In Genesis 4, we see that God respected Abel's offering, but did not respect Cain's offering. Why? The difference was attitude. Abel's attitude was "Lord, everything that comes to me, I'm bringing you the first and the best of it!" Cain's attitude towards his offering was slack by comparison. Like Abel, we too can have a respect and honor regarding every blessing that comes into our lives. There is nothing inherently wrong with money - quite the contrary because God created it! The Word of God does warn us about pursuing God for the purpose of financial gain (1 Tim 6:6-10) and also about making money our god (Mark 10:21-24), but we should not erroneous interpret those warnings as God being against money. There is a way that money can be used beautifully and in accordance with God's design: knowing that He's our source, that all blessing comes from Him, and that we are blessed in order to be a blessing. With a right perspective about money, the financial principles of the Kingdom of God will take effect in your life because you'll be lined up with the Kingdom of God!
Brad Ettore
For the past thirty years, Pastor Brad has been an avid student and teacher of The Word of God. He has taught in multiple churches around the nation, numerous home bible study groups, in prisons, and to a large group of pastors in the Philippines.
Brad grew up with some knowledge of God, but no personal relationship with his Creator. After a tragic loss of his brother occurred right before his eyes, Brad found himself angry with and completely resistant to God. That all began to change a few years later, when one of the employees of his business was such a wonderful witness that he had to ask her, “what is different about you?” Her response: “Jesus!” He later accepted her invitation to a church service where Brad was radically saved and soon after baptized in the Holy Spirit!
After this powerful encounter with God, Brad immediately had an insatiable hunger for the Word of God, reading the New Testament 52 times, and the Old Testament 6 times in his first year as a believer! This download ignited a fire in Brad to want to share the truths of the Kingdom with all who did not yet know the Lord. Today, he has been blessed with well over 1,000 opportunities to lead people on a one-on-one basis into a personal relationship with our Precious Lord Jesus!
Brad spent the early part of his Christian life ministering primarily within the context of the business world wherein he had a variety of successful companies and ventures. In the Fall of 2011, it became clear to several other church leaders and to Brad that the Lord was leading him to serve as the senior pastor of a church. He named the church “Agathos,” a Greek word from the New Testament which means “pure goodness”, identifying and honoring what Brad has come to know and love most about the Lord: “Oh taste and see that the Lord is Good” (Ps. 34:8). Since that time, Brad has been blessed to witness exceptional spiritual growth in this wonderful body of believers through the transforming power of the Word of God!
Introduction to the Series
It is God's desire that His children would be blessed in every area of life - and that of course includes the area of finances. The reality is you cannot live, eat, or have shelter and clothes without money (yours or someone else's). You cannot feed the poor, clothe the naked, or "go into all the world" without money. God put gold in the earth and told Adam that it was "good." (see Gen. 2:12) Money is good, but it's not the whole thing either. There are many things far more important than money. God is not opposed to us having things, but He is opposed to things having us. When you prioritize money with God, you will get off track with God. But, God is for riches when our heart is right!
You can obey the Lord two ways - rightly and wrongly - and the difference all has to do with attitude. A great example of this is the Israelites in the wilderness. On one hand they had packed their bags, followed Moses, and walked toward a promised land. On the other hand, as soon as there were obstacles in their path, they started complaining. It is possible to follow the lead of the Lord incorrectly. It is important to realize that God sets up authority and submission roles and has for blessing to flow through those roles into our lives. (See Eph 6:1, Heb. 13:17, and Rom. 13:1) It is up to us whether we will actually experience the blessings God has for us. When God initiates a change in our lives, we need to keep our eyes on the vision, keep a sweet heart, and look for our personal purpose in the plan of God.
Pastor Brad begins to share the vision for a new church structure for Agathos - a blend between "big church" and "house churches." On the 1st and 3rd Sundays of the month we will all meet at the "big church" as normal. On the other Sundays in between we will meet in "house churches" in smaller groups that encourage participation from all members of the body. Brad will continue to share the vision this coming Sunday.
We have been given, by God, through Jesus Christ, all authority over all the demonic realm. It does not matter if you are the least of all Christians on the earth, you still have just as much power over the demonic realm as any other Christian on the earth. God gave all the authority over the demonic realm to the Body of Christ. The problem is, most don't know that they have the authority and they allow the devil and his cohorts to intimidate them in many areas of their life. If we simply knew the truth about what's going on in the spirit realm - and who has the authority - all of our fear would go away! We will realize "oh, you mean I'm boss? I'm the one that's in control?" That's what this series is about - our spiritual authority in Christ.
Children are born totally dependent on their parents. Over the years, children grow less and less dependent on their parents - optimally transferring that dependence to God. As a child becomes an adult and begins to assume responsibility for their own life, the key is that they increasingly place themselves squarely under the leadership of God so that their dependence can be upon Him. The nurturing, comforting, protecting, providing, and encouraging nature of mothers is directly from God. Children need that expression of God in the earth, brothers and sisters need that expression of God in the earth, and strangers need that expression of God in the earth. God has uniquely gifted Moms to best express certain aspects of His nature and our dependence upon our parents is meant to prepare us for dependence upon God.
Ask What You Desire
Since you did not make yourself, you cannot tell yourself what your purpose is. If we seek out His purposes for us and then walk according to those purposes, then and only then will we find true fulfillment. According to Jesus, the number one reason He came was to reveal the Father - to glorify the Father. Jesus understood that the only way He could glorify (reveal) the Father was to allow the Father to glorify Him. (Jn 17:1) Yet, we have a mindset in the Body of Christ (as a whole) that God is interested in our needs but not in our wants. Jn 15:7-8 speaks differently: "If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples." When we don't ask Him what we desire, we are actually stealing an opportunity for God to be glorified.
