Overflow

Hi, I'm Erwin McManus, and this is the Mosaic Podcast.

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Have you ever been a part of an event where you were just mildly interested but other people were insanely committed?

Like, if you've ever been to a football game or a basketball game or a sporting event where you just went because a friend invited you,

but then there are insane people all around you.

I understood it in high school.

I understood it a little bit in college.

But I was never like this.

I never said the guys who show up in Green Bay without shirts on, painted green and yellow, and they're in their 40s.

And these are men who should not be shirtless.

I'm not talking about washboard stomach, look at me, look how hard I work.

I'm talking about men who should not just be wearing shirts but tents.

But there they are.

They're going insane.

I've wondered to myself, who are they married to?

What kind of life does their wife have?

Or their kids, but then there are their kids.

With their shirts off, screaming and doing the same thing together, and you see that.

And I've been to a Raider game, just one.

You don't need to go to two.

I mean, Raider fans are insane.

In the parking lot, the whole world changes.

You just feel like you're in this land of Vikings and Raiders and criminal elements.

And some of that is not just an observation, but it's a practice of fandom because the word fan comes from that word fanatics.

But it's not just true.

In sports, it's true even in the political world.

I mean, when you watch the Republican National Convention, you see people just insane, just clapping, cheering, crying, sweating.

They go, wow, these people are like, their whole life has been given to this.

And then you watch the Democratic National Convention, same thing.

I mean, people are just screaming and shouting, wearing weird hats and crying, crying when they're hearing speakers.

And I'm just sort of watching, but I'm realizing these people are fanatically committed to something so deeply that they feel it viscerally.

And while you may not agree with what people are fanatically connected to, you have to in some ways appreciate that there's something in their life that matters so much to them that it consumes them completely.

And I find that sometimes people from the outside.

. .

Observing in two religious spaces, they are very concerned with the fanaticism where you become a fan and you become fanatical and it consumes you in all the wrong ways.

But there is something profound about us as human beings when we don't do something out of obligation or expectation, but we do it out of an intense commitment.

And a driving belief that what we're doing matters.

And what I really want to focus on just for a few moments today is this one particular moment in the scriptures where the people of Israel, going all the way back to Exodus,

where they shifted from, in a sense, doing what they were told and doing what was expected of them,

to now doing far.

Above and beyond what anyone asked because it was coming from their essence.

Because there's a shift inside of us when we do things from the outside in and then we do them from the inside out.

And I want to talk for a few moments about living in a state of overflow.

Where you're bringing to the world what can only be generated when you become truly absorbed and committed to something bigger than yourself.

I want to read.

I want to read from the book of Exodus, chapter 36, verses 1 through 7.

It says,

So Bezalel, Aholiab, and every skilled person to whom the Lord had given skill and ability to know how to carry out all the work of constructing the sanctuary,

are to do the work just as the Lord had commanded.

Then Moses summoned Bezalel and Aholiab and every skilled person to whom the Lord had given ability and who was willing to come and do the work.

They received from Moses,

all the offerings the Israelites had brought to carry out the work of constructing the sanctuary.

And the people continued to bring freewill offerings morning after morning.

So all the skilled workers who were doing all of the work on the sanctuary left what they were doing.

They said to Moses,

The people are bringing more than enough for doing the work the Lord commanded to be done.

Then Moses gave an order and sent this word throughout the camp.

No man or woman is to make anything else.

As an example,

there was an offering for the sanctuary.

And so the people were restrained from bringing more.

Because what they had already brought was more than enough to do all the work.

Now, remember the context of this.

This is the beginning, in a sense, of Israel's story.

They lived for generations as slaves to the Egyptians.

And then God intervenes by sending Moses,

who was raised among the Egyptians and disappears for 40 years.

And he comes back on the scene speaking on God's behalf to the pharaoh to let his people go.

And these people were the slaves,

the sons of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

And as they set out, and you know the stories with the ten plagues and the parting of the Red Sea,

they didn't expect what was about to happen.

Now they began wandering in the wilderness, in the desert, for 40 years.

