Half way

Let's go to Numbers and you will notice in this passage that the people of God, the Hebrew people, are experiencing a process, on a scale, and on a much larger magnitude than ours certainly. But they are involved in something that is made up of many different parts, many different facets, different stages, just like we are in our construction project. The Hebrews were involved in a project of transporting a nation of a million plus people through an inhospitable land and then into an even more inhospitable land, because they had to possess and conquer that land. Essentially bloodthirsty though it may seem, they had to destroy nations, evict nations. God's processes are often violent. And that is the truth, it requires courage, it requires vision, it requires tenacity, it requires faith in the power of the Lord.

And these Hebrews had to go through this land, it had been a long and difficult process. And they were already reaching the point of entering the promised land. And right now we find them here in Numbers Chapter 13 and let me start in verse 1, it says:

“…Jehovah spoke to Moses saying, “Send your men to spy out the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the children of Israel”…”

Before you even go much further, God says, which I give you, doesn't that grammatical form captivate you? Instead of saying, which I will give them, or which I intend to give to them, it says, which I give to the children of Israel. When God speaks, God speaks in the present, God speaks definitively. When God entrusts a project to his people, that project has to be fulfilled. If his people have the faith to believe God and to go beyond obstacles. I believe that God has called us to an effort to build this sanctuary and he tells us, strive, scout the land to make sure you know everything you need to know about that project that I have given you, I have given it to you. in the mind of God that building is finished.

How many think so? In the mind of God it is already completed. On earth there is a process that has to take place.

So, the second thing that you have to see here is that it is God who tells you, go and spy out the land. He knows that when God gives things, he doesn't do all the work for us. There is a part of lucidity, there is a part of planning, there is a part of exploration, there is a part of looking at details, there is a part of counting the cost, there is a part of examining the tasks that lie ahead. There is a part of disassembling the processes and seeing them in the pieces that constitute it.

I believe that many times the people of God who believe in the power of God above all, who believe in supernatural vision, suffer from a lack of lucidity. We believe in Almighty God so much that we believe that God is going to do everything. And so we're a little sloppy in detail, sloppy in exploring things, sloppy in strategic planning, sloppy in the discipline that's required.

Look, it is God who tells you, go and explore the land because there were going to be battles, there were going to be fights, there were going to be confrontations with the enemy. I remember a preacher many years ago who preached in our church, in fact when we were in Cambridge, which I remember clearly because what he said struck me, that Moses had sinned when he sent the people, the spies to reconnoitre the land, because that it reflected doubt on the part of Moses. It seems that he did not remember that it was God who told Moses to go and spy out the land.

The miracles of God do not hinder the efforts of men. Amen. The two things go together.

So, it says here, in verse 18, Moses sent them said:

“…Observe the land as it is and the people who inhabit it, if they are strong or weak, if few or numerous, how is the inhabited land, if it is good or bad, and how are the inhabited cities, if they are camps or fortified squares , and what the land is like, if it is fertile or barren, if there are trees on it or not. be strong and take the fruit of the country and it was the time of the grapes…”

These spies went to spy out the land. They were a kind of recon team, those teams of soldiers who are specialists in disguising themselves and getting into the enemy's land, exploring and bringing intelligence to the army that will later go to conquer. These were advanced spies, brave people, brave-hearted people, people perhaps trained to hide their presence and with a very risky mission they were sent. It says in verse 23 that:

“…They returned to spy out the land at the end of 40 days…”

You know something I noticed. I know I've read it before, but I had missed it. Why did God's people spend 40 years in the desert? If someone asks you that in a trivia exam, details from the Bible, why did God determine 40 years and not 50 or 30, or 20? Because God sentenced them for their doubt and for their lack of faith and their insult to God's promises. God sentenced them to one year for every day they were exploring the land.

In other words, they were exploring the land for 40 days, they doubted the Lord's promises, they denied God's faithfulness and then God said, you know what? For every day that you were exploring that land that I promised you, you are going to spend a year wandering in the desert.

You know something else too. many times one imagines that this desert was something like the Sahara or an extension of land of thousands of kilometers, or something like that, look, those of us who have gone to Israel and know the Negev desert and all that area that delineates the Bible, it is a truly disappointing little piece of land in its size. Sometimes when you read all these stories from the Bible and from the Old Testament and from the Gospels, you think like they are huge expanses of land and big mountains. No, brothers, these are little pieces of land. These people could have gotten through that in a few weeks. However, because of their bad heart, because of their misunderstanding of God's promises, their lack of faith, they were condemned to go around the desert, unable to receive the green light from God to enter the promised land, 40 years, for every day of doubt and rejection of the word of God.

