INTRODUCTION
" SLIDE #1
" What is one area in life that we tend to stress over maybe more than any other. We stress about it when we are young there does not seem to be enough, and when we get older, we begin to stress about running out of what we have, or put another way, do we have enough stored up, so we can enjoy retirement?
" The New York Federal Reserve released a report that showed U.S. collective household debt balances totaled $12.73 trillion in March 2017, surpassing the 2008 peak of $12.68 trillion. This isn't the first debt milestone Americans have hit recently. https://www.marketwatch.com/story/us-households-will-soon-have-as-much-debt-as-they-had-in-2008-2017-04-03
" Americans' total credit card debt continues to climb in 2017, reaching an estimated $905 billion - a nearly 8% increase from the previous year - according to a NerdWallet analysis. And the average household that's carrying credit card debt has a balance of $15,654. Households with any kind of debt owe $131,431 (including mortgages), on average, the data analysis found. https://www.nerdwallet.com/blog/average-credit-card-debt-household/
" When you think about your life and the pursuits of your life, what do they revolve around?
" Where do you gain the meaning for your life?
" For many, life revolves around the accumulation of possessions and stuff.
" This is part of the reason American's are under the strain of so much debt.
" I am not against possessions, so long as they are put in the proper place in one's life.
" Our society makes it seem success is centered round how much stuff one has.
" The saying he who does with the most toys wins.:
" When you think about it, when you own something, do you own it, or does it own you?
" You purchase a house for example, then you spend all your time cleaning it, fixing it, upgrading it, maintaining it, insuring it, paying for utilities for it, and for some poor souls, even mowing the yard.
" I want us to consider some things when it comes to thinking about money and possessions. I think we all could us some adjustments to our thinking so that we do not allow the worry of money and possession steal our joy.
" Over the next three weeks, we going to examine who really owns everything. If we understand who it all belongs to, it will help us to gain be more peaceful and biblical perspective concerning our pursuit.
" In week two we will examine the concept of tithing. This message is not aimed at filling the FCC coffers, but rather it is meant to show us what tithing is and how it IS a blessing for those who travel that path.
" Jerry will finish off our series with a message on investing for the future.
" Today we will be in Psalm 24:1-2. Let's turn there now and look at verse 1.
" Some scholars believe this Psalm was used as a hymn.
" The occasion of the hymn has been variously stated but frequently identified with the event recorded in 2 Sam 6:12-16-the bringing of the ark of God into the city of Jerusalem by David. Others, however, would refer the psalm to the time when the ark was brought into the temple by Solomon a generation later (1 Kgs 8:46), while still others would refer it to Zerubbabel's temple later still (516 B.C.). (College Press Commentary, Psalms)
" SLIDE #2
" Psalm 24:1 (CSB) The earth and everything in it, the world and its inhabitants, belong to the LORD;
" SLIDE #3
SERMON
I. Everything belongs to God.
" I kind of gave this one away with the series title, but this is something we need to fully grasp so that we can put money and possessions in a proper perspective.
" When explaining why eating meat that was sold in the pagan marketplace was ok, the Apostle Paul alludes to this verse in 1 Corinthians 10:25-26. His premise was that everything belongs to God.
" SLIDE #4
" 1 Corinthians 10:25-26 (CSB) 25 Eat everything that is sold in the meat market, without raising questions for the sake of conscience, 26 since the earth is the Lord's, and all that is in it.
" The passage in Psalm 24 is important for us the grasp, and today we miss some of the significance of how important this passage was when it was written.
" At the time of David writing this Psalm the people thought the world as well as the known universe was ruled but a plethora of gods.
" One had to live life in such a way as to not upset the various gods; however, David, as well as other Biblical writers point out the fallacy of this type of thinking. David reminds us that God is the owner of everything!
" There are not many competing gods, but ONE!
" The Lord is sovereign over all creation!
" We see people through history trying to conquer the world, yet the God is the one to whom it all belongs.
" Whatever I have, God actually owns. We will talk about that in more detail a little later.
" Gregory of Nyssa (NISS SA), who was Bishop of Nyssa and lived from 335 to 394 A.D. stated, "A foolish person counts as his own possession that which never actually belonged to him, seemingly ignorant in his greed that "the earth is the Lord's, and the fullness thereof," for "God is king of all the earth."
" We can spend our whole life in the pursuit of stuff without realizing to whom it truly belongs to.
