1. How Not To Be Broke OPENING WITH PS DANNY MESSAGE

2. Godly Perspective Please say this after the video
How many have Done something stupid with money! Stupid w/zeroes! It’s TRUE That Jesus talks a lot about Money but the reason he talks about MONEY because he is concern about HOW WE SHOULD HANDLE MONEY in our spending and OUR LIFESTYLE.
Jesus talks about money a lot because if we are not wise in the way we handle money – We can fall into many sorrow. It doesn’t matter if you win the lottery or have Million dollar SALARY
In Fact according NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FINANCIAL EDUCATION – 70% loterry winner went Bankrupt
78% of Former NFL Players broke after only 2 years after retirement
An estimated 60% of NBA Players declared bankrupty within 5 years of Retirement!!
IN FACT OUR OWN NATION – UNITED STATES OF AMERICA – WENT THROUGH TO WHAT WE CALL FISCAL CLIFF!!!

3. The "fiscal cliff" is a combination of Government dramatic spending cuts and the various tax increases mandated to take effect beginning in January if President Barack Obama and Republicans cannot resolve their differences on how best to reduce the nation's budget deficit and debt.
To add to a complicated problem that could reverse the slow US recovery and impact the global economy, the United States is also about to reach its borrowing limit so Congress will also be asked to raise the government's debt ceiling.
SO THE US IS ALREADY LEVERAGED OUT – MAXED out in its credit- Credit card, Income… etc…etc
We are force either INCREASE our income by raising TAXES or REDUCING OUR SPENDING CUTTING SPENDING
IN THE MIDDLE OF THE CHAOS NOW THEY ARE THINKING of RAISING THE DEBT CEILING – The ability of US to borrow more money!

4. JUST TO ILLUSTRATE THE CONDITION OF THE USA – We try to SLASH OUT 8 ZERO and make it simple like your average american household income!

5. DEBT LIMIT A GUIDE TO AMERICAN FEDERAL DEBT MADE EASY

6. For those carrying a balance, the average credit card debt is $14,517.
Average household debt in the U.S. is now 136% of the household income.
For those carrying a balance, the average credit card debt is $14,517.
The average 21-year-old owes $12,000. By 28, they owe $78,000.
The average number of U.S. households living paycheck to paycheck is 55%.
THESE STATISTICS ARE CONCERNING!! GOD WANTS US TO BE A GOOD STEWARD OF GOD’S BLESSING. SO WE CAN BE A BLESSING.
IF WE ARE IN DEBT, IF WE ARE
Next 3 weeks we will get Practical, Get out of debt, Savings, Investing
But This 1st week we will see what the Bible said about BEING in DEBT

7. Proverbs 22:7
The rich rule over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender.
he rich rule over the poor, the borrower, the one who is in debt is a servant to the lender.
In fact, the Hebrew word translated as servant is the word 'ebed, and it means if you're taking notes it means a servant; it means a slave, it means in bondage. The borrower, the one who is in debt is a servant is in bondage to the one that they owe money to.
Now, most people don't go around going, "Oh, I'm a slave to money! Oh baby I'm in bondage!" Most people don't say that, but what they do say are statements that really imply that truth. What they'll say is, "Oh, I'd love to get married to my girlfriend but we just can't afford it!" What they're saying is, "I'm in bondage." They'd say, "Oh, we'd love to start a family now," or "We'd love to have another child," or "We'd love to adopt a child," or "We'd love for one of us to stay at home with our children but we can't do what we want because we don't have enough money." What they're saying without saying it is, "I'm in bondage
Some people would say you know, "We'd love to get a little bigger home for our growing family," or "We've always rented and it's our dream to own a home, but we can't afford it, we can't do what we want to do becaus
Some people would say, "I hate my job, I can't stand it. I want to be doing something else, but this pays the bills so I have to do it." In other words, "I can't do what I'd prefer to do or what I feel like God's calling me to do because I'm in bondage."
Some would say, "Man, I would really love to help people in need, I'd like to feed hungry kids but I've got three of them that live in my home, you know, and so I can't afford to do that!"
Or, "I'd love to go on a mission trip but I don't have the money to go on a mission trip."
Or, "I'd love to give offerings above my tithe but I just can't afford to do it."
What they're saying is,
we're in bondage."

8. 95% of married couples argue regularly about money.
The number 1 cause of divorce in American financial related.
The average American has over $39,000 consumer debt.
62% of Americans will retire with less than $10,000 income per year.
The average American spend $1.22 for every $1 earned.
Average student loan debt at graduation is $26,600.
Listen, money is one of the most visible measurements of the condition of your heart. It's one of the best outward measurements of your inward spiritual condition. In fact, Scripture is loaded with powerful teaching about money. In fact, 2/3 of the parables, that's the stories Jesus told, 2/3 of them deal directly about money and possessions. In fact, one in ten verses in the Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John; one in ten verses deal with money and things.
If you read this whole book there's over twenty-three hundred verses that talk directly about money. That's five times as many that speak about prayer, five times as many that speak about faith; this talks about money because where your treasure is there your heart is also and the way we handle money, it's one of the best outward indicators of the inward spiritual condition of our hearts.
Why

9. MONEY PROMISES
WHAT ONLY GOD CAN PROVIDE   MONEY PROMISES US SECURITY. MONEY PROMISES US SIGNIFICANCE.
But Where is our security comes from?? Where is our significance comes from??
If we get our significance from the kind of car that we drive and the kind of clothes that we wear?
If we look a certain way!
We keep spending and spending WHY? Maybe because we are looking for significance
Why are we working and working and working to accumulate more money? Maybe because we thought the more money we have the more secure we are.

