FINANCES-Week 1
Radical Trust • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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· 4 viewsLearning to trust God with our Finances
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MASTER IDEAS:
A Proper Biblical Understanding of Our Stuff
What is ours, what is God’s, and what does he expect of us.
Verses:
Everything is the Lords. No exceptions.
Everything is the Lords. No exceptions.
The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it;
STORY - My kids fighting. Elizabeth exasperated, ‘God made everything!’. Caleb ‘NO, PEOPLE made this house, God made the stuff people made this house out of!’
We can say we did it. But is that even a proper understanding?
You may say to yourself, “My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me.”
But remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your ancestors, as it is today.
The Lord is the source of our strength, will, resources, and ability
The Lord is the source of our strength, will, resources, and ability
So basically, because of the Lord, we have the universe, and every molecule. But we also have creativity, drive, will, because he made us that way.
And he also lays claim to every single thing in it.
So a proper understanding of our finances and wealth starts with - it’s actually HIS finances and wealth.
What about the idea that we can make a claim against God? That there’s some scenario where we can say - no, God owes us this thing.
Who has a claim against me that I must pay? Everything under heaven belongs to me.
We can’t claim rights against God - every single thing is his
We can’t claim rights against God - every single thing is his
There’s no place where we can say, no actually, this thing is mine. And God will go - yknow what, you’re right, my bad.
What about if, by our generosity, we give and we sacrifice enough that we get into the place where God owes us back?
“Who has ever given to God, that God should repay them?”
For from him and through him and for him are all things. To him be the glory forever! Amen.
Everything we get is from Him, through Him and For him
Everything we get is from Him, through Him and For him
We think of the wealth process, as God gives it to us - FOR us. and we build it up - FOR us. Maybe we can share some - but it’s for us.
God says - everything starts with me. But everything also only works through me - and everything is FOR me. For MY glory.
We need to Follow God’s priorities and God’s definition of real wealth
We need to Follow God’s priorities and God’s definition of real wealth
Use our current wealth to honor the Lord
Use our current wealth to honor the Lord
Honor the Lord with your wealth, with the firstfruits of all your crops;
We teach the idea of tithing. That God’s asked us to give back 10% of our wealth to him for his uses.
In the OT, this money went to the priests and the levites, and it was directly tasked with maintaining the temple and feeding the priests and levites
In the NT, any offerings being collected by church leaders were put to much the same uses (Paul was regularly supported financially by the Philippian church), but they also tacked on one additional use - furthering the ministry of God in the rest of the world.
And Jesus himself encouraged that the idea of tithing should continue:
“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former.
A biblical understanding of finances doesn’t end with the tithe - but it should start with it!
A biblical understanding of finances doesn’t end with the tithe - but it should start with it!
It’s a great launching point. And i’m not saying that if you started with generosity, and you’re here now, sorry.
But if we’re just starting down this walk of learning to trust God with our finances - this is a great first step.
Tithing is great because it’s directly tied to furthering the work of the Lord in your community - and it’s also a stretch.
And next week we’re going to talk about the place of generosity above and beyond this entry point.
Learn to Store up TRUE Wealth
Learn to Store up TRUE Wealth
God wants us to have wealth! But he wants us to have the right kind.
“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.
But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.
For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
And the core here is this: Jesus doesn’t say, Where your heart is, your treasure will follow. He says, where your treasure is -your heart will follow.
He knows us - he knows that we’ll chase the shiny objects. He knows that we struggle that way.
Godly finances is the process of learning to take our eyes off the temporary, moth-eaten and vermin-destroyed wealth of this world, and placing it on the wealth that exists in HIS kingdom.
We’re looking for budgeting tips -
God is looking to break our reliance on the things and the wealth of this world
God is looking to break our reliance on the things and the wealth of this world
And that’s the key to starting down the path of understanding God and our finances.
Come back next week - we’ll talk about two essential concepts that we need to practice to allow God that space to break our reliance on the natural world and it’s wealth.