Don't worry me or anything, I'm not talking about you, just in case. I am simply saying that we have to believe God because we do not believe God in our lives, now forget about León de Judá, forget about the projects, no, for your life and for my life, do not believe God's promises. When God puts something in your heart and you are sure it is from God, even if you see many obstacles ahead of you, strengthen yourself in faith, speak positively, fill yourself with courage. Remember the times that God has taken you out of worse things and that he has shown his faithfulness and move on in the name of the Lord. Do not make the mistake of denying what God has told you because many times if we renege on the promises that God has given us and we do not move forward with them, you know what? It costs us a lot.

Many times we miss the opportunity and then we have to spend a lot of time hanging around and trying to recover the momentum that God put in our hands and then things become much more difficult. You have to capture the moment. If you are sure of something, if God has spoken clearly to you, has sought advice from others, you have read the word, you have prayed, you have waited, you have confirmed, you have done everything that has been on your part, and there is still a green light before you, throw yourself in the name of the Lord. Even if your legs tremble, even if your heart is afraid, even if your flesh tells you, you are going to perish, keep going in the name of the Lord and God will give you victory.

It may take a little longer than you thought, but believe the Lord. He was powerful to fulfill his promise. These people saw the land, you know the story, they saw some bunches of grapes that two men had to carry because they were so thick. I would like to know where they sell those grapes. In fact, they named the place where they got those grapes a bunch because it impressed them so much, the earth flowed. That is, the metaphor that flows milk and honey, is as if there were streams of milk and honey.

For the Hebrews, milk and honey were signs of blessing, of life, of prosperity. And that land was generous. They saw all that, but what happens? When they returned, look at the report they give to Moses. These 12 spies return, says verse 27:

“…And they counted them saying, “We came to the land to which you sent us, which certainly flows with milk and honey, and this is the fruit of it…”

When they tell me, the one that certainly flows with milk and honey, they already put me in trouble there. He says that it must be admitted that milk and honey flow. They were already preparing their complaint about the damage. They say, well, it's true, it's definitely a fertile and generous land, but, he says:

“…More, the people who inhabit that land are strong and the cities are very large and fortified, and we also saw the children of Anac there…”

These were some basketball players, they measured 6.8, 6.4, 7.2, 6.6 and these little Jews of 5.3, 5.4, 5.5 imagine three thousand years ago and a bit. And they saw these giants that seem to be a mysterious race. Some of these African-American basketball players, I think they come from there. The fact is that these men were giants compared to the average height of a Jew of that time. And then they literally focused on these men that their club was longer than what they probably were, and then they said, these people are jerks, they're going to hit us hard so we're not going there.

It says here: “…Then Caleb silenced the people in front of Moses and said, “Let us go up soon, let us take possession of it because we will be able to do more than they”. But the men who went up with him said, “We will not be able to go up against that people because they are stronger than we are,” and they spoke badly among the children of Israel about the land they had reconnoitered, saying, “The land we passed through to reconnoitre is land that swallows its inhabitants.”

And verse 33, the second part is very revealing, it says; “…and we were, in our opinion, like locusts and that is how we seemed to them…”

If they had been the lobsters that we eat at Legal Seafood, it wouldn't have been a problem because they taste good, they're expensive, they're quality. But these locusts were the tiny insects that devastate the lands of the Middle East, tiny little things.

That is, when we saw their height we thought we were like insects and that's how we felt. We are going to leave it there for a moment, because I am going to return. I am so excited about this passage that I want to dive right into it. But I'm going to come back in a bit, but I want now to be more specific and go into a presentation that I actually did for our leaders last Saturday and I want to share with you as well.

What happens is the following, a year and a month and a half, two months ago, we fully began our construction work. You know that this has been a process of several years since God put in me the vision of planting a new sanctuary because I knew that over time, our church with the help of the Lord would grow and you know the story. I felt in my spirit when we filled two services to the full, I knew it was time to have another sanctuary.

And you can't wait for that moment to happen… imagine if now we were starting to think and plan to build a new sanctuary. We couldn't do it. This neighborhood has become so complex by now, and is so surrounded by secular people, very protective of their property, that such a sanctuary would not be possible anymore, unless God, as always, can do something mysterious and miraculous. But it would not be possible. Thank God that we began in faith like, believe this, 8 years ago to think about that sanctuary.

