The Breakthrough Power of First

00:00 - Speaker 1 God's plan. God's best is for you. If you need a miracle, he's happy to give you one. Then start walking with Him so that you don't need a miracle every five, six days, so that you're now living in victory. And then you're actually living in victory. Now God can build on that. He's not always taking you out of the pit, but now he's taking you out of the pit. Now you're walking, you can actually build together and he can use you to take someone else out of the pit because you're not in one. Amen. 00:26 - Speaker 2 Welcome to the CityLight Church podcast. Thanks for joining us today as we look into God's word and discover the hope and truth that he has for us. If you want to connect with CityLight Church, feel free to visit us at citylightnyc.com. That's citylightnyc.com. Pastor Boyan Jancic and his team believe that the power of the Holy Spirit is already working in our hearts and minds. As you listen to today's teaching, remember that you are deeply loved by God, that you are surrounded by His grace and that he has a real hope and a future for you, that he has a real hope and a future for you. 01:06 - Speaker 1 1 Corinthians 15, 20. We're going to talk about the power of the first, the power of the first, 1 Corinthians 15, 20. Paul says but now Christ is risen from the dead and has become the first fruits. Everyone shout first fruits has become the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. You may have read this a couple of dozen times. I know I certainly did. I read it dozens of times, but until I dove in and studied out what that verse meant, I had no clue what the Holy Spirit was trying to communicate. What does it mean? That Christ is the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep? Well, first of all, fallen asleep means you've passed away, right? Notice that in the scriptures it never says they died. Like we'll say that where's Joe? Oh, you didn't hear Joe died. But Jesus intentionally said they fell asleep. Even confused people. People were like but he's, they're not. He said about a you know a girl. She's falling asleep, like wake her up? Well, no, she's. But in a sense she's falling asleep because they're getting ready to get woken up again. Look, I don't like to use the word die because Jesus said those who believe in me will never die but will live forever. Hallelujah, you have eternal life on the inside of you. So, yeah, I get it. You die, but you're not dead, you're alive. To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord, and when he comes back you'll be bodily resurrected and forever be with the Lord. But what does it mean that Jesus is the firstfruits? Well, they had this thing throughout the whole Old Testament. They had it in Jesus' day. It was called the Festival of Firstfruits, and the Festival of Firstfruits took place on the first Sunday after Passover. Guess, coincidentally, when Jesus was resurrected, you guessed it. The first Sunday after Passover and the first Sunday after Passover, the Hebrews would come to the temple and they would present their firstfruits offering, oftentimes barley, and it would be a bundle of barley that they would wave in the air and present as an offering, and the priest would nod in approval. And that was the first fruits. What was the significance of that? They were saying, hey, the barley harvest just came in. I don't know that there's going to be second fruits or third fruits or fourth fruits. I don't know what the harvest is going to look like, but I'm going to give this barley anyhow, in faith, trusting that as I do. That means the entire harvest is coming, amen. So listen to this Jesus is resurrected on Sunday, right after Passover, on the festival of first fruits. And Paul is saying here, because Jesus was resurrected, he was the first one that now that is a guarantee that the rest of the harvest of resurrections is coming in. What's the rest of the harvest of resurrections? You, me, the person sitting to your right, the person sitting to your left, everybody's resurrection, including yours, is guaranteed because Jesus is the first fruits of the resurrection, amen. 04:29 So this concept, this principle of first fruits, is interwoven all throughout the scriptures, the Old Testament, the New Testament, the Old Testament pre the Mosaic law, as early on as Genesis, chapter four. And I found that if God is constantly hammering a principle, trying to get a principle through to us, we better pay attention, because principles, biblical principles, they work. They work all the time. They work, whether you think they work or don't. Just like gravity, you can be on a rooftop and go. I don't believe in the principle of gravity, the law of gravity. Don't take a jump and find out. Drop an apple, make sure no one's on the street. They'll work for you and I want you to be able to tap into the sacred principle of the first. 05:18 Let's go to Genesis, chapter four, starting in verse three in in scripture. First fruits represent the first, the best and the earliest portion that belongs to God. It is God's way of teaching his people that he gets priority, not leftovers. God does have a problem with leftovers. There's a rebuke in Malachi, malachi, chapter one. You should read it. It's almost humorous. When I read it I actually feel like Malachi's attitude is closest to mine. Nine-tenths of the time he's almost like what are you doing? You're bringing three-legged lambs in. You're bringing one-eyed heifers in. Look at that mangy goat you brought in. You're giving God the stuff you don't want. You're giving God the leftovers. He's not happy with that. 06:20 How do you feel in those days right before the New Year's? You know what I'm talking about. December 28th, december 29th, you meet with a friend and they give you a present. You get excited, you open it up and then it dawns on you, it hits you, that they're not really giving you a present. They're giving you a re-gift, a Christmas present they never wanted, and you got to smile and go thanks. I don't want this and I know you don't either. And it looks like the four people before you gave it to me didn't either. All the boxes, all the dinner, this has been repurposed and regifted so many times. You don't feel too great, right? Better they didn't give you anything. Now you got to go to Goodwill and give it. Why don't you like it? Because you realize it's the leftover. Everybody knows what I'm talking, everybody's. Maybe maybe you are that friend and you're like Ooh, I do do that all the time. You're not fooling anyone. Nobody wants to be treated like they're given the leftovers, hallelujah. So we don't give God our leftovers. 