Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and Mary the Mother of Jesus have something in common and something important for us to hear. You can listen to the message by following the link or read the text below. Merry Christmas.
http://www.mediafire.com/file/0vrxohjg2oj/Christmas Caroling.mp3
INTRODUCTION [ADVENT WREATH]
A couple of weeks ago I was in a meeting and we were evaluating our worship service. During the course of the meeting, I was informed that lighting the Advent Wreath would smell really bad since it was plastic and that we should really write the lighting of the Advent Candles. Right after that, someone else, who will remain unnamed but who gave me permission to share this, said, “Not to nitpick but can we get a fourth purple candle. That pink one is driving me crazy.” We explained to him that the pink candle was supposed to be there and had special significance.
I thought it would be good as approach Christmas to briefly explain the Advent Wreath. Advent is from a Latin word that means “coming.” Advent is the time of preparation for Christmas. It proclaims the birth of Christ. The wreath is a visual way to mark the nearing of the holiday. The three purple candles mark the first, second, and fourth weeks and represent royalty. The pink candle represents Joy and is supposed to be lit on the third Sunday of Advent because we are over half way to Christmas. In some traditions there isn’t a pink candle… so our nameless friend wasn’t completely wrong. On Christmas Eve, the white Christ Candle will be lit to remind us of Jesus’ birth.
One of the reasons I like the Advent Wreath is that it reminds me of God’s light in a sometimes dark world. The meaning of the Christmas/Advent Seasons can often get quenched in the midst of holiday festivities. The candles each represent the Sundays of Advent. The first candle speaks of HOPE. During the first week of Advent we talked about how the pressures of Christmas can leave us feeling hopeless. We watched and learned as George Bailey rediscover hope through friendship and prayer. The second candle speaks of PEACE. We talked about the turmoil of the Christmas Season. We shared in the frustration of a lack of peace as we watched Ebenezer Scrooge discover peace in his life. The third candle speaks of JOY. Last week, we learned from Dr. Seuss about rediscovering Christmas joy as the Grinch’s heart grew three sizes in one day. The fourth candle which we lit today speaks of LOVE.
While Christmas season has a tendency to bring the best and the worst out of people, the best was evident on Friday as people from our church and the community delivered food baskets and presents to needy families in the Brimfield community. We served 96 baskets this year and ministered to many more children and families. It is truly a blessing to be a part of a church that believes in doing the ministry of Jesus Christ in such tangible and meaningful ways. When we engage in acts of mercy, we share the love of Christ and spread the true Spirit of Christmas. Christmas truly isn’t Christmas without the sharing of God’s love. During this last Sunday of Advent we will be attempting to discover Christmas LOVE through the eyes of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and the blessed Mother of Jesus, Mary.
RUDOLPH THE OUTCAST
Perhaps on first glance Rudolph and Mary don’t have much in common, but as we will see this morning they in fact do. More importantly, they have an important message to speak to each of us this morning about God’s love and acceptance. Let’s watch and learn about Rudolph.
[VIDEO CLIP]
You might say that Rudolph had a rough childhood. When he was born, Rudolph’s nose was a source of humiliation and ridicule. It was shiny and” if you ever saw him, you would even say it glows.” He stood out in a crowd. His nose carried a stigma. The other reindeer judged him and “used to laugh and call him names. They never let poor Rudolph join in any reindeer games.” Today, he would have been an outsider. Rudolph probably had a low self-esteem, poor self-image, and didn’t like himself very much. Life was tough for little ol’ Rudoph.
Do you ever feel like Rudolph? Are you left out, ridiculed, and humiliated for being different? Some of us probably have flashback to our own childhood. We know the feeling of being picked last on the play ground, not invited to a birthday party, and having no one to go to the school dance with. There is tremendous peer pressure to fit in as a kid. Unfortunately, that pressure doesn’t stop as an adult. Sometimes, we are still excluded from a group of people, or gossiped about at the work place. Some of you might even feel the ridicule at those Christmas family gatherings. Maybe you are that in-law or that disappointing child. Regardless of how you’ve been left out, in my opinion, it is one of the worst feelings in the world. Thankfully, God understands the pain of being ridiculed, left out and gossiped about, and he has a powerful antidote for it.
LOVING OUTCASTS
The antidote for that pain is borne out of the God’s love and unconditional acceptance. Much of Jesus’ ministry was a ministry of healing and restoration. The real miracles happened not the physical healing but the social restoration. One of my favorite healing stories happens when a woman with a blood disorder. She secretly slips through the crowd and touches the hem of Jesus’s garment. As her fingers roll over it, power leaves Jesus and she receives her physically healing. The more important healing occurs as Jesus makes a public scene to expose the woman’s actions. The spectacle is meant to publically acknowledge that the woman is healed and should be fully restored to proper standing in society. This social restoration is equally as important as the physical healing.
