February 25, 2025 • 18 mins
Exodus 1:15-20
The story of Shiphrah and Puah shows two women who were willing to do what God wants instead of what Pharaoh wants. As a result, the Israelites multiply and become stronger. What does God ask of us? To bring 10% of what we have to him. Imagine if we all actually did that? We would not have any issues of funding in our church. None.
But while we work to that point, imagine if just 2 of us who are not giving do start tithing? What happens then? And what happens when we start tithing to our relationship with money? We get a peace we haven’t had before. The conference is sure learning that.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Matt Nelson (00:04):
Welcome to the sermon podcast from First United Methodist
Church in downtown Bentonville.
If you have questions related towhat you hear today, or just want to
find out more about the ministries atFirst United Methodist Church, please
visit us online at fumcbentonville.
org, or check us out onFacebook, Instagram, or TikTok.
Rev. Dr. Michelle Morris (00:23):
Welcome to First United Methodist Church!
I'm Pastor Michelle Morris, andit is a joy to be with you today.
We are in our next to lastin our stewardship series.
And today we are looking at thechallenge of what it means to
serve God versus serving Pharaoh.
So to get us in that frame, weare going to hear this passage
(00:44):
from the book of Exodus.
The king of Egypt spoke to two Hebrewmidwives named Shephra and Puah.
When you are helping the Hebrewwomen give birth and you see the baby
being born, if it's a boy, kill him.
But if it's a girl, you can let her live.
Now the two midwives respectedGod, so they didn't obey
(01:06):
the Egyptian king's order.
Instead, they let the baby boys live.
So the king of Egypt calledthe two midwives and said to
them, Why are you doing this?
Why are you letting the baby boys live?
The two midwives said to Pharaoh, BecauseHebrew women aren't like Egyptian women.
They're much stronger and give birthbefore any midwives can get to them.
(01:28):
So God treated the midwiveswell, and the people kept on
multiplying and became very strong.
This is the word of Godfor the people of God.
Thanks be to God.
Let us pray.
Lord, open our hearts, our minds, andour eyes, that we might see and know
the word you have for us this day.
(01:50):
In your holy name we pray.
Amen.
So, when I was in 10th grade, I wasfacing what I considered a really
high stakes flagline tryouts in band.
I was excited about flagline, lovedthe flagline, and I was helping get
ready for the tryouts, so I had gonein the band room and gone past the band
(02:12):
director's office and into the storageroom and gotten the things that we needed.
And as I was turning, coming outof the storage room, I was within
earshot of the band director's office,but he could not see I was there.
And it was at that moment that Iheard the band director instruct
the two judges that were there tojudge the flagline competition.
(02:35):
Make sure that the fat girl andthe black girl don't make the line.
Only he didn't say black.
I froze.
I knew what he had said was wrong.
I knew that those girls deservedas much an opportunity to
(02:55):
be on the flagline as I did.
What he was ordering thejudges to do made my blood boil
and I was panicked because thatparticular year I was up to be captain
of the flagline and I'll just be honest.
(03:20):
In bands and concert season,I played the saxophone.
And I am a terrible saxophone player.
I, you know, one time madeit to first chair in my whole
career as a saxophone player.
One time I was first chair and otherwise Iwas either 6th or 7th out of 7 saxophones.
(03:40):
So I was not the best saxophoneplayer and because of that my grade
was always teetering on trouble.
So I always made up for it by doingthings like being on the flag line
and I was set to be the band vicepresident the next year and I was
just, I was very excited about band,I was just a terrible musician.
(04:01):
But I knew that my bandgrade could threaten my GPA.
And I knew it was me against three adults.
What should I do?
I've just told you a story of choices.
And I am certain that the storythat I shared with you is not that
(04:22):
different than some of the choicesthat you have faced in your life.
There have been times when you havebeen faced with a situation in which
you knew something was wrong, butyou had limited power to change it.
You knew that if you stoodup, there was great risk.
(04:42):
I have a friend who always says inchoices between right and wrong,
right is rarely the easy choice.
