If you’re being honest, you might have to admit that statement makes you at least a little uncomfortable. For most of us, to live as though everything we have is actually God’s would completely upend the way we spend our money and use our resources. How many of your recent financial decisions have been completely centered around yourself or your family? As Pastor Richard will challenge us in today’s message, could you give all of it back to God or is it holding you too tightly?

It’s not hard to find the showboating we witness in the Pharisees of Jesus’ day in the modern Church. You may put on the persona of humility and modesty, while also putting great pride in how much you’re secretly tithing or how much time you’re investing in the various programs your church puts on. It may look a little different, but as Pastor Richard will challenge us to ask in today’s message, are you more like the rich man giving a little of his wealth, or the poor widow putting in nearly everything?

Just as the Israelites were instructed to erect monuments as reminders of the journeys God led them through and the victories He won for them, it’s an important practice for us as believers. When you’ve followed Him for a long time, you can slip into a routine that loses a lot of the passion you felt when you first came to Him. As Pastor Richard will challenge us in today’s message, it’s important that we remember where we’ve come from and the astounding grace that God extended to us.

It’s so easy to see the faults and weaknesses in others. As we hear the accounts of the Pharisees, we often are very harsh critics. Yes, they were a rotten group, with some serious heart issues. But, as Pastor Richard will exhort us in today’s message, don’t be so prideful to think that you aren’t a lot like them. We’re all susceptible to pride in various forms. We easily find ourselves driven by our own selfishness and looking down on others instead of reflecting the grace that we so desperately need.