Jesus understands and values the importance of being accepted and loved by a community of people. Jesus most likely grew up much of his life as somewhat of an outsider. The whispers and gossip began before he was even born. They started when a teenage girl was engaged and ended up pregnant. The neighbors began to whisper because premarital sex was more than taboo it was punishable by death. She claimed to still be a virgin and was sent away to her cousin’s house to protect her. Then after claiming an angelic visitation her fiancé decided to still marry her.
We often don’t think of Mary’s pregnancy and Jesus’s birth in such scandalous terms because we have the whole picture. We know about the angelic visitations and the virgin birth. Mary’s friends and family might not have received these explanations with such enthusiasm. The fact that Mary was sent to stay with her cousin Elizabeth speaks to this reality. Mary became an outcast of the group. She was gossiped about, ridiculed, and laughed at. We might assume that the ridicule stopped after Jesus was born, but the actuality of the situation is that it most likely didn’t. The looks probably continued to come much of Jesus’s childhood. People either didn’t know or didn’t believe that Jesus was the messiah or even special. They most likely thought that he was a bastard child of a loose woman. Even with divine assurance, I am sure there were difficult days in their family. Jesus and Mary were without a doubt outcasts most of their lives
MARY’S AND RUDOLPH’S SONGS
Mary was able to overcome her outcast status, because she knew God’s love and acceptance. She knew that while she was different that she had a purpose and a mission from God. She had a song in her heart that reminded her of this fact. Listen to her words: “My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant. From now on all generations will call me blessed, for the Mighty One has done great things for me— holy is his name. His mercy extends to those who fear him, from generation to generation. He has performed mighty deeds with his arm; he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts. He has brought down rulers from their thrones but has lifted up the humble. He has filled the hungry with good things but has sent the rich away empty. He has helped his servant Israel, remembering to be merciful to Abraham and his descendants forever, even as he said to our fathers.”
Mary knew that God’s love would triumphant over the voices of ridicule. She knew that “All generations will call her blessed.” She knew this because God used her for great things. She knew she would raise a son that would break down all kinds of barriers. Barriers between people groups, between races, between classes, and most importantly the barrier between humanity and God would be brought down because of her son. She understood that the thing that made her different was the very thing that God would use to bring about his purposes. And so she sang that song again and again in her heart and it enabled the love of God to prevail on the earth.
In a similar way to Mary, Rudolph’s differences made him unique and special. His status as an outsider allows him to be used powerfully by God. Let’s watch the clip where that red nose is transformed from a source of ridicule and exclusion to a source of joy and purpose.
[CLIP OF RUDOLPH LEADING THE SLEIGH]
Rudolph’s nose was no doubt a source of embarrassment for him. That all changed when, “One foggy Christmas Eve Santa came to say: ‘Rudolph with your nose so bright, won’t you guide my sleigh to night?” Rudolph’s nose had caused him much pain, but in an instant that would all change. When Rudolph saved Christmas and lit guided the way, “All the reindeer loved him as they shouted out with glee, Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer, you’ll go down in history!” Mary was to be called blessed by all generations and Rudolph was to go down in history. Each was used for an important task. Both were outcasts that came to belong because of their unique purpose in the world.
BELONGING TO GOD
So often, when society points and laughs, God is working his master plan behind the scenes. The things that make us unique are often what enable us to be used by God. We all have our quirk, our oddities, and our eccentricities. Even if society tries to make us outcasts, we should embrace that which God has given us. If we submit it before the Lord, God can redeem them for his glory. When we try to hide them, suppress them and when are embarrassed by them, is when he hinder God from using us. God’s love accepts exactly for who we are. He is able redeem all things and make all things new. When we yield all of ourselves to God, God is able to work all things for God. God calls us his own, calls us his children, and calls us citizens in heaven. When we receive the gift of God’s love, we belong unconditionally. No strings attached. No forced molds to conform to. Just God’s accepting love.
if we can embrace who we have been uniquely made, then God will use us powerfully. God has a specific purpose and mission that no one can accomplish except you. The problem is that many of us spend our entire lives trying to be someone else. And not only that, but we spend our time trying to force others to conform to societal norms as well. God’s love is a radical alternative to the pressures of the world.
CONCLUSION: EMBRACING OTHERS
As we learn to embrace God’s love and experience the acceptance of God, we should seek to share God’s love with others. Jesus’s experience as an outcast uniquely shaped him and his capacity for ministry. It gave him a unique heart from the outcasts of society, because he was one of them. He suffered from the judging, harsh standards of society. When we are accepted by God, we need to actively welcome others regardless of their differences. Many of your past experiences will give you avenues to share God’s love with others. You can relate uniquely to certain types of people. God’s love is made apparent by accepting people for who they are. When we do so, we emulate the one who accepted us.
