Hey, all of our campuses, let's give God a hand for all that he's done. And I want to tell you, I'm so proud of you. I'm so proud of you. You don't understand, probably with regard to churches and all that you're doing, it is not normal. And, uh, so thank you.

You get this. It's 22 days to Christmas as it make you feel. Yeah. Kinda of cra Yeah. It's exciting.

You know, a magical time of year. Uh, you've got presents and you've got parties and everything is gonna be happening. And it's, it's amazing. And I want you to know something that Christmas happens all over the world. You may not know that.

Like when we met our family in Dubai years ago, they were in Africa and Dubai was a place, it would be fun. We thought we'd get 'em out of that, where they were and that we would meet there. And we stayed in Sia, which was right on the Persian Gulf. And I thought, man, Christmas in the Persian Gulf in this area, it's like the holy land is gonna be weird. And, and we got into our hotel and there were Christmas trees everywhere.

And I was shocked. I'm like, you gotta be kidding me. And I thought, well, they probably get that part of, but then I heard all the Christmas carols coming over the loudspeaker talking about Jesus, talking about born in Bethlehem. And I'm like, you gotta be kidding me. Hey, God owns the United Arab Emirates.

You know, Jesus owns you. He owns me. He owns everything that we have. And, and so as we go into this Christmas season, we're reminded of the Gospel where Paul says in Galatians four, for in five, he says, at just the right time, God sent his son, born of a virgin woman who was born under the law, so that we might be set free from the law and be adopted into the family of God. Now, that is the Gospel, and that's what Christmas is all about, okay?

It's about giving for God so loved the world he gave. Yeah. You get that. And so you're going, well, hey, that's great, but I don't feel it this year. You, you know, I'm going into this season.

I've talked to so many different people. They're like, Hey man, they's fine. The only party I'm going to this year is a pity party because this is not turning out the way I planned. You know, like some of you, like even the weather, you're like, man, it's a hundred degrees. You know, like, something's going on with my family, you know, I have trauma every year and I'm not feeling it.

Well, if that is you, I've got a word for you. Because today, yeah, for you, because today we're gonna look at a guy named Baruch. How many of you ever heard of Baruch in the Bible? Baruch. Okay.

Two people. Yeah, two people. Baruch. Yeah. And, and I asked the Lord, why would you have me preach on this?

Because nobody's gonna know this guy. Uh, this guy was simply a guy who would take the words of Jeremiah when he received a word from God, and he would write it down. I mean, it's not a big deal, you know, like he, he's not a big deal in the Bible, but, but you're gonna find today that God has a word for him. Like he has a word for you. And his name means blessed, but he didn't feel blessed.

I mean, that's probably a lot of us. Like, you know, you are blessed, but you may not feel blessed. And there's several reasons why he didn't feel blessed. And one is his parents were always comparing him to other people in his family. Don't you hate it when that happens?

He had a brother that worked for the king, and he had a grandfather that was the mayor of Jerusalem, and, and they would meet for Christmas dinner. And, you know, they would ask, Hey, I, I, what, what? Now what are you? But Rick, what are you doing? Well, I'm an assistant manager, uh, for Jeremiah guy nobody likes.

And, and the mom was like, oh, yeah, that's your donkey out there, right? Yeah. Your brother's chariots out there. And they got all those horses. Yeah.

Okay. And everybody's kind of, you know, wink, wink, wink, wink, nod, nod. And, and for a lot of people, when you go into the holidays, that's how you feel. There's comparisons, not just in your family. You're comparing yourself to other people.

And, and maybe you're like Baruch because he lived in a time of difficult circumstances. And, and many of you, that's where you are. I mean, there's things going on in your life, or some of you and I, and I get, I'm behind the curtain. So like, I see this all the time, uh, where you heard that you have cancer. Can't tell you the number of people I've talked to just today who said, Hey, you know, cancer has come into our family and, and you know, you're hurting for, for some it's infidelity.

You know, I get to hear about a lot of that. And, and, and so this Christmas, man, there's all kind of frustration. There's all kind of fear. Uh, there's all kind of things that are happening that you don't have any control over. For some of you, this is a season, like for me, if you're like me, 'cause I have anxiety, I'd struggle with anxiety.

I don't mean worry. I mean like, like, like anxiety. Like, like, like my brain synapses don't fire. Right? You know, like, and because my, my mama and my grandmamas don't either, you know, like it's genetics.