In fact, a man who with his men has made the two block towers and the elevator tower, and part of the walls that they are doing now, and is also going to make the bricks later on, that man who has become a friend , Gio Forte, he is an Italian Argentinean, he lives near my house in Sommerville, 8 years ago he was doing a job with his men in front of my house, on the porch of a lady, and I liked the brick work that he he did, and I went up to him, asked him what he was doing, it turned out that he lived on the corner. He told me about his work, I asked him for a card. I told him, “look, I liked the work you do, do you dare to do a larger job? Do you have the experience? He gave me his resume, very impressive, and I said, "Don't worry, one day who knows if I'll call you."

Eight years have passed and this man nearly fell over when I call him one day and say, "Look, I'd like to meet you." I went to his house, I knocked on his door, I said, “Do you remember me?” He said, "Yes, I remember you." I told him, “The time has come, I would like to talk to you. Go through the church."

He says he still doesn't believe it, that I remembered. I kept the card for 8 years and found it, because you have to think, brothers, you have to believe. And you have, if God puts something in your heart, mature it there, do everything you have to do.

in that time we have talked to architects, we have traversed the city, we have appeared before city officials, city boards of different kinds, neighbors, 18 times Glenn and I, the architect, went to different neighborhoods and agencies to present the project to him. . Some hostile, but the Lord delivered us from everything, from the lions' mouths.

And many things have happened in that time. Because? Because you have to take a long-term view. Let me say that, if you want a successful life, always live thinking long term, don't just think about small things. Always think long term. It is very important because large tasks take time to prepare.

The fact is that, glory to the Lord, there are two towers there and there are things that show that God has been faithful in that time. We have worked and I want now..., I knew that when we had spent time, because we were halfway there, each stage of a project has its challenge, its specificities and you, brothers, are the body. Christ is the head, I don't know if I am an ear or something, but I receive instructions from the head and you execute and you are part of this process.

Later I am going to share a very nice image that brother Fernando Cortés shared with me, who has been a sailor, who corrected me something yesterday that I said and I am glad, because the truth is that it enriches my understanding of this.

Well, we are a year and a half away, we started the construction itself in July of last year, we broke ground there, there are photos that show when we started this project in July of last year. We've been here for 14 months now and we have a year, 15 months ahead of us, I hope it won't be more than that, who knows if we can even do it in a year.

God has blessed us thus far, and by the way, I want to frame everything I'm sharing with you, everything I'm saying in a positive perspective. Everyone say positive. Look, brother, God has been more than generous with us in this year or so, we have seen the hand of God, the blessing of God. We undertook something risky, expert people have said that we cannot do it, because of the price... this is an 8 million dollar project and we are trying to do it for 4.3 million, saving 3.7 million, almost 4 million dollars. You don't hear that anywhere.

However, we set ourselves that goal in the name of the Lord, because it did not give us more, we even had to give the bank a lower figure, because the bank piqued our eyes and told us, give us a lower figure because we cannot give you that amount of money. We put 3.7, but in reality it is 4.3 million dollars that this project requires, apart from the other 3.7 that we are simply deducting on faith.

But look, 14 years into the construction and having passed some of the more dangerous aspects of the construction, all the ground work, digging out foundations, finding out there was a little bit of contamination in the ground, incurring additional expenses that we didn't expect, digging 42 holes 8 feet by 12 feet deep or 10 feet deep, fill them with cement ourselves with the brothers who worked there, use companies to put steel foundations and then put electrical and plumbing cables underground, put a whole system of drainage and a number of other things, building two towers, a lot of work that has been done there, preliminary paving the base, which is going to be put on fine pavement later, and building the elevator tower, all that steel that has been put . Many things.

The rubbish and most difficult part, praise the Lord, we have already passed it. And now the work is getting thinner, there are many things now that we have to do, and we already have the other things planned. But I can tell you, brothers, praise the Lord, I can stand here and tell you, brothers, we're doing well. listen to that, because what I am going to tell you about the other things simply within that framework, we are going well, thank the Lord. The task has been done in a wonderful way, we have had very, very good strategic support and a combination of elements that we…

Do you know that León de Judá is a contractor company? We are a company called Temple Contracting, so know that too. we are a recruitment company too, and I have had to learn like never before. If I learned much more in these two buildings, I have now learned something completely from scratch.