10. Servant: `ebed (eh'-bed); a servant, a slave in bondage.
SERVANT/SLAVE
Servant: `ebed (eh'-bed); a servant, a slave
in bondage.

11. WE ARE TEMPTED TO SERVE MONEY.
No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money. Matthew 6:24
We are tempted to serve money.
We are all tempted in one way or another to serve money. Jesus said this in Matthew 6:24, He said:
No one can serve two masters. Either he'll hate the one and love the other, or he'll be devoted to the one and despise the other.
You cannot…He didn't say you will not, He said it is impossible, you cannot do it, it can't be done: ...You cannot serve both God and money.
You can't do it, you can't do it.
Isn't it interesting of all the things Jesus could have said, you can't serve God and...fill in the blank, He said "money". He could have said, you can't serve God and power, or God and popularity, or God and yourself, or God and your sexual desires or whatever; but He said, "You cannot serve both God and money".
Why? I'm guessing because He knew that for many people money and things would be the number one competitor for our hearts. You cannot serve both God and money. Now most of you would say, "Well, I don't serve money, I would never serve money!”
if you've ever bought something that you didn't need with money you didn't have to impress people you don't even like, you were serving money, you were under its powers, the false promises that those things would make you important, special or happy.
if you've ever hoarded money, you said, "Hey, this is my stack, it makes me feel secure, it makes me happy, therefore I will not tithe." Scripture says, the first 10% belongs to God, "Heck no, he's not getting any of mine!" Or you didn't give to someone who is in need because "This is my money!" I would argue you're under the false promises and power of money, you are serving money. If you've ever compromised your family, if you've ever neglected your family in pursuit of climbing the ladder, "I just want to give my children the lifestyle that I never had!" when they're just begging for you to be there and spend time with them. I would argue you are under the power of money and you're serving it and you don't even know it. We're tempted to serve money.

12. WE ARE TEMPTED TO LOVE MONEY.
For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.
1 Timothy 6:10
We're tempted to love money. Paul told Timothy, First Timothy 6:10: For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil…
Would you pause there and just acknowledge what a powerful statement that is. The love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. He goes on to say:
...Some people, eager for money, have wandered away, wandered from their faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.
We're tempted to love money. Now this is really important. We have to understand that money isn't good or bad. Money is not the root of all evil. Money is neutral, you can use it for good or you can use it for evil. It's the love of money that's wrong. So, there are a lot of people that don't have much money who would say, "Well, I don't love money because I don't have a lot of money." Well I'm going to tell you there are a lot of poor people who love money they just don't have a lot of it. They're just consumed with wanting more, they're obsessed with more, they're jealous and critical with more, why? Because they love money.
A lot of people would say, "Well rich people obviously love money!" And again that's not always true; there are a lot of rich people that they're just rich because they're good at what they do. And they don't love money they've got money, they use money, they leverage money, but money doesn't have them. They've got it but they don't love it.
So again, many people misinterpret what money is supposed to do, money is neutral; it's how you use it that matters. People think, "If I just had more money that would solve all my problems." And they'll say, "If I had more money I wouldn't have to work so much."
The reality is, generally speaking when people get more money they tend to work more; they get more responsibility, higher paying jobs, more stress, more things to manage, and the reality is, generally speaking more money means more work.
People say, "Well, if I had more money I wouldn't have to be in debt." And again, if you're in debt when you don't have much, your trajectory is, when you have more money guess what you have? More debt, you see it all of the time. It's just like when someone who is poor wins the lottery, within three years it's all gone because they don't have the disciplines there.
People say, "Well, if I had more money I'd be more generous." Again I wish that were true, but studies show the highest income producers actually, this is average, not true for everyone, but the more money people make the smaller percentage of their income that they give; tragic, heartbreaking, but true. So the reality is, money's not good, money's not bad, it's what you do with it. The love of money is what's evil.
What does money do? More money generally makes you more of what you already are. If you're a broke jerk and you get more money, you're a rich jerk and a bigger one, right? If you don't have much money and you're generous and you get more money, what are you? You're more generous. It's a magnifier; it makes you more of what you already are. Money is not evil; it's the love of money that's evil.
Now if I ask you, those of you who are Christians, "Do you love money?" Most of you if you're Christians you'd say, "No, no, no, I don't love money. I mean, I like it, money is my friend and I want a lot of friends!" Alright, but if you're a Christian you wouldn't probably say you know, "I love money," because you know that scripturally that's not wrong, "I don't love money.”
If you'll remember, at the beginning of the message I asked you all how many could use a little more money, how many of you don't have enough money? And almost every single one of you raised your hands. Do you remember that? If you do just kind of do this, let's read Scripture okay? This is God's Word, Ecclesiastes 5:10,

