October 12, 2025 • 45 mins
We focus on Romans 12:13 and how a generous, hospitable church turns resources into real ministry. From the tithe as a baseline to a culture of welcome, we trace how open hands fuel missions, benevolence, and lasting impact across generations.
• giving as a command and a joy
• tithe as baseline not ceiling
• Jesus’ teaching on treasure and idols
• needs of the saints met locally and globally
• cooperative program and missions sending
• benevolence stories and quiet aid
• legacy giving and planting for future generations
• hospitality pursued, not passive
• practical outcomes from small consistent gifts
• invitation to commit, belong and be baptized
We would love to see you any Sunday morning at First Baptist El Dorado
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
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SPEAKER_00 (00:03):
Hello and welcome to the FBC El Doredo Sermon
Podcast.
My name is Taylor Gare, and Ihave the privilege of being the
pastor here at First Baptist,and I want to thank you for
listening into our sermon thisweek.
And I want to tell you this ifyou're in our area and you don't
have a church home, we wouldlove to see you any Sunday
morning at First Baptist ElDoredo.
(00:25):
Would you join me now inlistening to our sermon from
this week?
You'll open God's word to Romanschapter 12.
We'll be in one verse towardsthe end of that chapter today.
Allow me to pray for us as webegin.
(00:49):
Lord Jesus, by your Spirit,truly, through the Holy Spirit,
would you speak this morning toour hearts?
Lord, we need to hear from you.
We need to be moved andtransformed by your word.
And so, Lord, would you do itnow, Lord?
We ask this in Christ's name.
(01:10):
Amen.
Romans chapter 12.
We began two weeks ago in verses1 through 2, and we really saw
the goal for every Christian,what new life looks like.
It looks like this by offeringyour bodies as a living
sacrifice, laying down the old,taking on the new, being
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transformed by the renewal ofyour mind.
Then last week we saw what itlooks like to live out that
life, that Christian life, tolive in service.
We talked about the gifts of theSpirit and all week up to this
morning, and I hope itcontinues.
I've been receiving emails fromyou all with uh after your
spiritual gift assessment, andI've had the greatest time
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looking through those, thegreatest time reading those, and
and knowing so many of you likeI do.
It's been fun to get thoseemails and just see how clear it
is that the Holy Spirit hasgifted you in that way.
And so uh we saw you know ourcall as believers and then the
gifts we've been given.
And now in the last half ofRomans chapter 12, we see marks
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of a true Christian.
So, what is the Christian lifesupposed to look like?
Well, quite literally for us,what what are we supposed to
look like day in and day out?
And I want to begin in versenine, and then I want to stop at
the one verse we're going tocover today.
Uh, one singular verse, becauseit's a verse this week that just
stopped me in my tracks.
(02:37):
It starts right here, versenine.
Let love be genuine.
Abor what is evil, hold fast towhat is good.
Love one another with brotherlyaffection, outdo one another in
showing honor.
Do not be slothful in zeal, befervent in spirit, serve the
Lord, rejoice in hope, bepatient in tribulation, be
constant in prayer.
(02:58):
And then here's the verse fortoday, verse 13.
Contribute to the needs of thesaints and seek to show
hospitality.
Again, contribute to the needsof the saints and seek to show
hospitality.
First of all, you say this,Pastor, why did that verse stop
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you in your tracks?
Verse 13, or maybe moreaccurately, you're saying this.
What do you know?
Uh Pastor's looking at what topreach through, and it just
happens to be the verse ongiving that stops him in his
tracks.
That we've got to take a Sundayand talk about, what do you
know?
Giving.
Or you might even ask this,Pastor, if you're gonna take a
Sunday and talk about giving,why in the world are you gonna
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do it right now?
Because, Pastor, the reality isthings are good right now.
I'm Pastor, the reality is I Isit in those meetings and Rodney
Landis gives us the summary andhe usually has good things to
say and things are going well,and I would echo that.
Things are fantastic.
You're a generous church, agiving church.
(04:02):
I mean, we look at our budgeteven now, and we're tracking it.
I think uh lately it's 98% ofwhere we need to be to meet
budget by the end of the year.
Pastor, why in the world wouldyou talk about giving when
things are going well?
Well, let me answer some ofthose questions.
First of all, why now?
The why now is simply this.
As we think of preaching,expository preaching as we walk
(04:25):
through a book of the Bible andas best we can walk through
verse by verse, really, thetiming is up to the Lord.
Uh, one pastor said it likethis: expository preaching
really is topical preaching,it's just letting God choose the
topic.
That we walk through Scriptureand the Lord takes us where he
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wants us to be, and here we arein the second half of Romans
chapter 12 as we look at verse13.
But also, why now in the senseof, you're right, we're we're in
a good spot right now, so whynow?
Here's what I would rather do.
I I'd rather us kind of defineour terms and talk about giving
at a time like this right nowwhen we are in such a generous
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church.
And if we talk about it now,here's the deal.
I don't think we'll ever have tocome to a time where we talk
about it when things aren'tgood.
That's the beauty of a generouschurch.
And so I want to take today andjust look at verse 13, and it
begins right here again: contribute to the needs of the (05:22):
undefined
saints.
First of all, that wordcontribute, it is a command.
And so, as Paul is looking atthe church at Rome, he is
commanding them, contribute tothe needs of the saints.
This is not a suggestion, thisis not just an idea, see if it
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works.
No, he says, contribute to theneeds of the saints.
And the reality is, this didn'tjust start with Paul at the
church at Rome.
That from the very beginning,the church has called to be
generous in how they give.
Give to the needs of the saints,give to the needs of those
outside the church from the verybeginning.
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We see it here to the church atRome in Romans chapter 12 from
Paul.
If you go to Acts chapter 2, yousee the early church, literally
the earliest church.
This is later in the chapter 2that Pentecost has just
occurred.
The spirit has come upon thesebelievers.
The church has begun.
And as you look at the pictureof the church, what are they
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doing?
They're giving.
They can't stop giving.
They can't stop meeting togetherin their homes, they're having
meals together, but also they'reproviding for any needs that
show themselves.
This is generous gifting of ifthere's any in need, if there's
any inside the church, outsidethe church, we just want to be
there to give and to provide.
So, from the earliest days ofthe church, empowered by the
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Holy Spirit, guess what?
The giving from the people ofGod was a massive part of that.
Contribute to the needs of thesaints.
But really, as you look at thefamily of God, you can go back
much further than just Actschapter 2.
We see, really, from thebeginning of God calling out
Abraham and a family, a peopleof God to be his own people,
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that contributing, that givingwas a part of it.
Throughout the Old Testament, wesee this term called the tithe,
giving of the tithe.
What does that mean?
That word tithe literally justmeans tenth, giving of a tenth.
And this was really the agendauh that was given throughout the
law and throughout the OldTestament.
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This is what the people of Godpractice.
If you go all the way back, andI can turn there quickly,
Leviticus 27.
This is just one example, it'sall throughout the Old
Testament.
Verse 30 every tithe of theland, whether of the seed of the
land or of the fruit of thetrees, it is the Lord's.
It is holy to the Lord.
Two verses later, and everytithe of herds and flocks, every
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tenth animal of all that passunder the herdsman's staff,
shall be holy to the Lord.
So from the earliest days of thepeople of God, the idea of the
tithe was big in the heart ofthe people of God, instituted by
God Himself in His law.
Now, we could ask this question.
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But Taylor, we are NewTestament, New Covenant
believers.
And this idea of the tithe wasgiven way back then in Leviticus
in the law.
Do we still hold to the tithe?
As a new covenant believer, do Istill have to hold to that to
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give that strict 10% number?
Am I still bound by the tithe?
Because I'm now under the newcovenant.
And the old covenant is gone,the new covenant is here.
Do I still hold to the tithe?
Now, first of all, I'd answerthat like this, and please know
I'm I say this with a smile onmy face.
I'm having good fun with this,but it's interesting we we ask
that of the tithe.
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Does that still carry over?
But there's other matters of thelaw that we don't ask that with.
We could easily say, Taylor, uh,the within the old covenant it
said, do not murder.
Am I still held to that today?
In the old covenant, it talkedabout don't commit adultery.
Are we all still held to thattoday?
We don't ask that about that.
And you say this, here's why,because Jesus came back, and I
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can think of the Sermon of theMount, he doubled down on do not
murder, doubled down on do notcommit adultery.
But then you open up theGospels, and all you see so
often is Jesus talking aboutgiving.
And so we could also say hedoubles down on all of these
matters of giving generously.
In fact, if we look at Jesus inthe Gospels, he actually talks
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about a much more extreme levelof giving than just the tithe.
There's a rich young man whocomes to Jesus one day and he
wants to follow him, but Jesusknows quickly that all he's
doing right now is following theidols of his heart.
And Jesus wants to tear downthat idol before this man can
follow Jesus.