But glory to God, we are watching. But now we still have a lot of work to do. Do you remember that nice parking lot when you could go in on Sunday and park there, grab it, the first person that arrived took it…

We have gone through a process, brothers, you see there some of the stages, the first beams, the frame, a little more defined, and this is where we are right now, I think, there we have the steel frame, it is finished. We took a little longer than we wanted on the steel frame. The company, although it was the cheapest by far that we hired, was not all competent in executing things on time. There were complications, not on our part but on their part, but unfortunately we were delayed by about three months in that process. But thank the Lord it's finished.

There is a little tooth that you see up there in the last part, that is not that the project is not finished, but that there is a balcony there that must be left to give space to the neighbors next door, because they demanded it and in negotiations we had to do it that way. But the fact is that you already see the entire steel frame there.

These are the chunky pieces of this project. The fact is that we have reached that point in the project. Thank God 14 months of hard work, we have made a combination of a construction company, our own workers, people from outside that we have hired, and now then, we are like these runners, in the middle of the marathon. It's a 26-something mile marathon and when a marathoner gets to mile 13, even though I've never run a marathon, but you read a lot about marathoners and you know that…if you run recreationally, you know that when you get to that halfway, even in a 2 mile or 3 mile run, halfway there is still energy to keep going but already your body feels the charge. You already feel the weight of the exercise, but you know you still have it, and with each mile you go your body feels more and more tired, but we are more or less there, right now. We are halfway there and still those runners… I chose that photo because they reflect energy, but they also reflect the tension of the process.

And Lion of Judah is there. We are halfway there, but we have a longer time ahead of us. And the goal is that building. The steel that you saw there, the skeleton, is a well erected, well built, well chosen building, with all its parts and beautifying this city and giving glory to the Lord for its beauty. That is the goal of the León de Judá runner, the León de Judá marathon runner.

What will take us from the skeleton to the already fully constituted body? It will take a mixture of faith, believing the Lord, believing that he is the one who has called us, believing that he is faithful to complete the work that he began, faith to give, faith to believe that if I take out of my possession, out of my bank account, my personal money, the plans I have for this, for the other, have fun, go on vacation, however I want, drink all the cappuccinos I want, but if I do my part, I believe in the Lord, and I invest in the Lord, and in his work, because this is the work of God, God is moving in the midst of his people. God is doing wonderful things in our midst and it is only the beginning. We have seen wonders. Who would have thought when we moved here in 1997 that God would take us. I never thought, when I decided to come here, I never thought that God would give us as many blessings as we have received. That we would have an extraordinary church like the one we have and that we have impacted the whole city, and that there are so many good things for which we can give glory to the Lord, that there are so many beautiful people, say amen, among us, and it is still the beginning of what God wants to do.

But faith is required, financial resources are required, because God does not do the work for us, God works in cooperation with his people. God never creates parasites, God creates warlike people and puts them to work and strive so that they learn what war is. I hope that our children, the young adults among us, our youth, see these efforts that their parents have made and that they can pass on that same kind of hard-heartedness and effort in their own lives and in the life of their church. , that they give generously, that they strive for God's projects.

Each God had a project to create a nation and take it out of Egypt and enter it into an inhospitable land and give them that land, likewise God has a project to take multitudes out of our communities and bring them to the feet of Jesus Christ. Healing families is a project of God and he has called us, and he has done feats in our midst. We cannot doubt that God who up to now has shown himself absolutely faithful, beyond what we expected.

There are financial resources that are needed and for the next stage... we have spent more or less one million point eight dollars, one million point seven something so far and we still have two million six hundred thousand dollars of expenses ahead according to all the projections that we have everything that has been done and what remains to be done, there are still two million six hundred thousand dollars of expenses for this project.

Don't be scared of me, please. We are going to explain. Now, where is that money going to come from? That money will come from about 4 different sources. Number 1, the loan from the bank that we have received. There is still a good part of the money that the bank will be releasing to us as we progress with the project. That is money, humanly speaking, safe, because it is already contracted, committed money, a solid bank and among all the things that can happen in an economy like this, it is very safe. It is a solid bank, very strong, people with a tremendous vision, Christians, they love our church, they believe in this community that God has given us, and they are committed to those funds.

