into a land, you saw that seed, it will take some time, it will grow. There will be a harvest in a similar way is saying, you know, you do it cheerfully, right? Don't do it grudgingly. Don't do out of necessity because God loves a cheerful giver. That's God's desire. But he's saying, you know, when you sew, this is how it is in the natural, sew also with God. God is able to make all grace abound towards you verse 8, that you having all sufficiency in all things may have an abundance for every good work. So he's saying this is the principle, right? When you give, you know, there is the sewing and reaping. So God takes pleasure. So God is saying, you know, you sew generously and you also reap out of it, generously. Okay, so we see all this when we, you know, when we learn about this. So the way to give, okay, give wholeheartedly, okay? Well, it is hard on our flesh. Yes or no? Sometimes we have questions, sometimes we have doubts, and it's hard on our flesh. It's like, oh, should I really give this? Right? So, die to the self, die to the flesh and give. Give the first and the best, right? That is what we see in scripture, right? Give the first and the best. Thirdly, give in recognition of the law of sewing and reaping. Give that God will make all grace abound and you will have an abundance for every good work and give with the heart of love, okay? So some practical things that we see here, okay? So what are the three areas of giving in a sense? To whom do I give, right? First of all, okay, if you're following in the notes, it's page 23, right? Three areas of giving. The first area is that, you know, God has instituted a principle of tithing, okay, one-tenth of all our income to give as an act of worship to God, so I think, so which means that wherever you are placed, you know, where you are, what should I say, you know, wherever you are rooted, you know, maybe a church, maybe, you know, fellowship, ministry, whatever, wherever you are placed there, wherever you are spiritually nurtured and wherever you are serving also, right? So there's no hard and fast. In the Old Testament, it was to the temple. It's one place, it's like one, one granary, so everybody gave there, but right now, you can give wherever you are placed, you are rooted in, right? So you tithe, tithe is one-tenth, right? Just 10% of all our income, whatever we get, you give as an act of worship to God, right? Give to the place where you are spiritually fed, you know, that's just a practical thing, you know, you place, you feel that, okay, this is where I'm spiritually fed, this is where I am, this is where I'm fellowshiping, this is where I'm serving, okay, give, okay? Then the second one is an offering, okay, so the offering we see is beyond the tithe, okay? This is something which is beyond the type and it is again freely given and is a free will, so that's over and above the tithe, you know, say here when we see 2 Corinthians chapter 9, the portion that we read just now, you know, it is talking about, you know, an offering, okay? Then the third one is an, what do we call as arms or ALM, okay? Arms, so it is something that we give to help someone who is needy, someone who is in a place of need, okay? It need not be always someone who is stricken with poverty or, you know, it can be anyone who has a need financially and, you know, so that's the thing you're giving, right? So it could be the poor and the helpless, it could be, you know, so this is also in addition to our tithes and offerings, okay? So when it comes to tithes, we see this principle, right? It goes way back, right? In Genesis 14, we see that and maybe we'll just read that, right? Genesis chapter 14 and verse 20, okay? Okay, so Genesis 14 verse 20 talks about Melchizedek, maybe we'll read from verse 18, then Melchizedek, king of Salem, brought out bread and wine, he was the priest of the Most High and he blessed him, he blessed Abraham and said, blessed be Abraham of God, Most High, possessor of heaven and earth and blessed be God Most High, who has delivered your enemies into your hands and he gave him a type of all, okay? So Abraham gave Melchizedek a type of all. So that's the first thing, first time that we read about the type, a one-tenth, right? And so on. So we see that Isaac also tithes because Abraham obviously taught him, so Isaac also tithes and we read about that, right? So what is it? It's the first fruit of your increase. Proud 39 says the first fruits of your increase, okay? Or, you know, in other words, in modern terms, we could say it's the, you know, whatever income, whatever increase that we have received, the tenth of that, okay? Now, there are some reasons why people do not tithe, okay? There could be some reasons. Let's look at that. First of all, it could be lack of knowledge, okay? So I, in my mind, it could be like, okay, what is tithing? I was not even taught. I didn't know about finances. I didn't know that one had to type, okay? So maybe a new believer or it could be, you know, maybe not necessarily a new believer, someone who's there in faith for so many years, but maybe they were not exposed to this, right? Or this teaching or they didn't know. So this is it. Lack of knowledge. Secondly, it could be fear, okay? Why do you want, why don't you want to type? You know, what if God does not perform or what God does not fulfill what He has promised, right? Second Corinthians 9 verse 8 says, okay, that He will make all things abound, that I will have abundance, all sufficiency and abundance for good work. But what if that does not happen? For whatever reason, if that doesn't happen then, right? I've given and my money is gone and it could be