And in those 40 years,

there were many things that had to happen because it's one thing to be set free. It's another thing

to learn how to be free. And so when they were set free, they still had the mindset of captivity.

They didn't know how to think as free people. They didn't know how to choose as free people. They

didn't know how to live as free people. They only knew how to live as slaves. And so freedom was a

commodity they had not yet learned how to experience or express. And on top of that, God was

essentially an unknown. Whenever we read the scriptures, we assume everyone knew who God was,

but you have to remember that in a very real sense, God was being reintroduced to his own people.

And if you've ever met someone for the first time, you may like them, but you may not trust them.

You may think they're impressive, but you're not really sure you're going to put your life in their

hands.

It's a huge part of this journey, of this wandering, was so that Israel could get to know

God. They could understand who he was and that he was trustworthy and that he was good. And then it

came to the time where Moses was instructing them to create a tabernacle, a mobile temple,

a portable place where they would meet with God and God would meet with them.

And this was a symbolic

experience.

Space, because God was always with them. But it was their way of knowing that they were connected

to the creator of the universe. And they were to make this tabernacle out of gold and silver and

wood and cloth. And in the middle of this project, there was much more going on. And one of the

things that is just an important reminder is that many times what we see is just a small expression

of what is actually happening. God is moving in human history, but they don't understand

where they're going. And so they're going to be in the middle of this project. And they're going to

fall in the spectrum of human history. They don't understand that they are the big opening

chapter of a story that's going to be written and told for thousands of years. All they know is that

they're in this moment that they don't understand that's bigger than them. And so this tabernacle

becomes a symbol that God is with them and that they are moving with God in concert through human

history. But something very unique kind of happens in the midst of this. And it's a symbol that God is

with them. And this is what to me is like incredibly unusual. It's an aberrant moment, and I think

a human experience when it comes to religion. Because religion is really about constructing a

system that you impose on people. It's about convincing people to do what you tell them is

the right thing to do so they might have a right result with God. And most of religion is shaped by

the fuel of shame and guilt. It's powered by fear. And yet this moment is a complete reversal of

that. Something began to happen that wasn't motivated by fear. It wasn't motivated by shame.

It wasn't motivated by guilt. It wasn't motivated by any outside factors, but something changed

from the inside out. And by the way, that for me became one of the most significant proofs I had

that God was real. Because when I finally opened up my life to God and entrusted my life to him,

I was actually surprised by what happened inside of me. Other people were watching what happened

outside of me. They would either be impressed or unimpressed by my actions. They would be impressed

or unimpressed by the external expression of who I was. But that's not what was really convincing

me that there was a God. Because I think anyone can be trained or train themselves to

act good. Even do good. But there's something different about wanting good.

What really surprised me is who I wanted to be. Not who I was choosing to be. I think a lot of times

there are a lot of people who do good things for all the wrong reasons. And sometimes when you're

envious of someone else who's living a destructive life, it's just because you didn't have the

courage to live that destructive life. I think a lot of times it's our social constraints that make

good, rather than our internal drive and motivation. What surprised me after I came to know Jesus

was that I actually wanted to be a better human being. I wanted to be good. When no one was

watching, when no one was looking, when there were no expectations, when there was no real

potential consequence, I wanted to be different. I wanted to have integrity. I wanted to be a

person of truth. I wanted to be trustworthy. I wanted to make the world better. And for me,

that was the most shocking and undeniable proof of God, that something changed inside of me.

It's as if my internal compass flipped from south to north, but now the magnetic pull

was not from the outside in, but from the inside out. This is what you find in this moment.

You find people who begin to live in an overflow that was unexpected. But I want you to see with me

that the beginning point is an overflow of desire. There's one word here that is so important.

It's in verse two. It says, then Moses summoned Bezalel and Oholiab, and every skilled person

to whom the Lord had given ability and was willing to come and do the work.

Unwilling is one of the most important words you will ever read in the scriptures.

This is the differential. It's so subtle, you could actually miss it because so oftentimes

what we're affected by is the outcome. We see what happens and we go, wow, we want that to happen.