Shephra and Puah had such a choice,and the pressures on them were immense.
It was Pharaoh who had given themthat order to kill the baby boys.
(05:04):
So the choice that is before them isto choose Pharaoh, to choose their
people, they are Egyptians, theseare Hebrews, to choose their life and
their livelihood, or to choose whatis right, to choose love and life.
(05:25):
It was an ethical decisionthat was before them.
Ethical decisions are decisions inwhich we choose between right and wrong.
When we choose betweengreed and generosity.
When we choose betweenbeing selfish or selfless.
Sometimes when we choosebetween life and death.
(05:46):
They are choices.
Between God and Pharaoh.
And that's often what ethical choices are.
It's a decision.
Are we following God?
Or are we following Pharaoh?
Before we get any deeper intothis, let's answer the question,
who is God and who is Pharaoh?
Well, who is God?
(06:07):
God.
God is God.
In our denomination though, we wouldsay specifically that God is love.
That God is life.
When you choose love and youchoose life abundant, not just
for yourself, but for all of thosearound you, you have chosen God.
So who is Pharaoh?
(06:28):
Well, Pharaoh would be any forceopposing that love and that life,
opposing the freedom to havethat ability to love and to live.
Any power that's trying to usurp God'sauthority over life and livelihood.
And who wants the best for Pharaoh'sself at the expense of everyone else.
(06:54):
Pharaoh shows up in a lot of ways.
Sometimes it's that friend whoonly takes and takes and puts you
down and makes you feel lesser.
Sometimes it's a job, it's a companythat continues to cut a workforce
and still expects that you'll pickup extra work without extra pay.
And it's getting harder and harderand the weight is heavier and heavier.
(07:19):
Sometimes it's political realitiesthat are crushing down upon people.
There's all kinds of waysthat Pharaoh shows up.
So that raises the question,what does Pharaoh want, and
what does God want, right?
Well, Pharaoh wants asmuch as Pharaoh can take.
Whatever that is.
Whoever Pharaoh is.
(07:41):
Pharaoh will take and take and take.
Pharaoh drives from aposition of fear and scarcity.
The idea that there is neverenough, and so, Pharaoh must
accumulate to protect Pharaoh.
God, on the other hand, wantswhat you choose to give.
(08:02):
Technically, everything is already God's.
God doesn't have need.
But God invites us.
Invites us into a place of giving.
It is not coercive.
It is not demanding.
And it drives from a perspective oftrust and abundance, that there will be
(08:23):
enough, especially if we would all share.
Now, God does have a specific askin this book, and that is the tithe.
Now, there's a lot of confusion aroundthe tithe, so we're going to take a
little bit of time and learn about it.
And it's, it comes up, um, particularlyin the Old Testament when God is saying
(08:47):
bring 10 percent of the yield of yourcrops and your livestock to the temple.
I don't know exactly how theyfigured out what that 10 percent is.
It's pretty easy to countanimals, but I don't know how you
figured out 10 percent of grain.
But anyway, you bring your 10percent there and dedicate it to
God, and from that it's dispersed tothose who need to be provided for.
(09:08):
Now, for us, that 10 percent is usuallyunderstood as Money, 10 percent of what
you earn, but 10 percent figured how?
Some people figure the 10 percent asthe gross of what you earn before taxes.
Some people figure the 10 percent as thenet of what you earn after you've rendered
(09:29):
unto Caesar what is Caesar's, right?
After taxes, what's left?
You give 10%.
Some people figure the tithe offof after you've paid your taxes and
paid all of your bills, what's left?
You give 10%.
I'm not going to answerthe question for you.
It is a journey between you and Godand it is even a journey between
(09:50):
you and God as to whether you are atthe point where you want to tithe,
where you feel called to tithe.
I'm just telling you how peoplefigure it and where they are.
I can tell you that a few yearsago, the Arkansas Conference moved
from apportionments to the tithe.
And I'm gonna explain a little bitof the difference, and I see it
as a move more in line with Godand less in line with Pharaoh.