fear, right? Thirdly, it could be selfishness, no? Just saying that, okay, this is mine, that is yours. I want to keep mine for myself, right? Fourthly, deception. You know, it could be deception and some of it is, you know, it's a, I would say it is, it's sad but it happens, right? Happens in Christianity, happens in, you know, the churches that we see that. Okay, here are these people, preachers, people in ministry and they are exploiting me, they want my money, okay? They want my money to feed themselves, they want my money, they want to use it for, they want to increase and the fact is that it is, it is sadly true, right? There is an abuse of finances in the church that we see, right? Abuse, no accountability, right? No one knows how much is going, no one knows what are the expenses, no one knows how much is being taken and used, right? There is no, there's no line between personal money and church money, sir. Sometimes it happens, there's an abuse of it. So people fear that and saying, okay, I don't want to give or maybe they have given, like I, you know, recently met someone who had actually given quite a bit to a particular church that he was part of for the building, building project and so on and then he came to know that, well, there was misappropriation of the funds, right? The people used it, not just for the building thing but maybe for the whatever, in whatever way they misappropriate. So he was very, very upset when he's saying, I don't want to give, I don't want to give to this church, I don't want to give any upset to the point of saying, I don't want to come to church. I do not want to come to, if this is what church is about, I do not want to be there, right? So for him, church is just a social gathering. He said it in so many ways, I go there to meet my relatives, I go there to say hello to them, not to receive anything from, you know, no spiritual input, nothing, you know, it's unfortunate, right? Okay, so that could be a reality, why people don't type or it could also be some religious or religious lies, if you want to call it that or it could be misapplication of truth, misapplication of scripture, wrong understanding of scripture. For example, you know, we could say tithing is part of the Old Testament, where does it say in the New Testament? You don't see that word, you don't see that principle in operation, okay? So the Abraham type, it's part of the Old Testament law. But actually if you look at it, it was not part of the Old Testament law. Okay, so you may ask, then what do you mean? Thing is, tithing as a principle, when we see in Genesis 14, the law had not yet been given, right? The law came much later. In fact, it came 400 years after, after that conversation. Sorry, where is this? Yeah, it came almost 400 years after Abraham tithed, so which means he tithed out of a covenant relationship with God, not because the law says, you shall tithe unto your God, so and so. You understand, right? It's not part of the Old Testament law, it was much before that. And also Isaac says here that 350 years before Moses, before the law was given, he had tithes. So Abraham and Isaac tithed even before the law. So it's not that it's part of the Old Testament law and therefore, since we do not follow the Old Testament law, now we do not have to tithe. No, if this was done even before. Second one, people say, okay, tithing, okay, let's say it was part of the Old Testament, Old Dispensation, it ended at the cross. Now we are on the New Dispensation. A lot of things finished, it got over, done at the cross and so now we are on this side of the cross, therefore, we do not have to tithe. Okay, so that could be an argument. So we see that, okay, for every instance of something that is discontinued or changed, there are specific New Testament verses, scriptures identifying the change and talking about it. So for example, the blood sacrifice, it was there as part of the Old Testament law. People came, people sacrificed, animals, birds, burnt offerings, everything as part of the worship to God, right? So did it continue? Why is it not continuing? Sorry? Yeah, yeah, so Jesus was that ultimate sacrifice, that perfect sacrifice. So all these animal sacrifices or everything that was a blood sacrifice was pointing to Jesus, right? It was a symbol or a type of what would follow that is the Lord's perfect sacrifice on the cross. So Hebrews talks about that, that this is the perfect sacrifice, Hebrews 10. So he was that, let's read that verse, Hebrews 9, 11, Hebrews 10, 12. Let's turn to Hebrews chapter 9. But Christ came as high priest of the good things to come with the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is, not of this creation. Verse 12, not with the blood of goats and calves, but with his own blood, he entered the most holy place once and for all, having obtained eternal redemption. Let's keep reading, for if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling the unclean sanctifies for the purifying of the flesh, how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal spirit offered himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God. Okay, so he was that perfect sacrifice. Chapter 10 verse 12. But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God. It was 14. For by one offering, he has perfected those who are being sanctified. For by one sacrifice, one offering, he has perfected those who are being sacrificed. So we see that he's a perfect sacrifice. So there is no more requirement, no other requirement required. He's a perfect sacrifice, because everything, all that was done was actually in preparation, helping people to understand that there will be this perfect