And he tells this young man,before you follow me, go sell
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everything you have and followme.
Don't give 10%, don't givetwenty, go sell everything you
have and follow.
And we kind of end on acliffhanger.
We don't know what happens tothat man, but he goes away
sorrowful.
There's a story that Jesus tellsabout storing up for yourself
treasures in heaven instead oftreasures on earth.
(10:24):
How often do people store andstore, and when they have too
much, they don't give away, theybuild bigger barns to store more
and more?
Don't store up treasures onearth, but treasures in heaven.
All throughout the NewTestament, Jesus is talking
about giving.
As we think about the tithe, aswe think about giving of that
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10%, giving sacrificially to thethings of God, I think what we
need to realize is this thatthis moral principle, this
giving principle that existedwithin the old covenant, if that
was the reality, if that was thestandard and the thought that
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the people of God should bethese kind of givers under the
old covenant, the old covenantthat was secured by the blood of
goats and rams.
Here's my question.
How much more, as people of thenew covenant, should we be eager
to give of ourselves because wehave a covenant secured by
something far greater, the bloodof Jesus Christ?
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How much more?
And so the question is not,Taylor, do I have to live up to
the tithe?
Do I have to get to that 10%mark?
That's not the question.
The question is, how much can Ishow my thankfulness to the Lord
to give as He's called me togive, because He has given me
all things in Christ Jesus?
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Lord, how more and more couldyou just make me a more generous
giver, more free with my tithesand my offerings?
So here's my personal convictionthat for me and my family, uh,
do we do we follow the tithe?
We do, but the tithe is thebaseline.
It's the starting line.
We give of our tithe, but we'renot gonna end there.
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We give, if there's certainsacrificial offerings over and
above that, we want to be ableto do that.
I think many of you think thesame way.
You give of your tithes andofferings, but there's certainly
things that are over and abovethat, and you desire to give,
and it's the most beautifulthing.
Next month, as we begin ourglobal missions emphasis, last
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year as a church, we set a goalfor a hundred thousand, and
we've reached a hundred and fourthousand.
This year, our missions teamcalled us to take the next step
to a hundred and ten thousand.
And I believe by the Lord'sgrace, we are going to meet and
exceed that.
Why?
Because you are a people thatnot only give of your tithes,
but you give over and above.
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Many of you have many uhdifferent ministries and
organizations outside of thischurch that aren't affiliated
with this church that you giveto.
And I say, praise God for that.
Praise God.
As you give to your tithes andofferings, that tithe which is
the baseline, and then over andabove in all kinds of ways.
You are an unbelievably generouschurch, and it's just amazing to
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watch what you do.
And so the reality is this (13:23):
as we think about our giving, we
come to the Lord as people whohave been given all things in
Christ Jesus, and now we get torespond and say, Lord Jesus, how
can you use what I have?
Because it was yours from thestart, and it's still yours even
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now.
Verse 13 again, contribute tothe needs, look at this of the
saints.
Contribute to the needs of thesaints.
Paul lives this out, Romans 15.
This is exactly what he'stalking about.
Look what he talks about inverse 25 and 26 of Romans 15.
At present, however, I'm goingto Jerusalem, bringing aid to
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the saints, for Macedonia andAchaiah have been pleased to
make some contribution for thepoor among the saints at
Jerusalem.
He's telling the church at Romethat he's heading to Jerusalem
next to drop off some gifts thatthese two other churches have
given to the saints inJerusalem.
One uh church, two churches havemore, one church needs more, and
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so Paul is gonna help make thathappen, meeting the needs of the
saints.
We know the one reason Romanswas written in general was
written to the church at Romebecause Paul had a vision of
them being really uh aheadquarters, a home base for
missions further away in Spain,a place where the gospel had
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never gone before, that Romecould be both home base, a
sending agency, but also uh insome way a financial backing for
the the church going furtherinto Spain.
Again, a place the gospel hasnever been.
This church uh so often, in somany ways, contributes to the
needs of the saints.
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As we talk about ourcontribution to the cooperative
program, you say, what in theworld is the cooperative
program?
Well, Southern Baptist churchesall come together to give
towards what called what iscalled the cooperative program,
and from that fund, saints aresent all over the world.
Uh in our country, to the endsof the earth, missionaries are
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sent out, and every time yougive, a portion of that goes to
the cooperative program.
And so, quite literally, whenyou give to this church,
missionaries are being sent out.
The saints are being providedwhat they need to do the work of
ministry.
Institutions are being built up.
Uh, that even helps fundseminaries that raise up pastors
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and missionaries and leaders.
Every time you give, uh, thesaints are being built up.
And how do you give towards thecooperative program?
Well, in this calendar year,you're going to give to the and
already are giving to the tuneof$118,927.64.
That's you.
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That's not a number from someoneelse.
That's a number that you'vegiven, that you've been a part
of.
Those are missionaries that youhave sent out.
I'm certain of this.
That as you give towards thework of ministry, that one day
uh you you'll get uh to thepresence of the Lord and you'll
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be in heaven, and someone willcome up to you and say, Thank
you so much for giving andallowing me to do what I did.
And you'll probably saysomething like, I've never met
you in my life, I don't know whoyou are.
Tell me about who you are.
And they'll say, I'm just amissionary, and you gave, and
guess what?
Because of that, I was able togo, people were saved, people
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came to know the Lord, thechurch expanded.
There's a group over there thatthey know the Lord because you
helped give.
Like, these are the kind ofconversations I'm just imagining
we're gonna have when we're withthe Lord.
Why?
Because you gave.
Think about meeting the needs ofthe saints.
I think about our benevolenceprogram at this church.
Certainly, many who are lostcome here to receive aid.
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They just need help in some kindof way, but we even offer
benevolence for church members.
I'm I'm making this up.
This is a hypothetical, butlet's say there's an elderly
widow among us in our community,and uh a washing machine breaks
down.
She's on a fixed income, and itis very, very fixed, and in a
certain place, and that budgetis where it needs to be, and$500
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to fix that thing or replacethat thing, that's gonna, that's
gonna alter her month, maybehalf of a year.
And these kind of things havehappened where she's been able
to reach out to us, and in justsome kind of way, whether that's
replacing the thing or helpingpart of it, whatever that looks
like, we can just help it.
We can help her in just thesmallest ways, and it seems like
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a small thing, but for her it'sa massive thing.
I think of a pastor in our town,their family went through a
great tragedy losing a child,and whether you know it or not,
you as individuals, you gavethem a$500 Walmart gift card so
that in uh the aftermath of allthat, they didn't have to worry
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about where groceries werecoming from.
That wasn't even a thought ontheir mind.
Just use the card, get what youneed.
These kinds of things you doevery day.
I want you to think about thisas well, contributing to the
needs of the saints.
I just want you to look aroundwhere you're at right now.
Look at this glorious building.
Think about anywhere you havebeen, you have stepped foot into
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this morning on this campus.
I want you to know without adoubt that that everything
you've done this morning is isthe result and the product of
someone who gave.
Everything.
The pew you sit on, somebodygave so that you could sit on
that pew.
This building, someone gave sothat we could sit in this
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building.
The ministries we enjoy, theeverything.
I you may know the name AndyWestmoreland.
He was the president ofWashington for years, then at
Sanford University.
During my I kind of knew himback when, but during my time at
Sanford, I got to be with himagain.
And every convocation, everygraduation, he he we could
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almost recite it with him.
He'd all he'd always give thesame old quote, but it was a
good one.
I know why he did it.
It wasn't his, it's very old,but he he said this that we sit
in the shade of trees we did notplant.
We enjoy the shade of trees thatwe did not plant.
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That every day we walk in thisroom, obviously, our ongoing
giving is a big part of it too.
I'm not discounting that.
We'll talk more about that in aminute.
But every day we walk into thisroom or on this campus or even
outside of this church, so muchin our community, every time
we're here, we are enjoying theshade of what generations before
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us did for us.
How they gave for us.
And now we have the privilege,think about this, of giving in
such a way that this ministrycan go forward and continue so
that generations from now, whenthey won't know our name and
they won't know our faces, butthey would get to experience the
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fruit of what we do even now.
I I I think about the year 1894,it was a big year in the life of
First Baptist El Dorado, 1894,about a quarter mile down the
road from here, we had a churchbuilding.
It was really our first churchbuilding.
We started in a log cabincourthouse that we borrowed on
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Sundays.
We even borrowed pastors onSunday.
We didn't have anybody.
If you if you can preach, justcome on.
We need somebody.
But we'd meet in that log houseand then and then we'd move we
moved to a a property, and in uh1894 there were discussions.
This this property is it needs alot of work and renovation, and
there were some that said it'stime to build something brand
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new.
They had selected a spot rightoff the square, downtown.
It's right where we stand, butnot in this room, right on that
corner, right out here, they hada spot where they wanted to
build a church.