And, and so, you know, if you're a person who goes, I don't believe in that, just put yourself by your bootstraps. You just don't have it. I mean, like, you don't have anxiety or, you know, and some, for some of you like, like anxiety. But for some of you, it's depression. Where, where depression has gripped you and you're going into this season, you're going like, this is the Annie Hallmark season.

Like, like this is, there's, there's no dog, there's no snow, there's no kiss. I mean, like, this is gonna be a terrible year. And, and it left Baruch craving comfort and, and was looking for a way like, Hey, hey, I, I, I, I need to feel better about myself. I, I, I need some bling to make me sing. I, I, I need a trip to flip the script.

Okay? You know, like, I'm gonna be a rapper. Okay? How am I doing? So far, so good.

Okay. Okay. Not that good. Okay. Alright.

How about some stuff to make me enough? Okay? Like, I can go with it now. Don't get me going now. Okay?

I've had two hours sleep, so don't, don't get me going. Okay? So here's the cool thing about the Bible. When you read the Bible, uh, it's real, it really happened. And, uh, this guy wrote in, in Jeremiah 33 15, he said, there's going to come from, at a certain time, there's going to sprout from the branch of David, a person who's gonna rule the world.

So, so 588 years before Jesus, he's writing down prophecies, yet his heart is not right, because he is discouraged and he is angry, and he is bitter. And so as he's writing down, I just think this is cool, is he is writing down the word of God from Jeremiah, Jeremiah stops and says, wait a minute, Baruch, this word is for you. Can you imagine getting a text from God in red letters just lighting you up going, Hey, hey, let me tell you some things you need to know about your life. Well, this happened to Baruch. So in Jeremiah chapter 35, I mean, uh, 45, I want you to see what God says to Baruch.

And, and, and you'll understand when I read it, how, uh, you know, how crazy this passage is to use it for this time of year, man, as I got to read and pray and study, and like it has everything to do with our lives. Jeremiah 45, beginning with verse one, he says, when Baruch's son of Nariah wrote on a scroll, the words of Jeremiah the prophet dictated in the fourth year of JE Holcomb, son of Josiah, king of Judah, Jeremiah said to Baruch, this is what the Lord the God of Israel says to you. I think he said it like that to you, Baruch. I got a word for you, bro. All right?

That's in Hebrew. Said you've been saying unto your breath and you've been telling other people, woe to me. The Lord has added sorrow to my pain. I am worn out with groaning and I find no rest crying out. But the Lord has told me to say to you, this is what the Lord says.

I will overthrow what I have built and uproot what I have planted throughout the earth. Should you then, this is the key verse, God put in my brain that I couldn't get outta my brain. Should you then seek great things for yourself? Do not seek them. I'm like, well, wait a minute.

I'd like to seek some great things for I will bring disaster on all people, declares the Lord. But wherever you go, I will let you escape with your life. He says, I will give you life. And so, four things, lemme do this real quick because I want you to have this, because I think this is a word for this time of where we are, uh, in, in America and where we are in Hattiesburg. Number one, we are in a war for the souls of the people we love.

Now, I was gonna tell you, I, I hear babies and I see, you know, I see young people and I, I see students and, and man, I'm gonna tell you like, like nothing gets me like fired up and jazzed up to go to war than when I see our kids. When I hear those babies. And I'm like, yeah, man, I like that. Let let that happen more. Like, like, 'cause you know, we're in a war.

Like I got five grandkids and we gonna go to war for our grandkids. We we're gonna go to war for our children. And in Israel, they were in a war for the soul of their people and their nation. And I think we are too, because here's the reality. You were born in an, into an earth that is at war.

I mean, you see the thing in Gaza, you see all that's been happening for thousands of years. But this earth is not our home. This earth is our mission filled. And when Jesus, when he parachuted into the world, get this, he parachuted in to the womb of a 14-year-old girl. Not into Club Med, but into Club dead because Herod was killing all the babies two years and under.

See, here's the thing, we we're not facing that, where we've got a Herod and we may have some of those and Washington, but, but, but he's not killing people. The challenge we have are the army is called Amazon. I'm kidding. The guy at our house and Alicia's in here, and I don't, I like getting things from Amazon. Maybe lemme back up, but, but man, we, I see him so much now.

Hey bro, what's up? You gonna come in, get something to eat? Hey, you got a package? Hey, you know, hey, come on in. Well, what is that package?

Well, well, anybody know what it, I don't know. I didn't know what it is. I don't know what it is. I don't know what it is. I don't know what it is.

