Well, I am excited to introduce to you today our guest preacher.

When I was in college, I remember

going to some of my ministry and preaching professors and I said, “I really want to do all that I can to
learn from the best. So, who are some of the guys out there that are great preachers, that are leading
their churches in incredible ways?” And, one of the very few names that got mentioned to me by those
professors, they said, “You’ve got to check out a guy named Gene Appel. He’s leading a church in Las
Vegas.” I was like, “Vegas? They have churches in Vegas?”

And so, I went to the library – we didn’t have iTunes at the time to listen to pod casting – we had
cassette tapes. Do you remember those? And so I went and I checked out some sermon tapes, a big
stack of them from Gene Appel and went back to my dorm room and started listening to him. And they
were right. He just spoke into my life and encouraged me in so many different ways. All of us – we have
mentors that pour into us … maybe directly one-on-one, or from a distance. And Gene was one of those
mentors that I never personally met. He just poured into me from a distance. I would read anything he
would write and listen to his teaching. And then about two years ago, I got a chance to meet him and his
wife Barbara. Lindsay and I had dinner with them and I just picked his brain and asked tons of questions.

And the first baptism service, the big one – spontaneous one that we did a couple of years ago. Do any
of you remember that? We baptized 160 people in one morning. And two days later Gene contacted me
and he’s out at a church in Southern California now. And he said, “Hey, I just wanted you to know that
the news made it all the way out to California, in two days.” And he said, “I just want to encourage you,
we’re praying for you, we love you guys.” I was just so blessed by that. So, I wanted Gene to come share
with you this morning. I think you’re going to be really blessed by his teaching. Would you please give a
warm, Traders Point welcome to my friend, Gene Appel.

Well, good morning. You have no idea how pumped I am to be at Traders Point. I’ve been a fan of this
church for many, many years, actually. And, I’ve gotten to know Aaron and Lindsay the last couple of
years. As he said, Barbara and I had a fantastic dinner with them in New York City a while back. And, I
have so much respect and appreciation for him. I’ve been staying this weekend with a family from
Southern California who moved to Zionsville a while back, Sean and Janie Gordon and they were a part
of our church in Southern California. And I told them when they moved here, “You’ve got to go check
out Traders Point. I’ve gotten to know their pastor; it’s just a fantastic place, etc.” And I look back now,
that was one of the worst pieces of advice I’ve ever given in my life. They love this place! I have to hear
about this place from them all the time. And they’re, all the time, “Ah, Gene. Traders Point. It’s so great.
Aaron, he’s so fantastic, and wonderful, and he’s funny.” And I’m, “Ha, ha, ha … yeah, he really is.” And,
no really, I am so happy for them.

Friends, you know, don’t you, you know you have one of the great pastors in the United States today.
Are you aware of that? You really do. You really do. And I want you to know what’s happening in this
church is not normal. So, don’t think like every church is like this. Churches don’t grow by a couple of
thousand people every few years. Churches don’t typically baptize hundreds of people at a time. This is

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a fantastic thing that’s happening here. And I hope you never lose the magnitude of the miracle of what
God is doing. You just hold on to that and you say, “God, thank You that I get to be a part of this.”

Now, I know most of you have never heard me speak before. Right now you’re wondering, “Gene, is that
your real voice? Do you really sound that way?” And, I asked your audio guy, “I’ll give you one hundred
bucks if you can make me sound like Berry White today. [Deep voice] ‘Jesus loves you, baby.’ Something
like that.” But instead when God was giving out voices, I got one that sounds like … he’s been inhaling
helium for four days. And so that’s what you’ve got today.

Hey, let me ask you. Have you ever had to take a really hard test that you didn’t want to take? A really
hard test? One of my favorite stories about a college professor – he’s a professor of ornithology; you
know the study of birds. And he had this reputation for giving these really hard tests. And semester
finals were coming around. And the students walked in for the final that day and they were unprepared
for what they were about to experience. There were 25 stuffed birds on the counter, all with paper
sacks over them. And all you could see was their feet. And there was only one question on the test. And
it was, identify all 25 species of birds simply by examining their feet. Well one kid went ballistic. He said,
“This is ridiculous. There is no way I can identify these birds. This is the stupidest test I have ever had in
my life. And he got up and started walking out of the room. And the professor said, “Hey, you walk out
of this room, you’re going to flunk the course.” The kid said, “No problem. That’s fine with me.” The
professor said, “What’s your name.” The kid pulled up his pant leg and he said, “You tell me my name.”