(10:14):
So, now, whenever you give, when theplate comes around and you give, or when
you go online and you give, at the end ofevery month, whatever has been given to
this church, we take 10 percent of whatwas given and send it to the conference.
And what that does is it supportsthe conference ministries, it
supports the work of the bishop'soffice, and the districts.
(10:37):
It also supports all of the thingsthat the United Methodist Church
does, like the General Board ofHigher Education and Ministries,
so the colleges that we support.
It supports the United Methodist Committeeon Relief, which is why when you give to
a need that UMCOR has, 100 percent of itgoes to fulfilling that need because We
cover the administrative costs of UMCOR.
(10:58):
It helps support our mission andour ministry all around the world.
And it is just a flat10 percent every month.
We cut it and send it on.
What it used to be was a very complicatedformula that figured both a church's
expenses and income based on what hadhappened two or three years prior.
(11:22):
Well, a lot can happen to a church in twoto three years, and especially I've served
churches that are farming communities.
Farming communities could have a reallybig year and then some really hard years,
but they were having to pay the conferencebased on those really big years.
It was a little bit more likemeeting the demands of Pharaoh
(11:45):
instead of meeting what God asked.
Now what we have learned as a conferenceas we have gone into this tithe
is that it takes some discipline.
There were cuts that had to be madebecause the conference has to move
with what happens to the churches.
And we've had, you know, as adenomination, a hard couple of years.
So the conference has had to shrinkdown and live within those means.
(12:09):
It is a discipline.
But it is also a reorientation.
It is taking that amount.
And knowing it goes to God, beyondus, and it serves God and we're
going to be at peace and trust inthe abundance that God has in that.
And we do that as a church, butit is also something that we as
(12:32):
people are called to do as well.
What we do with our moneyis an ethical choice.
How we choose to spend itand what we choose to spend
it on is an ethical choice.
Every time.
And it's always made within a context.
And that's something else I wantto bring up about the tithe.
Because God gives the people thetithe not while they're in Egypt.
(12:59):
God gives the people thetithe when they are free.
When they are no longer enslaved.
The tithe also does not comeup in the New Testament at all.
Because the New Testament is entirelywritten to a people that's under
the thumb of the Roman Empire.
(13:20):
Instead, God calls them to givewith a cheerful heart what they can.
It matters as to how much pressureyou're under from Pharaoh.
It matters.
Now, my very first year here, someof you were not here at the time
when we did our stewardship campaign.
As part of my discipline, I sharedwith you all my journey into the tithe.
(13:44):
So I'm going to share that with you now.
Didn't use to tithe, but whenI went into seminary, I thought
there's gonna be sermons whereI have to talk about the tithe.
Spoiler alert, I'm gonnahave to talk about the tithe.
From time to time, there's gonna bethose sermons, and if I'm gonna stand
in front of a group of people andtell them that this is a discipline to
(14:04):
invite them into this discipline thatGod has put before us, I'm gonna do it.
I'm gonna know that I'm tithingbefore I ask that of my people.
So, started tithing in seminary, andit worked out great until 2008 and
2009, when there was a bit of a changein society, and um, my husband who
was in the tech industry lost his job,and our annual income went from 120,
(14:29):
000 a year to 20, 000 a year, at whichpoint I went to the accountant at the
church that we were at and said, we'regonna have to make an adjustment.
I'm not actually gonna be able to give.
At this time, I need everycent to buy groceries.
And she understood, but I kept her record.
(14:51):
And after we recovered, I went and paidback what we couldn't do at that time.
And, so you can see in my journeythat I had to make an adjustment
because of the pressures.
But also now, I've simplifiedmy life quite a bit.
I recognize there are other peoplearound me that are under pressure.
And that calls me, not just totithe, but To a little bit more so
(15:17):
That first year I stood in front ofeverybody and filled out the card I'm
not going to bother writing the card.
I'm just going to tell you.
This is my salary as public knowledge.
If anybody wants to know it, we haveit in paperwork in the church office.
It's open and available toanyone who wants to see it.
But I will be committing in thisnext year to 12 percent of my
(15:37):
salary going to this church.