But there was a deacon'smeeting, and there was a lot of
discussion about should werenovate the old place or should
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we build a new place right onthat corner, right out there.
There was a lot of argument backand forth among the deacons.
Uh, you know, uh there were somebeautiful things said, there
were probably some things saidthat I may uh delete from the
history books.
Um but there was a lot of backand forth, and then something
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interesting happened.
There was one man who was quietduring the whole meeting, and
towards the end of the meeting,they look at this man, and they
may have known right where hewas going because this man lived
right across uh from the oldlocation.
Surely he'd want to stay rightthere, walk across the street to
church.
Well, this man, his name wasBrother Hugh Goodwin.
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Hugh Goodwin speaks up and hesays, This I read in Proverbs
that you don't put new wine inold wineskins.
And so if my family has to walka little bit further to get to
church, I'll do it for the Lord.
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And they did it for the Lord,and they gave to the Lord, and
they built a church right onthis corner right here, and it
served them beautifully forabout 35 years, 30 years, and
then they built this structureright here, and these these
generations before us, they area church family, but they've
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gone before us.
They gave and gave and gave, andnow uh a few folks here in 2025
sit in this room and enjoy thefruits of all of their giving.
And now we have the privilege tocontribute to the needs of the
saints, even now, once again, sothat generations to come, uh
going forward, that that theministry could continue to
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happen and continue to unfold.
Listen, I I know we're talkinguh about some renovations right
now.
I want to be clear.
This sermon, there's not somebig thing at the end about
renovations.
This has nothing to do with anyfuture renovations.
This just is every day giving tothe life of this church so that
ministry can go forward.
They did it then, and praiseGod, we have the privilege of
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doing it now.
Verse 13 again.
Contribute to the needs of thesaints, and I love how it ends,
and seek to show hospitality.
And seek to show hospitality.
That word, hospitality.
I know for a fact a lot of youare gifted with it because I've
watched all week as yourspiritual gifts have come in,
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and there's a lot of hospitalityin this room.
But hospitality really doesn'thave to have anything to do with
financial giving.
It's it's really a posture.
Being hospitable, allowinganyone to come into this place
and know instantly you are amongfamily.
I love what Paul says.
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He says this, seek to showhospitality.
Seek it.
Sometimes we think in terms of,I'll show hospitality when maybe
the opportunity falls into mylap, when uh maybe no one signs
up for it.
I I'll jump in and do it.
Sure.
No, no, Paul says, seek to showhospitality.
Go find ways to do it.
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Go make a new way to showhospitality, that this church
would be a hospitable place,that when anybody walks through
these doors, they know this,that you're home now.
I may say this, but but Pastor,you you don't know where I've
been, you don't know where I'vedone.
You're home now.
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That this is a big building.
I don't know if I'm a FirstBaptist church kind of person.
No, no, you are your home now.
That that I don't know what Ireally bring to the table, but
you you bring yourself that youare home now, that this is a
place for you.
Contribute to the needs of thesaints and seek to show
hospitality.
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And I think the question of allthis, of Romans 12 13, is this
is this do we view our gifts,our finances?
Do are they ours or are they theLord's?
That's the question.
Imagine with me if in the comingweeks I take my son James to a
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El Dorado football game and andand we get out there and you
know, we walk in the stadium,and uh, you know, we we we put
our harness on so we can go upthat ramp and in the concourse
up to the stadium.
We get to our seat, and I justtell I tell James, buddy, I want
you to have the best night atthis football game.
And so, hey, I I I hand themover just a crisp$20 bill,
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buddy.
And it's like, you know, if youwant something, you don't have
to ask about it.
If you want the popcorn, go getit, the drink.
If the snow cone stands there,just go get it.
It's all yours, spend it all,don't need any change, all that.
Just do whatever you want.
Go, go get it.
And midway through the firstquarter, he looks and says, It's
time.
I'm making my run now.
And and as he's heading down, Ijust I look at him, I say, Hey
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buddy, one thing, would you justgrab me a Diet Coke while you're
down there?
And he looks up at me.
Now, James Lewis Guerin wouldn'tdo this, but he looks up at me
and he says, Dad, not with mymoney.
Not with my money.
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By your laughter, I can tell yousee the silliness of that
statement.
The the money that I gave to himsuddenly he says, surely you're
not wanting this.
But it's it's funny until I seeit in my own life that
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everything I have is from him.
That everything I have,financial and otherwise, is from
him, and yet how often do I havethe opportunity to give and to
bless and to be part ofsomething bigger than me, and
instead I just look and say,Hey, not with my money.
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Don't you know I've worked hardfor this?
Don't you know what I could doif I just had that extra little
bit each month instead of justgiving it away from the start?
Surely you don't want this.
Whose is it?
Not just our finances, not justour gifts, not just our talents,
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our very lives, the breath inour lungs.
Who's is it?
Who does it belong to?
And so thinking about that, Iwant to turn the page a little
bit.
I don't I want to talk lessabout what is required, what is
commanded.
It is a command, but I want totalk about this about what is
possible.
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What's possible?
What's possible if we give?
And I know many of you give atan unbelievable level.
I I wonder if there's anyone inthe room who would just say,
Taylor, I've been here foryears, but really we haven't
taken that step of saying, youknow what, I'm in, I want to
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give towards the mission, or orwe haven't taken the step of
really doing it consistently,being that consistent giver that
that gives uh uh at the verybeginning, and and God, this is
yours, and and I want to takethat step.
What could happen and what ispossible in the ministry of this
church if every single one of usjust said this, God, I'm all in.
(29:33):
And by the way, I'm with you inthis, okay?
I am one of those members ofthis church, and we all said,
I'm all in.
What's possible?
I want to preface this with I Idon't have a clue about ties,
okay?
I don't see a thing, I don't seea name attached to anything.
(29:53):
I see some a 30,000 foot view ofsome numbers.
I if you gave a dollar, if yougave 10 million.
I don't know.
But think about something withme.
Right now in this church, atthis point in the year, this is
a beautiful thing.
We have 147 giving units.
(30:14):
What in the world does thatmean?
147 giving units.
What is a giving unit?
It could be an individual or itcould be a household.
Okay?
So we have 147 giving units.
First of all, praise God.
That is unbelievable.
Praise God.
(30:35):
147 giving units.
I do want to ask a question.
If there were those in thisroom, like I mentioned, that
just said, hey, we've been here,we're members, but we're just
not in yet.
We're not fully on board themission yet in our giving, and
we want to be a part of it, andit starts now.
If we added two giving units,and so if at the end of 2025,
(31:00):
instead of 147 units, we had 149units, what is possible if we
just added two giving units?
Every weekend, you know, we feed15 kids from Yokum Primary, and
a bag of food gets placed intotheir backpack.
You all give generously to it,and I hope you will continue
(31:20):
giving generously to it.
Even this morning I saw peopleputting food in the box.
But we ran the numbers on that.
What it costs to put a bag offood in 15 students' uh backpack
each weekend.
They're covered during thesummer, but what would it look
like to cover them all the waythrough Christmas break?
(31:42):
And what would it even look likeon Thanksgiving to just send
something extra home so theirfamily, maybe for the first
time, can have a Thanksgivingmeal all to themselves?
What would that look like?
Well, I'll I'll tell you this.
If we had two more giving units,we could look at that ministry
and just say this it's fullyfunded.
(32:04):
That 15 kids in our community,right then and there, it's fully
funded.
That for the whole year, all oftheir food is taken care of,
it's a done deal.
Thanksgiving meal, it's on thetable, Christmas meal, you've
already got it, and that wecould do bigger and we could
even go beyond just yoke andstart meeting other needs at
(32:26):
other schools and other kidsthat are hungry on the weekend.
But think about this (32:29):
if we just added those two more giving
units, there would be 15 kids inour community that food
insecurity would be a thing ofthe past.
That when they graduate highschool and they go to college or
the workforce or wherever theymay be next, when they graduate
from high school, they would notbe able to look back and have
(32:50):
memories of food insecurity andwondering on the weekends, is
food gonna be on the table?
Why?
Because First Baptist Churchjust decided for these 15 kids
at first, but Lord willing more,we're just gonna take care of
it.
What if we added 10 givingunits?
What if there were 10 among uswho just said, I just want to
dive all in.
(33:10):
I haven't been faithful in mygiving, but I want to go all in.
Every year, the FBC orfoundation uh has the unique
opportunity to give towards 10to 12 various missions
organizations that we've beendoing work with for some time.
This helps uh various churchplanters, um, this helps uh tons
(33:35):
of missions agencies in ourarea.
This helps differentmissionaries.
We get to do uh unbelievablework, and just like I did with
the last time and this time, Ijust said 10 more giving units,
and I listen, I just did themath based on the uh uh a tithe
based on the Arkansas averagehousehold income.