You know, all through life we go through tests. And some tests are harder than others. Parents, you test
your kids as they’re growing up to see are they growing? Are they maturing? Schools have to test their
students to see if they are making progress academically. When you’re thinking about marrying
someone, you test them. You date them. You, over time, find out who they really are. Are they honest?
What’s their true character? Is this someone I would want to spend the rest of my life with? And you put
them through a test.

Now the word test is a very important word in the Bible. And it’s often used to describe God testing His
people. Before Jesus performed a miracle of feeding 5,000 people out on a hillside one day, His disciple,
Philip, asked Him a question. He said, “Where shall we buy bread for all of these people?” Now Jesus
knew what He was going to do. The Bible says in John 6: 6 that Jesus asked this only to … notice the
word … test him, for he already had in mind what He was going to do. Jesus was testing Philip’s level of
trust, “Do you trust Me? Do you think that I can do this? Do you think I can provide for all of these
people? Do you think I can feed thousands at a time?” Well, Philip didn’t have a high level of trust. And
he said, “Jesus, we can’t afford to buy bread for all of these people. It would take eight months of
wages.” Well, many of you know the story of how Jesus miraculously fed the 5,000 people with just five
loaves of bread and two fish. And they had food left over when it was all done.

But do you know what I wonder? I wonder, if after it was all over Jesus didn’t look Philip in the eye with
one of those looks that said, “You didn’t think I could do it, did you? When are you going to learn that
God can be trusted? That God can be trusted in every area of your life?” And friends, I wonder if right
now at this very important moment in the story of Traders Point Christian Church if God isn’t looking
down on this church right now, in a time of economic storm, and wondering, “When are you going to
learn that I can be trusted in every area of your life? When are you going to learn that I can be trusted
even in your financial needs in your life? You don’t think I can do it, do you?”

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Today I want to unpack, and I want to illustrate, and I want to apply just one verse of scripture from the
teachings of Jesus. It’s a mystifying passage in Luke chapter 6 verse 38. In fact, in the spirit of all the
disclosure here, I would say this is the subject matter that I don’t fully understand, I don’t grasp, I don’t
comprehend. You’re going, “Good grief. We got in the car and drove here to hear this guy from
California to talk about a subject matter he doesn’t even understand?” Yep, that’s exactly the case.

So, why don’t we just begin by reading these mysterious words of Jesus? Would you read them out loud
with me from Luke chapter 6 verse 38. Let’s read together, “Give, and it will be given to you. A good
measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the
measure you use it will be measured to you."

Now I think about almost all of us would agree that most of the economic wisdom in God’s word for
managing money, we would say, “I agree with that … that just makes complete sense.” For instance, the
Bible warns against the dangers of debt. And if you’ve ever been in budget busting debt, if you’ve ever
been unable to pay your credit card bill when the bill came due, if you’ve ever gone through a
bankruptcy, you understand why the Bible would warn against the dangers of debt and that the
borrower is a servant to the lender. You’ve got to be careful with debt. And you say, “I get that. That
makes complete economic sense.”

The Bible also talks about the importance of saving money. In fact, Proverbs talks about how the little
ant saved in summer for winter. Not your little Aunt Mildred. This is the insect variety. They save in
summer in order for the winter. And all of us, whether we are savers or not, we would say, “Well, that
makes sense. Everybody ought to put something aside and have some money aside for a rainy day.” But
Jesus comes along in this passage and He teaches something that is absolutely counterintuitive, it’s
absolutely mysterious. He says, “Give, and it will be given to you. With the measure you use, it will be
measured to you.” It’s the mystery of giving and receiving. And for some reason, we don’t have the faith
in God, we don’t have the level of trust in God, that if I give something away, I’m going to receive
something back.

Friends, I really believe that your church is going through a test right now. And you’re dealing with one
of the most challenging questions in all of God’s teaching about managing our resources. And the
question is, “In my heart of hearts down deep in my soul, do I really trust God that if I give something
away, that He is completely capable of giving back to me and resupplying my needs. Do I really trust God
for this mystery of giving and receiving?”

