"Financial Aerobics”

Intro: Three boys in the schoolyard were bragging about who had the better father. The first boy says, "My Dad scribbles a few words on a piece of paper, he calls it a poem, and they give him $100." The second boy says, "That’s nothing. My Dad scribbles a few words on a piece of paper, he calls it a song, and they give him $1000." The third boy says, "My Dad is even better than that. He scribbles a few words on a piece of paper, calls it a sermon, and it takes six men just to collect all the money!"

Matt 16:26

26What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?

Matt 6:19-21

19"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

We can’t take it with us but we can send it on ahead.

Where are you building your net worth? How much are you worth? Look at the person next to you and chances are your setting next to a person who is loaded. Have you ever seen one of those golf cart people moving things at the air port that beep as they make their way through the airport? They don’t stop and allow you to walk down the middle of the concourse, you either have to move to the right or the left and get out of its way. That is kind of like God’s message for us today. I hope today you will hear the beeping of God’s message bidding your heart to either move to the right or the left.

Where are you building your net worth? Could it be that you are worried about your worth on the wrong side of life? Could it be that you’re putting too much stock, in your stock? Warning the content of this message could be hazardous to your worldly wealth.

People are worth a lot of money these days. A real-estate broker on T.V. the other day was saying that the billionaires are crowding out the millionaires in Aspen. The billionaires are buying up all the real estate in Aspen now.

Timothy was in the church at Ephesus and some of the people in Ephesus had a lot of money. Paul tells Timothy here what to say to people about their true net worth. Words we need to understand in today’s culture.

(v. 6-7) First of all Paul speaks to Timothy about Industrial Strength Contentment.

Contentment is not measured by what you have, but by what you have in your heart. If you have made the decision to receive Christ into your life, then from Christ being in your heart should flow contentment. Nothing is what we brought into this world and when we leave this world we will take nothing with us. Two minutes after you die it isn’t going to matter what kind of car you drove, what kind of house you lived in, or much money you made in your lifetime. The only thing that will really matter is what you did with regards to your relationship with God. Whatever worldly stuff you acquire here will mean absolutely nothing in eternity.

Illustration: I heard about a rich man who was determined to take his wealth with him (Russell 88). He told his wife to get all his money together, put it in a sack, and then hang the sack from the rafters in the attic. He said, "When my spirit is caught up to heaven, I’ll grab the sack on my way." Well he eventually died, and the woman raced to the attic, only to find the money still there. She said, "I knew I should’ve put the sack in the basement."

(v. 9) The desire to acquire that’s gone haywire. Many people today equate being rich, or the accumulation of stuff with being happy. Then we get overtaken by the MORE MONSTER. He makes us believe we are always one house away, one car away, one dress away, one deal away or one piece of jewelry away from happiness, but we never get that one thing because when we do get it, there is always one more thing looming ahead. So we never feel the satisfaction of contentment because we always feel we need more. We can relate to what Solomon said in the book of Ecclesiastes about chasing after the wind.

Eccl 1:14

14I have seen all the things that are done under the sun; all of them are meaningless, a chasing after the wind.