As I mentioned, we delivered food and presents to over 100 families in the community. In those baskets, we included invitations to the Christmas Eve Service. I felt it was important that we invite each of these families to be a part of our church community. If you have never had to get food from a cupboard, you might not realize the shame and embarrassment people feel about it. Having a lack of resources, or being poor, carries a stigma with it. People assume you are lazy or stupid or something worse.
The poor among us often feel like Rudolph and Mary. They feel the sting of being left on the outside looking in. As I church community, we need to actively embrace these people with the unconditional love of God. Each one of the people who we minister to through that cupboard is a unique child of God with a specific and important purpose from God. It is part of our calling this Christmas to embrace each person as God’s very own. When you sing Rudolph this year, be reminded that you are loved by God and to love others. To do so, is to rediscover the Love of Christmas.
Let’s pray.
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
The Grinch Who Found Joy
This week was the third week of Advent... the message was that of JOY. As you listen/ read, may you been filled with Christmas Joy. A side note, the video clips from "The Grinch Who Stole Christmas" have been editted out for copyright reasons.
Follow the link to listen to the downloaded sermon or read the text below.
http://www.mediafire.com/file/nzyymm00i2t/The Grinch who Found Joy.mp3
Follow the link to listen to the downloaded sermon or read the text below.
http://www.mediafire.com/file/nzyymm00i2t/The Grinch who Found Joy.mp3
“The Grinch Who Found Joy”
Brimfield Faith UMC
December 13, 2009
Luke 3:7-15
Joy is a funny thing. It can be so fleeting. In one moment you experience pure ecstasy and the next tremendous misery. In those moments of joy and happiness, it feels as if it will never end. And in the same way, suffering feels like an eternity. Having a newborn, I am all too familiar with the emotional rollercoaster that sometimes characterizes the human experience. One moment, I have the most peaceful, beautiful and perfect child. Life is absolutely amazing. Just as I become aware of that moment, it seems to pass into a screaming fit of frustration. In those moments of crying it can be really hard to remember those joy-filled ones. The joyful moments for me are often times at night when I am helping Caleb to fall asleep. I’ll be holding him in the living room with the Christmas Tree lit and the lights over the mantel on. He is resting peacefully in my arms and I am just filled with the most incredible feeling. The worst moments come when he is fussy, gassy, and crying. Those moments get amplified when Sienna, our dog starts crying too.
The Christmas season is often a similar rollercoaster of emotions: joy as family reunites after months without seeing one another. The joy lasts until chaos and arguments erupt when the dinner is finished and a few drinks have been consumed. Or there is the excitement of Christmas morning when the presents are stacked under the tree, which quickly turns to disappointment when you open another knitted sweater from your Grandma. (They were cute when you were five, but they are cause ridicule in high school.) Why does it seem like joy is such a fleeting emotion?
The movie that we’re watching this morning is “Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas.” The story is about Mr. Grinch, a bit, anger outcast of the joyful people of Whoville. In attempts to destroy joy, Grinch develops and evil plot to ruin Christmas for the people by dressing up as Santa Claus and stealing all of the presents. We are going to watch part of the opening of the movie as we learn about Mr. Grinch.
[CLIP – HATES CHRISTMAS]
STOLEN JOY
The Grinch’s joy has been stolen because he has a heart two-sizes too small. As a result, he is trying to steal other people’s joy. What tries to steal your joy? It is a small heart? Is it a person? Is it stress and anxiety? Whatever it is, chances are something has tried and succeeded at stealing your joy at some point in your life. The reality is that this week something happened that took your joy away.
Maybe you don’t think losing your joy is a big deal. I mean, life is interesting because of the ups and downs, right? Without the down times, how can we ever come to appreciate the good? The reality is that your small heart is robbing you of life and negatively affecting others. I think the Scriptures have something important to say about joy in our lives.
SCRIPTURAL JOY
Joy is so important to God that we are commanded to rejoice. Philippians 4:4, which we read earlier, says, “Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!” This letter is written by Paul from jail. Jail in ancient times was not the cushy, cable tv prisons of today. Jails were dug into the sides of hills. They were dark, cold, and filled with disease. There was nothing to rejoice about in Roman jails. Paul has been falsely imprisoned and yet he is still rejoicing and calling us to rejoice as well. Philippians is one of many places that calls us to rejoice in the Scirptures.
The Bible has a lot more to say about joy than we might initially think. Occasionally, Christians and Christianity get a bad rap for being boring, fuddy-duddies. All work and no play makes Christians dull. It’s all about rules that keep us from having fun. While there are Christians and churches that seem to outlaw fun in the name of holiness, joy is an integral part of God’s heart. In fact, one of the ways that I gauge people’s spiritual walks is by the amount of joy in their lives. You know the type of person who seems to have memorized the entire Bible and is very serious about their faith. When they talk, they harp on how sinful people are and how we need to get back to God. We have a tendency to think, “Wow! They are really holy.” I think the Bible depicts a much different picture. In fact, in Galatians 5, joy is the second fruit of the Spirit. Christians who are filled with God are marked by joy.