I don't know what it is. Oh, oh, that's what it is. Our promise's not terrorists is tar. I'm not kidding, man. You go into target map, people go crazy, they're like all fired up, you know, oh, oh, jazz dub, and we're gonna get some more stuff.

It's not Satan, it's social media. You don't think social media is out to destroy your children? Listen, the weeds of worry are gonna choke the life out of your family. And we're, we're going to war. And he says, don't be saying woe is me.

Woe is me, woe is me. He says, get your hat on cowboy. We got a job to do. We, we we're at war. Here's the second thing we are seeing the disintegration of authority.

Did, did you what? He said, did you start Barrick? He said, he said, I am, I am tearing down all that I've built up and I'm uprooting all that I have planted. He says, all the things you've been placing your trust in. You say, you say, well, I'm gonna place my trust in the federal government.

Good luck on that bunch of cuckoo birds. I I'm not kidding. Jerry Springer, you, you remember Jerry Springer? He could do a show in DC It's unbelievable. I'm not trying to be ugly.

I mean, you get it. I get it. We all get it. They, they, they're psycho. I mean like, like, you're like, you gotta be kidding me.

You're grown men. Some of you are like, you're dead men walking, you're like zombie zombies and you're still like doing crazy stuff. You're 102. You should learn by now the, the, the, the courts are lawless. Have you been watching?

Have you been watching what's happening in the, in cities? And it's coming here. Okay? Where, where they're taking like, like the, the UPS trucks and they're taking all the, all the packages off and running with it. You know, like just running, like nothing, nothing you do about it.

Just watching 'em steal packages. You get a package and you get a package and you get a package. You go, whoa. Why are they doing that? 'Cause they're not going to jail.

Yeah, it's funny. All The things we've been trusting in are falling apart. Our Culture has switched. The price tags, COVID reminded us that everything we thought we could trust cannot be trusted. And he's bringing us all the way back to him.

He says, don't you understand? He said, this is not a time to just kind of cry in your beer. He said, this is a time when we're at war for our kids. We're at war for our marriages. Listen, I want your marriage to make it.

I I want your marriage to be rich. I want your marriage to be good, man. It needs to be smoking hot, but you're gonna have to work at it for that to happen. So he says, really? You gonna go into Christmas and seek great things for yourself?

He says, seek them. Not God's calling somebody in this room. See, right there when I said right then when I said that, there, there was God's. See, God has sent a text message to you telling you it's not all about you. Okay?

That's what Lisa tells me. She's, she, she's gotten this new thing now. She'll go, well, you know, it's not all about you. I'm thinking, okay, mother Theresa. Alright, But here's the thing I've learned about Christmas.

You know what? Christmas is not all about you. It ain't your birthday. And we've rolled into Christmas. I'm like, like, we've gotta have this.

You gotta have this. You gotta have this. Now. Now men, there's some of you that are misers, don't use and say, we ain't getting no Christmas presents. That's not what this means.

You, you should do things, you should enjoy it. Okay? But I'm just saying it's not all about you. You say, why don't you say that? Because the greatest rival we face to our spiritual wellbeing is money and possessions.

Money make you funny. You know that you, you, you've had friends like that. I mean, they were poor. I've had friends, they were poor, and all of a sudden they were rich and they're, they're like the scare crew that got a brain or they got better looking. You know, because you, you know, money will make you crazy.

You, you, you know that. But, but it's not all about you And what I want us to do, and we're doing it because you're the most generous church I've ever seen in my life. Almost 1500 of you give something. It's not the same amount. It's equal sacrifice.

And you're giving, I'm so proud of you. Like, like, like I, I, I can't tell you how it makes me feel. And then I hear stories like a lady was telling Alicia, she said, you know, uh, you know what we do every year when our family buys shoes? Now think about this, think about a culture of generosity. When we buy shoes, all of our family, we keep the shoe boxes because that's how many Christmas in a shoebox we're gonna do that year.

I was like, baby Shoe boxes. Wow. Here, here's another one. Like, like going into Christmas, you know, counting up all the money you spend on Christmas for your family and going, Hey, that's how much we're going to give to the church this year. We, we started going over that number in our house.

I'm like, you mean we're spending that much money? No wonder I know the Federal Express guy and lie, he's living in our house. He is renting our house. That's okay. Well, we'll just turn around and give that much to the church.