07:26 In the process of time, it came to pass that Cain brought an offering of the fruit of the ground to the Lord. Abel also brought of the firstborn Shout, firstborn. Now, many of you know right away Cain killed Abel Because God liked and received Abel's offering, but he didn't like. He rejected Cain's offering. The big question is why and there's different theories as to why, although it's very plain in the scriptures. 08:00 Typically, if you were raised in a church that isn't alive, the Holy Spirit's not flowing, the word of God isn't prized. You heard something like well, cain brought a meat offering. He brought animals. Excuse me, abel brought a meat offering. Cain brought vegetables and God didn't like vegetables, he liked meat. God was on the carnivore diet before. It was cool. He's a meat eater. He does not like vegetarians. My wife is a vegetarian, but the blessing of my carnivorous lifestyle has extended and it covers her. No, it has nothing to do with vegetarians or carnivores and it has everything to do. 08:45 Go back one verse. It has everything to do between in the course of time. See, abel came in the course of time. Excuse me, cain gave in the course of time Whatever, without priority, without urgency, not honoring God with the first, whereas Abel gave next verse, verse four of the firstborn of his flock. So God respected the first, because the first shows I trust you, because I don't know if there's going to be a second, third or fourth or fifth. The first is I esteem you, I prioritize you. Notice that the first murder in the Bible was jealousy over an offering. Just a note Oftentimes, first fruits is with regard to our giving to the Lord. 09:40 That's mainly what's preached, but you look at it throughout the Bible. It's not just giving, it's how we organize our whole lives, when you honor God with the first, when you have a decision to make and you immediately go to the Lord when you get a bad report, you ever get interrupted. Of course you do. If we've all been interrupted, where you're just minding your own business, enjoying life, everything is fine, and boom, a cannonball just lands in your living room and, oh, who's the first person that you think of? Where do you go? Do you text all your friends? Do you immediately look to yourself and try to solve the problem yourself? Or do you go to the Lord and rush to him first and is he taking first place in your life? Is he taking first place in your life? When he does, it aligns you with the way God made you and designed you to function and live, and that's when his blessings can most fully flow, giving God your first. 10:33 Listen, I don't know how else to say it. I want a church of first Christians. Amen. For the most part, we are that. I want more. I want us to be like a bright and burning, shining lamp On fire, committed, no compromise. Who are those over there at City Light? Oh, they're the intense ones. They're the ones who put God first in everything. They never back down, they never be quiet, they don't retreat. Hallelujah. Look at Mark. This is how Jesus lived his life. Mark, chapter one, verse 35. 11:14 There's power in the first Now, in the morning, while before daylight, hey, Jesus was like. You know those success guru influencers, yeah, and they always talk about how early you get up. Some of them get up at 3 am. I think that's a recipe for poverty, in my opinion, not success, waking up at 3 am. Jesus was the original doing that and they'll tell you one of the hours of watch for prayer was 3 am. So it says in other parts in the Old Testament. They would pray when the dew was still on the grass. That's early, it says, way before the sun rose. It was most likely Jesus was praying at 3 am, but he gave the father first. I mean, what was he going to do that day? Who knows, heal, six deaf people raise two people who were lame, frustrate, some pharisees. He couldn't just do that on empty. He had to do that by going to God and giving the first and getting a fresh download from heaven In the morning. Having risen a long while before daylight, he went out and departed to a solitary place and there he prayed. 12:37 If somebody right now was in a hard place, that cannonball just landed in their living room. I've had that happen. That is the most delicious cooing of a child. Is that real? You know how many of you? That is adorable. It actually sounds like gizmo. Do you remember in the movie Gremlins? And he's like grrrr. I didn't think that was possible. Lord, bless that child. Those sweet coos, hallelujah. It sounds, I feel, like I'm in a magical forest and there's this bird. 13:21 If you, if you there are in life winks from heaven, these winks where something random happens in the physical realm and it's like God just winking at you, going, I'm with you. The cooing of a baby is one of those things. A cannonball lands in your living room. In other words, you get an unexpected life disturbance. What's your next move? Well, don't just go about your day doing the same thing you did yesterday. You've got to shift and adjust some things. A very powerful thing you can do, really. You can live this way, but if you haven't been to recalibrate, to readjust, is giving God the first of your day. 14:09 When God called me into ministry, that was a non-negotiable. I would be sleeping and whenever I would wake up, as soon as I would wake up, what I would do is just roll over in my bed and land on the floor and then, however I landed, that's how I'd be praying, but that was before the temptation of of our. Oh, I just gotta check to make sure