(33:56):
And I just looked at this andsaid, if we added 10 more giving
units, what would be possible?
We could take everything we dowith the El Dorado Foundation,
we could just say two words,double it.
Double it.
Right then and there.
Just double every dollar.
And let's double what we do forevery one of these
(34:17):
organizations.
You may be saying this morning,Taylor, I'm I'm here, I want to
give, but I don't what whatdifference can I make?
Maybe you're a child in the roomand you're eight years old,
you're nine years old, and yousay, Pastor, I'm I'm I'm a
member here, I love being here,and I I think giving is
important, but the reality isall I've got is is you know,
(34:38):
maybe a portion of the allowanceI'm given and the coins I find
in the couch cushion.
Like I don't know what'spossible.
Let's say this.
Let's say all throughout 2025,you give a portion of that
allowance and you give a few ofthose coins you find in the
couch cushion, and at the end ofthe year uh you get your
contribution statement andyou've given$45.
(34:58):
You're an eight-year-old andyou've given$45.
Let me tell you what you'vedone.
That in August of every year,about 10 or 12 first graders
walk into this room and theyreceive a Bible.
For some, they may have adifferent Bible at home.
For some, it may be the firstBible they've ever received.
(35:20):
But let me tell you something tothe eight-year-old who gave
their$45 in this calendar yearbased off of allowance and coins
in the couch cushion.
Three of those Bibles are givenbecause you gave.
That there are three firstgraders now that have Bibles
that have started a trajectoryof a life that is built on the
Word of God.
Why?
(35:40):
Because you gave.
Let's say you're a high schoolstudent.
You've never thought much aboutgiving, but now you say, I want
to be all in.
I don't know how much I have.
I mow some lawns in the summer.
I um I got an interview nextweek at the new Chick-fil-a in
town.
We'll see how it goes.
And you say, you say, but I wantto I want to be all in.
(36:01):
And so all throughout the 2026calendar year, you say, you know
what?
I want to take this seriously.
I want to give a portion of whatI receive to the work of the
church.
I want to dive into this.
And through those lawns or theChick-fil-A money, and trust me,
I'll give you plenty of businessthrough all those things.
At the end of the year, you lookback, and I know this sounds
like a crazy number, but youlook back and say, I've given
(36:23):
$500 at the end of 2026 to thework of the church.
$50 here,$40 there, whatever itis,$500 at the end of the year.
Let me tell you what you'vedone.
We've got a line item in ourbudget called Kitchen
Maintenance.
What do you know?
It's$500.
What does it do?
It takes the kitchen over in thefellowship hall and just makes
(36:46):
sure it's in good working orderyear-round.
If Miss Sue needs a new spatula,we'll get a new spatula.
If something breaks and we needit fixed, we're gonna do it.
Whatever is needed, paper goods,whatever, we're just gonna
provide it.
Let me tell you what your$500did.
That you gave that, and over thecourse of the year, and I did
(37:08):
the math this week, looking atthe number of kids we have every
day that Miss Sue makes a mealfor.
By giving that$500 and keepingup just that line item, kitchen
maintenance, you provided lunchfor over$1,700.
You've provided 1,700 meals forlittle children so that we can
(37:29):
minister to them throughout theyear.
You did that.
Your giving made that possible.
If you're in your 20s and you'resaying, listen, it's my first
job.
Trust me, it's an entry-levelposition.
I don't know how much I reallyhave to give.
Let's say you give, uh, we getto the end of the 2026 year and
(37:49):
you've given and your offeringis able to cover, let's say,
half of the church's water bill.
You say this, you lost me there.
Pastor, that was a tacticalerror because you had us
excited, and then you brought upthe water bill.
No one gets excited about thewater bill.
I get excited about the waterbill.
(38:09):
If it were up to me, Miss Kaywould hand me just cash money
and I would walk it down to ElDorado water and with a smile on
my face every month hand itright over and say, you can have
that, and then there'll be morenext month.
Why?
Because 16 times throughout thisyear, I've sat here on a
Thursday afternoon and heardwater running in that baptistry
(38:31):
to fill that up all the way, and16 times, and I got another one,
you've got another one coming upin a couple weeks, 16 times
we've watched as children andadults have been baptized
because they've made thedeclaration that they know
Jesus.
Why does that happen?
Well, it happens because you'veprayed for it and you've prayed
that this would happen, and theLord has moved.
(38:52):
It happened because you gavetowards events like Bible school
where kids heard the gospel, yougave towards 252 camps, you
provided a scholarship wheresomeone came to know Christ and
was baptized just a few weekslater.
It happened for a millionreasons, but it also happened
because of this, because someonejust paid the water bill.
And 16 times on a Thursdayafternoon, I heard the sound of
(39:16):
the baptistry being filled up.
As you give, the Lord just keepsmoving.
We've got 13 kids signed upright now for New Believers
Class.
We've got, think about this, onWednesday nights in 2025, 2,800
slices of pizza have beenserved.
We have filled the tummies oflittle ones so that they can
(39:38):
then hear the gospel message.
We've had a high point this yearover in Midweek just among kids.
We had 86 children there atMidweek.
We had 110 at Bible school.
We've had more involvedholistically with leading
worship than ever before becauseof choir and tech team and the
guys down in the basement rightnow and all that kind of stuff.
(39:59):
We've had uh adults and kidschoirs that absolutely love the
new choir room that you haveprovided.
Our two fifty-two building, itturns 25 years old in March, of
25 years that we've had it.
Uh, it's older than that.
Uh, we've had continual growthin the children's ministry.
Just in September and October,we've seen 22 first-time folks
(40:21):
come on Wednesday nights.
We've had this new live groupcurriculum that, my goodness, I
love every day when my childrencome home and we talk about
what's going on because they'rein the same lesson we are.
And guess what?
That curriculum saved us money.
We want to be good stewards.
We've got Living Well Counselingthat we've been able to house
for some time now and still doesamazing ministry.
(40:42):
Why is all that possible?
It's just because a group ofpeople just said, we're on
board.
And we'll do it.
And we'll give of our tithes andour offerings, and we'll be
about the business that God hascalled us to be about.
Listen, you just say this,Pastor, you just want my money.
(41:03):
Here's the thing outside of afew line items, I hope your
money stays in our possession asshort of a time as possible,
because I want it to go out.
I want it to go out and makemuch of Jesus and his kingdom.
And I want to do great things,not so that first Baptist can
(41:24):
look up and say, Aren't wesomething?
But that so that Jesus, that hisname can be lifted up.
What I'm most excited for is forthe dreams that you and I don't
even know to dream yet.
That as we all say, I'm onboard, and as we see the
(41:48):
resources the Lord has blessedus with, that we would be able
to see and do things that we'venever even imagined.
That maybe God would laysomething on our hearts that we
never thought possible.
Because we're a people that justsay this.
(42:10):
I'm on board.
And so if you faithfully give tothe work of ministry at First
Baptist Church of El Dorado, letme just tell you, I I praise God
for you.
I praise God for you.
If you're someone who, again,just says, I'm I haven't been on
board, I want to tell you,today's not a guilt trip.
(42:35):
Today's not a time of judgment.
What today is, is just aninvitation for you to say this,
to say, hey, I'm on board.
Because I believe this, as youare on board and giving towards
the work of ministry, there'sgonna come a day when you are
gonna see the Lord do amazingthings as he does every day
(42:58):
around here.
And I can't wait for you toexperience the joy of just
getting able to set be to beable to say, Hey, I just got to
be a part of that.
I just got to be a part of whatJesus is doing here.
And church family, you are apart of that in so many ways,
far outside of financials.
Please know that.
(43:19):
Your time, your energy, yourgifts.
But for all of us, could we justsay, even with our finances,
Lord, I'm all in.
I want to see what's possible aswe all come together.
No one person doing everything,every one of us doing what we
(43:40):
can for the sake of the gospel.
Would you bow your heads withme?
Maybe you say this, I want to bea part of this church family.
I'll be right down front, I'dlove to talk to you.
Maybe you say, I want to bebaptized.
It sounds like you've paid thewater bill and I want to get in
it.
I want to let people know that Ifollow Jesus.
(44:03):
Come talk to me.
I'll be right down front at theend.
Maybe you just want a pastor topray over you.
I'd love nothing more than to dothat.
But however, you need torespond, now is the time to
respond as we continue inworship.
Let me pray for us and we'll dojust that.
Lord Jesus.
All that we have belongs to youfrom start to finish.
(44:26):
And so, Lord, let us live withopen hands and open hearts.
Let us live with joy.
Not giving out of some idea thatthis is what I have to do, a
burden.
No, no, no.
This is a delight to be a part,Lord, of what you're doing here.
(44:48):
And so, Lord, even now, would werespond, however that looks,
whatever that response needs tobe, would we do it now, Lord, in
Christ's name?
