Attitude, A New Way Of Thinking
Money Matters – part one
Pink Floyd Video…
Luke chapter 12 opens up with these words…
Meanwhile,
the crowds grew until thousands were milling about and stepping on each other. Jesus turned first to his disciples and warned them, “Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees—their hypocrisy. 2 The time is coming when everything that is covered up will be revealed, and all that is secret will be made known to all. – Luke 12:1,2
13Someone in the crowd said to him, "Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me. 14Jesus replied, "Man, who appointed me a judge or an arbiter between you?"
15Then he said to them, "Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions." From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked….
– Lk 12:48
And he told them this parable: "The ground of a certain rich man produced a good crop. 17He thought to himself, 'What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.' 18"Then he said, 'This is what I'll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. 19And I'll say to myself, "You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry." '
20"But God said to him, 'You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?' This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God. - Luke 12:13-20
This morning we’re kicking off a brand new message series. It’s a 4 part series called “Money Matters…”
QUESTION – how does the topic for this series, Money Matters’ make you feel?
• Anxious
• Nervous
• Defensive, afraid, uncomfortable…
• Does it make you wish you stayed home… I MEAN – what a day to come to church, right.
In an article called, ‘The Energy Of Money,’ Maria Nemeth writes;
Money is an uncomfortable subject for most of us. Many people would rather talk about their sex lives than about their bank balance. We love money, and we hate it. We can't live with it, and we can't live without it. Money can be a source of great joy and creativity, or it can bring frustration and misery, depending on our relationship with it.
And we bring all these doubts and fears, hopes and expectations with us every time we deal with money--not just when we visit a financial planner or a loan officer, but in every area of our lives.
Money touches almost every aspect of living: work, leisure time, creative activities, home, family, and spiritual pursuits. Everything we do and dream of is affected by our relationship with this powerful form of energy. Whether your dream is to travel around the world, pay for a house, establish a food bank, buy a Corvette, get out from under a mountain of debt, or take a year off to write a novel, that vision is intertwined with the possibilities and pitfalls bound up in the energy of money.
MAN – no wonder they gave Marie a PHD, she’s pretty smart… AND – she is dead on about the energy of money….
OKAY – let me tell you were we will be going the next few weeks in this series…
NOW – our conversations are going to center around 4 words… Attitude, Principles and Practices… and a formula.
11/19 “Attitude, A New Way Of Thinking”
11/26 “Principles, The Essential Foundation”
12/03 “Practices, The Necessary Choices”
12/10 “Practices, The Necessary Choices, part 2”
attitude + principles + practices = freed up financially
AND – what are the principles?
4 Principles: Gratitude – Contentment – Trust – Humility
4 Practices: Debt Free Living – Budgeting – Saving – Giving
NOW – I got to be honest…
When it comes to this series, I am approaching it with 2 pretty strong emotions…
ONE EMOTION – is excitement…
The reason I’m so excited about this series is because it’s not a series on Tithing. We’re not just going to focus on the 10% that’s certainly part of the series, I mean that’s a given if you’re a Christian. Giving 10% in the offering is a command of Scripture and none of us should rob God.
But during the next few weeks I’m going to be focusing more on 100%. Our spending, Giving, Contentment, Debt, and saving for our future.
In early January…
THE SECOND EMOTION… is intimidation.
attitude + principles + practices = freed up financially
NOW I want to throw out a few statements to help you decide whether or not you need to be freed up financially speaking. Some of these may apply to you some of them may not.
• If you spend more than you make in a year…You need to be freed up
• If you don’t know whether or not you’re spending more in a year than you make,
• You need to be freed up
• If you don’t care that you might be spending more than you make in a year, You need to be freed up
• If you owe more on your car than your car is worth, You need to be freed up (Average car loan is now $30,000 and the average length of a car loan is 69.3 months… 5 years and 9 months)
• If you don’t know how much you owe on your car, You need to be freed up
• If paying the minimum on your credit cards is a way of life, You need to be freed up ($8,377 avg house credit card – 1 trillion total)
• If you have no method of tracking where your money goes, you need to be freed up.
• If money is one of the biggest stressors and cause for fighting in your marriage, You need to be freed up (44% of people sat that money is the primary cause of friction in their marriage and 57% of divorced couples cite money problems as the primary reason for the ending of their marriage)
• If you are a Jesus-follower and you are not a percentage giver to the church, you need to be freed up. (average Christian gives 2.43% of their income to the church, only 7% of Christians give 10% of their incomes, only 1% of Christians who make over $75k give 10%)
• If you do not know what percentage of your income you are giving to the church, you need to be freed up?