13. Ecclesiastes 5:10
Whoever loves money never has enough money; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with his income. This too is meaningless.
How many would think that you don’t have enough Money and more money will help? Don’t lift you hands – Because I’m pretty sure most of us will lift our hands.
Well according to Scripture, if you don't think you have enough Money you love money.
Here's the reality, here's the reality, a lot of us are under the power of money and we don't even know it. We're under the power and influence of money and we don't even know it; it's a heart issue.
The problem for us is not an income problem. Most of us, it's not about how much we make, It's about how much we spend.
We are life-styling ourselves into bondage, we are spending more than we make into bondage.
And so we start to think, "Well all I need is more money!" No, no, no, no, no! If we are spending more than we make that's a lifestyle problem, which is a real indication of a spiritual problem, that we are trying to find meaning in the things of this world. And the reality is, most of us don't need more money what we need is more Jesus, we really do.
Most of us think we need more money but in reality we need more Jesus because when we've got Him we've got the wisdom to do what's right with the money that God provided. It's my prayer that those of you that are in bondage would call it what it is and say:
I'm in bondage, I'm in debt, I'm a slave, I'm a servant and I don't want to be that way anymore. I don't want to be that way anymore!
I'm sick of fighting about money, I'm sick of worrying about money, I'm sick of not being able to do what I feel like God's calling me to do because I don't have enough money. I'm sick of not being able to help people because I don't have enough money!" And get just sick of it so that you'll do something different. Step out of the normal mold and say, "I want to honor God with my money."
In fact, here's the key thought for the today, a godly perspective on money:

14. MONEY SERVES US AS WE SERVE GOD.
A GODLY PERSPECTIVE
MONEY SERVES US AS WE SERVE GOD.
We don't serve money we serve God. Here's a thought: Money serves us as we serve God.
We don't serve money we serve God. Money serves us as we serve God. EXAMPLE – Moneycan buy you time – You can become more effective with your time to serve God.
Riding an airplane instead of a car!
Hire a house cleaner and what did that do? That just bought you four or six or eight hours a week, you bless someone else with income and you've got time to spend with your kids or to serve in the community or to serve at your church; you just bought yourself time.
Money serves us as we serve God. You're serving God, where do you want me to be a blessing today God? You see someone in need, what happens? Money serves you as you serve God, you give it to them. You hear, "Hey, my Church is starting three new churches! I've never seen so many people come to Christ, this place is amazing!" You cut a big, fat check and say, "Hey, money is serving me as I'm serving God. I want to plant into what God is doing."
You see some kid through WORLDHARVEST and say, "Hey, I can sponsor one of these! Hey, why sponsor one, I've got three kids, let's sponsor three kids!" Why? Because money is serving us as we're serving God. We're not under its power, we're not in bondage, we can do what God calls us to do because we're not strapped in bondage because of MONEY.

15. Imagine Bondage Free Life
Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another… Rom 13:8
Romans 13:8 says this:
Let no debt remain outstanding...
What if you got there? No more financial debt ever again? You're debt-free!
Let no debt remain outstanding except the continual debt to love...
The one debt you can never repay, the sin debt that God paid for you through the blood of His Son Jesus who shed His blood and died so you could live, and what if you're so free? Imagine it, what could you do? No car payment ever again, no credit card payment ever again, no student loan payment ever again. What if you were so crazy you had no house payment ever again?
How great could you work off trying to pay the debt that you could never pay, but devoting the rest of your life to sharing the love of Jesus generously with everyone around, why? Because you don't serve money, you serve God.
Money serves you as you serve God. It's possible if you work hard, if you're wise, if you're faithful with a little bit, guess what? God will trust you with more. It's my prayer that God would trust you with a lot more and you'd use it for His namesake to make a difference in this world.

16. Godly Perspective
I love our theme this year, TOGETHER! 1st Quarter the Theme is WHEN WE ARE TOGETHER THERE IS POWER - What a great thing to say about the church of Jesus, we have POWER!
I believe that with all of my heart. I believe that this is not the time for the church to back down, these days that we live in are dark, but it's time for the church to rise up and shine for the glory of God. Jesus said that we ought to let our light shine so everybody in the house can see, and I believe the church is the change that the world is waiting for. So Let's come together, let's continue to make a difference, let's do something for God's glory.
Today. I want to speak on the subject of God's Power to OCCUPY ALL STREET
I believe that when I want what God wants for the reasons that God wants it, I'm Powerful and I’m unstoppable to occupy all street. I believe the same thing about you, I believe the same thing about your church; when we want what God wants for the reasons that God wants it, we are POWERFUL and UNSTOPPABLE TOGETHER. We are advancing, breathing, living, active, radical church of Jesus Christ.
The text today is Acts, Chapter 3:1-10. This is a great miracle that often gets overlooked, it's kind of tucked away in the Book of Acts.