In the Old Testament in I Kings chapter 17 it tells the story of a widow with a young child. Life started
out pretty normal for her. She got married, she had a baby, and while her child was still young her
husband died and her world fell apart. And I think anybody who is going through challenging economic
times right now probably can identify with her. This widow didn’t belong to a church or a synagogue.
She really didn’t have an extended family of any kind who could be a support system for her. She was all
alone, she was frightened, and on top of it, it was a time of drought in their nation and they hadn’t had
rain for a long time. The crops had withered, food prices had skyrocketed, all of her neighbors were in a
similar challenge and so they couldn’t take care of her need. There were no jobs. And even if there were
jobs, who would take care of her young son?

In fact she was down to her last meal. And then Elijah, a prophet of God, crossed her path. Elijah asked
her for something to eat and something to drink. Now put yourself in the sandals of this single mom.

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She’s under incredible financial pressure and this stranger asks for something to eat. She’s asked to give
something away she really doesn’t have to give away. And she says, “I don’t have anything to give you. I
have just enough for my son and me to have one more meal and then all my resources will be gone and
then we’re going to die. We’re literally going to die.”

And then Elijah gave her a test ... came straight from God. He says in verse 13 of I Kings 17 – he said,
“Don’t be afraid. Go home and do as you have said. But first make a small cake of bread for me from
what you have and bring it to me and then make something for yourself and your son. For this is what
the Lord, the God of Israel says, ‘The jar of flour will not be used up and the jug of oil will not run dry
until the day the Lord gives rain on the land.’”

Now if you don’t know how you’re going to eat tomorrow, and you’re down to your last meal, you don’t
know how you’re going to feed your son, and the Lord asks you to give some of your food away at that
moment to a total stranger, would you do that? This widow did. And every day she would use up the
flour and the oil and she would think it was gone but then the next day she would wake up and
miraculously there would be more flour in the jar and more oil in the jug. God made a promise to this
widow. He said, “Test Me. Give something away. Feed this guy, Elijah.” And every day she discovered
the God of the re-supply can be trusted. Every meal was a miracle. Every day He supplied just what she
and Elijah and her son needed for one more day ... more oil in the jar for one more day … more flour in
the jar for one more day, the mystery of giving and receiving.

You know, I’ve been a follower of Jesus most of my life. I became a follower of Jesus when I was a pretty
young child. Accepted Him as my Leader and Forgiver … it was a Sunday night church service. I’ll never
forget it. And from that moment, my attitude has always been, “God, I will trust You. I’ll put You to the
test, until You prove to me that You’re no longer trustworthy.” And friends, I feel compelled to tell
anybody who will listen to me, all these years later, about how trustworthy God has proven to me over
the years. Can I tell you some of my experiences as a follower of Jesus?

I had the kind of Dad that I think most kids dream of having. My Dad was fun, loved to start water fights,
never missed a ball game, never missed a band concert. Sometimes when work took him out of town he
would sign me out of school to take me on trips with him. And, if you’ve got any kids in the room here
today … kids, you ought to go home and say to your Mom or Dad today, “Hey, sign me out of school so
we can make some memories like Gene and his Dad did growing up.” That would be fantastic.

My Dad and I had been out fishing together the day he had a heart attack that four days later took his
life. I was 14 years old. And I was facing my first major challenge to the trustworthiness of God. Could
the God of the Bible really give me the strength to survive, the strength to go forward with my life? I
found out, God could be trusted. Was it difficult? Of course. Was it painful? You bet. But through it all I
started to take ownership of this fact, as a teenager, God can be trusted.