Well, well you can, we afford that. Can we afford not to? You Say, why? What are you talking? You never talk about giving.

I know, and I'm sorry. I'm a I'm just a chicken. But the return on your investment of giving here is so good. I gotta tell you about this new deal that if you give to God through the church, you can see over 300 people baptized. That's as many from 1980 as the year.

2020 Years in one year. Matter of fact, I I went back and counted the last 10 years. Do you know how many baptisms we've had in the last 10 years? 1,924. That includes C 79 during Covid.

Aren't we? Snuck them in, had a mask on 'em, you dunked 'em, you know, threw 'em down. I ain't even gotten to the number of, of of cars we've given away. I mean, like, you know, we see these people like, they don't have a way to get to work. Now, if all of you come to me and say, well, I need a car.

Well, well put your name down, we'll pray over it. Maybe we'll get you one. I I mean, they just kind of sprout up and we got people that are like giving. So, hey, you, anybody needs a car? Yeah, we gotta go over here and needs a car.

They say, well, what are you gonna do with everybody else who wants a car? I said, I don't have to give them one. I didn't give them one. It came from the Lord 67 House churches and all you're doing for people that nobody hears about. See, here's the last thing.

You deron the love of money through giving. This Is what he's saying to Baruch. He's saying, he's saying, look, you wanna make it all about you. You, you wanna get up there with your brother and be with the king. You wanna get up there where your granddad was and be the mayor?

He said, that's fine, but you're not gonna have real life. He says, you have real life when you're obedient and you think about other people and you're a giver. You know that Paul says in second Timothy, in the last days, people will be lovers of self and lovers of money and disobedient to parents and prideful and boastful and arrogant. How did he know? How many of you have been watching the Alex Medaugh saga?

Anybody besides me? Uh, well, if you don't know about, like, Alicia watches Hallmark, and I watch this murderer and, uh, because it's kind of our personality, and I've been watching this dude, like, man, like he, he had so much money. Like he, he was like spending money left and right doing some crazy stuff. And, and he got so eyeball deep in money. You think he'd have enough money, but he start stealing from like poor people that, that were doing business with him, that trusted him.

And, and it was so crazy that, that like, he was trying to cover up, like, I'm telling this real quick because I got a point he's trying to cover up. And so he killed his wife and he killed his son to kinda cast doubt on other people so he wouldn't get caught. We were watching Alicia and I, I said, I cannot believe that he, he, he killed, he killed his wife and son. And, and, and she said, well, I, I understand why, you know, maybe why he killed his wife, but, but why would he kill his son? Like, I mean, we're just going back and forth in that and we're just getting tickled about it.

Like, because this is so crazy. This is so insane because money man, when it becomes your God takes over your life. Last night I went to the SEC championship and don't tell me if I I'm a mate, I don't wanna know. Don't, don't tell me, don't tell me. Don't tell me, don't tell me.

And, uh, a friend of ours gave, he texted me and said, would you like some tickets for you and Hunter to go to the SEC championship? And I said, let me pray about it. Yes. And, and, uh, well, it's the truth. And, and so I thought, well, you know, I need, it's a mission trip.

And, and uh, you know, when you go over there, 'cause a, all those Georgia people I know are lost. I've known a bunch of them. And, and so we went over there and I kid you not like it was four hours. It was four of the most glorious hours you could possibly have. And uh, but in the beginning it wasn't like that because we get over there and, and, and, and the game is kind of close.

So if you watch the game, you know, if you didn't watch the game, you could probably watch it and replay and, and, and so like, we're watching the game and I kid you, I took a picture 'cause I knew, no, believe me, I'm not gonna put it, we don't have time. But there was a guy, big guy's, an Alabama guy, and toward the end of the game, he, he's drunk as a skunk. And, but he was, I looked at, he was praying it, and I'm trying wonder how that prayer went. Like, Lord, you know, I'm drunk, but God, I still love Alabama. And you know, they need to win God.

'Cause these Georgia people, they, they not drunk. They, they were on drugs, so Lord, you, you see what I mean? Like, like, and he was praying, I'm thinking, you gotta be kidding me. You're praying, you're praying for this. Had a Georgia guy in front of me, like a nerdy guy.

He had this like red, you know, vest, sweater vest. And, and like, I think it was a Georgia Tech guy engineer, but he changed over to Georgia so he could be on a winning team. And so he said in front of me, and every time, every time they would drop a pass, he'd turn to me and go, I'm, I'm not kidding you. I'm not kidding. You can ask Connor and Hunter.

