Values 2019: Generosity Is Our Privilege

Values Series 2019: Generosity Is Our Privilege

Memorial Day: Memorial Day is a day where we remember and honor the brave men and women who have died while serving in the United States Armed Forces. We are forever grateful for their sacrifice for our freedom. We honor them today, for without them we would not be able to live free and enjoy all the benefits of that freedom.

Generosity is our Privilege...

Definition of Privilege: something regarded as a special honor.

We consider it a special honor to glorify God with our generosity. Scripture teaches us that when we are generous we are actually taking hold of what is truly life.

The truth about money is that we become quickly interested in that which we invest in. Am I right?

Story: Signing up for the BolderBoulder

Story 2: Family Getaway at Breckenridge

You care about the things that involve your money… had we gotten those two nights free then it would have been a little different story right? Well it was free, so I guess we should just be grateful for what we get.

Story 3: Starting to put money back for retirement

You put a lot of attention and energy where your resources go.

TO BE CLEAR: God is not after your money, He wants your heart.

Passage: Matthew 6:19-24

“Don’t store up for yourselves treasures (Valuables) on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal. 20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves don’t break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

22 “The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light. 23 But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. So if the light within you is darkness, how deep is that darkness!

24 “No one can serve two masters, since either he will hate one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.

Pray:

Background:

The text today comes from a much larger message that Jesus preached early in His ministry called “The Sermon On The Mount”. Jesus traveled all around Galilee preaching the good news of the Kingdom and healing the sick. The news spread and a great crowd began to follow Him. When He saw the crowds He went up a mountain, sat down, and began to teach. This is the longest of all the teachings of Jesus and it includes the Beatitudes, The Lord's Prayer, and the foundational tenets of Christian discipleship. We’re picking up in the middle of His teaching as He leans in to money and our possessions.

Title: All About The Mission

Main Points: Questions to consider:

1. What’s my treasure?
   1. “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

   2. EX: Let’s take a look at the order here… where your treasure goes, your heart follows.

      1. I’ve always believed that it’s possible to have your heart in something and not invest your money in it, but the Bible clearly teaches something much different.

         3. Illust: Married, but not investing

      2. I’ve talked to many married men that simply do not date their spouse. They give somewhat “valid” excuses that it’s just a busy season, or that they don’t have the resources now, but if we aren’t investing in our spouse, is our heart really in it?

      3. Now hear me here, I’m not talking about a weekly chophouse visit with a dozen fresh roses and a horse drawn carriage through the city. I’m talking about faithful generosity towards your significant other. Your lifelong friend. Your lover. :) C’mon… let’s get to investing!

      4. “Your heart isn’t in it, until your treasure is attached to it.” - Rich Wilkerson Jr.

         4. Since the order is significant, then I would think it’s critical that we discover “WHAT IS MY TREASURE?”

      5. Let’s go on a heart discovery trip!

      6. Illust: How we spend our money

         1. The BIG Three (62-70% of our income)

            1. Housing (+ utilities)
            2. Food (eating out, groceries, drinks, etc.)
            3. Transportation (car & gas) 2. Entertainment (hobbies, ski passes, mountain biking, etc.) 3. Personal Care (insurance, clothing, etc.) 4. Debt (student loans, credit cards, etc.) 5. Investments (retirement, 401k, investment properties) 6. Kingdom (charities & tithing) 3. “He then told them, “Watch out and be on guard against all greed, because one’s life is not in the abundance of his possessions.” - Luke 12:15 4. He said to him, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.” - Matthew 22:37 5. “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not rely on your own understanding; 6 in all your ways know him, and he will make your paths straight.” Proverbs 3:5-6
               5. Temporal Investment or Eternal Investment

      7. Storing up treasures in heaven is not limited to tithing, but it’s accomplished when we use all that we have for the glory of God.

      8. Where’s my focus?
         1. “The eye is the lamp of the body.”
         2. The “good eye” and “bad eye” are expressions for singular or undivided focus. Greek word haplous = “single, undivided, which there is nothing complicated or confused”.
         3. In Jewish writings a good eye represented a generous attitude and a bad eye a stingy attitude. The bad eye produces moral blindness and it diminishes the ability to see and pursue purpose and meaning.
         4. Focus Test: Which occupies your thoughts, time, and efforts more? Money or God?

      9. Who will I serve?

         1. “You cannot serve both God and money.”
         2. Jesus teaches that the problem isn’t money, but being mastered by it.

      10. The word “Serve” here means “to be enslaved to”.

      11. Question: Are you enslaved to your money?
      12. “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, and by craving it, some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.” 1 Timothy 6:10
      13. Materialism can enslave the heart (6:19-21), the mind (6:22-23), and the will (6:24).
      14. Money has the greatest potential to cause anxiety, fear, and contention. Have you ever experienced this in your life? This is why Jesus continues in His teachings to talk a lot about anxiety and worry.

      15. Money doesn’t create the problem, it magnifies it. If you were greedy when you were poor and craved more money, now add wealth and guess what, still greedy and still craving more money.

          3. Instructions to the rich

      16. Money is not evil. God is not against money and people having great wealth.

      17. “It’s not a matter of whether or not you have money, but whether or not that money has you.”
      18. “It’s not wrong to have possessions, but it’s wrong when those possessions have you!”
      19. “Instruct those who are rich in the present age not to be arrogant or to set their hope on the uncertainty of wealth, but on God, who richly provides us with all things to enjoy. 18 Instruct them to do what is good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and willing to share,19 storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of what is truly life.” 1 Timothy 6:17-19

      20. Illust: Open hands, closed fist

          4. Giving to God, or giving BACK to God

      21. How we say it matters, because it helps shape our perspective on our resources

      22. There is an obvious crossroad and God is calling us to choose, God or Money.
      23. We can’t isolate “our money” and “God’s money”. When we give BACK to God, we give Him everything! We trust Him with everything!
      24. ALL our treasure becomes His. All our wealth is from Him and for Him! Giving to the local church is a part of that, but it goes much further in God’s economy.

Closing: Student Loans and Stolen Car

“But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be provided for you.” - Matthew 6:33

Walking Points:

1. Make a commitment…

   1. That you will serve God, not money.

   2. Make some adjustments…

   3. With how you manage your resources.

   4. Make an investment…

   5. In advancing the Kingdom and mission of God.