our country didn't blow up. Let me open my phone, I gotta, and every morning it's the same stupid thing. Your stupid notifications are telling you the same thing. Next thing, you know, 20 minutes went by and you're like I don't even know what I'm doing. But and you could actually, I don't even know what I'm doing and you could actually be doing something very productive. And it's not how long you pray. 14:48 See, I've heard verses like this be used to whip the people of God and guilt them and shame them and manipulate them into early morning prayer. No, don't do that. None of what I'm going to say today is this formula that's transactional, where if I do A, God will do B and then I will do C and therefore he must do D. No, this is about a love relationship, and I've heard this verse used like give God you know this combined with Jesus saying could you not tarry with me one hour? You know that. Could you not pray with me one hour? It was the title of a book. It like made every Christian feel guilty because they prayed less than an hour. I was like, oh, because in that moment. Look, just because Jesus says one thing to one person one time doesn't mean that that's a rule for everybody all the time, in every situation. 15:36 You got a mom with four kids. She's busy, she's doing a million things. You got a dad he's got to get up early, he's got to work a job, has 60,000 things flying across it and you're going to tell. But you got to pray an hour a day. What? And you very rarely hear any preacher laugh at that or mock that, because every preacher feels like quantity is everything, quality doesn't matter. But you got to put your time in. You got to pray. You got to pray long. And you got to pray when you're tired and exhausted, bleary eyed, when you're miserable. That's how God will actually know that you love him. No Amen. Look, he's already done the sacrificing. 16:25 He doesn't want you to pray early in the morning because that's when you're most miserable. He wants you to pray early in the morning. He does because that is another spiritual principle there's something about if you look at most of the miracles in the Bible. They actually happened early in the morning, including the resurrection. There's something about the morning. You know, the psalmist said Lord, early will I seek you, early, earnestly, eagerly, and early in the morning, when your mind is actually clear. 16:55 And it's not about quantity there is. We have to be honest. There are people, I know people that actually pray hours a day and their life terrifies me. Pray hours a day and their life terrifies me. I would not want to have their life. Nothing ever changes. They're always frustrated, but they're always praying, heading off to the next prayer meeting, praying at home. I don't know what they're doing, but it doesn't have to be long. 17:21 It's about opening up your heart. To be long, it's about opening up your heart, yeah, and letting him come in. Get good at. You got to have a, because most people are, so you got to hit that button on the inside where you open up and allow him in. He wants to know you. Open up and allow him in. He wants to know you, he loves you. 17:47 And we we go through this life. We got baggage from being hurt in the past, past baggage. Baggage from being hurt in the present, present baggage, messed up doctrine where we think that God is constantly mad and angry with us. So there's guilt and there's shame and there's condemnation, not a revelation of his blood, not a revelation of redemption, that you've been made new, that you're now perfect in Christ, or now you're full of guilt, so you have a hard time. So you can pray for hours, all closed up, and get nowhere. Or you can pray for two, three minutes, but if you hit that button where you because guess what, you're not hiding anything. Anyway, he knows you thoroughly, he can explain you to you. That will blow your head. And the real kicker here is, even though he knows you, he knows every cell in your body, everything you've ever done, and loves you still and calls you out by name still. Yeah, so it doesn't have to be quantity but it does have to be. 18:54 You got to open up, you got to shed the guards and you can actually get good at that. You know how you get good at that. The same way you get good at everything practicing you got to practice. 19:11 Open up, hide nothing, wake up, let him in, receive from him, let him know you love him, receive his love for you and go on with your day. And then you're getting started right. You're giving the Lord the first of your day, hallelujah. Is this helping anybody? All right, let's go to first, king 17. We're talking about the power of the first, because we will not treat God like a bad waiter and tip him with the leftovers. I mean you can, but you're not going to receive his best. 19:53 This is a time of drought. What we're about to read right now it's a time of drought, and because it's a time of drought, it's a time of famine also. Then the word of the Lord came to him. That's Elijah, saying Arise, go to Zareph. Him, that's Elijah, saying Arise, go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and dwell there. See, I have commanded a widow there to provide for you. So he, that's Elijah. 