• If you have no plan for saving for the future, you need to be freed up.
Back in the early 1980’s I was stationed in Yorktown Virginia and I would occasionally make the 4 hour trip back home to Baltimore.
I remember coming back home one time, it was starting to get dark, I was on I-495 bypassing Washington DC – moving right along making good time (on pace for a new record if I could get the kids to hold off going to the bathroom for another 2 hours).
ALL – was good…
BUT THEN - all of the sudden things weren’t looking too familiar… Nothing felt or looked right… BUT - I convinced myself it was still okay… I MEAN - after all it was night time and things just look at little different in the dark.
SO - I kept on driving looking for even one a familiar landmark, that would show me that I was about to be in good old Virginia – I didn’t see any… BUT STILL - I keep on going… AND - after being uncomfortable like this for about 30 minutes – I saw a sign on the right side of the road, that finally convinced me once and for all that I was heading in the wrong direction, “Welcome To Maryland” a state I had left over an hour earlier.
Needless to say, I got off at the very first exit and turned around, (so much for breaking my best time from Baltimore to Yorktown). LIKE – the old Turkish proverb; “No matter how far you’ve gone down the wrong road turn back…”
GUYS – I think a lot..
IF - not all of us, are in some way heading in the wrong direction when it comes to the way we think about money… AND – most of us are not even sure what we are to think about money…
Money, do I give it or do I keep it
Money, is it bad or is it good…
Money, should I want it or should I fear it
AGAIN – the title for today’s message is…
“Attitude, A New Way Of Thinking.”
ONCE – when Jesus was trying to get his disciples to think about things in a new way he said;
No one puts new wine into old wineskins. The old skins would burst from the pressure, spilling the wine and ruining the skins. New wine must be stored in new wineskins. – Mt 9:17 (NLT)
MY GOAL – this morning is real simple, I just want to introduce us to a new way of thinking about money… AND – guys this really is an introduction…
BECAUSE – I’m convinced that what we do here today… is merely the first few pages in a new book… pages that are going to start in motion things that have the potential to change you, me, The Grove and our world forever…
OKAY – the FIRST point in your notes is;
Money Is Not ‘The’ Answer
NOW – talk about a new way of thinking that needs to be poured into a new wineskin…
I MEAN – ‘money is not the answer’ is most definitely not what they are telling us in America, especially on those late night infomercials…
Where you see men & women telling anyone who can’t sleep how a simple phone call and a few hours a week… Have given them more money, then they could ever have imagined…
AND – as a result their life couldn’t possibly be any better.
Their marriage is better, their kids are happy…
Their life is a fairy tale they tell us as the camera shows them and their happy family walking together, shoes off, strolling down a beautiful beach…
LISTEN – there is no debate that the prevailing philosophy in the good old U.S. of A. is that money is the answer to everything
AND – if we were honest most of us have felt the same way,
IF – I just had a little more money…
IF - I just had a little more stuff…
THEN – everything would be so much better then it is right now…
MAYBE – you even feel that way now…. OR you did before I said that money is not the answer…
BUT – the truth is (money wealth and riches) are not the answer.....
They don’t solve everything… not in this life, AND – especially not in the life to come…
NOW - the rich guy in Luke 12 that we read about as we began today obviously thought that money and having more of it was the answer… “I need more money…I need a bigger bank account… more investments… more stuff… and I need more room to store it all…”
YEAH - this guy was living for the day when he could sit back and say to himself;
“My friend, you have enough stored away for years to come. Now take it easy! Eat, drink, and be merry!'
(You made it, your houses are paid off, your investment portfolio is overflowing, and the gas tank in your RV is full)
20"But God said to him, `You fool! You will die this very night. Then who will get it all?' 21"Yes, a person is a fool to store up earthly wealth but not have a rich relationship with God."
UNDERSTAND – money no matter how much we have without Jesus Christ, will not do us any good in the life to come.
AND LISTEN - money (despite popular opinion and cultural spin) is not the answer in this life either...
NO - money doesn’t solve everything…
IN FACT - sometimes money even makes things worse. Don’t take my word for it…
CHECKOUT - what some of the wealthiest people of all time have said about money…
• “I have made many millions, but they have brought me no happiness” - John W. Rockefeller
• “The care of 200 million is enough to kill anyone. There is no pleasure in it - W.H. Vanderbilt
• “I am the most miserable man on earth” - John Jacob Astor
• “I was happier when I was doing a mechanic’s job” - Henry Ford
• “Millionaires seldom smile” - Andrew Carnegie
• “I sit in my house in Buffalo and sometimes I get so lonely, it’s unbelievable. Life has been so good to me. I’ve got a great wife, good kids, money, my health - and I’m lonely and bored. I often wonder why so many rich people commit suicide. Money sure isn’t a cure-all!”
