Welcome to Freedom Church!
Welcome to the last installment of this wonderful series: Be Rich.
This series really has little to do with money and more to do with our mind set as a steward of all of God’s resources He has given to us.
Money is just part of those resources. The gifts He’s given to us… like our children… our spouse… jobs…friendships… the talents… are you living for yourself or others?
Title: Rich Towards God
Our theme passage and series comes from this incredible instruction from Paul to Timothy here in…
(1 Timothy 6:17-19)(NIV) 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. In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life.
-Present Word… why would he say that? It’s because there is another world we live in. Another mind-set that says: I want it all! NOW! Earthly mindset.. when there is another world to live by.
-In this way…. Meaning… when you have an eternal mindset- being rich toward others while you’re here knowing you are going to a better place… you’ll unlock life that is truly life.
Pastor Ryan did a great job helping us understand that rich doesn’t mean just financial.
Rich means….More than you need.
That’s a different mindset. This world says… get more for yourself….
Eternal mindset says…. God has blessed me with more than I need…. so I will live my life doing my best to make an eternal difference in the life of others.
So…. I want to challenge you to not just leave here today and say….
Yea… I’m rich, I want to be able to make an eternal difference. No… all great things that happen, happen when we have a plan… a strategy if you will.
So here’s a question for you to ask yourself.
What is my giving strategy?
Pastor Ryan shared his with us last week. Here’s the thing…. We aren’t saying you have to have OUR strategy, we are simply saying….just have one.
Because here’s what I know to be true.
If you don’t have a strategy for your resources, I promise you, this present world will.
IOW- Your strategy to manage the resources God gives you is your filter.
TIME- We want you to work 70 hours a week and be on call during the weekend and you have 3 kids in sports. That’s the job offer…
You have to process that through your FILTER…your strategy of managing the resources God has given you… (your marriage, kids) and make the decision.
People who live by this world just jump in and say…YEP! I’ll do it and their family suffers and their marriage falls apart and they get upset at God over it.
Same is true for your money and other resources…. What is your giving strategy?
A mindset that is about eternity would have this type of giving strategy:
Eternal Giving Strategy:
1. I will intentionally share my stuff.
Remember…it’s not just money…that’s part of it, but your car….your truck to help people move.. your ability to fix things for people like me who know hardly anything about fixing things…..
Your house for example… would you intentionally share your home to have a small group in so that others can grow to become more like Jesus?
-The question is…
Am I leveraging what I have for eternal purposes?
Again…we are talking about an eternal giving strategy….
2. I will intentionally share my time.
One of the major problems we have in our PRESENT WORLD is that we do not live with margin.
With our money, our stuff…and certainly with our time.
I think more people would give more time to eternal things if they could, but they are stretched too thin as it is. No margin. Just like money.
We didn’t have a strategy and overcommitted our money, our time in this point… and instead of taking hold of life that is truly life….guess what’s happening…. We are letting LIFE take hold of us and we are trying to hold on for the ride. And it’s not fun.
So…. Make the decision today friend. Call time out on the field and say… I will be intentional with my time. I’m going to reorder my life and be intentional with my time.
(Ephesians 5:11-16)(MSG) Don’t waste your time on useless work, mere busywork, the barren pursuits of darkness. Expose these things for the sham they are. It’s a scandal when people waste their lives on things they must do in the darkness where no one will see. Rip the cover off those frauds and see how attractive they look in the light of Christ. Wake up from your sleep, Climb out of your coffins; Christ will show you the light! So watch your step. Use your head. Make the most of every chance you get. These are desperate times!
How? Get on a serving team here… go through growth track and we will help you with your strategy to make the most of your time.
The 3rd part of my strategy is…
3. I will intentionally share Christ.
Here’s the thing….
Let’s say by some crazy amazing super-hero ability, you knew that your friend had cancer and no one else did. Would you tell them?
Sure… else, what kind of a friend are you?
Of course….you’d tell them….why? Because you would want them to know and to do everything they can to try to live.
Please listen to me church. Every single day….right here in our own community…people are taking their last breath and facing either Heaven or Hell.
You have an ability to know whether or not someone will live forever with Jesus in Heaven or in Hell. To KNOW this and not share it with your friend would be a crime.
I know…I know the biggest reason is fear. What will they say?
Listen…let the fear of them spending eternity in Hell be greater than the fear of them hurting your feelings for a moment.
To help you in your strategy to share Christ, we make this a place where you can invite your friends. We aren’t going to do anything spooky, kooky or weird but we will give them an invitation to know Jesus every service.
We have invite cards for you today to help you have that discussion with them.
It’s why we planted this church….. we decided as a family that we would intentionally share Christ and the best way we knew how to do that was to plant a church…. And get this… since we opened the doors… 1, 839 people made a decision to commit or recommit their lives to Jesus.
Why have a strategy? Because eternity matters.
One of the things I love about scripture is how something written so long ago applies to our lives right here and now.
Jesus knew we would have a tendency to store up for ourselves the resources we are given. He knew we’d think it was “normal” to save things for later…. So, in Luke, He tells this Parable….this story….and example..which is exactly how we are living now….
(Luke 12:16-19)(NIV) And he told them this parable: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded an abundant harvest. He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’ “Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store my surplus grain. And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.”
IOW- he thought he had plenty of time to enjoy it all…if you don’t live with eternity in mind…this sounds great. But look at what God says to him…
(Luke 12:20-21)(NIV) “But God said to him, ‘You fool!
Not because he was rich, but because he didn’t know what to do with his richness.
This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’
And look at what Jesus says….this is the point of the story…. Check it out….
“This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God.”
So, because we love you… because we want you to live with eternity in mind, we want you to be rich toward God.
How do I do that?
Being rich towards God means I value:
Stewardship over ownership.
I’m going to realize that nothing is mine anyway, I’m a steward…a manager of God’s.
EVERYTHING I have..not just the 10%, the whole thing… all my “stuff” I manage not based on what I like, but I find out what He likes and try my best to manage it that way.
People over possessions.
Why? Because possessions burn….people last forever.
This is why a portion of what you give today goes to Stella’s voice. What’s Stella’s voice? A place that rescues people stuck in sex trafficking and finds a new home for them and help them rehabilitate. People matter.
Here’s what I know…this may sting a little but it’s true.
We will live one of two ways.
We’ll love people and use money or we’ll love money and use people.
I say we love people and use our money…our resources to invest in what lasts forever.
Eternity over temporary.
Paul speaks to this again…
(Philippians 3:18-20)(NIV) …many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is on earthly things. But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Listen…one day He’s coming back… it’s true…and it will be wonderful to stand before Him and say…. I did my best with what I had to be rich toward God. How about you?