And to the 2nd Street Pantry.
Because the pantry has seentheir clientele double in
the last couple of months.
So some of it will go to the second streetpantry, but the remainder will come into
the church, which comes to about 21, 000.
Just so you know, full disclosure,because that is the discipline that
(15:59):
God has called me to model for you.
That is what I share with you.
It's not what I expect Ray todo or any of the other staff.
It's not what we expect you to do.
You don't have to stand upand tell me what you're given.
But I feel as though as your leader.
If we're going to talk about this,you ought to see how it's lived out.
Shifra and Pu'ah alsohad to make a choice.
(16:22):
They had to choose how they were goingto give of their gifts of midwifery.
Were they going to choose hateand anger and fear and death?
Or were they going tochoose love, trust, joy?
(16:43):
Abundance and life.
They chose God and out of thatcame so much more abundance.
So I suppose you all are wonderinghow that band story ended.
I'm not going to tell you.
Instead I'm going to say this.
(17:05):
How would you end the story?
Put yourself in the moment.
What would you do?
It is a choice between God andPharaoh, and they're not easy choices.
But because we serve a loving God,A God of freedom, an invitation.
(17:25):
The choice is yours.
Thanks be to God.
Amen.
Matt Nelson (17:32):
Thanks for listening to the Sermon podcast from First United
Methodist Church in downtown Bentonville.
If you would like to let us know you werehere, follow the link below to connect.
To participate in worship through giving,you can give online at FUMCBentonville.
org or on Venmo @FUMCBentonville.
FUMCBentonville welcomes all.
(17:53):
Because we believe the communiontable is God's table, we invite
everyone into our church family.
We welcome and celebrate every race,gender, gender identity, sexual
orientation, marital status, age, physicaland mental ability, national origin,
economic station, and political ideology.
We come together in action and outreach,aspiring to follow Jesus' example of
(18:16):
radical hospitality, love, and grace as atransformative movement in our community.
Please join us for worship on Sundaymornings at nine and 11:00 AM, both
in person and on Facebook Live.
All are welcome and we'dlove to have you with us.
Grace and peace.
Welcome to the sermon podcast from First United Methodist
Church in downtown Bentonville.
If you have questions related towhat you hear today, or just want to
find out more about the ministries atFirst United Methodist Church, please
visit us online at fumcbentonville.
org, or check us out onFacebook, Instagram, or TikTok.
Rev. Dr. Michelle Morris (00:23):
Welcome to First United Methodist Church!
I'm Pastor Michelle Morris, andit is a joy to be with you today.
We are in our next to lastin our stewardship series.
And today we are looking at thechallenge of what it means to
serve God versus serving Pharaoh.
So to get us in that frame, weare going to hear this passage
(00:44):
from the book of Exodus.
The king of Egypt spoke to two Hebrewmidwives named Shephra and Puah.
When you are helping the Hebrewwomen give birth and you see the baby
being born, if it's a boy, kill him.
But if it's a girl, you can let her live.
Now the two midwives respectedGod, so they didn't obey
(01:06):
the Egyptian king's order.
Instead, they let the baby boys live.
So the king of Egypt calledthe two midwives and said to
them, Why are you doing this?
Why are you letting the baby boys live?
The two midwives said to Pharaoh, BecauseHebrew women aren't like Egyptian women.
They're much stronger and give birthbefore any midwives can get to them.
(01:28):
So God treated the midwiveswell, and the people kept on
multiplying and became very strong.
This is the word of Godfor the people of God.
Thanks be to God.
Let us pray.
Lord, open our hearts, our minds, andour eyes, that we might see and know
the word you have for us this day.
(01:50):
In your holy name we pray.
Amen.
So, when I was in 10th grade, I wasfacing what I considered a really
high stakes flagline tryouts in band.
I was excited about flagline, lovedthe flagline, and I was helping get
ready for the tryouts, so I had gonein the band room and gone past the band
(02:12):
director's office and into the storageroom and gotten the things that we needed.