We see the outcome. We go, we want that kind of outcome. But we don't actually notice the nuance

of the motivation, of the intention, of the internal shift of the people. They only look for

those who are willing. They didn't try to coerce anyone. They didn't try to obligate anyone. They

didn't try to force anyone. I mean, how many of us haven't been in environments where we felt

imposed upon? We felt people were trying to force us to be something or do something. I mean, how

many of us haven't felt that outside push of guilt or shame or whatever it may be that sometimes even

caused us to do something we didn't want to do just because the force of that external pressure

was more than our own self-will?

And here, what we find is that whenever God is moving in history, and I do want you to notice

that God was actually at work. There's this wonderful phrase, they were willing to come to

do the work. The work was a work that God was doing. And this is an important backdrop reminder.

In all of human history, there has never been a moment where God was not at work.

In all of human history, there has never been a place

where God was not at work. In all of human history, there has never been a person where

God was not at work. Some of us resist that work. Some of us war against that work. But God is always

working toward bringing you into the best version of you, even when you don't want to be that person.

God is always working in history. So what we find is that there was this tangible, concrete

expression of God's work, this

tabernacle that they could see and touch and feel

and they could build with their own hands. But that tabernacle wasn't

actually what God was doing. God was doing something bigger in human history. But that

tabernacle was a physical manifestation of the invisible reality

that God was working in history to call all of humanity to

himself. God is always at work. And the question

is not, is God working? But are you

working with God?

Are you aware of what God is doing in the world? And are you

a participant in that? I try to remind myself all the time,

I know God is doing something. I know God is doing something. I need to be able to see it

so that I can move in that direction because I want to be in the middle of that. I'm not

asking God to come and find employment in my life. God, come work in my life.

I want to find where God is working and employ myself to that work.

I think a lot of us are so

self-centered even in our lives.

Our spirituality, we think God should move toward us

and go in the direction we want to go rather than us moving toward God

and moving in the direction he is going.

But this is who God works with.

God works with the willing.

If you ever wondered, God, why don't you choose me? Or God, why haven't you picked me?

Or God, will you pick me? Or God, I want to be a part of what you're doing.

You are never disqualified from having

too little talent.

You're never disqualified from not being smart enough. You're never disqualified from not having

enough experience. You're never disqualified by any measure that people ever choose.

The one disqualification is that you aren't willing.

And I think for me, this is

the most important and significant reason I can

actually be a person of faith and stand here.

I would never want to be a part of anything that tried to coerce

me. I would never want to be a part of anything that tried to coerce me.

I would never want to be a part of anything that tried to coerce me.

Or force people to become something they did not want to be.

Or to do something they did not want to do.

The entire movement of God through our human history is simply to extend an invitation

to each one of us. To extend an invitation to all of humanity

and to look for the person who's willing.

He's not even waiting for you to stand up and go, I can do this, God!

I got this! Because that might actually hold you back because if you see how

big

the challenges that God's inviting you to you might feel like you're not good enough and not

big enough and that you don't got it all God wants from you is I am willing and when you stand up and

say to God God I don't know if I'm qualified I don't know if I'm talented enough I don't know

if I'm intelligent enough I don't know if I'm gifted enough but I am willing that's when God

sees you and he invites you into his intention and purpose in the world God is looking for those

who have an overflow of desire and maybe it's it's the stage that I'm in in my own life maybe

it's just turning 66 but I'm looking at the future going I do not want our past to be more

significant than our future and I don't think we're finished yet even as a community

I'm not sure all the reasons why but the word church is a hard word for me

it you rarely hear me say the

word church because it feels so churchy

it's easier for me to say mosaic than it is for me to say church

facts why I didn't put church on the name it's not mosaic church just mosaic

but people always add church I go take it off because mosaic church is in our name mosaic is

our name church is who we are it's a little different but church wasn't my idea so I can't

eliminate it it wasn't your idea it wasn't

a religion's idea it was Jesus's idea and it was the word he used to describe

who we would become as we move together with his intention throughout human history

the church is our reminder that God is always at work it's the the visible manifestation like

the temple or the tabernacle was that God is working in human history for humanity

and God isn't finished with us I'm so convinced of this that that that there's a future that we

can create together but the only people who can create together are the people who are

who can really go there with us are the willing and so if you're not willing yet we're so glad

you're here and that's a great first step just to be willing to show up to be willing to be open to

be willing to grow but there's some of you that you're you're far past that you you're you're in

an overflow of desire you're like God I am so willing that I do not want to miss out on what

you have for me God I'm willing I volunteer I want to be a part of you I want to be a part of you