20:17 He arose and went to Zarephath, and when he came to the gate of the city, indeed, a widow was there gathering sticks, and he called to her and said please bring me a little water in a cup. That seems innocent enough, except it's a time of drought that I may drink. So they had very strong hospitality social contracts in that day. So she went all right. This guy's asking for water, I'm bound. I got to give it to him. And as she was going to get it, he called her and said please bring me a morsel of bread in your hand. Uh-oh, now it's not just about water, he wants a little cake. So she said as the Lord, your God, lives, I do not have bread, but only a handful of flour in a bin and a little oil in a jar. And see, I am gathering a couple of sticks that I may go in and prepare it for myself and my son, that we may eat it and die. So not too bright of a future as it stands right now. And Elijah said to her now Elijah was sent to her to bring her a breakthrough. Elijah said to her now Elijah was sent to her to bring her a breakthrough. She was not in a place of breakthrough because she was just focusing on her lack and was obsessed and consumed with her own situation in life and her own problems. She didn't have a solution. She just had one final meal and then there's nothing left. My son and I are gonna die. 21:41 But he has to provoke her into a miracle. A lot of what I do when I minister, some of the things I say, it's actually to jolt you, it's to get you from doing the same old, same old, to provoke you into a miracle, to get you out of that rut. See, she was in a rut of lack, only looking at lack, only seeing lack. He had to provoke and he had to get her a miracle. Look how he does it. Do not fear. Go and do as you have said. Fine, you can eat, but first make me a small cake from it. Say that word First, first. I mean now, socially, he's crossed every line. He doesn't just want water, he wants cake. Get it to me first. 22:34 And who is Elijah? He's a representative of God. The message is clear Honor God first, because if you did what you were going to do anyway, you're going to be dead in 72 hours anyway. So you might as well do it God's way. Give it to me first and bring it to me, and afterward take care of yourself. Afterward make some for yourself and your son. 23:00 For thus says the Lord, God of Israel the bin of flour shall not be used up, nor shall the jar of oil run dry until the day the Lord sends rain on the earth. So she went away and did according to the word of Elijah and she and her household ate for many days. He did something with the bin of flour and the jar of oil. There were miracles of multiplication and miracles of provision, and then it was. You ever see Mary Poppins where she can just take all these items out of her suitcase and take a vacuum cleaner out of it, put an umbrella in? That's kind of like what it became. It's just like it looks like there's two inches of flour, except it never runs dry. It looks like there's three fingers of oil, but I can just keep pouring it, make cakes for the whole neighborhood. She got a miracle of provision, but the provocation to get her there was honoring the Lord with the first. 23:55 There is something about putting God first. My prayer is that we would just as we wrap up 2025, that the Lord would do a deep work in us and put the searchlight on our souls. If we be putting him in second place anywhere, third place, fourth place, if he's an afterthought in any area, If we do that, we're only hurting ourselves. We are limiting God. And then some people get mad and go well, how come God didn't come through for me and he didn't dance like I wanted him to dance. He didn't perform like I wanted him to perform. Well, you've given him the leftovers. You haven't honored him with the first. He was an afterthought. Until that cannonball lands in your living room, he was an afterthought. 24:41 Now, all of a sudden, you're excited about God and you need him which, by the way, even if that's you, that's been me you can still immediately come to him and he's not going to hold it against you. That's how good he people will Like. If you only come to somebody when you need something, you can only do that two, three times. Right After a while, they're going to be like, hey, you're always coming to me with your handout. How about a cup of coffee on a Tuesday? But God, not that we should treat him that way, but I just God doesn't say that we should treat him that way, but I just God doesn't say that God doesn't do that He'll. Oh, okay, here you go, coming again for a miracle. I love you, I'll do it, but that's not. Did you know? Living from miracle to miracle is not God's best. That is actually a yucky way to live. And God will give you that miracle because he loves you so much. 25:27 But you don't want a life where cannonball lands in your living room. Ah, I need a miracle. God comes through and then you keep doing the same thing that made that cannonball come into your living room and it comes six months later. God, I need a miracle. You know, when I was leading you and dad to the Lord, you remember dad, my dad very logical, practical guy the pastor would always start the service. How my dad very logical, practical guy, the pastor would always start the service. How many of you need a miracle? Like every hand will go up. My dad was like wow, but then after six months he's like how come every service, everybody raises their hand. They need a miracle. It's a good question. I don't want a church of people that always need a miracle. That's not God's totally God's plan. God's best is for you. If you need a miracle, he's happy to give you one. He's happy to rescue you. Then start walking with him so that you don't need a miracle every five, six days, amen, so that you're now living in victory and then you're actually living in victory. Now God can build on that. He's not always taking you out of the pit. But now he's taking you out of the pit. Now you're walking, you can actually build together and he can use you to take someone else out of the pit because you're not in one. Amen, hallelujah, thank you, Lord. Deuteronomy 26,. 26:47 One through two, the power of the first fruits was reiterated by Moses over and over again. Obviously, it was the Lord himself speaking through Moses, but Moses was the big pen. Big pen, you remember big pens? Because people will say, well, God didn't write the Bible. Yeah, I know, I know he didn't come in bodily form and write the Bible, but people wrote it who were inspired by the Holy Spirit. If I write you a beautiful poem right now using a Bic pen, you don't say Bic wrote it, I wrote it, I just used a Bic pen. But some people will say, well, God didn't write the Bible. No, he used big pens, about 40 of them, 40 authors, over 1,600 years. Amen, 66 books, all right, first fruits. 