HOW TO LIVE JOYFULLY
This is the type of sermon where it is tempting for me to say, the Bible calls us to have more joy so go and be joyful. There might be some fruit in this approach. After all, joy is highly subjective and what brings you joy might be pure torture for someone else. With that said, I want to share a few principles of how we might live joyfully and rejoice in the face of difficulty.
#1. Joy is a matter of presence.
The key to joy is found in the song we sang earlier this morning. “I’m trading my sorrows, my shame, my sickness, my pain… for the joy of the Lord.” I remember the first time singing that song. I was a freshman in college and was having some growing pains and trouble adjusting. I went to an evening large group worship gathering held on campus. As I was singing this song, I felt the presence of God in a way that I never had before. In that moment, I felt the Holy Spirit trade my struggles in for a new found joy. It is hard to fully describe the experience, but it served to change something inside of me. It caused me to want to chase after God. That experience of joy drew me into a deeper relationship with God.
When we experience the presence of God through a personal relationship with him, we are given a fresh lease on life. Jesus came to give us life. The Spirit enables us to be filled with joy. When we are touched by God and empowered to live more fully.
What is your default reaction in difficult situations? Do you run towards God or do you run into bad habits, addictive behaviors, and dysfunctional relationships? 1 Thessalonians calls us to “Give thanks in all circumstances.” If we are going to be overcomers and keep the joy through all circumstances then we need to deepen our relationship with God. During the hustle and bustle of the Christmas season, we don’t always make time for God. I would implore you make time to read your Bibles, pray, and attend worship during the Christmas season. I hear so many people say they haven’t been at church because they’ve been dealing with difficulties and life has just gotten away from them. I see these same people burned out, frustrated, and lacking joy. It’s not going to be a magic elixir but maintaining your relationship with God is going to increase your joy.
#2. Joy is a matter of perspective.
A stronger relationship with God increases your joy because it helps shifts our perspective. It keeps life in focus. It helps us to have faith in the face of adversity. The reality is that life is going to throw curve balls at us. There are people and forces in the world that will try to steal your joy. Let’s watch the scene where the Grinch is trying to steal Christmas from the Whos.
[CLIP - GRINCH STEALING X-MAS]
The prophet Zephaniah says, “Sing, O Daughter of Zion, shout aloud, O Israel! Be glad and rejoice with all your heart, O Daughter of Jerusalem” (Zeph 3:14). Isaiah 12:6 reads, “Shout aloud and sing for joy, people of Zion, for great is the Holy One of Israel among you.” The Philippians exhortation along with the two I just read are not given in good circumstances. In fact, each time the people are suffering, oppressed, and downtrodden. A distant promise does not seem powerful enough to cause they to sing with joy. Have you ever tried to sing joyfully when you are depressed or down? There is a reason they call them funeral dirges. You don’t typically hear polkas sung at funerals because it is virtually impossible to sing joyfully in the face of death. And yet, each of these three words, God is calling his people to sing joyfully at their own funerals.
Your perspective is going to be challenged in life. God’s joy cannot be circumstantial because life is not always going to be rosy. There will be difficulties. Bad things are going to happen. When you have a deep relationship with God, you are able to see with a different type of perspective. You understand and know that God is victorious over sin and death. You know the ultimate outcome. You know you are on the winning side. It’s like watch a sporting event and knowing the team you are cheering for is going to win. They may go down 24-3 but you don’t worry because you know they are going to win. You watch with anticipation to see how they beat the other team. You almost get excited about how it’s going to happen. We should be the same way in life because we know the outcome. God wins.
SPREADING JOY
#3. Joy is a matter of choice.
The reality is that knowing the final outcome doesn’t always make the difficulties of today easier to cope with. That is why ultimately joy is a matter of choice. We have to choose to remember that God wins in the end. We have to choose to maintain a proper perspective on life. When we have a relationship with God and God’s perspective, we can indeed choose joy. So while I don’t know what has tried to steal your joy, I do know that you can choose joy. It may not be easy. It may require you to choose joy each and every day. By you can choose it.
The people of Whoville faced the tragedy of the Grinch stealing all of their presents and Christmas decorations. They could have wailed in despair but instead they choose to rejoice. In the face of hardship, the Whos choose joy because they maintain their relationships and their perspective. They understood that Christmas joy wasn’t about the gifts. They still had each other and their voices. They could still sing with joy. We can be like the Whos and choose joy. Let’s watch how the Whos choose joy and the affect that it has.
[CLIP OF GRINCH’S HEART GROWING]
CONCLUSION
The Grinch thought that he has stolen Christmas. He has taken all of the toys and the decorations. All to do is wait to hear the crying and weeping from Whoville. Instead of hearing the weeping, he hears the Whos singing. In that moment, the Grinch realizes that there is something more to Christmas than what you can buy in a store. And as we see his heart grew three sizes. It was the Whos faith and joy that positively impacted the Grinch.