After high school, I attended a Christian college in Illinois. Part of that educational experience involved
an internship with a great church in Southern California with a great pastor. Fantastic! Looking back on it
now, I can see how, through that experience, God was preparing me for the rest of my life, but I didn’t
understand it at the time. I was 20 years old that summer, and on my drive from Illinois to California, I
went through Las Vegas for the first time. I had never been to Las Vegas before. I always describe Las
Vegas as being out in the middle of the largest kitty litter box in the world. Out in the middle of nowhere
... those of you who have been there, you know. And we had some family friends there so I stopped,

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spent the night with them, we went out to dinner at a Mexican restaurant. And they started telling me
about some of the exciting things that were happening in their church. Well, a Las Vegas church
sounded like an oxymoron to me. I thought, “Churches in Las Vegas? What is that like? Do you have Elvis
impersonators preludes? Do you have girls in bikinis announcing hymn numbers? Tithe machines in the
lobby? Yeah, play Trinity – Father, Son, Holy Spirit pops up.” Well they started telling me about their
church and I thought, “Man, it would be exciting to be a part of ministry in a city like this.”

Little did I know that five years later I would become the pastor of their church. I was just 25 years old. I
was the baby of the church staff – youngest person on staff, but I sensed that God wanted to do
something really unique in that church and that He wanted that church to specialize in reaching people
who were far from Him, and who couldn’t understand the Bible, and who Jesus was and the importance
of faith … hadn’t understood it anywhere else in their lives. But I knew the kind of ministry that I
envisioned was going to be way different than anything that they had experienced because this is a very
traditional church … the choir and robes, the organ, and they sang the Doxology every week, and recited
the Lord’s Prayer together every week, and I thought, “This is going to be way different. What if people
don’t understand? What if we lose people on this? What if we get a lot of criticism for making some of
these changes?” And I just felt God saying through that, “Gene, you just stay faithful to the vision. You
just say faithful. I can be trusted. You just keep a heart-beat for people who are far from Me.” And I
watched God do some amazing things in the years ahead. So many people caught that vision and God
honored it. That church reached thousands – if not tens of thousands – of people. It’s one of the ten
largest churches in the U.S. today. And I just learned – God could be trusted.

I’ve got to tell you, though, that in the late 80s that dream almost came to a screeching halt, at least I
thought it was a screeching halt at the time. We dedicated a new building one night at the church in Las
Vegas that served some badly needed space. It was a really mountain top experience for all of those
who had sacrificed, who had given. Then the next morning my life went from that mountain top to the
lowest valley I’ve been in in my life – when my wife informed me that she was in love and involved with
another man and that she was leaving in the morning. And she did. And in spite of relentless attempts at
reconciliation – she married the guy and I thought, “I finally have reached the one experience in my life
where God cannot be trusted.” But I way underestimated God. I way underestimated His grace, His
mercy, His faithfulness. Over 23 years have come and gone since then. I’m here to tell anybody in this
room who will listen, God can be trusted. God brought healing in His time and in His way and then in
1993, He brought a woman into my life named Barbara whom I married and then God brought me a son,
Jeremy, a daughter, Elaina, and a daughter Jenna. And this is such a good time in my life. In fact I just
want to show you a picture of my family that I brought with me today. Isn’t God good? I mean, just what
He’s done in my life. God is so good.

And then in some strange twist of God’s providence, three and a half years ago I ended up serving at the
very church that I interned in as a 20 year old in Southern California that had marked my life in so many
powerful ways. And friends, from my vantage point this is one of those sermons that has been over 45
years in the writing. I’ve put God to the test many times in my life. And I’ve learned when things are
great, God can be trusted. I’ve learned that when the future is uncertain, God can be trusted. I’ve
learned in times of pain, and heartbreak, and grief that God can be trusted.

And right now some of you are probably wondering, “Gene, have you forgotten what you are talking
about this weekend. You know, the mystery of giving and receiving?” Friends, I haven’t forgotten. You
see the fundamental issue when it comes down to this matter of the mystery of giving and receiving is a

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trust issue in God. It’s not a monetary issue. It’s a trust issue. Do I fundamentally believe and trust that
the God of the universe can meet my needs? Do I fundamentally trust that Jesus meant it when He said,
“Give and it will be given to you. With the measure you use it will be measured to you?” In this mystery
of giving and receiving, do I trust Jesus for that? Friends, for whatever it’s worth, I’ve learned that the
same God who can be trusted in all these other areas of my life can be trusted in this area of generosity.