27:43 And it shall be when you come into the land which the Lord, your God, is giving you as an inheritance and you possess it and dwell in it, that you shall take some of the first of all the produce of the ground which you shall bring from your lands that the Lord, your God, is giving you and put it in a basket and go to the place where the Lord, your God, chooses to make his name abide. This was a commandment from the Lord. He's showing his preference for the first, and the children of Israel were commanded to fall in line with God's divine order of putting things first. Joshua, chapter 6, verses 17 through 19. First fruits is the ultimate act of faith, because you give it when nothing else is in yet. 28:39 So, joshua, if you ever want to read a fun book in the Old Testament, read Joshua. It's a book of victories. It's a great book, epic, and they had a because right before that. You can always. The word of God is always life. But sometimes you're reading how they were stuck in the wilderness. It's depressing Because you know how long that journey should have taken Through the wilderness back to the promised land 11 days. How long did it take them? 40 years Now I. 11 days, how long did it take them? 40 years. No, I don't like when I miss Google Maps and make the wrong turn. I'm like, oh, I gained 45 seconds on this trip. I feel robbed. I'll never get those 45 seconds back. That took them 40 years. I mean that's frustrating, but now those guys had died. 29:28 This is the next generation and Joshua was leading about two, three million people into the promised land and the first city that they take is Jericho. And because it's the first city, God said you won't take any of the treasures. I want the first that's going to go into the treasury of the Lord. You're not allowed to touch any of the precious things. They belong to me. Now the city shall be doomed by the Lord to destruction. Jericho, mighty victory. 29:55 By the way, you know, the walls of Jericho fell flat down. Archaeologists will tell you how thick those walls actually were. In New York, you know the thickness of the walls it's three bricks. How do I know? Because at 7th Street it was falling apart so much we could actually see. It's like oh, three bricks thin. This is how they do all the tenements. Three bricks is enough to separate one building from another. And you know, when you hear the walls of Jericho fell down, you go oh, you probably imagine a brick wall like the Berlin Wall, or maybe even like the Great Wall of China, which is pretty thick, it's said, even like the Great Wall of China, which is pretty thick. It said that the walls of Jericho were so thick that you could run seven chariots side by side on them and race them around the walls of the city. That's the miracle that God did when he made and when the walls fell, by the way, they didn't fall like this, they didn't topple forward, they collapsed straight down. And when you collapse something straight I can go on and when you collapse something straight down with the wall of that thing, it actually creates an incline like stairs, so they could just use stairs now and just walk right into the city. Now the city shall be doomed by the Lord to destruction and all who are in it. 31:03 Only Rahab the harlot Sounds like such a funny detail. Rahab the harlot, do you know? This is Jesus' great, great, great, great. Sounds like such a funny detail. Rahab the harlot, do you know? This is Jesus' great-great-great-great-great-great-grandmother. This prostitute who had a moment of redemption and looking towards God. It's just there. There's so many times in the Bible where it just shows you that you were never too far gone for God. Because this book, these big pens the people who wrote the Bible, who were inspired by the Holy Spirit. Some of them were murderers, some of them were thieves. Some of them were scoundrels and adulterers. Only Rahab the harlot shall live, she and all who are with her in the house, because she hid the messengers that were sent. 31:52 Verse 18. And you, by all means, abstain from the accursed things. What are the accursed things? Lest you become accursed when you take of the accursed things and make the camp of Israel a curse and trouble it. So when I first read this, I thought accursed things were like idols, because this was a pagan nation. Maybe they were idols, maybe they were witchcraft items. What are cursed or accursed things? But it wasn't those things, it was actually treasures that the Lord said this belongs to me, so it's a cursed thing to take from. What the Lord says is his. By all means, abstain from the accursed things. Okay, we read that in verse 19. But all the silver and gold and vessels of bronze and iron are consecrated to the Lord. They shall come into the treasury of the Lord. 32:47 Now fast forward one chapter. There was a fellow by the name of Achan, and this is known as Achan sin. God gave his people tremendous victory and it was like a series of victories victory, yeah, victory, yeah. And then, because they crossed over the Jordan, they came in, the spies came, were let out by Rahab. They take Jericho. Then all of a sudden, everything starts going wrong. It was like everything that can't go wrong does, and they start seeking God. What happened? What happened? We were unstoppable. Now we can't do anything right and it's like we're cursed. 33:20 And God said well, remember how I said you can't take anything from the first. The first belongs to me. Achan made all of Israel to be Achan because he was a fashionista and he wanted this garb, he wanted a coat, and he wanted it so bad, even though God said don't take from the treasures he had to have. He saw it on TikTok, on the runway, this Babylonian garment, and said I must have. And he took it and everything started to fall apart. Can you just get that verse up? Don't keep us in such mystery, please. When I saw among the spoils a beautiful babylonian garment 200 shekels of silver and a wedge of gold weighing 50 shekels I coveted them and took them, and there they are, hidden in the earth in the midst of my tent, with the silver under it. So the moment that problem was fixed, joshua becomes a happy book again, and then it's like 20 plus chapters of victory after victory after victory. 