Second, savings in construction costs. I have proposed to myself that even from that dry and skeletal being that is the budget that we have outlined, there is still a little bit of meat that I have to go look for in there. And I think, with the Lord's help, and we're almost halfway there now, a hundred thousand dollars in construction projections we've saved in the budget ahead of us. I have to… I'll show you later, at least $250,000 more in construction savings. I already know that only in bricks, we already have savings of 65 thousand dollars, only in bricks that are going to be placed there. Because God has been wonderful.

And you know what? Also despair sometimes makes us think in a very creative way. And the fact is that we already have to save a little more in construction costs.

Thirdly, we have also proposed, we have spoken with the financial office, to save on operations. We have tightened our waist in every way and in these next few months we intend to save a certain amount of money from the income from tithes and offerings. We are slimming down the church operations and we want to save a certain amount of money as well that I know is doable and with the Lord's help we are going to chart it that way.

Fourthly, and this is the key, this is something for you who are there. I have to give this same story, with the same passion, to the brothers of the 12, so pray for me. The fourth source is campaign finance promises. You know what, brothers? I thank the Lord that I don't have to come here right now, although it would help a lot, to ask the church for more than what the church already promised. The blessing has been that we're doing well so far, in terms of construction expenses and the cost of the project that we've projected. But, the church still has money that it owes to the Lord of its promises.

I feel like the air has left here, for now. There is money that you have promised, we have promised the Lord and we have to fulfill it, so I do not want to wait until the last moment to make this appeal. I want this month to be a month of re-consecration for us, to revisit the passion we felt when we promised the Lord almost two years ago, to make a fresh commitment to renew our vision, to give generously to the Lord.

I know that among us there are brothers who have recently arrived in León de Judá, and I want to encourage those too, those brothers to join us, to catch the vision of what it is to participate in something sacred and see the glory of God manifest.

So, to be even more specific, here are some of the numbers that I've listed, but now you have the exact numbers. In terms of bank loans we still have 1.46 million dollars left that the bank has to give us for the loan, 1,464,000 dollars.

Savings in construction costs, I aim with the help of the Lord, doing my part as a leader and as a person who is intimately involved, daily in the construction, $250,000 more. To the extent that I reach that goal or exceed it, or do not reach it, to that extent there is either a surplus or a little deficit that has to be met. But that is the goal and I think it is realistic, and with the help of the Lord we are going to reach it.

There is also money that is very safe, which is in the bank, we have around 250 thousand dollars available, perhaps for now there will be a little more even, because a couple of weeks have passed, or a while since I made the last projection, but we have about 250 thousand dollars in our church bank, to our credit, financial campaign because a lot of money has already gone from the financial campaign, but we have that money in the bank.

In other words, that bank loan, and that available money that we have, those two, 1.4 and .25, there we only have 1.7 million dollars available. So, the fourth line is savings in operational expenses that we propose in the next year to save about 100 thousand dollars from the operations of the church, and incorporate that money into the cost of construction.

Are they falling asleep or are they with me? are they with me? This is a privilege, brothers, to talk about these things. This is Bible, this is Bible. Because many times we talk about ethereal and mystical and spiritual things, but this is faith, this is faith, faith is that. The other is mystical.

So, by the way, I'll tell you something, brothers, I shared that with the brothers yesterday. Our church is a generous church, I thank the Lord because you are a people who give and yet, as that letter of the Apocalypse says, I have something against you. There's always something.

I believe that we can be even better, brothers. God has blessed this community. Look, we have not suffered as other churches suffer many times in construction projects of this magnitude. There are pastors, the poor, who have to be taken to a sanitarium halfway or at the end because… you know that many pastors leave their church about a year after completing construction projects. I don't have those plans, but it's anecdotal because they burn out and they're already fed up and so much happens in the processes that they already reach the finish line bitter.

Thank the Lord, you see me here, I am happy, I give glory to the Lord and I feel good. Amen, it has been hard, very hard, but no, what I want to tell you is, and I take this opportunity to take a moment to talk to you about the general vision. Our church has grown a lot in recent years, it has increased and our church has also grown in the quality of its services. When I see Jonathan, for example, I see Sara Gautier, two young people who are now working with youth and children, and you see the quality of the I wanna program and the church's education program, you see our discipleship program, see the academic counseling program, worth waiting for, alpha, all the social services that the church offers. Our physical plant that is absolutely exemplary, in the center of the city, accessible to all media, our internet program, radio program, so many beautiful things, every day the church in its public profile grows bigger and the Expectations are higher about Lion of Judah.