Joy when it flows out of our relationship with God is contagious. The Grinch in each of us needs to gain a fresh perspective. In that fresh perspective, our hearts can grow and our joy can increase. But our joy can reach beyond ourselves. When you continually choose joy over sorrow, you can influence and impact people. Even the Grinch’s heart can grow. True joy shared at the Christmas season can heal wounds, mend hearts, and foster greater joy.
It is time that we draw together to rediscover the joy that God intends for us to live out. It is time for your heart can grow. It is time for the Grinches in your life to be transformed. It is time for you to experience the presence of God, time receive a new perspective. This Christmas is the time to rejoice and to be filled with joy.
Let’s pray.
Brimfield Faith UMC
December 13, 2009
Luke 3:7-15
Joy is a funny thing. It can be so fleeting. In one moment you experience pure ecstasy and the next tremendous misery. In those moments of joy and happiness, it feels as if it will never end. And in the same way, suffering feels like an eternity. Having a newborn, I am all too familiar with the emotional rollercoaster that sometimes characterizes the human experience. One moment, I have the most peaceful, beautiful and perfect child. Life is absolutely amazing. Just as I become aware of that moment, it seems to pass into a screaming fit of frustration. In those moments of crying it can be really hard to remember those joy-filled ones. The joyful moments for me are often times at night when I am helping Caleb to fall asleep. I’ll be holding him in the living room with the Christmas Tree lit and the lights over the mantel on. He is resting peacefully in my arms and I am just filled with the most incredible feeling. The worst moments come when he is fussy, gassy, and crying. Those moments get amplified when Sienna, our dog starts crying too.
The Christmas season is often a similar rollercoaster of emotions: joy as family reunites after months without seeing one another. The joy lasts until chaos and arguments erupt when the dinner is finished and a few drinks have been consumed. Or there is the excitement of Christmas morning when the presents are stacked under the tree, which quickly turns to disappointment when you open another knitted sweater from your Grandma. (They were cute when you were five, but they are cause ridicule in high school.) Why does it seem like joy is such a fleeting emotion?
The movie that we’re watching this morning is “Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas.” The story is about Mr. Grinch, a bit, anger outcast of the joyful people of Whoville. In attempts to destroy joy, Grinch develops and evil plot to ruin Christmas for the people by dressing up as Santa Claus and stealing all of the presents. We are going to watch part of the opening of the movie as we learn about Mr. Grinch.
[CLIP – HATES CHRISTMAS]
STOLEN JOY
The Grinch’s joy has been stolen because he has a heart two-sizes too small. As a result, he is trying to steal other people’s joy. What tries to steal your joy? It is a small heart? Is it a person? Is it stress and anxiety? Whatever it is, chances are something has tried and succeeded at stealing your joy at some point in your life. The reality is that this week something happened that took your joy away.
Maybe you don’t think losing your joy is a big deal. I mean, life is interesting because of the ups and downs, right? Without the down times, how can we ever come to appreciate the good? The reality is that your small heart is robbing you of life and negatively affecting others. I think the Scriptures have something important to say about joy in our lives.
SCRIPTURAL JOY
Joy is so important to God that we are commanded to rejoice. Philippians 4:4, which we read earlier, says, “Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!” This letter is written by Paul from jail. Jail in ancient times was not the cushy, cable tv prisons of today. Jails were dug into the sides of hills. They were dark, cold, and filled with disease. There was nothing to rejoice about in Roman jails. Paul has been falsely imprisoned and yet he is still rejoicing and calling us to rejoice as well. Philippians is one of many places that calls us to rejoice in the Scirptures.
The Bible has a lot more to say about joy than we might initially think. Occasionally, Christians and Christianity get a bad rap for being boring, fuddy-duddies. All work and no play makes Christians dull. It’s all about rules that keep us from having fun. While there are Christians and churches that seem to outlaw fun in the name of holiness, joy is an integral part of God’s heart. In fact, one of the ways that I gauge people’s spiritual walks is by the amount of joy in their lives. You know the type of person who seems to have memorized the entire Bible and is very serious about their faith. When they talk, they harp on how sinful people are and how we need to get back to God. We have a tendency to think, “Wow! They are really holy.” I think the Bible depicts a much different picture. In fact, in Galatians 5, joy is the second fruit of the Spirit. Christians who are filled with God are marked by joy.
HOW TO LIVE JOYFULLY
This is the type of sermon where it is tempting for me to say, the Bible calls us to have more joy so go and be joyful. There might be some fruit in this approach. After all, joy is highly subjective and what brings you joy might be pure torture for someone else. With that said, I want to share a few principles of how we might live joyfully and rejoice in the face of difficulty.
#1. Joy is a matter of presence.