And as I was turning, coming outof the storage room, I was within
earshot of the band director's office,but he could not see I was there.
And it was at that moment that Iheard the band director instruct
the two judges that were there tojudge the flagline competition.
(02:35):
Make sure that the fat girl andthe black girl don't make the line.
Only he didn't say black.
I froze.
I knew what he had said was wrong.
I knew that those girls deservedas much an opportunity to
(02:55):
be on the flagline as I did.
What he was ordering thejudges to do made my blood boil
and I was panicked because thatparticular year I was up to be captain
of the flagline and I'll just be honest.
(03:20):
In bands and concert season,I played the saxophone.
And I am a terrible saxophone player.
I, you know, one time madeit to first chair in my whole
career as a saxophone player.
One time I was first chair and otherwise Iwas either 6th or 7th out of 7 saxophones.
(03:40):
So I was not the best saxophoneplayer and because of that my grade
was always teetering on trouble.
So I always made up for it by doingthings like being on the flag line
and I was set to be the band vicepresident the next year and I was
just, I was very excited about band,I was just a terrible musician.
(04:01):
But I knew that my bandgrade could threaten my GPA.
And I knew it was me against three adults.
What should I do?
I've just told you a story of choices.
And I am certain that the storythat I shared with you is not that
(04:22):
different than some of the choicesthat you have faced in your life.
There have been times when you havebeen faced with a situation in which
you knew something was wrong, butyou had limited power to change it.
You knew that if you stoodup, there was great risk.
(04:42):
I have a friend who always says inchoices between right and wrong,
right is rarely the easy choice.
Shephra and Puah had such a choice,and the pressures on them were immense.
It was Pharaoh who had given themthat order to kill the baby boys.
(05:04):
So the choice that is before them isto choose Pharaoh, to choose their
people, they are Egyptians, theseare Hebrews, to choose their life and
their livelihood, or to choose whatis right, to choose love and life.
(05:25):
It was an ethical decisionthat was before them.
Ethical decisions are decisions inwhich we choose between right and wrong.
When we choose betweengreed and generosity.
When we choose betweenbeing selfish or selfless.
Sometimes when we choosebetween life and death.
(05:46):
They are choices.
Between God and Pharaoh.
And that's often what ethical choices are.
It's a decision.
Are we following God?
Or are we following Pharaoh?
Before we get any deeper intothis, let's answer the question,
who is God and who is Pharaoh?
Well, who is God?
(06:07):
God.
God is God.
In our denomination though, we wouldsay specifically that God is love.
That God is life.
When you choose love and youchoose life abundant, not just
for yourself, but for all of thosearound you, you have chosen God.
So who is Pharaoh?
(06:28):
Well, Pharaoh would be any forceopposing that love and that life,
opposing the freedom to havethat ability to love and to live.
Any power that's trying to usurp God'sauthority over life and livelihood.
And who wants the best for Pharaoh'sself at the expense of everyone else.
(06:54):
Pharaoh shows up in a lot of ways.
Sometimes it's that friend whoonly takes and takes and puts you
down and makes you feel lesser.
Sometimes it's a job, it's a companythat continues to cut a workforce
and still expects that you'll pickup extra work without extra pay.
And it's getting harder and harderand the weight is heavier and heavier.
(07:19):
Sometimes it's political realitiesthat are crushing down upon people.
There's all kinds of waysthat Pharaoh shows up.
So that raises the question,what does Pharaoh want, and
what does God want, right?
Well, Pharaoh wants asmuch as Pharaoh can take.
Whatever that is.
Whoever Pharaoh is.
(07:41):
Pharaoh will take and take and take.
Pharaoh drives from aposition of fear and scarcity.
The idea that there is neverenough, and so, Pharaoh must
accumulate to protect Pharaoh.
God, on the other hand, wantswhat you choose to give.
(08:02):
Technically, everything is already God's.
God doesn't have need.
But God invites us.
Invites us into a place of giving.
It is not coercive.
It is not demanding.
And it drives from a perspective oftrust and abundance, that there will be
(08:23):
enough, especially if we would all share.