Amen.
I'll be down front.
Would you stand?
Hello and welcome to the FBC El Doredo Sermon
Podcast.
My name is Taylor Gare, and Ihave the privilege of being the
pastor here at First Baptist,and I want to thank you for
listening into our sermon thisweek.
And I want to tell you this ifyou're in our area and you don't
have a church home, we wouldlove to see you any Sunday
morning at First Baptist ElDoredo.
(00:25):
Would you join me now inlistening to our sermon from
this week?
You'll open God's word to Romanschapter 12.
We'll be in one verse towardsthe end of that chapter today.
Allow me to pray for us as webegin.
(00:49):
Lord Jesus, by your Spirit,truly, through the Holy Spirit,
would you speak this morning toour hearts?
Lord, we need to hear from you.
We need to be moved andtransformed by your word.
And so, Lord, would you do itnow, Lord?
We ask this in Christ's name.
(01:10):
Amen.
Romans chapter 12.
We began two weeks ago in verses1 through 2, and we really saw
the goal for every Christian,what new life looks like.
It looks like this by offeringyour bodies as a living
sacrifice, laying down the old,taking on the new, being
(01:34):
transformed by the renewal ofyour mind.
Then last week we saw what itlooks like to live out that
life, that Christian life, tolive in service.
We talked about the gifts of theSpirit and all week up to this
morning, and I hope itcontinues.
I've been receiving emails fromyou all with uh after your
spiritual gift assessment, andI've had the greatest time
(01:56):
looking through those, thegreatest time reading those, and
and knowing so many of you likeI do.
It's been fun to get thoseemails and just see how clear it
is that the Holy Spirit hasgifted you in that way.
And so uh we saw you know ourcall as believers and then the
gifts we've been given.
And now in the last half ofRomans chapter 12, we see marks
(02:17):
of a true Christian.
So, what is the Christian lifesupposed to look like?
Well, quite literally for us,what what are we supposed to
look like day in and day out?
And I want to begin in versenine, and then I want to stop at
the one verse we're going tocover today.
Uh, one singular verse, becauseit's a verse this week that just
stopped me in my tracks.
(02:37):
It starts right here, versenine.
Let love be genuine.
Abor what is evil, hold fast towhat is good.
Love one another with brotherlyaffection, outdo one another in
showing honor.
Do not be slothful in zeal, befervent in spirit, serve the
Lord, rejoice in hope, bepatient in tribulation, be
constant in prayer.
(02:58):
And then here's the verse fortoday, verse 13.
Contribute to the needs of thesaints and seek to show
hospitality.
Again, contribute to the needsof the saints and seek to show
hospitality.
First of all, you say this,Pastor, why did that verse stop
(03:20):
you in your tracks?
Verse 13, or maybe moreaccurately, you're saying this.
What do you know?
Uh Pastor's looking at what topreach through, and it just
happens to be the verse ongiving that stops him in his
tracks.
That we've got to take a Sundayand talk about, what do you
know?
Giving.
Or you might even ask this,Pastor, if you're gonna take a
Sunday and talk about giving,why in the world are you gonna
(03:42):
do it right now?
Because, Pastor, the reality isthings are good right now.
I'm Pastor, the reality is I Isit in those meetings and Rodney
Landis gives us the summary andhe usually has good things to
say and things are going well,and I would echo that.
Things are fantastic.
You're a generous church, agiving church.
(04:02):
I mean, we look at our budgeteven now, and we're tracking it.
I think uh lately it's 98% ofwhere we need to be to meet
budget by the end of the year.
Pastor, why in the world wouldyou talk about giving when
things are going well?
Well, let me answer some ofthose questions.
First of all, why now?
The why now is simply this.
As we think of preaching,expository preaching as we walk
(04:25):
through a book of the Bible andas best we can walk through
verse by verse, really, thetiming is up to the Lord.
Uh, one pastor said it likethis: expository preaching
really is topical preaching,it's just letting God choose the
topic.
That we walk through Scriptureand the Lord takes us where he
(04:45):
wants us to be, and here we arein the second half of Romans
chapter 12 as we look at verse13.
But also, why now in the senseof, you're right, we're we're in
a good spot right now, so whynow?
Here's what I would rather do.
I I'd rather us kind of defineour terms and talk about giving
at a time like this right nowwhen we are in such a generous
(05:07):
church.
And if we talk about it now,here's the deal.
I don't think we'll ever have tocome to a time where we talk
about it when things aren'tgood.
That's the beauty of a generouschurch.
And so I want to take today andjust look at verse 13, and it
begins right here again: contribute to the needs of the (05:22):
undefined
saints.
First of all, that wordcontribute, it is a command.
And so, as Paul is looking atthe church at Rome, he is
commanding them, contribute tothe needs of the saints.
This is not a suggestion, thisis not just an idea, see if it
(05:42):
works.
No, he says, contribute to theneeds of the saints.
And the reality is, this didn'tjust start with Paul at the
church at Rome.
That from the very beginning,the church has called to be
generous in how they give.
Give to the needs of the saints,give to the needs of those
outside the church from the verybeginning.
(06:04):
We see it here to the church atRome in Romans chapter 12 from
Paul.
If you go to Acts chapter 2, yousee the early church, literally
the earliest church.
This is later in the chapter 2that Pentecost has just
occurred.
The spirit has come upon thesebelievers.
The church has begun.
And as you look at the pictureof the church, what are they
(06:26):
doing?
They're giving.
They can't stop giving.
They can't stop meeting togetherin their homes, they're having
meals together, but also they'reproviding for any needs that
show themselves.
This is generous gifting of ifthere's any in need, if there's
any inside the church, outsidethe church, we just want to be
there to give and to provide.
So, from the earliest days ofthe church, empowered by the
(06:50):
Holy Spirit, guess what?
The giving from the people ofGod was a massive part of that.
Contribute to the needs of thesaints.
But really, as you look at thefamily of God, you can go back
much further than just Actschapter 2.
We see, really, from thebeginning of God calling out
Abraham and a family, a peopleof God to be his own people,
(07:12):
that contributing, that givingwas a part of it.
Throughout the Old Testament, wesee this term called the tithe,
giving of the tithe.
What does that mean?
That word tithe literally justmeans tenth, giving of a tenth.
And this was really the agendauh that was given throughout the
law and throughout the OldTestament.
(07:33):
This is what the people of Godpractice.
If you go all the way back, andI can turn there quickly,
Leviticus 27.
This is just one example, it'sall throughout the Old
Testament.
Verse 30 every tithe of theland, whether of the seed of the
land or of the fruit of thetrees, it is the Lord's.
It is holy to the Lord.
Two verses later, and everytithe of herds and flocks, every
(07:55):
tenth animal of all that passunder the herdsman's staff,
shall be holy to the Lord.
So from the earliest days of thepeople of God, the idea of the
tithe was big in the heart ofthe people of God, instituted by
God Himself in His law.
Now, we could ask this question.
(08:17):
But Taylor, we are NewTestament, New Covenant
believers.
And this idea of the tithe wasgiven way back then in Leviticus
in the law.
Do we still hold to the tithe?
As a new covenant believer, do Istill have to hold to that to
(08:37):
give that strict 10% number?
Am I still bound by the tithe?
Because I'm now under the newcovenant.
And the old covenant is gone,the new covenant is here.
Do I still hold to the tithe?
Now, first of all, I'd answerthat like this, and please know
I'm I say this with a smile onmy face.
I'm having good fun with this,but it's interesting we we ask
that of the tithe.
(08:58):
Does that still carry over?
But there's other matters of thelaw that we don't ask that with.
We could easily say, Taylor, uh,the within the old covenant it
said, do not murder.
Am I still held to that today?
In the old covenant, it talkedabout don't commit adultery.
Are we all still held to thattoday?
We don't ask that about that.
And you say this, here's why,because Jesus came back, and I
(09:19):
can think of the Sermon of theMount, he doubled down on do not
murder, doubled down on do notcommit adultery.
But then you open up theGospels, and all you see so
often is Jesus talking aboutgiving.
And so we could also say hedoubles down on all of these
matters of giving generously.
In fact, if we look at Jesus inthe Gospels, he actually talks
(09:41):
about a much more extreme levelof giving than just the tithe.
There's a rich young man whocomes to Jesus one day and he
wants to follow him, but Jesusknows quickly that all he's
doing right now is following theidols of his heart.
And Jesus wants to tear downthat idol before this man can
follow Jesus.
And he tells this young man,before you follow me, go sell
(10:03):
everything you have and followme.
Don't give 10%, don't givetwenty, go sell everything you
have and follow.
And we kind of end on acliffhanger.
We don't know what happens tothat man, but he goes away
sorrowful.
There's a story that Jesus tellsabout storing up for yourself
treasures in heaven instead oftreasures on earth.