sacrifice. And once that perfect sacrifice was done, there was no other requirement. Jesus need not go on to the cross again, because it was already, it's a finished work. Right? So the blood sacrifice discontinued. Okay, what about access to the Father? Which means, who can go to God? Because it was only the High Priest. It was only the High Priest who could go that to once a year, he could go to the Holy Place. And after doing, you know, after sprinkling the blood, and then he, I mean, sorry, after the sacrifice, I had the altar, the brazen altar, and then he goes in, and then we're talking about the tabernacle, that he goes in and then sprinkles the blood, the most holy place, and, you know, the showbread and incense is there, and all that he does, but he goes there, he's the most holy place once, right, once a year. And that's it. He does that on behalf of the people, on behalf of the people. Not everybody has access. Now we know when Jesus died on the cross, something happened at the temple, right? You remember, right? Something happened in the temple. What happened? That veil, which was like a curtain, right? From top to bottom, it was, come on, split into symbolically, you know, representing or stating that now there is no more barrier. Now all of us, because this was one perfect sacrifice, one blood offering. So all of us who appropriate are able to go through that perfect, I mean, the holy place, and there is no more barrier for us, because this has created a way, and that's why, you know, Hebrews again talks about the fact that he's made a way for us to come to the holy of holies, right? So he's, by a living way, he's made for us to come to the holy of holies. So, which means that all of us, we can have access all the time to the Father, okay? Right? Look at Hebrews chapter four, okay? Verse 16, let us therefore come boldly to where? To the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Okay, so we see that all of us, each one of us, have that access and to come to the throne of grace. I just wanted to read from Hebrews 10 verse 19 onwards. Hebrews 10 verse 19, okay? Okay, we have a question from Andrew. Andrew, I'll just come to that after we finish this. Okay, therefore brethren, having boldness to enter the holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which he consecrated for us through the veil that is his flesh, and having a high priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water. Okay, so in the book of Hebrews, he talks about the Old Testament, sacrifices, and he talks about the new and living way which Jesus made for us. So he's saying, you know, this is it, through the veil, he has actually created a way for us, and so let us draw near with a true heart and in full assurance of faith and with repentance and so on. Okay, so what we see is that we, all of us have access to the Father. So we see, stated in the New Testament very categorically that, yes, this is what it is, we can draw near, all of us as believers can draw near, and therefore the just the high priest drawing near is, it is brought to an end at the cross. So, okay. Okay, Andrew's question is the accountancy of offering should be maintained transparent with the church. My question is, even the tithes, we need to maintain transparency with the church. Okay, so the thing is this, it's between us and God, like we saw, let each one give as he purposes in his heart. So on the part of the church, now they can maintain, they need to maintain transparency, saying, okay, so much was received from the congregation, so much was received from the congregation. But from our part, we give as we purpose in our hearts. So we don't have to publish, we don't have to announce, say I'm giving so much, we don't have to do that. Now, I know that certain places, you write the tithes in a cover, you write the amount, and that's for the purpose of people receiving and accounting for it and so on. And saying that, okay, this goes towards the tithes. Some people might have a thing, okay, this goes under a category of tithes, these goes under the category of offering, this goes under the category of, you know, maybe it's used for outreach, similarly. So you write on the cover, what is it as a person who's giving? So that's all it is, right, to it. So, I know some people, some churches, I've heard, maintain, okay, we have a register, your name, and every month, what is it? What is the type? You know, one month you miss and it's like, brother, sister, what happened, type didn't come. So, you know, it's not a healthy practice. So us maintaining transparency is between us and God, and we give as we purpose in our hearts, like we read. So, yeah, so did that help Andrew? You know, as a pastor, we need to give account, yeah, as pastors, we need to give account to the extent that so much of money has come in, you know, both legally, as an account to, you know, in terms of auditing and legally, there's a requirement, you know, it differs in different nations, different places. I don't know how it is in your country, but, you know, legally, if you're registered as a trust, well, you have certain, as a religious trust, you have certain exemptions to income tax, and therefore, you need to present, you need to file your return, saying this is, have it audited and have it, you know, presented, have it filed, saying this is the money, this has come in. So that's a legal requirement, yeah. So and also, it's good to keep it transparent with the congregation saying this Sunday, we receive this, and so on. I hope that helps Andrew. Okay, okay, we'll stop here. That's all time we have now, and we'll continue next class. Okay, thank you, God bless.