Richlands Tabernacle Church · Benjamin Vencill

Rev Travis Hackworth - The blessings that comes with building & maintaining Gods house

March 12, 2026·1 hr·5 clips

A contractor in Bond, Kentucky dumped his entire wallet into the offering, and a sinner was saved right after, showing God's response to generosity.

The sermon opens with a brief recap of the church's post-Christmas prayer momentum, including a 6 a.m. daily prayer meeting that has been running for over a year. Hackworth notes 76 answered prayer requests tallied at a youth rally and frames the upcoming renovation as the next step in that spiritual momentum. The Richlands Tabernacle was built in 1982—43 years ago—and still has its original pews and carpet, last updated when a couple married 30 years ago. Hackworth announces that a new couple, Sister Amanda and Brother William, will be the last to marry in the current interior before the remodel begins. He grounds the renovation theology in Exodus 25:8 ('Let them make me a sanctuary that I may dwell among them') and Psalm 127:1 ('Except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain'). Drawing on 1 Chronicles 29, he describes David's joyful preparation for Solomon's temple as a model of willing sacrifice. He contrasts stingy giving with the sustained blessing he has observed in families who gave sacrificially over generations. The church's most concrete giving story is a single-Sunday $68,000 offering for the dining hall, anchored by Brother Terry's immediate and willing donation after 40 years of membership. Hackworth uses a grassroots political fundraising analogy to reframe small individual contributions as collectively powerful. The sermon moves through Josiah's restoration of a decayed temple and the revival that followed, then to Nehemiah's 52-day wall construction despite active opposition from Sanballat and Tobiah. The renovation plan calls for a temporary dust wall splitting the sanctuary, use of side entrances, and reliance on existing restrooms—described with humor about limited stall count. Hackworth anticipates the project will not go smoothly but cites 30 years of construction experience as preparation. He addresses high utility bills ($6,000 monthly) and aging HVAC as practical drivers alongside the aesthetic renovation. Specific financial metrics are cited: tithes and offerings up over $80,000 in one year, a $35,000 building fund in 2024 growing to $120,000. He invokes Haggai 1:8, Proverbs 3, and Malachi 3:10 as the three biblical pillars of the giving theology. He clarifies that tithes go to the local church rather than to individuals or missionaries, describing that as the biblical definition of the storehouse. Hackworth shares a personal testimony from being raised on Chicken Ridge in poverty and attributes his material success entirely to consistent giving. The sermon closes with a challenge to give more in 2026 than members have ever given, framed as a prove-me invitation from Malachi.

As heard by us

A pulpit sermon about sacrifice, prayer, and honoring God's house.

This sermon frames sacrifice, prayer, and honoring God's house as practical commitments, moving from post-Christmas weariness into an expectant look toward 2026.

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Why you'd press play

If you want a sermon that puts sacrifice, prayer, healing, and blessing front and center, this goes there.

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