Now, I told you as we began that this mystery of giving and receiving that this is a subject matter I don’t
understand, I don’t comprehend, I can’t fully grasp. And that’s absolutely true. But it doesn’t mean that I
haven’t experienced this personally in my life many, many times. I just don’t understand it. You know,
one of my commitments as a pastor is to be as transparent and as authentic as I can. And, I try to admit
my struggles, my failures, temptations … fears. I’ve tried to talk candidly with you today about some of
the valleys in my life, a failed marriage, the death of my father. You probably know what a gift Barbara
has been to my life and you can gather that. We ended up with three kids in our first three years of
marriage. So, obviously you know that Barbara can’t keep her hands off me. Just saying – you know she
calls me Pastor McDreamy – just trying to be as transparent as I can with you [applause]. No, no don’t
encourage me.

I try to be as transparent as I can, but I’ll tell you something for a couple of decades in ministry, I was
pretty reluctant to share my own convictions and experiences about this mystery of giving and receiving
publicly. The reason being, I just get so disappointed with so many Christian broadcasters in Christian
ministries who use this kind of teaching in a manipulative way. They use it to appeal to people’s greed.
And giving to God becomes a way of prospering yourself. And, that’s just so disappointing to me.

Friends, while we receive blessings back from God … we shouldn’t look at it as if God is paying us to give.
It’s a reward for giving. I want to give out of love and gratitude to God and I would hope that I would
continue to give even if I receive nothing in return for the sheer joy of honoring God and advancing His
causes in this world. But at the same time, I cannot deny to you the mystery of giving and receiving in
my own life.

Now, I want to preface what I am about to say by freely acknowledging that there are so many areas in
my own walk with Jesus that I have failed in many times over the years. I could not say what I am about
to say about my prayer life, I couldn’t say what I’m about to say about my Bible study life, I couldn’t say
what I’m about to say about my moral purity, I couldn’t say what I am about to say about the loving of
my neighbors consistently in my life. But I can say this. Since the time I received my first allowance when
I was five years old, to the time I delivered newspapers in the fifth and sixth grade, and I mowed lawns
in junior high, and worked on a farm all through high school and college, to the time I got my first job
making $18,500 a year to the time today, I have always honored with the full tithe and beyond
throughout my life. I think it’s probably the area of my walk with Jesus that I can say that I have
consistently practiced.

And friends, one thing I know is absolutely true. When you give to God, He gives back to you and you
can’t out give Him. Back in 1985, I became the pastor of that church in Las Vegas, the church was facing
a building expansion, and the people were being challenged to give over and above their normal tithe
and offerings to that giving. And I really wrestled with what God would have me do. Did I really mean it
when I called people to sacrifice or was I just mouthing the words? And just to be transparent, yes – 25
years old, had an annual income of $33,000 a year. And out of that I was already a little more than
tithing. I had a house payment, I had a car payment, I received no benefits. So, I was providing my own

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health insurance, I was trying to contribute a little bit to a retirement fund, and there wasn’t a lot left. I
barely had a savings account in those days. I mean, I had one. If people said, “You have a savings
account?” I said, “Oh, yeah. Sure.” There wasn’t anything in it but I had a savings account.

And I really wrestled with what God would have me do and I just prayed for Him to lead me. And I felt
His guidance to take a risk and to make a commitment over and above my tithe giving – which was
already over 10% of my income to give another $10,000 to that initiative and that project over the next
three years. And it scared the stuffing out of me to do it. And Friend, I learned so much over the next
three years. That God is faithful and God is – I was giving over 20% of my gross income away – He was
just faithful. I never missed a meal. I always had a roof over my head. I always had clothes on my back.
God provided for me. I learned, He could be trusted.

Barbara and I got married in 93 and two months after we got married our church went into an initiative
to raise funds to buy ground for a relocation project. And, then after that we entered into another three
year initiative to raise funds to build a building. And, Barbara and I made the kinds of sacrificial
commitments in those first years of our marriage that were way, many more times than I had made
back in 1985. And it was tough for us. It required sacrifice. It required some adjustments in our lifestyle.