The event we celebrate on Easter is the most significant event in all of human history! To understand its significance, it helps to view it in light of the Old Testament. In the Old Covenant, animal sacrifices were offered at the temple throughout the year, but on one particular day, Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement), the high priest actually entered the Holiest of Holies to make atonement for ALL of the sins of Israel for the whole year. The nation of Israel waited with great anticipation as the high priest made very specific preparations to enter the Holiest of Holies on their behalf. If he prepared himself correctly, his sacrifice on behalf of all of the people would be accepted by God and the high priest would emerge from the Holiest of Holies causing the nation to celebrate the covering of their sins for that year! Conversely, if the high priest had not been perfectly prepared, he was struck dead in the presence of God - indicating that his sacrifice on behalf of all the people had not been accepted by God. The grave reality of this specific and most important sin offering is seen by the Jewish tradition of tying a rope to the leg of the high priest so that he could be pulled out of the Holiest of Holies were he to not emerge alive. The death of the high priest would indicate that his sacrifice on behalf of the people had not been accepted. The book of Hebrews tells us that Jesus has become a "high priest over the house of God." When Jesus died, He was placed in the tomb wearing white linen garments like the high priest would have worn on Yom Kippur. Similarly, like some of the high priests, Jesus emerged - alive! As both our high priest and the Lamb of God, Jesus' sacrifice of Himself had been accepted by God . . . and He therefore emerged victorious from the tomb! Romans 4:25 spells it out by saying that Jesus "was delivered up because of our offenses, and was raised because of our justification." Jesus was crucified (delivered up) because we had sinned. He was raised from the dead because we had been justified before God! The resurrection of Christ is the PROOF that Jesus' sacrifice had successfully paid for ALL sins for ALL mankind for ALL time! So, just as the people of God in the Old Covenant celebrated with great joy at the emergence of the High Priest on the Day of Atonement, all the more God's children can now celebrate every day of every year at the realization that Jesus emerged from the grave after making payment for all of our sins with His very Own blood! His sacrifice for you was accepted by God and you have been declared "JUSTIFIED!" before the Father if you will receive His sacrifice for you by faith!
We cannot determine our own purpose - because we did not make ourselves. There is only one way to find out our purpose - and that is to read the owner's manual! When we base our lives on God's Word, we get into agreement with our Creator. His blessings flow when we get into agreement with Him! Everything God does is good, right, and perfect. If we think He is bad, we don't understand Him. Romans 8:28 tells us that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose! Our first purpose is to know and enjoy God. Our second is to glorify Him. How do we glorify God? By fearing Him, trusting Him, and obeying Him. The purpose of man is to reflect God in the Earth! As we look into the mirror of His Word, we will look more and more like God - from glory to glory!
God created you to know and enjoy Him! "Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent." (Jn 17:3) In God's presence is fullness of joy - and at His right hand are pleasures for evermore! (Ps 16:11) Everything you want is in the presence of God! Allowing God to bless you is key to being pleasing to Him! Without faith it is impossible to please God. (Heb 11:6) He wants to glorify us so that we can glorify Him! "Arise, shine; for your light has come! And the glory of the Lord is risen upon you." (Isa 60:1) We are blessed in order to be a blessing. His blessing in our lives makes us a blessing in the lives of others and brings glory to Him! You have a purpose. You have a destiny - and it's beyond marvelous in God!
Jesus came to reconcile us to the Father. After we are reconciled to Him, we are transformed in our thinking according to His Word. We are reconciled once and for all, but the transformation and duplication processes are continuous. Our first and number one purpose is to glorify God. Isa 43:7 says that God created you for His glory! One of the primary ways God has for us to bring glory to Him is by being filled with His joy - not artificial happiness, because, when we are filled with His joy, it becomes the number one attraction to the people of the world - giving us opportunities to love them. And this exactly how we step into an abundant life...by choosing to live for and love others! Success is when you add value to yourself. Significance is when you add value to others. When you live a life of significance, you realize "oh my gosh, THAT'S living!"
Why are We Here on Earth?
We can choose how we want to live our lives, but our eternity will be determined by how we chose to live our life. It is a beautiful thing to step into the life that God has for us! Glorifying God, being filled with His joy, and loving people is the greatest life any of us can experience. We can do everything for the glory of God. "Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” (1 Cor. 10:31) And God is wanting to get behind what we do! John 15:7-8 says “If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.” God gets glorified when you bear much fruit! When you receive the Father’s provision, your life is blessed and people see it on you - and that brings glory to the Father!
We have been given one commission and one command from the Lord. The commission is to go into all the world and make disciples! The commandment is to love people! We tend to tell God that we love Him, but walk past those in need. "If someone says, 'I love God,' and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen?" (1 Jn 4:20) We need to make a quality decision: "Lord, I will serve Your people." God is not here for us to physically love Him; we love Him by loving those that He loves! We need to inspect our hearts and ask "where am I in serving God?" Remember what Jesus promised: if we will lay down our lives and serve Him, we will find the greatest life on planet earth! Give yourself to serving the Lord by serving His people!
The Humble Person Serves
All the gifts we have are from God, and with every gift comes with an equal responsibility. Notice that in the parable of the talents (Mt. 25:14-30), the faithful servants had been faithful in proportion to their gifting. Jesus called both the man who earned 2 talents and the man who earned 5 talents faithful. Despite this, we often compare ourselves amongst ourselves, which is not wise! True humility, on the other hand, doesn’t compare at all. True humility knows that we are nothing apart from Him, but we are never apart from Him! The humble person serves others. Humility allows "he who is greatest among you" to be "as the younger, and he who governs to be as he who serves." (Lk. 22:26)