I want to be a part of whatever you're doing in the world God and I can't shake that I'm not here

out of obligation I frankly let me tell you something that happens when you're in your 60s

you don't care you it's not you're just so free you don't care about other people's opinions you

don't care about what they say about you you don't care about whether you're in the cool group you

don't care about anything you just want to live the life that matters most so I can tell you I

am here because I am overflowing with desire I am among the willing I want to be wherever God

is moving most powerfully in the world and I want to be in the epicenter of that

and I'm looking for you if you're the same because God is always looking for the willing

and the willing will always overwhelm the talented

you'll get more from the willing than you will from the intelligent and the talented from the gifted

because that

desire, that passion, that drive will sustain

you in the hard times. In this moment

there is a simple invitation to

everyone who is willing to come.

We're just getting started. We have our campuses here in L.A.

We have our campuses in Mexico City and Quito, Ecuador

and in London, England.

And we have not subsided

in some of our dreams. Because when we came to L.A.

and it's funny when you have adult children, they ask you adult questions

and they'll all say, Dad, you could have like had more

visible success somewhere easier. You know L.A.

was like hard. Hollywood is hard.

I said, yeah, I pretty much looked at the world and I thought, where is it hardest?

I'll pick there.

Well, you know, you don't have to always pick the hardest place.

I kind of do. It's not that I'm

masochistic and trying to bring pain. It's that I made a commitment to God

when I was really young, in my 20s. I said, God, I want

to do whatever no one else will do or what no one else can

do. And so our dream was that Mosaic would be the

community that would commit itself to reach the outlier.

That we would commit ourselves.

To reach those creatives and those artists and those

innovators and those entrepreneurs and those outliers that

have never had a real opportunity to hear the message of Jesus in a way

that made sense to them and to experience the community of Jesus in a

way that felt authentic and real to them. And there are so many

great churches in the world, but I can tell you that there is

virtually no community in the world like this one.

I mean, I don't know a community that would have what we had

on Easter Sunday when we did a survey and asked

the people there, if you're an atheist, and you would say, I'm an atheist, but

I'm open to God if He's out there. And over a thousand people

at Mosaic said, I'm an atheist, on Easter. See, we're the

only church where atheists really go to church on Easter.

And then all my friends who did believe in Jesus,

they felt so uncomfortable because they'd never been out there.

numbered in church, but we made really conscious decisions to create a community where those of us

who believed were the servants of those who did not. Where those of us who believed would sacrifice

some of our comforts for those who did not yet believe. Where those of us who believe would

make ourselves secondary. Don't you just want some place where you're like primary?

You know, I mean, I was a Clipper fan for like 20 years, and we never had a home game,

even at home. It would frustrate me. Every Clipper game, the other team had more fans.

And when we played the Lakers, it was a home game for us. The whole stadium would be Laker fans.

And there are very few athletes that love away games, but Kobe Bryant was one of them. He was

the only person who might have been a fan. He was the only person who might have been a fan.

He might have been able to make it as a Clipper, because every game was an away game.

See, I think what happens so many times is in the church, we just want a home game so bad.

We want home court advantage. So we create the church, and it becomes a place that's perfect

for those who believe. And so irrelevant and distressing and confusing for those who do not.

And I'd like to propose that we start a new church. And I'd like to propose that we start a new church.

We can spend the next 10 years creating communities, not just in L.A. and in London,

but maybe in Tokyo and Paris and other places in the world,

where the outliers haven't had a chance to hear or be in a conversation about Jesus that makes

sense to them. But we have to be the willing for that to happen. And there has to be an

overflow of desire. We have to want that as much as we want to breathe, because it's hard.

But there's also an overflow of talent that I want you to notice.