We dipped into some retirement funds to meet our commitments. We ate more pasta and less meat.
We gave up health club memberships for a period of time. We put off furnishing most of our home. It
was hilarious. People would walk into our house and in our living room and dining room there absolutely
was not a chair on the floor, there wasn’t a picture on the wall. They were absolutely bare. And the joke
was when you came to our house – come on in and have a seat. ‘Cause – there weren’t any. We sold our
house after a few years which had started to accumulate some equity. And we moved into a smaller
house. We were in over and above kind of capital campaign giving for the first 12 years of our marriage
and then we moved to California and we’re going through a relocation now at the church I now serve.
We’re moving to a new site this fall and Barbara asked me one day after this last initiative, she said,
“How many times do we get to make a once in a lifetime commitment to God?”

Well, we’ve tested God many times over the years in our giving. And we’ve taken some risks. And I want
to share with you some of the monetary blessings that I have experienced in my life just through this
mystery of giving and receiving. I am so blessed. I am almost embarrassed to tell you about it. A couple
of years after my Dad died, when I was 14, my Mom took some of the life insurance money and used it
to build a new cottage up on a lake in Minnesota where our family had always vacationed. She and Dad
had intended to build that and I helped put in the foundation when I was 16 years old, and I framed it
when I was 17, and I put in the plumbing and electricity in it when I was 18 years old. And when I was 22
years old, my Mom gave me half of that vacation home. I was just finishing college. I owned a second
home before I ever owned a first home. God is good.

Over the years, I’ve written several books. I’m like, “Who would read anything that I had to write?” And
I’ve gotten royalty income from that. I’ve been asked to speak all over the world and I’ve been paid,
many times, very generously to go and speak in places. And when I travel, I get frequent flyer miles. And
then I’m able to take my family on some trips with me from time to time – to be in a position to do that.
The churches that I have served over the years have – I’ve never gotten rich, but I can tell you I’ve been
paid far more than I’m worth by the churches I’ve served.

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 Barbara and I bought a piece of property up in Minnesota in 1996 so that we could have our own cabin.
It was a real fixer upper. Get this; it had no plumbing, no electricity, no running water. It was just
basically a roof with four walls. But we could afford it. Three weeks after we bought it, a guy called me
on the phone and he wanted to know if I wanted to sell it. I was like, “We just bought it. Of course we
don’t want to sell it.” He said, “Well, I really want to buy it.” I said, “We don’t want to sell it.” He said, “I
really want to buy it.” Make a long story short, we sold that little property – it was about nothing – three
weeks after we bought it and we made $20,000 on it. Aren’t you happy for us? The Bible says, “Rejoice
with those who rejoice.”

Some of you might say, “Gene, you lucky dog.” Maybe … but Barbara and I would tell you we believe in
the core of our core that it’s just the mystery of giving and receiving. II Corinthians 9:6 says, “Remember
this. Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly. Whoever sows generously, you will reap
generously.” And then the passage continues in verse 11 and it says, “You will be made rich in every way
…” notice this, why are you made rich in every way? “… so that you can be generous on every occasion.”

And Friends, that’s been our experience. The more we have sown, the more we’ve reaped, the more
God has enabled us to be even more generous. And then the more He blesses, the more we’re able to
give away – it’s just this continuing mystery of giving and receiving. I feel like the most blessed guy on
planet earth. And you know; I just have to say, I am genuinely surprised by the number of followers of
Jesus who have never been willing to take God’s hand and trust Him in this area of their lives.

And I think; how is it you can trust God for answered prayer and not trust Him in this area? How is it you
can trust God for Him to lead your life and your relationships and your family and you can’t trust Him in
this area? How is it you can trust God for your entire eternal destination forever and ever and ever and
yet you can’t trust Him in the monetary area of your life? And I don’t get mad about it. I just get sad for
people. I’m just sad for people who miss out and live with such a crippled confidence in such an able
God.

Now the mystery of giving and receiving is a special challenge for a certain segment of people among us.
And it’s not those with very little resources. Proportionally: those with little resources give away more.
The greatest challenge to this giving and receiving thing tends to be the affluent. And I want to take a
few moments and talk to you – those of you who fall into that category. Because, no doubt in a crowd
this size there are some affluent people here and you’ve worked very hard for what you have. You’ve
managed carefully. Some of you have ended up with staggering levels of wealth, more than you ever
could have dreamed of. There’s nothing wrong with having wealth, as long as you leverage it right. But
you know what studies show about the giving habits of wealthy followers of Jesus? Those with the most
wealth give smaller amounts away, proportionally, than those moderate and lower income levels of
wealth.

