Legacy: Foundation For The Future

September 5th, 2021/Riverside & Lookout

Story: Have you ever achieved something you’ve worked so hard to attain and then realized that it doesn’t feel as gratifying as you always thought? Owning your dream home… becoming debt free… getting the job you’ve always wanted…

At the end of the day we’re still left with a weighty question, what is all of this ultimately for? The two most significant days of your life are the day you were born, and the day you discovered why. No measure of success, fame, or comfort can truly answer the question of purpose. Without purpose one will always be left with “Is this all there really is?”

Can’t wait till I leave the house. Can’t wait till college! Can’t wait till college is over! Can’t wait till I find the one! Etc!

You find your purpose when you come to the end of yourself.

Title: Foundation For The Future

Big Idea: Money can buy things, but it can’t buy the THING that brings true fulfillment and a foundation for your future.

Passage: 1 Timothy 6:6-10 (NLT)

Yet true godliness with contentment is itself great wealth. 7 After all, we brought nothing with us when we came into the world, and we can’t take anything with us when we leave it. 8 So if we have enough food and clothing, let us be content. 9 But people who long to be rich fall into temptation and are trapped by many foolish and harmful desires that plunge them into ruin and destruction. 10 For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. And some people, craving money, have wandered from the true faith and pierced themselves with many sorrows.

Pray:

Background:

Timothy was one of Paul’s proteges and he had invested a significant portion of his ministry training up Timothy to make disciples and plant churches. As you read through the letters to Timothy you will find many instructions for all walks of life and leadership, but I find it very insightful that Paul found it of such importance to teach Timothy on the principles of good stewardship, a godly lifestyle, and a lasting legacy. Biblical discipleship includes teaching and training up future leaders in how to have a right view of finances and a treasure that lasts. If we’re going to raise up business owners, good employees, entrepreneurs, athletes, school teachers, etc, that create a positive change in culture, then we have to lean into good stewardship.

Outline:

1. The opposite of greed is not generosity, it is contentment.

   1. Yet true godliness with contentment is itself great wealth. 7 After all, we brought nothing with us when we came into the world, and we can’t take anything with us when we leave it. 8 So if we have enough food and clothing, let us be content.
   2. Contentment does not come from any amount of money we attain, but through the understanding that all of our needs are met as we live in the provision God generously gives us.
   3. The word content here means an “inner sufficiency”. It means you are thankful and satisfied with what you have until God chooses to give you more.

   4. I’m satisfied with the portion He gave, because I’m just grateful to have a portion at all!

      1. Let’s pause and take a couple deep breaths. Hold your breath as long as you can.

      2. The fact that we have a breath in our lungs is itself a gift from God!

         5. Contentment is not the same as complacency. We believe in hard work and being a competitive person. Contentment + hard work ethic = a fulfilling life!

      3. “Not that I was ever in need, for I have learned how to be content with whatever I have. 12 I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything. I have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little. 13 For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength.” - Philippians 4:11-13 (NLT)

      4. Question: Can you say that today?

         6. Question: How do I know if I’m living content? Are you complaining about not having enough? I want to help somebody take their next step and go from a constant complainer, to someone that is content in every situation.

      5. Check engine light

         1. Complaining
         2. Jealousy
         3. Lust
            7. Money can fill your life, but it can’t fulfill your life.

      6. Money can bring comfort, but not contentment.

      7. Money can provide luxury, but not a legacy.
      8. I didn’t come here to fill a seat, I came to fulfill my purpose.
      9. I didn’t come to fill the bucket, I came to fulfill my calling.
      10. “True contentment comes from godliness in the heart, not wealth in the hand.” Warren W. Wiersbe
          8. How to pursue a content life:
      11. A higher perspective. It’s more spiritual than we want to often realize. The wealth of this world does not last, and it does not satisfy. we brought nothing with us when we came into the world, and we can’t take anything with us when we leave it. (V7) At the end of our lives if someone might ask “how much did he/she leave?” It would be safe to say “all of it!”
      12. A humble posture. God gives the ability to acquire money and He will take care of our needs. “Too many of us know the “price of everything and the value of nothing.” We are so glutted with luxuries that we have forgotten how to enjoy our necessities.” - Warren W. Wiersbe. “Teach those who are rich in this world not to be proud” (V17)
      13. A holy pursuit. Money is a tool to serve God and those in need. A generous life is the result of a grateful heart! They should be rich in good works and generous to those in need (V18). Everything is God’s, I’m just stewarding what He’s given me for this season! Instant gratification vs. faithful gratitude. I believe we need a radical shift from gratification to gratitude. Not the trap of temporary desires, but the freedom in eternal treasures!
      14. When someone complains in the church, the chances of them tithing to the church are slim.
      15. “Put your money where your mouth is?” But the Bible says that you put your worship where your money is.