Right before that phrase, willing to come, in verse 2 it says,

in fact, this phrase is there multiple times in just a few verses.

In verse 1 it says, so Bezalel and Oholiab and every skilled person,

that line's really important, and every skilled person

whom the Lord had given skill and ability.

And then in verse 2 he goes on again, and every skilled person

to whom the Lord had given ability and was willing to come do the work.

And so this phrase is there multiple times.

Every skilled person with the ability.

Because what happens when there's an actual movement

that is a truly spiritual movement, that is coming from the inside out,

is that there's not just an overflow of desire,

but there's an overflow of talent.

And this phrase, that all those who are skilled and are willing,

I think this is the perfect combination that we call talent.

It's a combination of skill.

It's skill and ability.

If you only have ability without skill, it's potential.

And if you only have ability without skill, it's lost potential.

And what's interesting to me is that there's this combination of skill and ability.

Now ability is what you do not have control over.

It's what you were born with.

But skill is what you do have control over.

It's what you discipline yourself to add to the matrix of who you are.

I don't remember who it was.

I'm kind of glad because when I saw this quote,

they were way more famous and more important and more intelligent than me.

So I'm not going to tell you who said it.

But someone wrote,

whenever you create a work of art,

whenever you accomplish something successfully,

it's 90% God and 10% you.

And when I read that, I thought,

no, that's just wrong.

I know you should be so humble to say,

it's 10% me.

90% God.

Or is that still arrogant?

Should you just say it's 1% me and 99% God?

And some people go as far as to go,

it wasn't me at all.

I just was standing here.

All right.

It was 100% God.

And I'll have people say to me,

I loved your book.

Thank you for writing it.

But we know you didn't write it.

God wrote it.

I'm like, God did not write the seven frequencies of communication.

I'm telling you, he wrote Leviticus,

but he did not write the seven frequencies.

All right.

And there are typos.

And I just know that if God wrote it,

there would be no typos.

And by the way, if God wrote it,

it'd be a way better book,

just way better book and a global bestseller.

But isn't it odd that we would consider it arrogant to say,

I wrote the book.

You're not supposed to say that, right?

I actually think it's more arrogant to say,

God wrote my book.

Because then I'm confusing me with God.

See, I don't think it's 10% us and 90% God.

In fact, when Jesus walked among us,

was he 10% human and 90% God?

Or was he fully God and fully man?

Was he 100% human and 100% God?

See, I think that's the way life is supposed to be lived.

100% you and 100% God.

And so when you create,

when you create something,

it should be 100% you.

But you should be given 100% to God.

And we get this confused.

And I think there's a reason for that.

Is that we think we're somehow stealing from God

if we say we did something.

The reason it's 100% God,

even when you don't believe in God,

is that your abilities were placed in you

through your genetic code.

Your abilities are given to you

by God.

They're not something you earned or deserved.

You didn't choose to be taller.

You didn't choose the way that your brain is constructed.

You're designed in a very unique way.

And even though some of that is environmental

and some of that is through the journey that you live,

there's so much of who you are.

It was just infused into your genetic code.

But then there's another part of you

that has nothing to do with your genetic code.

It has to do with your sweat.

It has to do with your grit.

It has to do with your hard work.

It has to do with your discipline.

Years and years ago,

when I first moved to LA,

I was helping out at church.

And I walked through the auditorium

and I was kind of new to this community.

And I heard someone in the band say,

because someone messed up in the band

and said, oh, I'm sorry.

I'm so sorry.

I know that was bad.

And the other person said, don't worry, bro.

It's for the Lord.

And I heard that.

Don't worry, bro.

It's just for the Lord.

And I stopped.

And I knew it was not my conversation.

But I came back

and I interjected myself into that conversation.

Did I just hear you say

that it doesn't have to be good

because it's for the Lord?

You go, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Yeah.

It's for the Lord.

It's just, it's all about our hearts.

They go, no, it's actually not.

It's also about your skill.

You may have a great heart,

but if you have no skill,

you're out of the band.

It's that simple.