I remember the first time I asked anybody to consider and pray about giving a strategic gift to help
advance a kingdom cause. We were getting ready to buy land in Las Vegas and I called a family in our
church who I thought would have some passion about that vision. And, I said, “Hey, could I take you
guys out for dinner? I’ve got something I want to chat with you about.” And, they said, “Oh, just come to
our house for dinner.” I thought, “Oh, great. That would be even better. They will be on their home
turf.” So I went to their house. We had a great dinner together and I was casting the vision about the
future of the church, and the vision for relocation, and why we needed to buy land, and that this was a
business guy.

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So right away his first question was, “So, how are you going to pay for it?” I said, “Well, I’m glad you
asked. And, that’s why I came.” I said, “You know, we’re going to sell our current building. We’ll have
some source of income from that. We’re going to ask the congregation to sacrifice.” I said, “But right
now, I’m talking to a few families to make some leadership gifts and I would like to ask you …” and I’ve
never asked anybody for a gift before so I was really nervous. “… I would like to ask you to prayerfully
consider giving a gift somewhere between $50,000 and $1,000,000 dollars.” And, without missing a
beat, he said, “Well you can count on us for $1,000,000.” After I picked myself up off the floor and sat
back down on the chair, I thought, “Did I just hear what I think I heard?” Then I thought, “Why didn’t I
ask for $2,000,000?”

And we just had the most fantastic conversation that night, and I saw the joy in his life, and I’m getting
ready to leave their house that night, and I’m thanking them for the dinner, thanking them for the
conversation, thanking them for their generosity. And they had this circular drive out in front of their
house and I started to get in the car and … thank you, thank you, thank you … last little shot I go, “Well
thanks a million.” And he goes, “You mean that literally?” And, I thought, “Oh, Gene. You dummy. I can’t
believe I just said that.” But absolutely true, that’s what I said.

Friends, I saw the joy in that guy’s life emerge in the next few years. And when that church in Vegas
made great advances and reached thousands more people who found amazing grace, I know he
thought, “There is nothing more that I could do with my wealth that would give me greater joy than
reaching people who are far from God, and helping marriages stay together, and putting back together
broken people, and helping to challenge and inspire our emerging and next generations for the greatest
cause in the world.”

If God has blessed you with a measure of affluence, and you know who you are – you of all people ought
to be the first one to run to your accountant, to run to your checkbook and say, “I’m one of the small
percentages of people on this planet who have the privilege of stewarding a level of wealth like this and
God, I will fully honor You not only with a tithe but far beyond that generously from all my different
income streams that I have in this world.” What a privilege it is.

I’ve got a sobering word for the affluent straight from the lips of Jesus from the pages of the Book of
Luke that you’re going to have to wrestle with. If you’re affluent you’re going to have to figure out what
does this mean for your life. Luke 12:48, Jesus said, “From everyone who has been given much, much
will be demanded and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.”

That’s saying that if God has given you a measure of wealth, you’ve got a special responsibility with it.
More will be asked of you by God. And you can’t just get crazy with your money. You can’t just blow it all
on trips and luxuries. You can’t just snort it up your nose. You can’t smoke it away. You can’t get goofy
with it. You’ve got to do something strategic with it for Kingdom causes. God has given you much, so
that you can do much for causes in this world.

Now some of you probably wonder, “What is this that’s been sitting over here all this time?” This red
well here brings back so many memories to me – this pump. Because, before I was born, my Mom and
Dad built their first little cottage on a lake up in Minnesota with two other families – all three pastors, in
fact. They were all so financially challenged that they couldn’t even afford a level to build the cabin. And
honestly, it looks like a cabin built by three pastors who couldn’t afford a level. The wiring in the cabin
was very primitive. You couldn’t run a skillet and an iron at the same time without blowing a fuse. There

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was no indoor plumbing. We had an outhouse. You know what an outhouse is? Remember the whole in
the ground outside? One thing that I never understand about the outhouse – why it was a two holer?
Because no two people I know would ever want to go in there at the same time. I can just tell you that
right now.