More and more people identify with our church, and when they have to get married or have a funeral, or present a child, or solve a marriage problem, where do they come? To the Lion of Judah. Although many times they are not even members of the church. Because someone referred them, because they love the church, they've come a few times, this is their parish, so to speak.

León de Judá is a parish church. And so that means that the demands on the Lion of Judah systems are increasing every day. Every day the quality of our programs increases, every day people expect more because you know what? When people open up to quality, and begin to think with excellence, they expect more from the Congregation and its leaders. So, people expect more programs, more pastors, more pastoral care, more marriages, and what is happening is a problem that, if it is not resolved in the long term, is going to cause us a serious problem and is already causing us a serious problem. .

And it is that the demands and the expectations, and the services increase but the financial base of our church does not increase proportionally. So, what you see, when I was in California, a Korean pastor with whom I was teaching told me, wow, your church is a big church, it's a large church and the number of pastors you have, I don't understand. I explain how you can do it because you should have many more pastors.

Well, we have a lot of leaders who work hard, very hard, and we have a very strong team of pastors who are very hard working as well. but the truth is that yes, we should three times the number of pastors that we have for the number of people that we serve, and the public profile that this Congregation has.

So what's up? That according to the people expecting more and asking for more from our church, parents want more services for their children, more specialized programs that the church offers, quality in everything, that requires money and then, if the Congregation does not increase its giving, if the new people that come are not enrolled in giving generously to the Lord, and catch the vision of what is the tithe and the generous offering, our church will continue…

And I told the brothers to imagine a little man with a very large basket on his head, and people come and put bricks on it, one brick at a time, one brick at a time, what will happen? One day the poor man collapses because the weight continues and he doesn't get stronger or someone else doesn't come and get under him to help him.

If León de Judá does not expand its financial capacity, to the same extent that the demands and expectations are increasing, we are going to see ourselves in a serious structural problem, it is going to cause serious discomfort, expectations are not met, people often do not understand these things. And that's why I'm sharing this, this is a sermon, one of the best sermons I've ever preached, by the way.

So I hope that you are taking advantage of this because you can also transmit this to your family life, to your marriage, to your work, these types of considerations.

So what's up? I was glad this morning, I walked by the basement for a little while, and a sister that I guess is here, I won't mention her name, but she asked me about how she tithed, if she put it in a little envelope. I told her, look sister, if you want, even give it to me right now in my hand and I'll take it, before you regret it. No. But this sister has caught the vision of tithing and wants to join in, and praise God for her. I hope that in this way many more and many more will gather giving to the Lord and capturing the vision of what it is to give generously to the Lord and believe to God that God blesses those who are generous with him.

But, brothers, brothers who are visiting us now, who are entering the ranks of the Lord, who plan to walk in the long term, their whole life with God, join the list of men and women who throughout history have given the Lord generously and have seen God bless them over and over again. Don't miss out on the blessing of stepping into the glory of God and living a life of faith, principles, and vision because that will align your life in an incredible way with the word of God.

I encourage you, brothers, and in the long term to be generous with your church. This church blesses its children, blesses its youth, blesses the community, exemplifies the excellence of the Gospel, the excellence of the Latino community, which God has called to be a redemptive influence in this nation. We are the head in that sense and to whom much is given, much is demanded. So we have to increase our capacity to give to the Lord. I need extraordinarily gifted people of faith, not only to complete this work but to become the great church that God wants us to be for the glory of his name.

So I encourage you in the name of the Lord, unite in faith, believe God, do not believe me, do not do it for the Lion of Judah, do it for you, for your children and for this community that needs a powerful force defending lives . So it's important.

Savings in operational expenses and finally the promise of campaign finance. If you add all of that up, that gives you $2,664,000, which is $64,000 more than we have left to finish. As I tell you, a lot of that money is safe money. For me the key point of all this is you. The rest of us are doing everything we can to honor their faith and honor their efforts. But we need now, our church pledged 1.3 something million dollars, two and a half years ago when we started the campaign.

Up to now we have given about 750 thousand dollars, that is, about 550 thousand dollars remain. If you give 600 thousand dollars, amen, give the Lord a round of applause because that is a lot. If we complete what we have promised the Lord, I know that in these processes people leave the church, some die, others move to another state, excuse me if I sound a little indolent, but as a pastor one is like a medium, and it is the truth, glory to God, they are with the Lord, we must give glory to God for that.