See, I think somewhere along the way,

we believed or we convinced ourselves

or we were told

that if it's for God,

the standard doesn't matter.

They were skilled and able, skilled and able, skilled and able.

In fact, in Exodus 35, it talks about these very individuals,

Bezalel and Aholiab, because they are the first people

where the Bible talks about the Spirit of God coming into someone's life.

The Holy Spirit infused into the individuals who were skilled and able

and brought their talents to God.

See, if we're going to be a part of a movement that reflects what God is doing in history,

we need to have an overflow of desire, but we need to have an overflow of talent.

This should be the place where the greatest teachers in the world emerge,

the greatest thinkers in the world emerge,

the greatest carpenters in the world emerge,

the greatest philosophers in the world emerge,

the greatest scientists in the world emerge,

the greatest communicators in the world emerge.

We should be the epicenter of an overflow of talent.

And we have to destroy this idea that if it's for God,

all that matters is how sincere you are,

rather than how committed you are.

It should be 100% you, which means you need to work hard

and take on discipline.

By the way, have you ever thought to yourself,

God, why did you choose them and not me?

Or God, why didn't you pick me?

Is it possible that he didn't pick you because you were not prepared?

I mean, I could say, God, I want to be a world-renowned violin player.

I want to be a violinist, if that's how you call it.

I want to be the best in the world.

Why won't you do that for me?

Why won't you give me that dream?

See, I think that God would say to me,

Erwin, you've never picked up a violin.

You've never practiced.

If you don't practice, don't ask me for greatness.

If you don't put in the work, don't ask me to change the outcome.

When God moves in history, there is an overflow of talent.

Because when there's an overflow of desire,

you want to please God.

You want to please God by being the best version of you.

What does the best version of you look like?

Maybe you could become the best in the world.

I don't know.

I mean, I don't know your talent capacity.

So I'm not saying you should be the best in the world.

I am saying you must become the best version of you.

That's the measure of your life.

And if you are willing to settle for a secondary expression of you,

you've got to be the best version of you.

You've missed out on God's intention for your life.

God has always looked for men and women who are willing to bring their best

so he could do what they could not do even within their talent.

I have a lot of friends who are incredibly competitive.

Always talking about who's the best in this or best in that.

I actually have friends who are like global speakers all in the business world

who always talk about who's the best communicator in the world.

I realize the reason they're so good is that they are so competitive.

They're always measuring against each other

and always assuming that they are the best.

And what I walk away with each time is,

don't say you're the best.

Just be the best.

Force them to say it.

Be the measure.

Be the standard.

Be better.

Push yourself.

I know it's not really popular right now to say

that life is worth working hard.

It seems like right now the ebb and flow is just chill.

Like, you know, you guys have brought all this dysfunction of work

and determination and ambition and, yeah.

I am ambitious.

I am determined.

I have a vision of what it looks like to be,

the best version of me.

And I will die trying to achieve that level of who I am.

How about you?

Are you going to wake up in the morning satisfied with where you're at?

Even if you're better than everyone else,

are you still going to be satisfied with you?

I'm not talking about trying to earn love by what you accomplish.

I'm talking about accomplishing out of a deep love.

Because when you fall in love,

you can never have enough

of growing and developing.

The Bible says that,

and it's probably one of the most quoted verses,

delight yourself in the Lord and he'll give you the desires of your heart.

And we always focus on, he'll give you.

God, give me the desires of my heart.

But we don't realize the first half when it says,

delight yourself in the Lord.

Loving God changes your desires.

And what God wants to do before he gives you your desires

is change your desires so that they're desires you should actually want.

Because some of the most,

most painful experiences in our lives

are when we get what we wanted

and we should have never had.

Oh, and there's one other overflow.

The overflow of desire, the overflow of talent,

but there's also the overflow of generosity.

It's kind of amazing what happens here.

Let's go down verse three.

They received from Moses all the offerings

Israelites had brought to carry out the work

of constructing the sanctuary.

And the people continued to bring freewill offerings,

morning after morning after morning after morning.

And so all the skilled workers who are doing all the work on the sanctuary

left what they were doing.