And then the only running water we had in the cabin was when Mom or Dad would yell at one of us kids
and say, “Water.” And we would run out back behind the cabin where there was a pump like this. And I
remember the first time Dad said to me, “Gene, go get some water.” I was probably five – six – seven
years old. I can’t remember exactly. But – this was a big deal. It was the passageway to manhood. I’m
getting to go get water. So I go out, and I have a bucket with me and I’m getting ready, I’m all excited
about pumping, and I start pumping this thing and nothing was happening. I was pumping, and I was
pumping, and I was pumping – over and over again. And I was like, “Well, this is discouraging.” And Dad
would just say, “Gene, stop!” He said, “In order to get something out of the pump you’ve got to put
something in.” And so he went down to the lake and he got a bucket of water and he brought it up.

How many of you know what priming the pump is? Yeah, so he comes up and he brings this water and
he starts priming the pump. He just starts pouring this water down it. And when the water goes in it, it
helps the leathers inside of it expand so that it can get some suction. And so now I’m pumping and now
I’ve got renewed vigor, I’ve got hope. And before I knew it, all this fresh, clean Minnesota, sand filtered
cold water – so refreshing – started coming out. I was just like, “Mmm. So refreshing.” Don’t you wish
you had some or good Indianapolis water, whatever it is?

Friends, I learned an important lesson at the pump that day that I’ll never forget. In order to get
something out, you’ve got to put something in. It’s the mystery of giving and receiving. And it’s why
Jesus says to you, “Give and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and
running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”

Let’s bow our heads together.

I want to ask you to just reflect for a few moments, if you would, while we’ve got our heads bowed,
about the measure of God’s goodness in your life, His faithfulness to you. The Bible says in Philippians 4,
“My God will meet all your needs according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus.” Notice he said all your
needs. Think about the scope of provision that God has met in your life. Have you experienced that? That
this God that we can trust for our entire eternal destination, forever and ever, we can trust Him with all
these other needs. Has He met your needs finically? Has He met your needs materially? You have a roof
over your head today? You have some good food to eat, you have clothes on your back?

In some cases has He exceeded your wildest imagination of how He’s provided? Or maybe He’s been
faithful to you in a time of crisis. How about emotionally and relationally? Has God met your needs
there? Have you been amazed about how God knows when you need an ear, you need a shoulder, when
you need a phone call, when you need a text message – an email. How God knows when you need an
extra touch of His presence, when you’re fearful of the future, when you’ve lost someone that you love
very much. How God knows when you’re worried about what the test results will be. And how about
spiritually? Have you found that God can meet the deepest needs of your soul? There’s a blood stained
cross and an empty tomb to prove that He can. And right now God is preparing for you a place that
defies imagination. And on top of everything else, He’s given you the privilege of being a part of this
fantastic church.

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If I lived in Indianapolis, I don’t know of another place that I’d rather raise my family than right here. I
don’t know of a more compassion driven church than this one. It’s here that many of you, you have found
hope here, you have found refuge here, you have found the courage to go on, you have found the words
of life, you have found Jesus Christ here. It’s here that you are equipped for life, you’re equipped for
marriage, you’re equipped for parenthood, you’re equipped for the future. It’s here that you receive
words of affirmation, smiles of encouragement, tears of understanding. It’s right here. And friends, this
good God who invites us to trust Him, to really trust Him, to put Him to the test with the mystery of
giving and receiving, who meets all these other needs can meet the needs in this area also. He’s proven
throughout history over and over again that He can be trusted, He supplied food for 5,000 people on a
hillside. He supplied more flour and oil every day miraculously for a single mom and her son. He’s proven
trustworthy in my life and He can be trusted in yours.

God, I thank you for being so trustworthy … for proving it over and over and over again. I know that
many in this room feel the same way. And God, I just want to pray for those who have yet to trust You in
this area of their lives who are being tested right now in these important days in the life of this church. I
pray that they would choose to trust You in this area also. I thank You for the bloodstained cross that
reminds us that You were willing to pay an enormous price to give us life to the full. And God, out of
gratitude, out of worship, out of thanksgiving just for Your shared goodness to us may we trust You in
these important days and in the days to come. And I ask it in Jesus’ name and for His sake. And
everybody said – Amen.

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