Different things happen, some are disenchanted, some get scared, some forget, some play crazy, whatever, but the truth is that if we complete what the Lion of Judah Congregation promised, we will reach the goal. Amen. And I want to encourage you, brothers, thank God that I don't come here with a crisis appeal, thank God that I don't come here to tell you, brothers, you know what? We were wrong, it's 500 thousand dollars more. And look, if he had said that, it really wouldn't have been a lack of integrity because these projects are so dangerous and the extent to which we got into this is incredible. But no, glory to God and I simply come to tell you, brothers, comply with what you have promised. Let's comply with what they have promised, because I know what is there in their pockets, if I take them right now and move them down like this I am going to find 600 thousand dollars. They are there.

Look at your brother, he is there. I'm playing. The money is there. Point to his pocket and tell him, it's there. Let's move on to the next one with mercy.

How can you honor the faith of your leaders, the Lord, and yourself? First, get up to date, I understand, there are brothers who... I know what happens too, many times the use dulls the knives and we have already talked about this so much, and we have been in this mess for so long, that one kind of already knows … No, renew your engagement. Catch up, number one, people who are behind catch up.

Number two, commit. If you're new to the church, if you haven't committed before, if you haven't caught the vision before, or if you just came to the church, or a few months ago and haven't been a part of this whole process, commit. Amen. Amen. Commit yourself, it's another way to bless.

Another way too, if you already finished your promise and you know what? The Lord gives him strength to say, you know what? I want Pastor Miranda not to sweat anymore and I'm going to bless him and you... look, continue, renew a portion or renew your promise and say, you know what? If it has not hurt me up to now, I have survived, I have not lacked food, I am going to bless my church and I am going to continue giving. Brothers, God will bless you. We have to hit the discomfort zone.

Many of us have given in the good zone, it doesn't hurt much and I'm going to give this because we are reasonable and sober and restrained people, and so we give restrainedly. But you know what? Over and over again, the offerings that move the heart of God are the risky offerings, the uncomfortable offerings, the ones that make you suffer a little, the ones that crucify your flesh. That is the level where the power of God opens, at the level of the crucifixion. Crucifixions unleash graces, that is a law of the Kingdom of God. Until you squeal a little bit, you're not being blessed. That's the truth.

I have always learned that I have to go further. So keep going because we're going to need some people of faith and vision to commit.

And finally, advance your promise. Because? Because we can't wait until the last moment, because for these things you have to have money in reserve to buy materials, pay people, all that, so it blesses us a lot. Look, if you have some money in the bank and you know that at some point they are going to take it from you because of the promise, stop suffering, as I say, and give it now, give it now. Write a check before your mind knows what you're doing and hand it over now so your church has a reserve.

You know what? Because every dollar that we pay out of our own money is less interest that we have to pay the bank in advance. That helps us a lot. Someone suggested something very interesting to us, brother Rupert Smith yesterday, a very Hispanic man, Rupert Smith. I always tell the same cheap joke about Rupert.

The thing is, he said, look, I was thinking, Rupert works in finance, a very talented young man from the church, he told me, pastor, I was doing the numbers, if we only put in an extra 20 dollars every week and I think there were 600 people who put in an extra 20 dollars a week, we would have the money in the offering basket, just that. Go figure.

It's true. There are many ways to skin this cat, brothers. There are many ways to bless. There are times when one has an extra 20 dollars there and why not make a sacrifice to Jehovah. hand it over I tell you, all money beyond the modest expenses that we have proposed this year will go towards construction. So whether you identify yourself or not, that goes that way. So if you don't have the time to put it in an envelope, look, I would prefer that you put the envelope in to identify it, but if not, don't worry, it's going to go into the hole east of the construction, it's going to get there eventually. I shouldn't put it like that, but it's a cheap joke anyway.

He's going there, to the construction. Somehow, I told brother Gonzalo Alvarez that we are going to assign him, he is an excellent cabinetmaker, we are going to make a good urn, I am going to call him, so that the brothers feel free. Look, make a special offering to the Lord, if God blessed you in any way, if God put something generous in your heart, a generous impulse, take it out there, put something in there, an offering.

There are many ways to give this and to reach the goal. I believe that God can do it, if we put our minds to it. Talk to your friends, your friends, people of influence, with people that you influence. Tell him about the project and there are people who benefit from León de Judá in many ways, they are blessed. Tell him, my church, I want to ask for a special offering for the construction. If we do it for so many other things, why not for this.