And they said to Moses,

the people are bringing more than enough for doing the work

the Lord commanded to be done.

So in other words,

all the workers who are building this tabernacle

were getting interrupted by the generosity of all the people.

They just wanted to bring more.

They wanted to bring more.

They just kept showing up bringing more and more.

And the workers finally had to say,

enough is enough.

We can't have so much generosity.

They wanted to bring more.

They went to Moses.

You've got to solve this problem.

People are not hoarding.

People are not holding.

People are actually giving and giving and giving.

Moses, you've unlocked the generosity in people

that's slowing us down.

Then Moses gave an order in verse six,

and they sent this word throughout the camp.

No man or woman is to make anything else

as an offering for the sanctuary.

Can you believe that?

Moses actually had to send out a decree.

No one, no man, no woman

is to make anything else.

Nothing else as an offering to the sanctuary.

By the way, I am not saying that here.

But I want to say it here.

Wouldn't it be amazing if we got to the place

where we were so generous?

We wouldn't say stop giving.

We'd just start giving it somewhere else.

It says then,

and so the people were restrained.

I love that word.

They were restrained from bringing more.

Most of us are being restrained

in our giving.

Can you imagine being restrained

and giving more?

Because what they had already was enough

to do all the work.

You know that God is doing something unique,

something historic,

when no one has to coerce you to give.

When no one has to try to create

a feeling of obligation or guilt or shame,

you just are unrestrained.

You just have to give and you're generous.

And I look at the future,

and it's interesting when you meet together

just with the real practical things of life.

When you look at things like budgets

and think, oh,

can we afford that storefront?

See, I don't want us to be in conversations

about how do we pay the rent.

I want to be in conversations about

how do we impact Japan?

How do we impact Asia?

How do we impact Africa?

How do we impact China?

How do we take the unique expression

of the church that Mosaic is across the world

where people desperately need it?

See, I want us to be the kind of community

that is so overflowing in generosity

that it overflows out of Los Angeles

across the world.

I want to have a Sunday

where I get up and say,

stop!

You're way too generous.

What's wrong with you?

Are you out of your mind?

You're out of your mind.

You need to save some money for dinner.

It's astonished me

the hundreds of millions of dollars

that have been raised

for the Democratic Party

and the Republican Party.

And it has struck me,

wow, people love their politics.

I just have a feeling

people love

politics more than

they love people.

Because there's nothing

you will ever do

greater significance

than helping people know

that they're created by a God who loves them.

That their life has value

and meaning.

That God has come for them

and His name is Jesus.

I think sometimes we forget

that God is working

in human history desperately

trying to bring humanity to Himself.

That He did not

consider the cost of His

sacrifice on the cross

to be too great

to bring even one person

into His love.

What kind of generosity

is that?

I think

our ambition,

our model,

our standard

should be the generosity of God.

If we're going to

be a part of the future

that God is creating.

If we're going to have

10 years ahead that are greater than

any 10 years behind.

We need an overflow of desire.

A movement of the willing.

We need an overflow

of talent.

For we are the epicenter

of the best, of the best,

of the best in the world.

And we need an overflow

of generosity.

When people ask me things like

is tithing still biblical?

The moment that they ask that

there's no overflow of generosity

in them.

If you're trying to figure out how to do less

you don't know the God who's always the God of more.

When you connect to Jesus

you just want

to do more.

You want to love more

and care more

and serve more

and give more.

It's Jesus who said

wherever your treasure is

that's where your heart is.

I look at this moment in history

and I realize this

was a

miraculous moment.

Where God didn't have to

obligate them to do more.

He had to stop them.

Because all they

wanted to be

was in the middle of what God was doing.

Everything they had.

I want to invite you to that kind of future

with me.

Would you just bow your heads with me

for a moment.

Just close your eyes.

You might be here today and

this is your first time

and you're in an insider conversation.

But I'm glad you're here.

Because if you're here

and you've never entered into a relationship

with Jesus, I want you to understand

everything we do is for you.

Everything Jesus died

for was

his love for you.

The church is created so that you

would have a space where you

could be loved and accepted and known

and valued.