The key to joy is found in the song we sang earlier this morning. “I’m trading my sorrows, my shame, my sickness, my pain… for the joy of the Lord.” I remember the first time singing that song. I was a freshman in college and was having some growing pains and trouble adjusting. I went to an evening large group worship gathering held on campus. As I was singing this song, I felt the presence of God in a way that I never had before. In that moment, I felt the Holy Spirit trade my struggles in for a new found joy. It is hard to fully describe the experience, but it served to change something inside of me. It caused me to want to chase after God. That experience of joy drew me into a deeper relationship with God.
When we experience the presence of God through a personal relationship with him, we are given a fresh lease on life. Jesus came to give us life. The Spirit enables us to be filled with joy. When we are touched by God and empowered to live more fully.
What is your default reaction in difficult situations? Do you run towards God or do you run into bad habits, addictive behaviors, and dysfunctional relationships? 1 Thessalonians calls us to “Give thanks in all circumstances.” If we are going to be overcomers and keep the joy through all circumstances then we need to deepen our relationship with God. During the hustle and bustle of the Christmas season, we don’t always make time for God. I would implore you make time to read your Bibles, pray, and attend worship during the Christmas season. I hear so many people say they haven’t been at church because they’ve been dealing with difficulties and life has just gotten away from them. I see these same people burned out, frustrated, and lacking joy. It’s not going to be a magic elixir but maintaining your relationship with God is going to increase your joy.
#2. Joy is a matter of perspective.
A stronger relationship with God increases your joy because it helps shifts our perspective. It keeps life in focus. It helps us to have faith in the face of adversity. The reality is that life is going to throw curve balls at us. There are people and forces in the world that will try to steal your joy. Let’s watch the scene where the Grinch is trying to steal Christmas from the Whos.
[CLIP - GRINCH STEALING X-MAS]
The prophet Zephaniah says, “Sing, O Daughter of Zion, shout aloud, O Israel! Be glad and rejoice with all your heart, O Daughter of Jerusalem” (Zeph 3:14). Isaiah 12:6 reads, “Shout aloud and sing for joy, people of Zion, for great is the Holy One of Israel among you.” The Philippians exhortation along with the two I just read are not given in good circumstances. In fact, each time the people are suffering, oppressed, and downtrodden. A distant promise does not seem powerful enough to cause they to sing with joy. Have you ever tried to sing joyfully when you are depressed or down? There is a reason they call them funeral dirges. You don’t typically hear polkas sung at funerals because it is virtually impossible to sing joyfully in the face of death. And yet, each of these three words, God is calling his people to sing joyfully at their own funerals.
Your perspective is going to be challenged in life. God’s joy cannot be circumstantial because life is not always going to be rosy. There will be difficulties. Bad things are going to happen. When you have a deep relationship with God, you are able to see with a different type of perspective. You understand and know that God is victorious over sin and death. You know the ultimate outcome. You know you are on the winning side. It’s like watch a sporting event and knowing the team you are cheering for is going to win. They may go down 24-3 but you don’t worry because you know they are going to win. You watch with anticipation to see how they beat the other team. You almost get excited about how it’s going to happen. We should be the same way in life because we know the outcome. God wins.
SPREADING JOY
#3. Joy is a matter of choice.
The reality is that knowing the final outcome doesn’t always make the difficulties of today easier to cope with. That is why ultimately joy is a matter of choice. We have to choose to remember that God wins in the end. We have to choose to maintain a proper perspective on life. When we have a relationship with God and God’s perspective, we can indeed choose joy. So while I don’t know what has tried to steal your joy, I do know that you can choose joy. It may not be easy. It may require you to choose joy each and every day. By you can choose it.
The people of Whoville faced the tragedy of the Grinch stealing all of their presents and Christmas decorations. They could have wailed in despair but instead they choose to rejoice. In the face of hardship, the Whos choose joy because they maintain their relationships and their perspective. They understood that Christmas joy wasn’t about the gifts. They still had each other and their voices. They could still sing with joy. We can be like the Whos and choose joy. Let’s watch how the Whos choose joy and the affect that it has.
[CLIP OF GRINCH’S HEART GROWING]
CONCLUSION
The Grinch thought that he has stolen Christmas. He has taken all of the toys and the decorations. All to do is wait to hear the crying and weeping from Whoville. Instead of hearing the weeping, he hears the Whos singing. In that moment, the Grinch realizes that there is something more to Christmas than what you can buy in a store. And as we see his heart grew three sizes. It was the Whos faith and joy that positively impacted the Grinch.
Joy when it flows out of our relationship with God is contagious. The Grinch in each of us needs to gain a fresh perspective. In that fresh perspective, our hearts can grow and our joy can increase. But our joy can reach beyond ourselves. When you continually choose joy over sorrow, you can influence and impact people. Even the Grinch’s heart can grow. True joy shared at the Christmas season can heal wounds, mend hearts, and foster greater joy.