- O.J. Simpson, People magazine 1978).
Whoever loves money never has enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with their income. This too is meaningless. As goods increase, so do those who consume them.
And what benefit are they to the owners except to feast their eyes on them?
The sleep of a laborer is sweet, whether they eat little or much, but as for the rich, their abundance permits them no sleep…
Everyone comes naked from their mother’s womb, and as everyone comes, so they depart. They take nothing from their toil that they can carry in their hands.
– Ecclesiastes 5:10-12,15
Bottom Line – you and I need to change our attitude. Money and things are not the answer, they will never truly satisfy us. Only God can do that. That new car, that new house, that new job, that new promotion, that new investment, it’s not going to satisfy you, on God can do that.
MONEY WILL BUY
a bed, but not sleep
books, but not brains
food, but not an appetite
a house, but not a home
medicine, but not health
amusement, but not joy
allies, but not friends
therapy, but not healing
sex, but not intimacy
information, but not character
content but not contentment
MGCC – ‘money, wealth and riches’ - are not the answer…
“money is not the answer,” “More money is not the answer.”
The second new way of thinking we need to pour into a new wineskin is that…
We Are Rich
Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share.
- 1 Timothy 6:17,18
AGAIN – that’s definitely a new way of thinking for most of us in this room. QUESTION - did anyone here wake up this morning and hit the floor saying.. “Good morning Lord, thank you for making me so rich…” (not spiritually but materially?)
ON – the contrary if someone were to call us rich, most of us would reply… “Rich, I’m not rich, Bill Gates is rich…”
AND – he is. I MEAN - Bill Gates net worth of roughly $89.2 billion is one of those numbers that is hard to get our brain around… If he spend
• 1 million every week it would take him 172 years to spend it…
• 1 million every day it would take him 24 years 5 months to spend it
• 1 million every hour it would take him over a year to spend it
That is crazy…
FOR EXAMPLE - spending $250,000 for a new Bentley would cost Mr Gates in terms of the % of his wealth what a buying a can of coke would set back the average American.
Buying a 2 million dollar condo at the beach would cost Bill, again in terms of the % of his wealth what a buying a combo meal at McDonalds would cost us… That’s crazy…
AND - because of the value of his time at the office, if he were to see a $100 bill laying on the sidewalk on the way to work, he would actually lose money spending the few seconds to pick it up. ..
NO – if we compare ourselves to Bill Gates (or to sports, movie and music stars)… IF – we compare their crib to our crib. WE - may not feel all that rich… BUT [Tim…] – if we compare ourselves to the majority of people around the world, I guarantee you that our thinking about being rich will change.
IMAGINE - the following and you will see how Daily life is for over 1 billion people in the world (that means this how these people live every day)… AS _ I describe what life is like for them don’t zone out… TRY – to imagine it being your life. TRY – to picture YOU & YOUR family actually living this way…
1. Take out all the furniture in your home except for one table and a couple of chairs. Use blanket an pads for bed
2. Take away all of your clothing except for your oldest dress or suit, shirt or blouse. Leave only one pair of shoes.
3. Empty the pantry and the refrigerator except for a small bag of flour, some sugar and salt a few potatoes, some onions and a dish of dried beans.
4. Dismantle the bathroom, shut off the running water, and remove all the electrical wiring in your house.
5. Take away the house itself and move into the garage. Plenty room you don’t have a car.
6. Cancel all subscriptions to newspapers, magazines and book clubs (there is no great loss because now none of us can read anyway).
7. Move the nearest hospital or clinic 10 miles away and put a mid wife in charge instead of a doctor.
8. Throw away your bankbooks, stock certificates, pension plans, insurance policies. Leave the family a cash hoard of $10.
9. Give the head of the family a few acres to cultivate on which he can raise a few hundred dollars of cash crops, of which 1/3 will go to the landlord and 1/10 to money lenders.
10. Take off 25 or more years in life expectancy.
QUESTION – do you feel a little richer then you did when you woke up this morning?