So that you could know

that Jesus died for you

and rose from the dead.

And if you've

never invited Jesus into your life

I want to invite you to take this moment

to take that

seismic step and cross the line

of faith

and put your life in Jesus' hands.

It's really simple.

It's just praying a prayer like this one.

Jesus,

I give you my life.

That's where it starts.

Just a simple prayer.

Jesus, I give you my life.

I want to invite you

to join me in that prayer

if you're ready to trust

Jesus with your life.

Just tell him now, Jesus,

I give you my life.

Jesus, I give you

my life.

If this is your prayer

I want you just to raise your hand real quick

so I can see you and pray for you.

Whether you're here or in Hollywood right now

just raise your hand and say

right now, I give Jesus my life.

Beautiful. If anyone else,

Jesus, I give you my life.

Beautiful.

Father, I thank you for these who in this moment

have opened up their lives to you.

I pray that you would wrap them up in your love

and let them know they belong to you.

That you will never leave them

or forsake them.

That today is the beginning

of a new future

with forgiveness and freedom.

I pray, God, that even now

as you set them free that you would teach them

how to live free.

And we thank you.

We pray in your name, Jesus.

Would you look up just for a moment?

There's some of you who are here

and I just want to invite you into this moment with me.

Every once in a while

you just had to have a moment of

recalibration.

I feel like I've had it.

I can feel it happening inside of me.

I'm actively in the middle of it

to be really honest with you.

Maybe that's why I shaved.

Sometimes I'm very like, I've got to change something

because something's changing.

But I feel like

there's something inside of me that's just moving to an overflow.

And I want God to do extraordinary things in me.

I want to have an overflow of desire

and an overflow of talent

and an overflow of generosity in me.

Because I don't want to miss

being in what God's doing in the world.

And if you're here and you're saying,

man, I want to live in that kind of overflow.

I just want you to stand right now

and I'm going to pray for you.

But just think about it first.

Take a deep breath first and go,

God, I know whenever I ask for more

you're going to demand more of me.

And so when you ask God for more

you're actually saying, God, I'm willing to give more of myself.

And if that's you,

I want to pray for you in this moment

because we don't often take time

for these moments in our lives.

And if not, you just stay seated

and feel comfortable with where you're at.

Because God will wait for you

in the right timing.

Father, I thank you for these individuals

who in this moment want to live in an overflow.

I pray, God, that you would first

place in them an overflow of desire

and delight and love

and compassion for you and for life.

That, God, that they would be the willing.

That you would never have to

even ask them

or command them because they just want to.

That their life would be an overflow

of their love for you.

God, I pray there would be an overflow

of talent, that they would take stewardship

of their gifts and talents, of their

intelligence, of their emotions.

That they would become the masters

of their inner world so that they could place

themselves at your feet.

That they would have the determination

and grit and discipline

to do the hard work

that prepares them for

greatness

for the moment you call them up

and call them out.

God, I pray there would be

an overflow of generosity in them.

That, God, they would never

again ask what's the least

I can do or the least I can give.

That, God, that you would move them to great

generosity in their life.

Generosity in every avenue

of their existence.

A generosity in forgiveness.

A generosity in love.

A generosity in kindness.

A generosity, God, in integrity.

A generosity in their giving.

God, I pray that there would be such

generosity from those of us

standing that we would be able to advance

your mission across the world.

I pray, God, that our generosity

would touch the ends

of the earth.

With your love.

We thank you, Father.

We pray in Jesus' name.

Amen. Let's just thank God

for all that he's doing in our midst.

David.

I want to thank you so much

for joining us today on the Mosaic Podcast.

As God has spoken into your life,

one of the things that Jesus teaches us

is that when we've been invested in,

we need to also become investors.

And I want to encourage you right now,

if Mosaic is one of the platforms

where you grow spiritually,

you connect more deeply to God,

and your faith with Jesus becomes more real,

I want to encourage you right now

to go to mosaic.org and become one of our givers.

Give a one-time gift.

Become a recurring giver.

Become a part of what God's doing across the world.

Mosaic isn't just a church in Los Angeles.

Mosaic is all of us working together.