34:22 What's the moral of the story? God actually likes first. He has a preference for the first, and when we get into what God likes, I notice now things are way better, life is better, the blessing flows. Hallelujah, hallelujah. Thank you, Jesus. Let me show you some slides, slides, five slides of what first fruits represents. 34:58 First fruits equals priority. You're demonstrating that God is a priority in your life. God claims the first of everything harvest, livestock, income, even children. No, you didn't give your child, but you consecrated him to the Lord. It's that every child that opens the womb, the first one shall be consecrated, dedicated to the Lord, not because he needs it, but because the first portion determines who or what is the first in the person's heart. 35:36 Now I have to preach this part because it fits into my sermon. But my mother doesn't know this. I even mentioned in the first service how my family doesn't know this and they think I'm crazy. So when she surprised me in service this morning, I thought this is a wild way for her to find out. So I'm going to preach to this section right now because even though I turn 50 in about a month, two months from now, I still can feel her gaze. She'll be fine. I've shared with you all that by faith. You guys know we've been blessed. 36:09 We invested heavily in Bitcoin and Bitcoin-related derivatives and then we felt led to give $2 million as a first fruits offering to City Light Church. Right, you all caught up. Some of you are new. You don't know that it was wonderful. 2025 was a great year and I was able to do stuff that was in my heart for decades and in so giving that gift, I actually I didn't plan it this way, but I paid the church back for every single salary check ever in history. So I am for 23 years. I've served City Light as a volunteer pastor. 36:42 It's a wonderful thing to be able to do, but we did not give that as a tithe. I know some people got excited. They were like whoa, you made $20 million and you gave $2 million. You know that's what they thought. No, that was a first fruits offering. That was us saying we don't know, because the scary thing about it was we haven't closed all of our positions yet. Everything was, in other words, you don't know how in the green you are. You say, well, how much money did you make? I don't know. It changes every day tremendously, so I don't know. So why would you give $2 million then? Exactly I. So why would you give $2 million then? Exactly I don't know. But I gave it by faith, because when you trust God with the first fruits, not knowing whether second, third or fourth are coming, you're setting yourself up Hallelujah. So if, a year from now, I'm here receiving a special offering on wow, 2025 was a great year, but whoa 2026 really cleaned my clock, guys, and it's all been downhill since, and I can't believe. I gave away $2 million, but by law, I can't ask for it back and I'm going to have to pass the bucket around, guys, because Victor needs a new pair of shoes. Are you smiling? I haven't checked your face yet. You're right, that's not going to happen. 38:08 I already tested this when I bought the Arnaz a car before I had one. Amen, I mean, I had a car, but it wasn't a car. I had a toyota. That that that I was just in the first service, reminiscing with mauricio. He was with me. 38:25 We actually took the r knots out. Guess where we went? We go where no new yorker ever goes, but where every tourist wants to go. No, not time square, little italy. In time square, you can at least park in a garage. But in Little Italy they fake you out. You can find parking but the streets are so narrow down there and I parked and this corrections bus, we're still. We didn't even get out of the car All of a sudden it felt like a bomb landed in the car. 38:50 You never know how loud a car crash is until you're in one. The whole it was like the whole car went boom and shook. I thought half the car was missing. I get out and it's just like the front, right right towards the front. It just looked like somebody took a sledgehammer and bashed it in. 39:06 I went to price out. I'll skip the part where I exchanged information with them. Didn't call the cops because I wanted to attend to our tourists, so I had no police report. Anyway, I'll skip that part. It's very sad. Some guy with a badge from the Corrections comes and says call this number, we'll make sure we'll make, we'll make you hold whatever. I call that number for days, nobody ever. And I don't know what number he gave me. Yeah, someone say a payphone. That's what it was. There's the one payphone left in New York. He gave me the number to that. 39:39 I went to price out. You know how much it would be to repair the Toyota and it was like over $5,000. I'm like, especially back then, that was like an insurmountable. I was like I'm not paying. That Still functions. I'll put air in the tires, oil in the car, it'll be fine. But I wanted a nicer car. 40:03 But the Lord said no, first get your wife one. Got my wife one. Then he said now those preachers, they drive a Tesla that's 10 years old. Tell them you're going to buy them a Tesla. Send them a hundred thousand dollars, say, to pick the Tesla with all the options that I don't know, all the classes, but that one that's right around there. And honestly, in that moment thought but what about me? I mean, when do I get to eat? It's my time, I'm here in this Toyota, it's my time. And the Lord, just, all the Lord has to do is just go do what you got to do. So I bought them a car. 40:37 Now, when I did that, with the way the numbers were moving, I didn't think I had to make peace with look, if my car comes or doesn't come, that's fine. I did the right thing. Lord said get him a car. That was in November, december, I believe. Yeah, november, december. Yeah right, exactly a year from now. No, it may have been October, late October, november, because it was just like six weeks after it was still 2024 where I went into Mercedes and ordered that Maybach because the money had come in. I quickly separated it. You got to do a lot you separate the tithe, separate for the taxes and then, with the overflow, hallelujah, hallelujah, thank you, Lord. I'll read that again Again firstfruits is the ultimate act of faith, because you give it when nothing else is in. 41:27 Yet it shows your trust. Firstfruits equals holiness, found in Romans 11, 16. There is a biblical principle of giving the firstfruits equals holiness, found in Romans 11, 16. There is a biblical principle of giving the first fruits. When you give the first, it makes the rest holy. It sanctifies the lump, for if the first fruits is holy, the lump is also holy. See, I have so much joy driving in that car, not because of the leather quality, not because it actually has a cup heater and cooler. I have so much joy in it because it's a holy car. It's been made holy. I have no guilt, no, it's just like I'm free. Hallelujah, because the first fruits is holy, the lump has been. If the root is holy, so are the branches. 