It is time that we draw together to rediscover the joy that God intends for us to live out. It is time for your heart can grow. It is time for the Grinches in your life to be transformed. It is time for you to experience the presence of God, time receive a new perspective. This Christmas is the time to rejoice and to be filled with joy.
Let’s pray.
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
The Ghost of Christmas PEACE
This past Sunday we talked about the peace of Christmas. If you want to listen to the sermon click here and download it. The movie clips have been edited out.
http://www.mediafire.com/file/4ngu0cjwkld/The Ghost of Christmas Peace.mp3
If you'd rather read text just scroll down.
“The Ghost of Christmas Peace”
Brimfield Faith UMC
December 6, 2009
Luke 3:1-4
Depending on your perspective, the Christmas Season can either be one filled with joy or one filled with discouragements, frustrations and difficulties. Last week, we talked about the hopelessness that has the ability to overcome us during the holiday season. So often, we struggle through life silently and in isolation, refusing to open up about our problems and challenges. After all, everybody has it rough these days and nobody wants to hear about my junk, right? The message of silent struggle is a false message. It is a message that keeps us in bondage. It is a message that drains the life from us.
Together we named the struggle of hopelessness and we attempted to rediscover the meaning of hope during the Advent Season. This morning I hope to rediscover the Advent meaning of peace. The struggle this morning is one of anxiety, guilt, shame, turmoil and chaos. I’ll make a bit of a confession about the Christmas season. One of the things that I struggle with this time of year is all of the charity work that goes on. Everybody and their brother is getting in on the action. Toys for Tots, Coats for Kids, Food for the Hungry, Salvation Army, and the list goes on. Then, the kids are selling stuff at school, ornaments, candy, flowers, and the like. The worst for me is at the cash register they will ask if you would like to donate a dollar to _____ charity. I usually say no, but then I think, “Gosh it was only a dollar.”
I don’t have a problem with people doing good deeds, in fact, I encourage it. My struggle in in the fact that if you say no, you feel like you are a horrible person. I know personally, I don’t feel like I can give to every organization that is asking for money. We tithe to the church and that doesn’t leave us with much additional margin to give to other charities. They are all good organizations, working towards worthy causes. I just don’t have enough to go around.
At any rate, I think most of us can get cynical about all of the charities that are soliciting this time of year. If you don’t and you just give to everyone, you are probably a saint and bless you for that. Most of us probably get a little hard hearted towards the movement just a little bit. The movie that we are going to watch this morning is “The Christmas Carol” addresses some of these age old struggles. It is a classic Christmas story of Ebenezer Scrooge, a wealthy man who is a stingy man. Throughout the years, he has become jaded, greedy, and downright mean. The story unfolds on Christmas Eve as three ghosts of Christmas: past, present, and future visit Scrooge in the night. Through the experience, Scrooge is a renewed man and rediscovers the true Christmas Spirit.
We are going to join Scrooge on his journey towards redemption, in attempts of discovering peace in our own lives. e are going to watch a clip from the beginning of movie. In it you will see the hardness of Scrooge’s heart and inner turmoil that he experiences.
[CLIP OF SCROOGE]
PROPHETS AND JOHN THE BAPTIST
Scrooge is definitely a bitter old man. Don’t all of us have a little bit of Scrooge in us. We are stingy, we hoard, and at times we are even mean. As Scrooge makes his way home on Christmas Eve, the poor of the streets, badger Scrooge for a little bit of help: a coin, a piece of bread, anything on Christmas Eve. While Scrooge’s heart has been hardened over the years, the voices on the street seem to have a penetrating effect on him. As he returns to his house, he is visited by the three Ghosts of Christmas, past, present, and future. The purpose of these voices is to call Scrooge out of that place of bitterness and inner turmoil and into a place of peace and joy.
While you may not ever be visited by the Ghosts of Christmas or read about them in the Bible, God does speak into our lives and in the Scriptures in order to call us out of our own turmoil and chaos. As we the Gospel text was read this morning, we heard one of God’s voices calling out into the word. The voice is that of John the Baptist. John is considered a prophet in the same vein that the prophets of the Old Testament. In the Bible, prophets were God’s mouth piece to the world. They cried out against the injustices of the world, they exposed people’s sinful actions, their wrong motives, and called them back into a relationship with God.
As Jesus is beginning his ministry, John is acting as a prophet and calling the people to repent and be baptized. In Luke 3 it tells of John’s ministry: “He went into all the country around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 4 As is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet: “A voice of one calling in the desert, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him. Every valley shall be filled in, every mountain and hill made low. The crooked roads shall become straight, the rough ways smooth. And all mankind will see God’s salvation.’” The people responded in crowds to John’s message. They felt convicted of their evil ways and wanted to receive forgiveness for their wrongs. It was the voice of John that allowed the people to receive and respond fully to the ministry of Jesus later on.