Now, God does have a specific askin this book, and that is the tithe.
Now, there's a lot of confusion aroundthe tithe, so we're going to take a
little bit of time and learn about it.
And it's, it comes up, um, particularlyin the Old Testament when God is saying
(08:47):
bring 10 percent of the yield of yourcrops and your livestock to the temple.
I don't know exactly how theyfigured out what that 10 percent is.
It's pretty easy to countanimals, but I don't know how you
figured out 10 percent of grain.
But anyway, you bring your 10percent there and dedicate it to
God, and from that it's dispersed tothose who need to be provided for.
(09:08):
Now, for us, that 10 percent is usuallyunderstood as Money, 10 percent of what
you earn, but 10 percent figured how?
Some people figure the 10 percent asthe gross of what you earn before taxes.
Some people figure the 10 percent as thenet of what you earn after you've rendered
(09:29):
unto Caesar what is Caesar's, right?
After taxes, what's left?
You give 10%.
Some people figure the tithe offof after you've paid your taxes and
paid all of your bills, what's left?
You give 10%.
I'm not going to answerthe question for you.
It is a journey between you and Godand it is even a journey between
(09:50):
you and God as to whether you are atthe point where you want to tithe,
where you feel called to tithe.
I'm just telling you how peoplefigure it and where they are.
I can tell you that a few yearsago, the Arkansas Conference moved
from apportionments to the tithe.
And I'm gonna explain a little bitof the difference, and I see it
as a move more in line with Godand less in line with Pharaoh.
(10:14):
So, now, whenever you give, when theplate comes around and you give, or when
you go online and you give, at the end ofevery month, whatever has been given to
this church, we take 10 percent of whatwas given and send it to the conference.
And what that does is it supportsthe conference ministries, it
supports the work of the bishop'soffice, and the districts.
(10:37):
It also supports all of the thingsthat the United Methodist Church
does, like the General Board ofHigher Education and Ministries,
so the colleges that we support.
It supports the United Methodist Committeeon Relief, which is why when you give to
a need that UMCOR has, 100 percent of itgoes to fulfilling that need because We
cover the administrative costs of UMCOR.
(10:58):
It helps support our mission andour ministry all around the world.
And it is just a flat10 percent every month.
We cut it and send it on.
What it used to be was a very complicatedformula that figured both a church's
expenses and income based on what hadhappened two or three years prior.
(11:22):
Well, a lot can happen to a church in twoto three years, and especially I've served
churches that are farming communities.
Farming communities could have a reallybig year and then some really hard years,
but they were having to pay the conferencebased on those really big years.
It was a little bit more likemeeting the demands of Pharaoh
(11:45):
instead of meeting what God asked.
Now what we have learned as a conferenceas we have gone into this tithe
is that it takes some discipline.
There were cuts that had to be madebecause the conference has to move
with what happens to the churches.
And we've had, you know, as adenomination, a hard couple of years.
So the conference has had to shrinkdown and live within those means.
(12:09):
It is a discipline.
But it is also a reorientation.
It is taking that amount.
And knowing it goes to God, beyondus, and it serves God and we're
going to be at peace and trust inthe abundance that God has in that.
And we do that as a church, butit is also something that we as
(12:32):
people are called to do as well.
What we do with our moneyis an ethical choice.
How we choose to spend itand what we choose to spend
it on is an ethical choice.
Every time.
And it's always made within a context.
And that's something else I wantto bring up about the tithe.
Because God gives the people thetithe not while they're in Egypt.
(12:59):
God gives the people thetithe when they are free.
When they are no longer enslaved.
The tithe also does not comeup in the New Testament at all.
Because the New Testament is entirelywritten to a people that's under
the thumb of the Roman Empire.
(13:20):
Instead, God calls them to givewith a cheerful heart what they can.
It matters as to how much pressureyou're under from Pharaoh.
It matters.
Now, my very first year here, someof you were not here at the time
when we did our stewardship campaign.
As part of my discipline, I sharedwith you all my journey into the tithe.