(10:24):
How often do people store andstore, and when they have too
much, they don't give away, theybuild bigger barns to store more
and more?
Don't store up treasures onearth, but treasures in heaven.
All throughout the NewTestament, Jesus is talking
about giving.
As we think about the tithe, aswe think about giving of that
(10:44):
10%, giving sacrificially to thethings of God, I think what we
need to realize is this thatthis moral principle, this
giving principle that existedwithin the old covenant, if that
was the reality, if that was thestandard and the thought that
(11:05):
the people of God should bethese kind of givers under the
old covenant, the old covenantthat was secured by the blood of
goats and rams.
Here's my question.
How much more, as people of thenew covenant, should we be eager
to give of ourselves because wehave a covenant secured by
something far greater, the bloodof Jesus Christ?
(11:26):
How much more?
And so the question is not,Taylor, do I have to live up to
the tithe?
Do I have to get to that 10%mark?
That's not the question.
The question is, how much can Ishow my thankfulness to the Lord
to give as He's called me togive, because He has given me
all things in Christ Jesus?
(11:48):
Lord, how more and more couldyou just make me a more generous
giver, more free with my tithesand my offerings?
So here's my personal convictionthat for me and my family, uh,
do we do we follow the tithe?
We do, but the tithe is thebaseline.
It's the starting line.
We give of our tithe, but we'renot gonna end there.
(12:13):
We give, if there's certainsacrificial offerings over and
above that, we want to be ableto do that.
I think many of you think thesame way.
You give of your tithes andofferings, but there's certainly
things that are over and abovethat, and you desire to give,
and it's the most beautifulthing.
Next month, as we begin ourglobal missions emphasis, last
(12:34):
year as a church, we set a goalfor a hundred thousand, and
we've reached a hundred and fourthousand.
This year, our missions teamcalled us to take the next step
to a hundred and ten thousand.
And I believe by the Lord'sgrace, we are going to meet and
exceed that.
Why?
Because you are a people thatnot only give of your tithes,
but you give over and above.
(12:56):
Many of you have many uhdifferent ministries and
organizations outside of thischurch that aren't affiliated
with this church that you giveto.
And I say, praise God for that.
Praise God.
As you give to your tithes andofferings, that tithe which is
the baseline, and then over andabove in all kinds of ways.
You are an unbelievably generouschurch, and it's just amazing to
(13:20):
watch what you do.
And so the reality is this (13:23):
as we think about our giving, we
come to the Lord as people whohave been given all things in
Christ Jesus, and now we get torespond and say, Lord Jesus, how
can you use what I have?
Because it was yours from thestart, and it's still yours even
(13:47):
now.
Verse 13 again, contribute tothe needs, look at this of the
saints.
Contribute to the needs of thesaints.
Paul lives this out, Romans 15.
This is exactly what he'stalking about.
Look what he talks about inverse 25 and 26 of Romans 15.
At present, however, I'm goingto Jerusalem, bringing aid to
(14:11):
the saints, for Macedonia andAchaiah have been pleased to
make some contribution for thepoor among the saints at
Jerusalem.
He's telling the church at Romethat he's heading to Jerusalem
next to drop off some gifts thatthese two other churches have
given to the saints inJerusalem.
One uh church, two churches havemore, one church needs more, and
(14:34):
so Paul is gonna help make thathappen, meeting the needs of the
saints.
We know the one reason Romanswas written in general was
written to the church at Romebecause Paul had a vision of
them being really uh aheadquarters, a home base for
missions further away in Spain,a place where the gospel had
(14:55):
never gone before, that Romecould be both home base, a
sending agency, but also uh insome way a financial backing for
the the church going furtherinto Spain.
Again, a place the gospel hasnever been.
This church uh so often, in somany ways, contributes to the
needs of the saints.
(15:16):
As we talk about ourcontribution to the cooperative
program, you say, what in theworld is the cooperative
program?
Well, Southern Baptist churchesall come together to give
towards what called what iscalled the cooperative program,
and from that fund, saints aresent all over the world.
Uh in our country, to the endsof the earth, missionaries are
(15:38):
sent out, and every time yougive, a portion of that goes to
the cooperative program.
And so, quite literally, whenyou give to this church,
missionaries are being sent out.
The saints are being providedwhat they need to do the work of
ministry.
Institutions are being built up.
Uh, that even helps fundseminaries that raise up pastors
(15:59):
and missionaries and leaders.
Every time you give, uh, thesaints are being built up.
And how do you give towards thecooperative program?
Well, in this calendar year,you're going to give to the and
already are giving to the tuneof$118,927.64.
That's you.
(16:21):
That's not a number from someoneelse.
That's a number that you'vegiven, that you've been a part
of.
Those are missionaries that youhave sent out.
I'm certain of this.
That as you give towards thework of ministry, that one day
uh you you'll get uh to thepresence of the Lord and you'll
(16:42):
be in heaven, and someone willcome up to you and say, Thank
you so much for giving andallowing me to do what I did.
And you'll probably saysomething like, I've never met
you in my life, I don't know whoyou are.
Tell me about who you are.
And they'll say, I'm just amissionary, and you gave, and
guess what?
Because of that, I was able togo, people were saved, people
(17:03):
came to know the Lord, thechurch expanded.
There's a group over there thatthey know the Lord because you
helped give.
Like, these are the kind ofconversations I'm just imagining
we're gonna have when we're withthe Lord.
Why?
Because you gave.
Think about meeting the needs ofthe saints.
I think about our benevolenceprogram at this church.
Certainly, many who are lostcome here to receive aid.
(17:26):
They just need help in some kindof way, but we even offer
benevolence for church members.
I'm I'm making this up.
This is a hypothetical, butlet's say there's an elderly
widow among us in our community,and uh a washing machine breaks
down.
She's on a fixed income, and itis very, very fixed, and in a
certain place, and that budgetis where it needs to be, and$500
(17:49):
to fix that thing or replacethat thing, that's gonna, that's
gonna alter her month, maybehalf of a year.
And these kind of things havehappened where she's been able
to reach out to us, and in justsome kind of way, whether that's
replacing the thing or helpingpart of it, whatever that looks
like, we can just help it.
We can help her in just thesmallest ways, and it seems like
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a small thing, but for her it'sa massive thing.
I think of a pastor in our town,their family went through a
great tragedy losing a child,and whether you know it or not,
you as individuals, you gavethem a$500 Walmart gift card so
that in uh the aftermath of allthat, they didn't have to worry
(18:31):
about where groceries werecoming from.
That wasn't even a thought ontheir mind.
Just use the card, get what youneed.
These kinds of things you doevery day.
I want you to think about thisas well, contributing to the
needs of the saints.
I just want you to look aroundwhere you're at right now.
Look at this glorious building.
Think about anywhere you havebeen, you have stepped foot into
(18:54):
this morning on this campus.
I want you to know without adoubt that that everything
you've done this morning is isthe result and the product of
someone who gave.
Everything.
The pew you sit on, somebodygave so that you could sit on
that pew.
This building, someone gave sothat we could sit in this
(19:18):
building.
The ministries we enjoy, theeverything.
I you may know the name AndyWestmoreland.
He was the president ofWashington for years, then at
Sanford University.
During my I kind of knew himback when, but during my time at
Sanford, I got to be with himagain.
And every convocation, everygraduation, he he we could
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almost recite it with him.
He'd all he'd always give thesame old quote, but it was a
good one.
I know why he did it.
It wasn't his, it's very old,but he he said this that we sit
in the shade of trees we did notplant.
We enjoy the shade of trees thatwe did not plant.
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That every day we walk in thisroom, obviously, our ongoing
giving is a big part of it too.
I'm not discounting that.
We'll talk more about that in aminute.
But every day we walk into thisroom or on this campus or even
outside of this church, so muchin our community, every time
we're here, we are enjoying theshade of what generations before
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us did for us.
How they gave for us.
And now we have the privilege,think about this, of giving in
such a way that this ministrycan go forward and continue so
that generations from now, whenthey won't know our name and
they won't know our faces, butthey would get to experience the
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fruit of what we do even now.
I I I think about the year 1894,it was a big year in the life of
First Baptist El Dorado, 1894,about a quarter mile down the
road from here, we had a churchbuilding.
It was really our first churchbuilding.
We started in a log cabincourthouse that we borrowed on
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Sundays.
We even borrowed pastors onSunday.
We didn't have anybody.
If you if you can preach, justcome on.
We need somebody.
But we'd meet in that log houseand then and then we'd move we
moved to a a property, and in uh1894 there were discussions.
This this property is it needs alot of work and renovation, and
there were some that said it'stime to build something brand
(21:31):
new.
They had selected a spot rightoff the square, downtown.
It's right where we stand, butnot in this room, right on that
corner, right out here, they hada spot where they wanted to
build a church.
