Test Sermon May 28Thmoving from Got to to Get To
Test Sermon May 28thMoving from Got to to Get to
It all started from a very simple beginning in 1989. Philadelphia Christian and businessman John Bennett approached a few of his friends with a wonderful offer. If they contributed at least $5000, he would double it in three months. A number did and the New Era Foundation was born. Over the next several years the number of contributors increased and the amount of money ballooned into the millions. His donors included the Boy Scouts, United Way, Harvard and Yale University along with a number of Christian institutions and mission organizations. The New Era Foundation created a high profile for itself and was praised for the work it was doing.
However at Spring Arbor College, an investor in New Era, Albert Myers, a professor of accounting grew suspicious. New Era had all the markings of a Ponzi scam, where investors were paid back by donations from new investors. He warned the college, but they shut him down, warning him that he could jeopardize future investments. Undaunted, Myers contacted federal investigators and the Wall Street Journal about his concerns.
May of 1995 an article appeared in the Wall Street Journal questioning the whole legitimacy of New Era, and soon they the house of cards the New Era was came crashing down as they were forced to declared bankruptcy. All total, $135,000,000 dollars were lost by donors.
A. At the heart of the investment process is the need to have a faithful and honest financial manager, one whom you can trust that she or he will take the money you’ve given and do all they can to insure the money is used in a way that provides a reasonable return on the investment.
1. One would hope that you would be able to trust a Christians to use your money wisely – that he or she would not turn out to be an embezzler or theif.
2. What I want us to think about today
Background
A. “Becoming People of the Cross” based on Matthew 16. People of the cross…
B. People of the cross walk with others in growing Dependence upon Devotion to and Delight in Jesus Christ..HOW?
1. People of the cross affirm the authority of the Bible as God’s Inspired Word; faithfully studying and humbly living out its life transforming truth. (Mind, Heart and Will)
2. People of the cross live in and thus are nourished and transformed by daily communion with God through prayer, worship and other spiritual disciplines.
C…. resulting in greater conformity to His Character and commitment to His CauseWHAT?
3. (Pivot) : People of the Cross “Hunger and Thirst after righteousness; joyfully surrendering and submitting to God in all things. - No Show Grow Know
4. People of the Cross integrate and engage all of life under Christ’s lordship and His call to integrity and servant-hood.
a. Living out 1 Cor 10:31 and Colossians 3:17 Not just religious
People of the Crossrecognize that all they have is from God and belongs to God, and therefore with gratitude and joy, offer a portion back to Him in worship and to advance His Kingdom purposes.
- We are Stewards given the task to manage what has been given to us by God in accordance to His plans and purposes.
- We are Investors, given the task to invest what has been given to us by God so that it yields the return that God desires.
A. Started in creation itself.
1. Genesis 1:26-27
2. Psalm 24:1 All belongs to God, we are the caretakers.
Sermon May 28thMoving from Got to to Get to
B. Established early in the life of Israel
1. Deuteronomy 8:6-11
a. We don’t honor God is we do not enjoy and celebrate the goodness of God and His gifts to us.
b. Danger of forgetting God
2. Deuteronomy 26
a. 1-3 Gather first fruits and go to place God selected for worship
b. Give to priest and rehearse story of your people in slavery in Egypt and through Moses brought you out and into this rich land.
c. 9-13
C. When they failed to follow, God judged them, calling them robbers!
1. Malachi 3:8-10
New Testament
A. James 1:16 All good gifts come from God. How do we use them?
B. Gospels and Teachings of Jesus
1. Matthew 6:19-21
2. . Warnings as well Luke 12:16-20======Verse 21
a. Great yield and will have to decide what to do with it.Last time did not highlight, but notice that the whole orientation to that is what he wants.
a. What shall I do? This is what I will do
b. My crops, My grain and food
c. I will say to myself…..
3. Matthew 24:45-50
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4. Matthew 25 Parable of the Talents (Brian)
a. “You lazy and wicked servant!
C. Paul continues warnings
1. 1 Cor. 3:10-15
2. 2 Corinthians 5:9-10
We should be clear that the apostle is not speaking here of the way we are saved. Throughout his letters it is clear that salvation is brought about by the atoning work of Christ. He is here referring to the heavenly reward (or otherwise) of the redeemed. Elsewhere he has made it clear that the works believers do can be likened to gold or silver or precious stones, or on the other hand to wood or hay or stubble. The day of judgment is like a fire that will purify the first group and consume the second. Poor works will be destroyed, but that does not mean that the builder is also destroyed.
That we are all to stand before Christ's judgment seat is a reminder that we are accountable and that in the end we must render account of our stewardship to none less than Christ. (Leon Morris)
HOW WE DO IT? The spirit in which we carry out our calling as stewards and investors is not one of fear but of gratitude and joy
Gratitude and joy for what God in Christ has done for us and given to us
Bill Hybels talking to business man. Read Malachi had all sorts of questions about the “how much” of giving. Hybels knew the power money had over this man. His validation and security. Said “wait, tell me about conversion.” Man spoke of the wonder of experiencing God’s saving grace and Christ’s love
I said, “When someone lays down his life for you, when he wipes the slate clean of all your sins, when he invites you into his family, when he secures your eternity, and promises to bless your life between here
Sermon May 28thMoving from Got to to Get to
and there, when he gives you his everything, and then asks you to honor and show gratitude through some practical behaviors and commitments, don’t you think your heartfelt, immediate response ought to be, ‘Yes, Lord! Whatever you want. Just say the word!?’ Tithing isn’t fundamentally about money. It’s about the condition of your heart before God.”
Gratitude and joy for the privilege we have of being invited by God to join with Him in his redemptive plans for this world. We are Kingdom people invited to participate in God’s Kingdom work.