42:29 When you're organizing your life to put God first in every area. Again, the decisions you make, do you run the playbook with ungodly counsel first or do you go to the Lord first, some of you, you have to work with unbelievers, but the Bible says blessed are those who don't stand in the seat of scorners and listen to ungodly counsel. But you have to collaborate, fine, collaborate, but you go to God first in the decisions that you make In your prayer life. When it's service, hey, I'm not going to have got the leftovers and stroll in right where I know they're ending that third song. I'm not looking at anyone, I'm looking at. I'm going to give them the best, I'm going to give them the first. And if the root is holy, so are the branches. 43:18 Amen, first fruits equals honor, proverbs 3, 9 through 10. This is how you show the Lord that you're honoring him, when you put him first. Honor the Lord with your possessions and with the say it First fruits of all your increase. And what will happen? Tell me, solomon, what happens. Go ahead. What happens. There you go, solomon, writing your proverbs, trying to get stuff out of me. What happens when I give God the first. Oh, solomon, you're going to keep me in suspense. What did you write in verse 10, solomon? Let me know. So your barns will be filled with plenty and your vats will overflow with new wine, hallelujah. So, number one first fruits equals your priority. First fruits equals your trust. First fruits equals holiness. First fruits equals honor and first fruits equals covenant loyalty. Worship team, you can come on up. First fruits equals honor and first fruits equals covenant loyalty. Worship team, you can come on up. First fruits equals covenant loyalty. It separated Israel from pagan nations. This is what separates us. 44:48 You know, everybody should have Christian heroes. You have Christian heroes. It could be people in this church, someone in your life group, somebody. It doesn't mean you admire everything about them, but there's people in my life I'm like. I love how they pray. Look at that person has the gift of faith on them. They never take it on the chin and just wallow in self-pity. They got the gift of faith. I'm like I like that. I want that With your Christian heroes or aspirational figures, someone you want to be like in a particular way. I can guarantee you one thing they are first fruits Christians. They are Christians If they're worth respect and admiration. They are Christians who are putting God first in every area of their lives, but it's not so in other religions, it's not so in pagan. This was unique to the God of Israel. It separated Israel from pagan nations, which offered the leftovers or only gave when they felt secure. 45:46 God demanded the first so that his people were visibly marked as his. And that's exactly what it is with a Christian who puts God first. There's a mark on them. There's a mark on them that's practically visible. It's like they've been branded with mark on them. There's a mark on them that's practically visible. It's like they've been branded with the Holy Spirit. There's a swirl of the goodness of the Lord all around them. I want the swirl. Hallelujah. 46:09 I want to get into a room and it'd be very evident that I'm not getting in there alone. Amen. And that's how it is when you're putting God first, it's evident to everybody that you're not walking into a room alone. That was when I first met real Christians, as an unbelieving 16-year-old. Even then, I had enough spiritual sense to realize these people are different. I mean, their behavior is different. But what is this? They just look different to me. It's like an energy about them. There's a life and a light about them. It's the holy aura of God. Hallelujah, thank you, Jesus. 46:46 First fruits are a revelation of lordship. God wants to be first in desire, decisions, finances and lifestyle. Lord, may you do this in our heart. Treat first fruits as consecration, not superstition. The first portion declares everything I have is yours. Let the principle of first fruits form your heart, your heart. First fruits are God's way of forming trust, loyalty and worship in his people. What you give to God first is what rules your life. 47:29 By the way, I'm just reading some truthisms about first fruits. I didn't know where to put them in the sermon, so I'm just giving them to O at the end. Them in the sermon, so I'm just giving them to all at the end. What you give to God first is what rules your life. First fruits declares who sits on the throne. When the first is holy, the rest is blessed. When the first is withheld, the rest is hindered. First fruits aren't about money. They are about allegiance, trust and the sacred order of God. Giving God the first opens the door for him to fill the rest. The first unlocks the future. That's so true. The power of the first is woven from Abel to Elijah to Jesus. First fruits are a mystery of divine order and not a human formula. 