• 640 million children live without adequate shelter
• 500 million do not have access to safe water
• 22,000 children die every day because of poverty
• over 1000 will die while we are in this building
• 1.6 billion people live without electricity
• 2.6 billion lack access to proper sanitation
• 3.5 billion live on less $2.50 per day
CHECKOUT – the statistics on the screen…
World-Wide Income… (7.6 billion people)
Yearly Income % # of people on avg
who make less
America Avg 44,980 7.3 billion (99.59%)
America Poverty 12,060 6.5 billion (85.78%)
Bottom 50% 900 (3.5 billion people)
The average American spends $ 2,600 a year on eating out… That is 3 times the average person in the world’s yearly salary… The movie and popcorn and coke you had last night would set back the average person in the world almost half their monthly income. YOU SEE – it’s all in who you compare yourself to…
NOW – for the cups…
[note I had 1,845 cups on this table and 41 cups on this table – each cup represented 1,000 dollars]
(how much money we will pass through our hands in our lifetime; 45 years of working)…
$ 2,024,000 each cup represents $1,000 AVG AMERICAN
$ 40,500
IN – the introduction to his book, ‘What The Bible says About Money,’ Alger Fitch writes;
We need to be aware that we are but a small percent of the world’s population (less than 5%)… yet it is estimated that we own 50% of the earth’s wealth. We are an island of plenty in the sea of poverty. We are a rich man’s suburb far removed from the slums where many humans daily live. Our men wrestle with the profound problem of finding a parking place, our women with the difficulty of finding a diet plan that works, while countless people die of starvation, freezing weather and injustice….
LISTEN – a new way of thinking is to acknowledge the truth that we are rich…
UNDERSTAND - it’s all in who we compare yourself to… Bill Gates, OR – to the billions of people in this world who have less than you..
AND UNDERSTAND B/S…
IT’S NOT - my intention this morning to put you on a guilt trip… I’m just trying to get all of us to realize that when we see our lives from a total world view…
We are rich…
It’s a new way of thinking.
It’s a matter of perspective.
OKAY – let’s move on…
I HAVE - a question for you,
How much of your money belongs to God?
How many of those 2000+ cups belong to God…?
ANSWER – all of them…
None Of Your Money Is Yours
AND – for many in this room that’s a new way of thinking… WHY?
BECAUSE - somewhere along the way Christians have bought into the lie that only 10% of what they have belongs to God… Bring God 10% and then the rest is yours to do whatever you want… That’s just not true. It’s a lie
The earth and everything on it belong to the LORD. The world and its people belong to him. - Psalm 24:1
AND CHECKOUT – this passage from Acts chapter 4… It’s so awesome… AND IT – illustrates that the early church got it right when it came to wealth and possessions
All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they shared everything they had. – Acts 4:32
No wonder God’s power fell on them and they exploded with such growth… BECAUSE – they understood that all not a mere 10% belongs to God.
UNDERSTAND - The Bible teaches that…
WHEN YOU - open up your heart and life to Jesus Christ,
WHEN YOU - admit your moral failings and ask for Christ's death on the cross to be applied to the sins of your life,
WHEN YOU - walk over that line from being lost to being found.. from being out of Christ to being in Christ… (something that I know many of you have done - and that's a good thing)
WHEN YOU - say, "God, I believe in who you are, I am sorry for how I’ve lived, I am turning my life over to you…
AND YOU – are baptized into the name of Jesus… (‘in the name of’ is a term of ownership)…
WHEN YOU – come to Christ the Bible says that e (Jesus) takes it all.
HE TAKES YOUR - sins, your shortcomings, your guilt, your shame, and he deals with that.
HEY – I’m not sure you heard me. NOW – I’m not doubting whether or not the sound waves hit your ear drums.
I’m just doubting whether or not YOUR HEART heard those truths.
B/S – when you come to Jesus HE takes it ALL…
YOUR - sins, your shortcomings, your guilt, your shame, and he deals with them….
AND THEN…
HE TAKES YOUR- problems, your worries, your cares, your doubts, your fears, your hurts – habits and hang ups…
AND HE - helps you with those things.
BUT HE – doesn’t stop there…
HE ALSO TAKES - ownership and leadership of your life, your talents, your future, and all your stuff… your money, your investments, your house, cars… None of it is yours…
OKAY – I want you to answer the following questions with one word, the first word that comes to mind. A little word association thing.
• Who gave you life?
• Who gave you the abilities that enable you to earn money?
• Who gave your brains and intellect?
• Who gave you an able body?"
• Who has protected your life such that you've been able to work for many years?
• Who has infinite love for you?
• Who gave His life for you?