2. Where’s the fruit? Somebody check the root!

   1. 9 But people who long to be rich fall into temptation and are trapped by many foolish and harmful desires that plunge them into ruin and destruction. 10 For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. And some people, craving money, have wandered from the true faith and pierced themselves with many sorrows.

   2. Money itself is not being condemned in verses 9-10, but being deceived by the love of money that has led many away from the faith.

      1. Where you spend your money, is a result of your values and worship. Follow the trail and see where it leads.
      2. “Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be.” - Matthew 6:21
      3. 24 “No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other; you will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and be enslaved to money.” - Matthew 6:24
      4. “You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’” Matthew 22:37
      5. If you’re not seeing a lot of fruit in your life, check the root. Where is your treasure? Your treasure is your road map to your values and that which you serve.
      6. God doesn’t want your money, He wants your heart, it just so happens that they are in the same place!

3. From worry (unreliable) to worship (enjoyment)!

   1. Teach those who are rich in this world not to be proud and not to trust in their money, which is so unreliable. Their trust should be in God, who richly gives us all we need for our enjoyment. - 1 Timothy 6:17 (NLT)

   2. Money doesn’t corrupt a heart, it exposes it! It magnifies that which already existed. It reveals the ultimate deception in the areas that may have otherwise been hidden or idle.

      1. Pride, trust in money, and unreliable hope.

      2. “Trust in your money and down you go! But the godly flourish like leaves in spring.” - Proverbs 11:28 (NLT)

         3. Money is a terrific resource, but a terrible god.
         4. It is a wonderful investment, but a destructive idol!

      3. Colossians 3:5 refers to greed as idolatry. Literally worshiping a false god.

         5. 18 Tell them to use their money to do good. They should be rich in good works and generous to those in need, always being ready to share with others. 19 By doing this they will be storing up their treasure as a good foundation for the future so that they may experience true life. - 1 Timothy 6:18-19 (NLT)
         6. What is the word “stewardship”? And what does it mean to steward all areas of your life well?

      4. Stewardship is defined as “the duty or function of watching or guarding for the sake of proper direction or control”.

      5. Question: Are you stewarding your finances? Or are your finances stewarding your life? I’ll say it this way, do you have money? Or does your money have you?
         7. If your trust and hope is in God, then you’re not standing on something unstable or looking ahead at somewhere uncertain, but you have a good foundation and your hope is secure!

Closing: Money can buy things, but it can’t buy the THING that brings true fulfillment and a foundation for the future.

“Tell those rich in this world’s wealth to quit being so full of themselves and so obsessed with money, which is here today and gone tomorrow. Tell them to go after God, who piles on all the riches we could ever manage—to do good, to be rich in helping others, to be extravagantly generous. If they do that, they’ll build a treasury that will last, gaining life that is truly life.” - 1 Timothy 6:17-19 (MSG)

“A smattering of research has suggested that authority may be linked to depression, and that CEOs may be depressed at more than double the rate of the general public (which is already about 20%). Some popular articles have argued that extreme success has so many strings attached that it can pull a person down completely. Some studies even suggest that rich kids are, counter-intuitively, more depressed and anxious than their middle- or low-income peers. And we know from cross-national research that depression is more common in wealthy countries than in the less wealthy, less industrialized ones.”

She goes on to say that… “Their values may change over time. When business is bad, it goes without saying that depression would be more likely. In good economic times, Dillon sees clients who can verge on manic – but this is not always the case. People who achieve more and more over the years may find that, even when everything looks great on paper, their goals might be much less gratifying than they thought they’d be. Even if every milestone is hit at exactly the right point, some may find that they feel empty instead of fulfilled – so something has to shift.” Alice G. Walton (Forbes Article)