I'm so glad that each one of you are here.

Are you looking forward to a new year?

I got to tell you, I for one, there's a lot of good things

that happen in 2008, but I'm ready to get this one behind me.

If I can I just be honest here?

I'm looking forward to a new year.

Before we talk about that, I want to get you to pray

about one thing with me.

Seven years ago, when my wife and I came to Gateway Church, we had been tithers for years and

years, but we didn't know how to give. Tithing is returning. Giving is giving above that. We didn't know how to do that.

Pastor Robert told me that he would teach me how to do that.

And so every year, around the end of the year, he challenges us to give our best gift of the year to Jesus rather than to people.

And so you may not have been prepared to do that last weekend.

I just want to challenge you today.

Be prayerful about that.

Don't feel under compulsion. God loves a cheerful giver, but I want you to

pray about making a year in gift to the Lord and you've got until Thursday to do that. You can either

do it this morning or you can do it

online, but just be praying with me about doing that and we know that God will

bless us for doing that. Well I really am glad that you're here and as we start thinking

about a new a brand new year that begins on Thursday I want to direct your

thoughts into some some ways that I think a lot of people don't consider.

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