He said, daddy, daddy, daddy. Well don't do it. And, and then one time they made, they made a first down and he went, he turned around with me and went like this. And so towards the end of the game, I started making my own signals. I ain't gonna show you what I did, but I did some things at the end.

It was really bad. Hunter had to get in between us. And I said, I got that little man. But anyway, here, here's the thing. Isn't it crazy how you can get that excited about four hours of your life rooting for people you don't even know?

The nerd in front of me was ing the game, coaching the game and playing the game. And he played the flute in the band. Now, if you are floes, I'm not trying to be ugly, but I'm like, bro, don't be acting like you know stuff you don't know none. But do you know why they were doing that? Those tickets were $2,000 a piece.

Uhhuh. I didn't pay for 'em. Where your treasure is there, where your heart be all soul. I I did the math on this while I was glowing at the end of the game. $250 million minimum to be inside that room.

1 billion, 1 billion for the city of Atlanta. And I thought, these foes, I like it, but my heart's not there. And when I give here, I don't just see life change for four hours. I see him change for eternity. I've done at Wiggins last week and down to worship with them.

And I love my wig people, my stoners from Stone County. I love them. No, that didn't sound right. No, yeah, I I, no, I didn't mean it like that. I don't mean like you're stoned.

I meant like the stone wildcats, the tomcats, the can stop and let's move forward. And so I'm sitting there and I, so I start, I start crying because I see, I see these people that are weeping and, and this young girl puts her head on her mom's shoulder and their mom's crying. And I started crying and I thought, man, I struggle with even us doing this 'cause there's not that many people here. And You, You lit the fuse. You, You, you lit the rocket for an average of 450 people every week in 40 baptisms, 15 house churches.

People that I don't think would've been reached any other way. But because you gave, and I'm proud of you, I'm Thankful For What you've done. I dunno if you know the name William Tyndall. And with this I'll be finished, but William Tyndall, like you wouldn't have this book right here in English. Had William Tyndall not said, Hey, you know, I I, I can do this.

Like, I can translate the Bible from, from Latin to English. I can do that, but I, I don't know how, say, see if you got a dream with no money, it's just a wish. But, but if you've got a vision with money, you got a movement. And there was a guy, and I dunno if you know this, his name is Humphrey Monmouth. Anybody heard of Humphrey Monmouth?

Humphrey Monmouth? He's the reason we have this. 'Cause he was talking to William Tyndall and, and Tyndall told him his vision. He said, well, let, let's do it. He goes, what do you mean, let's do it?

He goes, I'll pay for it. You go to Germany, you do all this translation. You, you, they got the pending printing press and you got the, and we'll ship 'em over in my, in my, my ships and we'll smuggle them in. And, and they, they, they, they, they caught him and they put Humphrey in jail. And after about 12 months, this is a businessman.

This is a rich man. And he loved Jesus. But he understood money is a tool to be used. He's a steward. And so he finally tells the king like, Hey, look man, you let me out because the taxes you're missing on my business, you gonna miss that.

You need to let, so they let him out. But, but William Tyndall, they caught him and they put him in prison at 41 years of age. They put him back against this pole, and you can go back and look at this and tied his hands behind his back and strangled him to death and then burned his body. All because he translated the Bible. And, and when Humphrey heard this, people around him said, when he said, he said, Hey, William, William, we did it.

We did it. We Did it. Listen to me. When you give and you see what God is doing with the Lord, we did it. We did it.

But for some of you, like, you know, you could give $40,000. Those, here comes the pitch. No, I'm just saying you can get $40,000 pay for our youth weekend, 115,000 pay for our lead program. We had 55 people go through lead 22 on our staff. Nobody does anything like that.

I mean, it's in, it's incredible what we want to do in the future, two and $3 million, man, we're down the road. This is the first quarter of what God is doing in venture. I get to come along now alongside you and go, woo Woo. Are you seeking great things for yourself? Seek them, not, would you bow your heads?

Father, you have been so good to us. I thank you for all those little widows downtown. I thank you for Ms. Emma Aplin, who would call me and say, brother Jeff. Brother Jeff, I've sa I've been saving this money for a rainy day.

And God knows you're having some rainy days. We're sitting under the trees, they planted, and we thank you and we honor you God. We're not seeking great things for ourselves, but we are seeking great things for you. And we want to give you our treasures. And we pray all these things in Jesus' name.

Amen.