But there was a deacon'smeeting, and there was a lot of
discussion about should werenovate the old place or should
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we build a new place right onthat corner, right out there.
There was a lot of argument backand forth among the deacons.
Uh, you know, uh there were somebeautiful things said, there
were probably some things saidthat I may uh delete from the
history books.
Um but there was a lot of backand forth, and then something
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interesting happened.
There was one man who was quietduring the whole meeting, and
towards the end of the meeting,they look at this man, and they
may have known right where hewas going because this man lived
right across uh from the oldlocation.
Surely he'd want to stay rightthere, walk across the street to
church.
Well, this man, his name wasBrother Hugh Goodwin.
(22:38):
Hugh Goodwin speaks up and hesays, This I read in Proverbs
that you don't put new wine inold wineskins.
And so if my family has to walka little bit further to get to
church, I'll do it for the Lord.
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And they did it for the Lord,and they gave to the Lord, and
they built a church right onthis corner right here, and it
served them beautifully forabout 35 years, 30 years, and
then they built this structureright here, and these these
generations before us, they area church family, but they've
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gone before us.
They gave and gave and gave, andnow uh a few folks here in 2025
sit in this room and enjoy thefruits of all of their giving.
And now we have the privilege tocontribute to the needs of the
saints, even now, once again, sothat generations to come, uh
going forward, that that theministry could continue to
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happen and continue to unfold.
Listen, I I know we're talkinguh about some renovations right
now.
I want to be clear.
This sermon, there's not somebig thing at the end about
renovations.
This has nothing to do with anyfuture renovations.
This just is every day giving tothe life of this church so that
ministry can go forward.
They did it then, and praiseGod, we have the privilege of
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doing it now.
Verse 13 again.
Contribute to the needs of thesaints, and I love how it ends,
and seek to show hospitality.
And seek to show hospitality.
That word, hospitality.
I know for a fact a lot of youare gifted with it because I've
watched all week as yourspiritual gifts have come in,
(24:26):
and there's a lot of hospitalityin this room.
But hospitality really doesn'thave to have anything to do with
financial giving.
It's it's really a posture.
Being hospitable, allowinganyone to come into this place
and know instantly you are amongfamily.
I love what Paul says.
(24:47):
He says this, seek to showhospitality.
Seek it.
Sometimes we think in terms of,I'll show hospitality when maybe
the opportunity falls into mylap, when uh maybe no one signs
up for it.
I I'll jump in and do it.
Sure.
No, no, Paul says, seek to showhospitality.
Go find ways to do it.
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Go make a new way to showhospitality, that this church
would be a hospitable place,that when anybody walks through
these doors, they know this,that you're home now.
I may say this, but but Pastor,you you don't know where I've
been, you don't know where I'vedone.
You're home now.
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That this is a big building.
I don't know if I'm a FirstBaptist church kind of person.
No, no, you are your home now.
That that I don't know what Ireally bring to the table, but
you you bring yourself that youare home now, that this is a
place for you.
Contribute to the needs of thesaints and seek to show
hospitality.
(25:50):
And I think the question of allthis, of Romans 12 13, is this
is this do we view our gifts,our finances?
Do are they ours or are they theLord's?
That's the question.
Imagine with me if in the comingweeks I take my son James to a
(26:14):
El Dorado football game and andand we get out there and you
know, we walk in the stadium,and uh, you know, we we we put
our harness on so we can go upthat ramp and in the concourse
up to the stadium.
We get to our seat, and I justtell I tell James, buddy, I want
you to have the best night atthis football game.
And so, hey, I I I hand themover just a crisp$20 bill,
(26:38):
buddy.
And it's like, you know, if youwant something, you don't have
to ask about it.
If you want the popcorn, go getit, the drink.
If the snow cone stands there,just go get it.
It's all yours, spend it all,don't need any change, all that.
Just do whatever you want.
Go, go get it.
And midway through the firstquarter, he looks and says, It's
time.
I'm making my run now.
And and as he's heading down, Ijust I look at him, I say, Hey
(27:00):
buddy, one thing, would you justgrab me a Diet Coke while you're
down there?
And he looks up at me.
Now, James Lewis Guerin wouldn'tdo this, but he looks up at me
and he says, Dad, not with mymoney.
Not with my money.
(27:21):
By your laughter, I can tell yousee the silliness of that
statement.
The the money that I gave to himsuddenly he says, surely you're
not wanting this.
But it's it's funny until I seeit in my own life that
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everything I have is from him.
That everything I have,financial and otherwise, is from
him, and yet how often do I havethe opportunity to give and to
bless and to be part ofsomething bigger than me, and
instead I just look and say,Hey, not with my money.
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Don't you know I've worked hardfor this?
Don't you know what I could doif I just had that extra little
bit each month instead of justgiving it away from the start?
Surely you don't want this.
Whose is it?
Not just our finances, not justour gifts, not just our talents,
(28:26):
our very lives, the breath inour lungs.
Who's is it?
Who does it belong to?
And so thinking about that, Iwant to turn the page a little
bit.
I don't I want to talk lessabout what is required, what is
commanded.
It is a command, but I want totalk about this about what is
possible.
(28:48):
What's possible?
What's possible if we give?
And I know many of you give atan unbelievable level.
I I wonder if there's anyone inthe room who would just say,
Taylor, I've been here foryears, but really we haven't
taken that step of saying, youknow what, I'm in, I want to
(29:09):
give towards the mission, or orwe haven't taken the step of
really doing it consistently,being that consistent giver that
that gives uh uh at the verybeginning, and and God, this is
yours, and and I want to takethat step.
What could happen and what ispossible in the ministry of this
church if every single one of usjust said this, God, I'm all in.
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And by the way, I'm with you inthis, okay?
I am one of those members ofthis church, and we all said,
I'm all in.
What's possible?
I want to preface this with I Idon't have a clue about ties,
okay?
I don't see a thing, I don't seea name attached to anything.
(29:53):
I see some a 30,000 foot view ofsome numbers.
I if you gave a dollar, if yougave 10 million.
I don't know.
But think about something withme.
Right now in this church, atthis point in the year, this is
a beautiful thing.
We have 147 giving units.
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What in the world does thatmean?
147 giving units.
What is a giving unit?
It could be an individual or itcould be a household.
Okay?
So we have 147 giving units.
First of all, praise God.
That is unbelievable.
Praise God.
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147 giving units.
I do want to ask a question.
If there were those in thisroom, like I mentioned, that
just said, hey, we've been here,we're members, but we're just
not in yet.
We're not fully on board themission yet in our giving, and
we want to be a part of it, andit starts now.
If we added two giving units,and so if at the end of 2025,
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instead of 147 units, we had 149units, what is possible if we
just added two giving units?
Every weekend, you know, we feed15 kids from Yokum Primary, and
a bag of food gets placed intotheir backpack.
You all give generously to it,and I hope you will continue
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giving generously to it.
Even this morning I saw peopleputting food in the box.
But we ran the numbers on that.
What it costs to put a bag offood in 15 students' uh backpack
each weekend.
They're covered during thesummer, but what would it look
like to cover them all the waythrough Christmas break?
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And what would it even look likeon Thanksgiving to just send
something extra home so theirfamily, maybe for the first
time, can have a Thanksgivingmeal all to themselves?
What would that look like?
Well, I'll I'll tell you this.
If we had two more giving units,we could look at that ministry
and just say this it's fullyfunded.
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That 15 kids in our community,right then and there, it's fully
funded.
That for the whole year, all oftheir food is taken care of,
it's a done deal.
Thanksgiving meal, it's on thetable, Christmas meal, you've
already got it, and that wecould do bigger and we could
even go beyond just yoke andstart meeting other needs at
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other schools and other kidsthat are hungry on the weekend.
But think about this (32:29):
if we just added those two more giving
units, there would be 15 kids inour community that food
insecurity would be a thing ofthe past.
That when they graduate highschool and they go to college or
the workforce or wherever theymay be next, when they graduate
from high school, they would notbe able to look back and have
(32:50):
memories of food insecurity andwondering on the weekends, is
food gonna be on the table?
Why?
Because First Baptist Churchjust decided for these 15 kids
at first, but Lord willing more,we're just gonna take care of
it.
What if we added 10 givingunits?
What if there were 10 among uswho just said, I just want to
dive all in.
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I haven't been faithful in mygiving, but I want to go all in.
Every year, the FBC orfoundation uh has the unique
opportunity to give towards 10to 12 various missions
organizations that we've beendoing work with for some time.
This helps uh various churchplanters, um, this helps uh tons
(33:35):
of missions agencies in ourarea.
This helps differentmissionaries.
We get to do uh unbelievablework, and just like I did with
the last time and this time, Ijust said 10 more giving units,
and I listen, I just did themath based on the uh uh a tithe
based on the Arkansas averagehousehold income.