(13:44):
So I'm going to share that with you now.
Didn't use to tithe, but whenI went into seminary, I thought
there's gonna be sermons whereI have to talk about the tithe.
Spoiler alert, I'm gonnahave to talk about the tithe.
From time to time, there's gonna bethose sermons, and if I'm gonna stand
in front of a group of people andtell them that this is a discipline to
(14:04):
invite them into this discipline thatGod has put before us, I'm gonna do it.
I'm gonna know that I'm tithingbefore I ask that of my people.
So, started tithing in seminary, andit worked out great until 2008 and
2009, when there was a bit of a changein society, and um, my husband who
was in the tech industry lost his job,and our annual income went from 120,
(14:29):
000 a year to 20, 000 a year, at whichpoint I went to the accountant at the
church that we were at and said, we'regonna have to make an adjustment.
I'm not actually gonna be able to give.
At this time, I need everycent to buy groceries.
And she understood, but I kept her record.
(14:51):
And after we recovered, I went and paidback what we couldn't do at that time.
And, so you can see in my journeythat I had to make an adjustment
because of the pressures.
But also now, I've simplifiedmy life quite a bit.
I recognize there are other peoplearound me that are under pressure.
And that calls me, not just totithe, but To a little bit more so
(15:17):
That first year I stood in front ofeverybody and filled out the card I'm
not going to bother writing the card.
I'm just going to tell you.
This is my salary as public knowledge.
If anybody wants to know it, we haveit in paperwork in the church office.
It's open and available toanyone who wants to see it.
But I will be committing in thisnext year to 12 percent of my
(15:37):
salary going to this church.
And to the 2nd Street Pantry.
Because the pantry has seentheir clientele double in
the last couple of months.
So some of it will go to the second streetpantry, but the remainder will come into
the church, which comes to about 21, 000.
Just so you know, full disclosure,because that is the discipline that
(15:59):
God has called me to model for you.
That is what I share with you.
It's not what I expect Ray todo or any of the other staff.
It's not what we expect you to do.
You don't have to stand upand tell me what you're given.
But I feel as though as your leader.
If we're going to talk about this,you ought to see how it's lived out.
Shifra and Pu'ah alsohad to make a choice.
(16:22):
They had to choose how they were goingto give of their gifts of midwifery.
Were they going to choose hateand anger and fear and death?
Or were they going tochoose love, trust, joy?
(16:43):
Abundance and life.
They chose God and out of thatcame so much more abundance.
So I suppose you all are wonderinghow that band story ended.
I'm not going to tell you.
Instead I'm going to say this.
(17:05):
How would you end the story?
Put yourself in the moment.
What would you do?
It is a choice between God andPharaoh, and they're not easy choices.
But because we serve a loving God,A God of freedom, an invitation.
(17:25):
The choice is yours.
Thanks be to God.
Amen.
Matt Nelson (17:32):
Thanks for listening to the Sermon podcast from First United
Methodist Church in downtown Bentonville.
If you would like to let us know you werehere, follow the link below to connect.
To participate in worship through giving,you can give online at FUMCBentonville.
org or on Venmo @FUMCBentonville.
FUMCBentonville welcomes all.
(17:53):
Because we believe the communiontable is God's table, we invite
everyone into our church family.
We welcome and celebrate every race,gender, gender identity, sexual
orientation, marital status, age, physicaland mental ability, national origin,
economic station, and political ideology.
We come together in action and outreach,aspiring to follow Jesus' example of
(18:16):
radical hospitality, love, and grace as atransformative movement in our community.
Please join us for worship on Sundaymornings at nine and 11:00 AM, both
in person and on Facebook Live.
All are welcome and we'dlove to have you with us.
Grace and peace.
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
Las Culturistas with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang
Ding dong! Join your culture consultants, Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang, on an unforgettable journey into the beating heart of CULTURE. Alongside sizzling special guests, they GET INTO the hottest pop-culture moments of the day and the formative cultural experiences that turned them into Culturistas. Produced by the Big Money Players Network and iHeartRadio.