City Church

Happy Sunday | NO IN-PERSON SERVICE. Join Us on The Empowerment Call at 9:00am est. 📞

Every seed moves us closer to the FINISH! We are in the final phase of restoring our church, and by God’s grace, we are determined to FINISH DEBT FREE!

We’re believing for 100 people to sow $100 toward completing this assignment. Will you prayerfully consider being one of them?

We’re almost there. Let’s finish what we started—STRONG and DEBT FREE!

Cash App: $citychurchstuart
Zelle: 772-233-2229
Text to Give: 772-227-1528

Thank you in advance for your unwavering support. Every seed matters. Every partner moves us closer.

This Weekend is our “Rest Sunday” at City Church (which means NO SERVICE) but Bishop is ministering locally— and you’re more than welcome to be with him. He will teaching Sunday School and ministering for the Worship Service!

Let’s keep the entire Newkirk family lifted in prayer as they prepare to lay, beloved, Mother Newkirk to rest.🕊️

DEBT: DOING EVERYTHING BUT TITHING

📖 “Honor the LORD with thy substance, and with the firstfruits of all thine increase.” — Proverbs 3:9

One of the areas where our discipleship is most visibly tested is in how we handle money. We can pray for increase, believe God for provision, and declare that He is Jehovah Jireh, but stewardship asks a more confronting question: What are you doing with what God has already placed in your hands?

The truth is, every financial struggle is not an income problem. Sometimes it is a stewardship problem. More money does not automatically produce financial stability because increase without discipline simply gives irresponsibility more resources to mismanage. If our habits do not change, a larger income can create a larger version of the same financial dysfunction.

That is why I’ve been thinking about DEBT differently: Doing Everything But Tithing.

Now, every person in debt is not there because they failed to tithe, and tithing should never be reduced to a formula for avoiding financial hardship. But there is still a spiritual principle worth confronting: What does the order of our spending reveal about the order of our priorities?

It is amazing how easily we can find money for what we have decided matters. Subscriptions are drafted automatically. Entertainment finds its place. Eating out, shopping, convenience, vacations, and the things we enjoy somehow make their way into the budget. Yet when it comes to honoring God through giving, suddenly we are waiting to see what is left.

But Proverbs does not say honor God with the leftovers of your increase. It says honor Him with the firstfruits.

Tithing teaches us honor and priority. Sowing develops generosity. Budgeting develops discipline. Saving demonstrates wisdom. Paying what we owe demonstrates integrity. None of these principles should have to compete with the others. Mature stewardship learns how to hold faith and responsibility in the same hand.

And sowing should never become spiritual gambling. Giving is not a slot machine where we put money into God expecting an immediate financial payout. We don’t sow irresponsibly and then expect God to subsidize poor decisions. Giving is worship. Stewardship is discipleship. And financial maturity means understanding that faith does not cancel responsibility—it strengthens it.

So perhaps before asking God for another financial miracle, we should conduct a financial inventory. If God increased your income today, would your stewardship increase with it, or would your lifestyle simply expand to consume the difference?

That question matters because sometimes what we are calling a need for more money is actually a need for greater maturity.

LET’S BE CLEAR: You cannot continually rebuke what your habits keep recreating. If we are believing God for more, we should also be becoming people He can trust with more.

Honor God. Give faithfully. Sow generously. Budget honestly. Save intentionally. Pay your obligations. Correct unhealthy patterns.

Because the goal of biblical stewardship is not simply to have more. It is to become trustworthy with whatever God puts in your hands.