(33:56):
And I just looked at this andsaid, if we added 10 more giving
units, what would be possible?
We could take everything we dowith the El Dorado Foundation,
we could just say two words,double it.
Double it.
Right then and there.
Just double every dollar.
And let's double what we do forevery one of these
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organizations.
You may be saying this morning,Taylor, I'm I'm here, I want to
give, but I don't what whatdifference can I make?
Maybe you're a child in the roomand you're eight years old,
you're nine years old, and yousay, Pastor, I'm I'm I'm a
member here, I love being here,and I I think giving is
important, but the reality isall I've got is is you know,
(34:38):
maybe a portion of the allowanceI'm given and the coins I find
in the couch cushion.
Like I don't know what'spossible.
Let's say this.
Let's say all throughout 2025,you give a portion of that
allowance and you give a few ofthose coins you find in the
couch cushion, and at the end ofthe year uh you get your
contribution statement andyou've given$45.
(34:58):
You're an eight-year-old andyou've given$45.
Let me tell you what you'vedone.
That in August of every year,about 10 or 12 first graders
walk into this room and theyreceive a Bible.
For some, they may have adifferent Bible at home.
For some, it may be the firstBible they've ever received.
(35:20):
But let me tell you something tothe eight-year-old who gave
their$45 in this calendar yearbased off of allowance and coins
in the couch cushion.
Three of those Bibles are givenbecause you gave.
That there are three firstgraders now that have Bibles
that have started a trajectoryof a life that is built on the
Word of God.
Why?
(35:40):
Because you gave.
Let's say you're a high schoolstudent.
You've never thought much aboutgiving, but now you say, I want
to be all in.
I don't know how much I have.
I mow some lawns in the summer.
I um I got an interview nextweek at the new Chick-fil-a in
town.
We'll see how it goes.
And you say, you say, but I wantto I want to be all in.
(36:01):
And so all throughout the 2026calendar year, you say, you know
what?
I want to take this seriously.
I want to give a portion of whatI receive to the work of the
church.
I want to dive into this.
And through those lawns or theChick-fil-A money, and trust me,
I'll give you plenty of businessthrough all those things.
At the end of the year, you lookback, and I know this sounds
like a crazy number, but youlook back and say, I've given
(36:23):
$500 at the end of 2026 to thework of the church.
$50 here,$40 there, whatever itis,$500 at the end of the year.
Let me tell you what you'vedone.
We've got a line item in ourbudget called Kitchen
Maintenance.
What do you know?
It's$500.
What does it do?
It takes the kitchen over in thefellowship hall and just makes
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sure it's in good working orderyear-round.
If Miss Sue needs a new spatula,we'll get a new spatula.
If something breaks and we needit fixed, we're gonna do it.
Whatever is needed, paper goods,whatever, we're just gonna
provide it.
Let me tell you what your$500did.
That you gave that, and over thecourse of the year, and I did
(37:08):
the math this week, looking atthe number of kids we have every
day that Miss Sue makes a mealfor.
By giving that$500 and keepingup just that line item, kitchen
maintenance, you provided lunchfor over$1,700.
You've provided 1,700 meals forlittle children so that we can
(37:29):
minister to them throughout theyear.
You did that.
Your giving made that possible.
If you're in your 20s and you'resaying, listen, it's my first
job.
Trust me, it's an entry-levelposition.
I don't know how much I reallyhave to give.
Let's say you give, uh, we getto the end of the 2026 year and
(37:49):
you've given and your offeringis able to cover, let's say,
half of the church's water bill.
You say this, you lost me there.
Pastor, that was a tacticalerror because you had us
excited, and then you brought upthe water bill.
No one gets excited about thewater bill.
I get excited about the waterbill.
(38:09):
If it were up to me, Miss Kaywould hand me just cash money
and I would walk it down to ElDorado water and with a smile on
my face every month hand itright over and say, you can have
that, and then there'll be morenext month.
Why?
Because 16 times throughout thisyear, I've sat here on a
Thursday afternoon and heardwater running in that baptistry
(38:31):
to fill that up all the way, and16 times, and I got another one,
you've got another one coming upin a couple weeks, 16 times
we've watched as children andadults have been baptized
because they've made thedeclaration that they know
Jesus.
Why does that happen?
Well, it happens because you'veprayed for it and you've prayed
that this would happen, and theLord has moved.
(38:52):
It happened because you gavetowards events like Bible school
where kids heard the gospel, yougave towards 252 camps, you
provided a scholarship wheresomeone came to know Christ and
was baptized just a few weekslater.
It happened for a millionreasons, but it also happened
because of this, because someonejust paid the water bill.
And 16 times on a Thursdayafternoon, I heard the sound of
(39:16):
the baptistry being filled up.
As you give, the Lord just keepsmoving.
We've got 13 kids signed upright now for New Believers
Class.
We've got, think about this, onWednesday nights in 2025, 2,800
slices of pizza have beenserved.
We have filled the tummies oflittle ones so that they can
(39:38):
then hear the gospel message.
We've had a high point this yearover in Midweek just among kids.
We had 86 children there atMidweek.
We had 110 at Bible school.
We've had more involvedholistically with leading
worship than ever before becauseof choir and tech team and the
guys down in the basement rightnow and all that kind of stuff.
(39:59):
We've had uh adults and kidschoirs that absolutely love the
new choir room that you haveprovided.
Our two fifty-two building, itturns 25 years old in March, of
25 years that we've had it.
Uh, it's older than that.
Uh, we've had continual growthin the children's ministry.
Just in September and October,we've seen 22 first-time folks
(40:21):
come on Wednesday nights.
We've had this new live groupcurriculum that, my goodness, I
love every day when my childrencome home and we talk about
what's going on because they'rein the same lesson we are.
And guess what?
That curriculum saved us money.
We want to be good stewards.
We've got Living Well Counselingthat we've been able to house
for some time now and still doesamazing ministry.
(40:42):
Why is all that possible?
It's just because a group ofpeople just said, we're on
board.
And we'll do it.
And we'll give of our tithes andour offerings, and we'll be
about the business that God hascalled us to be about.
Listen, you just say this,Pastor, you just want my money.
(41:03):
Here's the thing outside of afew line items, I hope your
money stays in our possession asshort of a time as possible,
because I want it to go out.
I want it to go out and makemuch of Jesus and his kingdom.
And I want to do great things,not so that first Baptist can
(41:24):
look up and say, Aren't wesomething?
But that so that Jesus, that hisname can be lifted up.
What I'm most excited for is forthe dreams that you and I don't
even know to dream yet.
That as we all say, I'm onboard, and as we see the
(41:48):
resources the Lord has blessedus with, that we would be able
to see and do things that we'venever even imagined.
That maybe God would laysomething on our hearts that we
never thought possible.
Because we're a people that justsay this.
(42:10):
I'm on board.
And so if you faithfully give tothe work of ministry at First
Baptist Church of El Dorado, letme just tell you, I I praise God
for you.
I praise God for you.
If you're someone who, again,just says, I'm I haven't been on
board, I want to tell you,today's not a guilt trip.
(42:35):
Today's not a time of judgment.
What today is, is just aninvitation for you to say this,
to say, hey, I'm on board.
Because I believe this, as youare on board and giving towards
the work of ministry, there'sgonna come a day when you are
gonna see the Lord do amazingthings as he does every day
(42:58):
around here.
And I can't wait for you toexperience the joy of just
getting able to set be to beable to say, Hey, I just got to
be a part of that.
I just got to be a part of whatJesus is doing here.
And church family, you are apart of that in so many ways,
far outside of financials.
Please know that.
(43:19):
Your time, your energy, yourgifts.
But for all of us, could we justsay, even with our finances,
Lord, I'm all in.
I want to see what's possible aswe all come together.
No one person doing everything,every one of us doing what we
(43:40):
can for the sake of the gospel.
Would you bow your heads withme?
Maybe you say this, I want to bea part of this church family.
I'll be right down front, I'dlove to talk to you.
Maybe you say, I want to bebaptized.
It sounds like you've paid thewater bill and I want to get in
it.
I want to let people know that Ifollow Jesus.
(44:03):
Come talk to me.
I'll be right down front at theend.
Maybe you just want a pastor topray over you.
I'd love nothing more than to dothat.
But however, you need torespond, now is the time to
respond as we continue inworship.
Let me pray for us and we'll dojust that.
Lord Jesus.
All that we have belongs to youfrom start to finish.
(44:26):
And so, Lord, let us live withopen hands and open hearts.
Let us live with joy.
Not giving out of some idea thatthis is what I have to do, a
burden.
No, no, no.
This is a delight to be a part,Lord, of what you're doing here.
(44:48):
And so, Lord, even now, would werespond, however that looks,
whatever that response needs tobe, would we do it now, Lord, in
Christ's name?
Amen.
I'll be down front.
Would you stand?
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