" When we think everything is ours, then we will seek to use things only for our purposes.
" When we know that everything belongs to God, we will also know who to go to when we have a need.
" Jesus can tell us to seek first God's kingdom instead of being worried about the necessities of life because everything belongs to God.
" SLIDE #5
" Matthew 6:33 (CSB) But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be provided for you.
" This promise is null and void if God cannot provide. It would like if you needed $100,000 and I told you, here is a check!
" The problem is if you tried to cash the check, it would bounce all over town because I do not possess those types of resources.
" If God did not own it all, He could not promise to take care of us either!
" Let's drop down to verse 2.
" SLIDE #6
" Psalm 24:2 (CSB) for he laid its foundation on the seas and established it on the rivers.
" SLIDE #7
II. God's proof of ownership.
" It is one thing to claim ownership, it is another to prove it!
" When one examines creation, I cannot believe that folks cannot see a creator, yet mankind has spent time worshipping the creation instead of the creator.
" When we look at the complexity of nature and the balance of nature and how the planets, moons and stars do not crash into each other, how can that happen with NO help?
" David offers us two pieces of proof of God's ownership.
" First, he uses some poetic language to tell us that God the foundations, in other words He created it all!
" Genesis 1,2 gives is the details of how it all happened.
" Paul nails the problem we have in Romans 1:25.
" SLIDE #8
" Romans 1:25 (CSB) They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served what has been created instead of the Creator, who is praised forever. Amen.
" People have spent countless hours and dollars trying to come up with alternative theories as to how things got here.
" I believe most of these are attempts to not have to be accountable to a creator.
" The one who creates something, owns it, so once one acknowledges (even if they never acknowledge it) that God created, then they have a level of accountability to that God.
" Man has come up with all kinds of explanations, from Deism, ok there was a creator, but he left the building after creating.
" There are many manmade explanations.
" Any explanation what denies God as creator is just not correct.
" It is both foolish and defies logic to believe there is no God, especially when you examine creation!
" SLIDE #9
" Psalm 53:1 (CSB) The fool says in his heart, "There's no God." They are corrupt, and they do vile deeds. There is no one who does good.
" The second piece of evidence we see is the fact that not only did God lay the foundation, or create, He also established it all.
" In other words, He set it all up and He MAINTIANS it all!
"
" This indicates that God not only created the earth and everything in it, and all who dwell in it, but that he is the sustainer of the entire creation continually.
" God through Christ "Upholds all things through the word of his power" (Heb. 1:3).
" Why do the particles of an atom revolve around the nucleus at the speed of light for countless thousands of years without ever slowing down?
" Why do the stars and satellites of all the galaxies move at a speed almost incomprehensible throughout eons of time? Who supplies the power for all this? The answer is, Almighty God, of course. Coffman Commentaries - Coffman Commentaries - Coffman Commentary: Psalms, Volume 1.
" Without God, it all falls apart, just like one's life without God will eventually fall apart.
" SLIDE #10
" So, let's look at a final thought.
III. The implications for me.
" The questions we ask concerning life such as, "Who am I?" Why am I here? What place does God have for me?
" If there is no creator there is no consistent answer to that question, then it is all boils down to the survival of the fittest.
" However, if there is a creator, all the answers to those questions are only found in HIM!
" If we are here by accident and we live and die, life has no deeper meaning, it is just about getting what you can while you can.
" The implication for me is that I have to be accountable to God how I use what HE is giving me.
" I am nothing but a steward (someone who takes care of the property of another) of the money and possession I have been blessed with.
" I would be wise to handle what I have as God would ask me to. Next week we will examine that thought a bit deeper.
" One day we will all stand before God, I know for many today, that thought is silly, but nonetheless it is true.
" The creator has the right to dictate how life should be lived.
" For example, when you create a child, you are the one who sets the rules, guides and directs that child. Since for lack of better terms are the owner of said child, you have the right to raise that child.
" However, you do not have the same right over a child your neighbor has created.
" God created you, so therefore He owns you.
" But not only do you belong to Him, HE LOVES YOU!
CONCLUSION
" I know it is not popular to think that we were created, therefore we are responsible to a creator, that we do not make the rules, that we are called to follow the path God has laid out for us.
" Think about this one. God ALWAYS wants what is best for your life. Think about how different your life would be right now if you always followed His path rather than your own.
" Everything in your life would be better. God is not a dream crusher or a killjoy, He is a God who created you, and loves you!