• Who allowed you to be born is such a wealthy country and land of opportunity?
• Who has infinite wisdom concerning how people should handle material goods?
QUESTION - "Do you see a pattern developing here?"
LISTEN – because of who God is and because of His saving work on the cross, God carries title to all that his children possess.
(The house, the cars, the 401K, the stuff, your bank accounts, the clothes, the ‘toys’) they’re not yours…
The earth and everything on it belong to the LORD. The world and it’s people belong to Him. – Psalm 24:1
[Tim…] – we need to understand that we are not owners… BUT - stewards (managers)…of what really belongs to God. YOU SEE – the story that Jesus told in Matthew 25 about the kingdom, is really your story. It’s our story…
It's…like a man going off on an extended trip. He called his servants together and delegated responsibilities. To one he gave five thousand dollars, to another two thousand, to a third one thousand, depending on their abilities. Then he left…
- Matthew 25:14,15 (Msg)
LISTEN – God who owns everything has given us some of His resources (how cool?)… AND EVERYONE – in America has been given more than ~ 86% of the people in the t the world.
From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked…. – Lk 12:48
GOD has entrusted us with His stuff, so that we can…
• DO His work…
• CARRY on His mission…
• BUILD His Kingdom
• TELL good news to the poor.
• ANNOUNCE freedom for prisoners
• GIVE sight to the blind
• FREE those who are captive
• HELP those who are hurting
• MAKE His name famous
• BRING lost people to salvation
TRUE – we all get different amounts…
BUT – no matter what we get…
IT - is all for the same purpose… To bring Him glory!
God says here, “I’m giving you - talents, abilities, money, opportunities…
AND - I want you to use them…
I want you to use them all for my glory and for my mission.
I want you to use them to advance my kingdom…
NOT – your own.
YES – live on it, provide for you family…
BUT – always remember who it really belongs to…
AND - why I gave it to you… I’m counting on you… I’m entrusting it to you. “
AND REMEMBER – one day I will come back and I will ask you, ‘what did you do with the resources I gave you to advance my kingdom…
After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them.” Mt 25:19 (Msg)
UNDERSTAND - Jesus makes it very clear that there is a financial day of reckoning awaiting all of us.
YES – the day is coming when God, the true owner of all stuff, will do a complete review of how each one of us has managed what he gave us.
NOW - here's a question: If that divine audit were to occur this coming week – let's just choose a day, how about Wednesday?
OKAY - this coming Wednesday there's a divine audit of how you have been managing the money that God has entrusted to you.
QUESTION – (and be honest) how would you feel about knowing that the divine audit is happening this Wednesday? MAYBE - some of you would say, "Great! I can't wait to show God how responsibly I've managed his money.
Bring on the audit! I'm ready.”
Yeah maybe a few would say that but I think most of us would say; "This is not good. Could I have a little more time?
Like maybe could you give me one more year? Lord, how about doing this audit a year from Wednesday…
THEN - at least if I started today I could demonstrate to you a 12 month run where I did it right."
WELL - let's just say that God agreed to a year from Wednesday. NOW - that would give all of us in this room, a fresh start from today until a year from Wednesday – 11/21/2018…
AND - sort of in this context I want to suggest that every person here make a firm commitment to doing the next year right (from a financial perspective)…
THAT – we make a commitment to get all squared away in the anticipation of this audit.
GUYS – I’m serious… The audit is coming…
SO – let’s all together (11/19/2017) commit ourselves to a 12-month run of managing God’s money just they way He asked us to…
Weekend Seminar in January
B/S… It’s time… It’s time to get freed up financially, it’s time for a new attitude, for a new way of thinking about money…
• Money is not the answer
• We are rich
• None of our money belongs to us
NOW
THE NEXT – 2 new ways of thinking about money come from 1 Timothy chapter 6; Paul writes;
(Let’s stand and stretch – then I’ll read it)
Tell those who are rich in this world not to be proud and not to trust in their money, which will soon be gone. But their trust should be in the living God, who richly gives us all we need for our enjoyment.
Tell them to use their money to do good. They should be rich in good works and should give generously to those in need, always being ready to share with others whatever God has given them.
By doing this they will be storing up their treasure as a good foundation for the future so that they may take hold of real life. – 1 Timothy 6:17-19
The 4th new way of thinking about money…IS that;
It’s Okay To Enjoy Money…
AGAIN – Paul writes;
“…the living God, richly gives us all we need for our enjoyment…” - 1 Timothy 6:17
YES – you heard it right.