Catch up, commit, follow through on your promise, and even advance it. And the Lord had given me a verse that is in Titus, I think it is, Chapter 2, where he talks about let us not make ourselves wait, let us not make ourselves beg about... Psalm 32:9 forgiveness, where it says:

"... do not be like the horse or like the mule, without understanding, which must be subjected with a halter and with a bridle, because otherwise they will not approach you..."

Let us not be, brothers, indolent, let us not be resistant. There are brothers who sometimes resist, these things happen to them and they say, ah, no, I'm going to wait and see what happens, if it goes further if this, if that. Brothers, do not make yourself begged. God is moving and you don't want to miss the move, God's blessing.

I end with this image of how we are. That's the Corinth Strait, near Greece. There you see a ship crossing a tremendously narrow space. I asked Yosmar to get me a photo, there you see where we are right now. That ship can and will pass and it did because the photo is there, otherwise there would be debris there. But it requires tremendously precise operation.

We are in a position, given the type of operation we have, that is not prone to errors. I cannot afford to make many mistakes or miscalculations in this process, nor can you afford not to do your part.

Brother Fernando told me, I told him, I see myself as the helmsman of that ship that I have to steer and brother Fernando, who has been a sailor for many years of his life, you know what, Roberto? I want to give him something that can help him perhaps in the metaphor that you used, it is not so. The helmsman is not the only one who steers the ship, I know, but I didn't use... he says, when the helmsman is there, the captain is also giving orders, there are people on the sides of the ship reporting how the ship is going and below, in The machines have people working to make sure there is a proper game, so that the ship doesn't go one way or the other. It is a team effort.

I have to run it, but you have to keep these machines operating, moving, I need people's advice, commitment.

Moses was there, thank God, I'm not like Moses. Moses was the poor man alone, with an incredulous people, sweating to enter this people into a land. God wanted to bless them but there was not enough faith in them to believe God. and then they had to pay the price.

Because we can't miss God's moments. I say that there are two mentalities in the Christian life and in the church of Jesus Christ, a mentality of sufficiency and a mentality of scarcity. Joshua and Caleb had a sufficiency mentality, they would have said with complete certainty, I can do everything through Christ who strengthens me. They always saw the glass as half full.

The other ten spies had a scarcity mentality, they saw themselves as few, insufficient, weak, small. They saw the obstacles, they did not see the possibilities. They saw the enemy, they did not see the God who had brought them out of Egypt again and again and from other places and other troubles, and had always given them victory. They saw the fruit of the earth, but they did not see the blessing and the struggle that that fruit required and the blessing that that fruit represented. They saw the disadvantages but did not see the advantages.

Joshua and Caleb said, you know what? God has given us victory, we will eat them like bread, he says, if God is with us, Joshua said, we will win those battles and God blessed them. Joshua and Caleb entered the promised land, no one else from that generation entered except the two of them.

Those who entered were children and young people who were not morally responsible at that time. It was a new generation, except for Joshua and Caleb from the old generation because they had a different spirit.

I would like to ask you what kind of spirit are you, one of those who look at obstacles and dangers and I will fail, or one of those who believe in God and say, no, in the name of the Lord we are going to do it, we are going to make it . I am going to commit myself and I am going to give more than what is expected of me. I want to ask you in the name of Jesus to believe in God and to bless your life, your family, your church and continue in this process.

Amen. Let's stand up. Glory to the name of the Lord. This is spiritual teaching, brothers, I think it is a privilege that you are living this time, you will be able to tell your grandchildren and your children about what God has done and we give glory to the Lord because Jehovah has brought us this far. So far God has been faithful to us and I trust that it will be so until the last moment.

Pray for your pastors, pray for the church, pray for this project, pray for all those who work in construction. Thank the Lord, God has kept us safe and secure and I hope that it will always be so. God has given us grace in different ways with the authorities, with the neighborhood, and I trust that it will be so until the last moment. So pray and bless us.

Father, again, we consecrate ourselves to you, Lord, this morning. Thank you for this town. Thank you for being part of a noble, heroic company. Thank you because you have been more than faithful in this process and because we have reached this point and we will continue, Lord, to the finish line, giving you glory and honor. be your glorified name. Be your glorified name, Lord. Bless your children, seal their hearts, give us victory, Father, and that we may one day sit in that beautiful sanctuary and adore you and recognize that you did it and that all the glory and all the honor is exclusively for you. Thank my Lord. Thank you in the name of Jesus and the people of God say, Amen. God bless you, my brothers. Amen.