48:20 Hallelujah, let's pray, heavenly Father. We all know what it's like to give you the first and we all know how easily we can slip into giving you leftovers. We pray, Lord, that we be an on-fire people, a people full of the Holy Ghost and serving you in the spirit of revival. So help us be a people who honors you first in every category of life. Brand us and empower us. We're not going to be legalistic about it, we're not going to try to do it in our own strength, but, yeah, we welcome the Holy Ghost to shake us, move us, rearrange us, change us, do whatever you got to do that we will be walking worthy of this great calling with which we have been called, honoring you and putting you first in everything. In Jesus' name, amen, amen. Well, give the Lord a big hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah. Thank you, Lord. Well, are you ready to worship and honor the Lord with your tithes and offerings? 49:41 Before we do that, yeah, let's look at the first fruits of the future campaign. Obviously, I'm preaching this morning because we have this first fruits of the Future campaign. Obviously, I'm preaching this morning because we have this First Fruits of the Future campaign so you all understand what First Fruits is. This isn't the first time I've preached something like this, but it's probably been the most comprehensive that I have. I wanted you to know the principles behind it. And hey, we just started this last week. How many of you remember what we had raised up until last week? Around 2,000. Show Drum roll. Please Give us a little. Hey, look at that. Look at that. Look what the Lord has done. Now, I was very excited when I got that. 50:30 So I asked Pastor Andrew who's the controller, which I'm just mentioning, that and he watches all of our sermons. You know, because he lives in Texas. He's moved away to Texas but he's still a part of our church and is on staff and he's a great man of God and pastor and he does all of our finances. He was an amazing guy in finance. God has brought us the best. You know. Just so you know, with our staff, none of us play around. 50:56 He used to work at a hedge fund. He's not. You know, a lot of times in church, like the finances, like the finance person is like well, you know, they used to work at 7-Eleven and then they got radically saved and you know he used to do the stock in that supermarket. He's really good with numbers, a great bean counter. How about him? Well, yeah, he'll do that. No, he used to work for a hedge fund. He knows his stuff. But why am I even talking about this? Because his title is controller, which makes sense if you're in finance. It never did to me, but I just went with it. 51:26 But the pastor that took me to Poland, that I ministered for him, he just sent me a screenshot of our own website and, like with concern, he said why is he called controller? I had to explain well, he's not controlling the Holy Spirit, thankfully, and he's not controlling the flow of the service, he's comp-trolling. He's control, he's making sure every bean is accounted for. So I asked our controller. I said, hey, that's a lot of dough. Give me the breakdown. 51:58 And he says well, two people gave ten thousand dollars each, which which made me happy and sad. I'm happy for the people who did that. I pray and I pray this for every giver that the Lord multiply it back to you, that your harvest come. And the only reason I was sad was it all came not all, but 20 grand came from two people. And it need not be. 52:20 It shouldn't be by the time we wrap this all up. It should be spread. Spread the love. It shouldn't be concentrated in two people and, by the way, 10,000 may be a tip for you like nothing and 10,000 may be the most money. You never had. So much money in your bank account, I get that. 52:36 That's why we never tell people what to give. You say what should I give? Ask the Lord and he will put in your heart what to give. Sometimes you get two amounts. Then you should know the lower amount is Satan, the higher amount is God. Let's put the giving information up there. Lord, we honor you, we love you and we give with a glad heart and full expectation to you. God, I thank you that at City Light Church we will not be shaken. People will continue to move forward in their lives. They're gonna get married, they're going to get married, they're going to have lots of healthy and blessed children. They're going to buy townhouses and condos. They're going to start businesses. They're going to multiply. Lord, I don't care who the mayor of New York is, and neither do you. You will bless and you will prosper your people. Prosper your people. Hallelujah, hallelujah. Thank you, Lord. 53:34 Ministry team, if you would just prepare. If you want ministry by the laying on of hands, you want someone to pray with you and for you. If you've been shy and never did that before, I assure you you will not be harmed. You will be blessed. Go on over to that. I can only imagine. Let's just say you've never been to church. 53:51 You just come in, you need the Lord, and then you're being invited to go into that blue-lit area for people to pray for you. For us it's not daunting, but imagine you've got to always think of that, somebody who didn't like half my message still clinging to the Lord, and now they're told to go to that blue, like they might not ever emerge. It looks like a twilight zone. Don't go toward the light, but you will be safe. Go over there and some wonderful people will pray with you and for you, and we're going to trust God to do a miracle in your life, such a miracle that you won't need another miracle next week. Amen. Let that you won't need another miracle next week. Amen. Let's all stand. If you need to go, go, be blessed. CityLight Be blessed. 54:35 - Speaker 2 This is the CityLight Church podcast. If you've missed any part of today's message or if you would like to find out more about Pastor Boyan Jancic and CityLight Church, visit us at citylightnyc.com. That's citylightnyc.com. Feel free to visit us online or in person anytime. We would love to connect with you. We pray that you have been encouraged today, that you have been reminded how much God loves you and that you are surrounded by grace. Thank you for listening. Make sure that you subscribe to CityLight Church Podcast wherever you find your favorite podcasts worldwide.