A.1 Chronicles
1. King David had a heart to build a permanent Temple for God, but God said that would not to be – it would be the task of his son, Solomon
a. He decided to give towards the building of it and challenged people to as well.
2. Their response was overwhelming 1 Chronicles 29:10-18
B. 2 Corinthians 8:1-5
C. 2 Corinthians 9:1-2; 7-8
People of the Cross walk with others in growing Dependence upon Devotion to and Delight in Jesus Christ….HOW?
1. Affirm the authority of the Bible as God’s Word; regularly studying and humbly submitting to its life transforming truth.
2. Live in, and thus are nourished and bear spiritual fruit by, daily communion with God through prayer, worship and other spiritual disciplines.
We move from “I’ve gotto do this” to “I getto do this”.
Sermon May 28thMoving from Got to to Get to
Treasure
Go through insert
Mark 12:41-44Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were putand watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts.42But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a few cents. 43Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said,“Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others.44They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on.”
Time
Psalm 90:12 Teach us to number our days,that we may gain a heart of wisdom.
Ephesians 5:15
We are stewards of our time. God has given each one of us a little “chunk of eternity” called time. These golden moments of opportunity are doled out to us for our benefit and for God’s glory. If we use them wisely, they are woven by God’s omnipotent hand into the fabric of eternity. Henry Thoreau cautioned, “You cannot kill time without injuring eternity.” “He who has no vision of eternity,” said (Thomas) Carlyle, “has no hold on time.” “Only one life, ’twill soon be past; only what’s done for Christ will last” is the sentiment of every man who desires to be a good steward of his time. We are entrusted with a small portion of the capital of time. If we invest it wisely, it will pay dividends throughout eternity.
Talents - 1 Cor 12: 4-7
I've given several lousy gifts in my short lifetime, but an especially bad one stands out from among the rest.When I was in first or second grade, my school hosted a gift shop that offered us the chance to buy Christmas gifts for our parents. The school sent a catalog home with us a couple of weeks before the sale, so I looked it over and found the perfect items for my parents. On the appointed day, I pulled some birthday money out of my piggybank and headed to school.
Sermon May 28thMoving from Got to to Get to
My class filed down the hall to the room where all the merchandise was kept. I walked in with great intentions; I walked out with a bag full of stuff for myself. I remember vividly that all I could afford for my dad by the end of my shopping spree was a package of miniature screwdrivers, each less than an inch long (but fully-functional, according to the tiny label), attached to a key chain.
I felt guilty that I'd skimped. My dad's gift was an afterthought; I gave him the leftovers after I bought what I wanted. What really stung, though, was that Dad displayed those screwdrivers proudly from the rearview mirror in his truck for years. To me, they served as a monument to my selfishness. But as far as I know, my dad thought the screwdrivers were a gift from the heart, so he loved them because they were from me.
In one sense, God is just like my father. He is always thrilled by my gifts, however meager, as long as he knows they are given from the heart. In another sense, though, God is quite different from my dad. He knows when I've given poorly because I'm selfish; he knows when my gift is an afterthought—a leftover—and such gifts are an affront to him. In other words, God is not concerned primarily with the gift, but the giving. He is grieved and angered when I give reluctantly from my surplus. But in his great mercy, the Father celebrates the trifle given from my poverty.Brandon O'Brien, assistant editor, PreachingToday.com
When we are not faithful as Stewards and Investors, we rob from God. We also rob from ourselves – the joy of giving that which he has given us back to God the great giver.
People of the Crossrecognize that all they have is from God and belongs to God, and therefore with gratitude and joy, offer a portion back to Him in worship and to advance His Kingdom purposes.
Study Questions
1.What is the most memorable gift you’ve given? What makes it memorable? What is the most memorable gift you’ve received? What made it memorable?
2. As review, you might want to walk through the first 4 Life Signs
- First two focus on our inner lives – Scripture and the other disciplinestha shape our minds, our hearts and our wills.
- Third one focuses on our personal lives – Seeking to live moral and righteous lives.
- Fourth one transitions to speak about our public lives and how we live out our faith with and before others.
You can also show how the first two build on the first part of our definition (depending on, devoted to, delighting in), and the last five flesh out the second half (conformity to His character, commitment to His cause)
3. What is it about our culture (and world in general) that makes the statement, “all we have is from God and belongs to God,” had to grasp and accept? (Note: You can reference the parable from Mark 12 as a picture of (as one writer put it), the “ultimate capitalist.”)
4. Two words associated with this Life Sign are “steward” and “investor”. In what way are these two roles similar? Different? How do they relate to this Life Sign?
5. You can go through the Old Testament passages to whatever depth you want. Here are some possible things to bring out.
- God gave the people the Promised Land and it’s abundance for them to use and enjoy. He also gave a means so they would not forget God and His ultimate ownership of the land --- tithes and offerings.
- On the Malachi passage, you can talk about this idea of “robbing God.” How do they feel about that? Is it something a Christian should be concerned about?
6. The same can be done with the New Testament.
- Talk about difference between earthly and heavenly treasures
- Talk about the “warnings” given of Christ’s return and our giving account of our lives at the “judgment seat of Christ” (make sure they know it is not to determine one’s eternal destiny). See what people think about that. Is it something they think about?
7. It’s important to talk about this idea of stewarding and investing, not out of fear or mere obligation, but “gratitude and joy.” Are they at the place of “got to” or “get to?” What difference does it make? How do we get to the point where we see this not as “I’ve got to” but rather “I get to?”
8. Make sure you spend some time having people share their ideas and impressions over the three areas of treasure, time and talent. Encourage them to be as specific as possible in terms of what struck them and in what way(s) they feel they need to respond.