Now let's close by applying this call to obedience to one very specific area of our lives, the matter of financial commitment.

What does God's word ask of us? "A tithe of everything from the land, whether grain from the soil or fruit from the trees, belongs to the Lord; it is holy to the Lord" (Leviticus 27:30).

How do we give this tithe? "You are to seek the place the Lord your God will choose…to put his Name there for his dwelling. To that place you must go: there bring your burnt offerings and sacrifices, your tithes and special gifts" (Deuteronomy 12:5-6); "Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house" (Malachi 3:10).

Is such a commitment outdated? Jesus commended tithing (Matthew 23:23); it was collected by the church (Hebrews 7:8); and tithing was required by the early Church.

We give in gratitude for the grace of God. Not so he will love us, but because he does. And to advance his Kingdom, for the sovereign Lord of the universe has chosen to fund his work on earth through the financial obedience of his people.

We would not have a Heritage Sunday to celebrate next week, except that those who founded this great church were obedient to the word of God with their financial commitments. This congregation was founded 64 years ago next Sunday, with no monetary support from any sponsoring church or organization whatever. It would live or die on the financial sacrifice of its first members.

And sacrifice they did. In their very first worship service they collected an offering to be used for missions. Their first budget was five times greater than the church's size would suggest. Before they were two months old they called a full-time pastor and promised to pay his full support.

The next year they bought the house on Lovers Lane which was the church's first permanent home. They added property and buildings, then purchased this land, on the northern edge of the city of Dallas. The church committed herself to a capital project of $575,000 in 1946, when their unified budget for the year was $25,000. By that ratio, our current capital project should cost $207 million, not $32 million.

In the last 25 years, our church has given $35,327,205 to missions, $2,302,920 just last year. Such has been the financial obedience and sacrifice of our people across our history.

Now we stand on the edge of the next chapter, ready to cross the Jordan into the next part of our Promised Land. But we will cross over only by the financial obedience of our people to the word of God. Our heritage will guide our future only if we are as faithful as those who have come before us. As faithful to give sacrificially and obediently to our God.

If our future depended on your obedience to the word of God, would that fact be cause for concern or hope today?