NOT – only is it okay…
BUT – God wants us to enjoy all that he gives us.
Think about it - material stuff was His idea to begin with…
“In the beginning God created stuff…”
UNDERSTAND - God loves you. He loves His children. AND – like any good Father he is totally okay with you enjoying the stuff that He gives you…
I MEAN - what Father would give a Christmas gift to his child and say, “hey stop that son, you are enjoying that gift I bought you way too much!” Kind of silly isn’t it?
God says; “Here is some of my stuff, I want you to have it… Go ahead take it… Use it… Use it to provide for your family, use it to bless others, Use it to advance my kingdom… AND – while your using it…
BE SURE – to enjoy it! Have Fun!
UNDERSTAND – I don’t want you to feel guilty about the things I give you…”
LISTEN – I’m convinced that God wanted Solomon to enjoy his horses, Joshua to enjoy the promise land and David to enjoy is palace.
IF YOU - are honoring God with your money…
IF YOU - are using your money to advance His kingdom…
IF YOU – are giving to His church as much as you possibly can… IF YOU – are helping the less fortunate here and around the world…
DON’T – feel guilty if you go a vacation, buy a nice car, get your kids something really cool for Christmas…or take your family out to dinner… Enjoy it! have fun! AND REMEMBER – to always thank God for flowing some of His stuff your way “…the living God, richly gives us all we need for our enjoyment.”
MGCC – money matters…
AND – we all in at least some way need to be freed up financially…
AND – it beings with attitude, with a new way of thinking..
AND- The final new of thinking that I want to bring up today is THAT;
Money Can Lead To ‘Real’ Life
AGAIN – Paul writes…
Tell those who are rich in this world… to use their money to do good. They should be rich in good works and should give generously to those in need, always being ready to share with others whatever God has given them. By doing this they will …take hold of real life. – 1 Timothy 6:17-19
BY – doing what? By using your money to do good, by being rich in good works, by giving generously to those in need, by being ready to share.
Remember what earlier Jesus sin Luke 12:15
Real life is not measured by how much we own – Lk 12:15
LISTEN, LISTEN – and get that new wine skin ready… (because you are going to need it)
REAL LIFE – is not about getting…
IT’S – about giving.
In Acts chapter 20 Paul is saying his farewells to the church at Ephesus; He knows that he will never seen them again… AND – his big concern is that they stay true to the main thing…
In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help those in need, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”
– Acts 20:35
NOW - John D. Rockefeller is an example of this truth. He achieved what our culture calls success. Rockefeller had amassed more wealth than he could ever spend.
BUT - by the time Rockefeller was fifty-three his life was a wreck. Throughout his business career he said, “I never placed my head upon the pillow at night without reminding myself that my success might only be temporary.” He was the richest man in the world and yet he was miserable in every sense of the word. He was sick physically, mentally, and emotionally. There was no humor, balance, or joy in his life.
Then a transformation occurred. He determined to become a giver rather than an accumulator. He began to give his millions away. He founded the Rockefeller Foundation, dedicated to fighting disease and ignorance around the world. He lived to be ninety-eight years old and was a happy man in those years because of his new and revitalized definition of success.
YES – money can and does lead to real life…
‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”
AND SINCE – giving leads to real life… It is okay to want to have a lot of money… (not simply to have a rock solid investment portfolio, to travel and see the world, to retire early buy a home on the beach and collect sea shells)
BUT BECAUSE then you will have a lot to give away to help people and to advance God’s kingdom…
LISTEN - the power to do good with money is unbelievable. Money Can…
• feed the hungry, give hope to the hopeless.
• clothe the naked, release the prisoner
• build churches that change lives, heal communities and take the Gospel throughout the world
• send kids to college.
• provide housing for the homeless.
• AND - it can equip & empower people to do the work of God in this world
MGCC
MONEY MATTERS!
AND - It’s time for a new way of thinking… a new attitude
IT’S TIME – for new wine and new wineskins.
• Money is not the answer
• I am rich
• None of my money belongs to me
• It’s okay to enjoy money
• Money Can lead to real life (a life of being rich in good deeds and generous to those in need)
AND – real life rocks!
AND – it can’t be taken away form us..
BECAUSE – real life is focused on the eternal not the temporary.
In 1956 Auca Indians in Ecuador killed 5 missionaries who were trying to tell them the good news about Jesus. Nine kids lost their fathers.
BUT – their lives were not in vain.
One of them, Jim Elliot, had lived with a motto – that fits with this message of a new way of thinking…
He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose. – Jim Elliot