VOICES, SIN, AND REPENTANCE
Although prophets like John the Baptist aren’t common these days, God is still speaking to us. There are voices in our lives that call out to us and call us back to a relationship with God. The voices come in various forms. It can be the friend who falls ill and causes you to reevaluate life. It might be your own near death experience. It might be that you’ve hit a place of rock bottom like George Bailey does in “It’s a Wonderful Life.” How do you hear the voices of the prophets in your life? What do your Ghosts of Christmas look like? Regardless of how you hear God calling to you, he is attempting to do several things in your life.
#1. God’s voice is revealing your sin and its affects.
Sin is one of those funny concepts in today’s culture. Biblically, the word sin was an ancient archery word that meant to miss the mark. Biblically, sin is something that everyone struggles with. Romans states, “That all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”
Sin results in an alienation from God. It permeates everything relationship we have, every decision that we make, every thought that we have. Sin results in conflict, turmoil, and a lack of peace. Sin is the antithesis of peace. The Hebrew word for peace is “shalom” and it means wholeness, completeness. It is the action of sin that breaks the shalom of God. If you lack peace this Christmas season, sin is ultimately at the root of the problem. God wants to show you your sin so that you can turn away from it and repent of it.
While most of us aren’t as hardened, conflicted or even as rich as Scrooge, we all have a bit of Scrooge in us. Scrooge’s sins were numerous. He was greedy, he was vindictive, he was selfish, and he was hardhearted. At the beginning of the movie, Scrooge’s sinful ways negatively affect Tiny Tim’s family and many others. As we consider Scrooge’s, we should ask ourselves:
What are our sins? What effect on others does our behavior have?
#2. God’s voice is leading you to repentance.
When God gives us the gift of awareness of our sin and its affects, it should move our hearts. It should lead us to a place of brokenness and sorrow. Our response needs to go beyond simply feeling bad about our behavior. It needs to lead to actual repentance. The word repentance means to change direction. In regard to God’s voice, God is calling us to repent of our sin that is to turn away from it and back to God.
Ezekiel talks about repentance of sin like this: “Therefore, O house of Israel, I will judge you, each one according to his ways, declares the Sovereign Lord. Repent! Turn away from all your offenses; then sin will not be your downfall. 31 Rid yourselves of all the offenses you have committed, and get a new heart and a new spirit. Why will you die, O house of Israel? 32 For I take no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Sovereign Lord. Repent and live!” (Ezekiel 18:30-32).
For Scrooge, repentance comes as he realizes that his behaviors have so negatively affected others. When faced with the prospect of death, he wants to live so that he can change his ways. Repentance is the component that will allowed Scrooge to move from turmoil to peace. IT will allow him to discover redemption.
We must repent of our own sin as well if we are going to discover peace. Repentance call us to rid ourselves of all our offenses. It means to stop actively engaging in the areas that God has revealed as sins.
DISCOVERING PEACE
#3. God’s voice is helping us to discover peace. When we stop our old ways, we can receive a new heart and spirit. We will receive new life. As we receive new life, we can also discover the peace in our hearts that we long for. God’s voice leads us to repentance which allows us to receive a new heart and spirit. Repentance is not just a change of heart. Repentance leads us into action. A good rule of thumb is that your new actions should help make right your sinful actions. If you robbed from God, you should give back to God more than you stole. In Catholic terms it is called penance. Penance these days is ascribed as say a few Hail Mary’s and Our Father’s. True penance is making right what we messed up.
When your heart and conscience are clear, you will be able to experience the peace of God. Your good deeds don’t earn the forgiveness that you have received and they don’t make your sinful actions disappear but they make a difference. They promote peace in others lives and they promote peace in your own lives.
Scrooge discovers Christmas peace through helping others. We are going to watch a clip as Scrooge begins to act out of his new heart and make right his sinful ways.
[CLIP SCROOGE DISCOVERS PEACE]
CONCLUSION - PERSONAL PEACE
The only way for us to experience peace is to be in right relationship with God. As long as we have unconfessed sin in our lives, we will be haunted by the Ghosts of Christmas. The voice of God will cry out against our spirits until we can see the sinful actions in our lives. The acts of confession, repentance, and penance are not easy. They are can be frightening and difficult, but they lead to life.
As we conclude this morning, I want to take a moment and lead you in a prayer of confession and repentance. #1. Confession #2. Repentance #3. Peace through action (Penance)
Prayer: Lord, I confess that there are motives and thoughts in my heart, words that I speak, things that I have done, and things I Have left undone that did not please you. Among the things I struggle with are the following: __________. Please forgive me through the name of Jesus. Amen.
Now be empowered by the Holy Spirit to engaged in acts of peace and generosity. Be filled with the true Ghost of Christmas and know the peace of God!
http://www.mediafire.com/file/4ngu0cjwkld/The Ghost of Christmas Peace.mp3
If you'd rather read text just scroll down.
“The Ghost of Christmas Peace”
Brimfield Faith UMC
December 6, 2009
Luke 3:1-4
Depending on your perspective, the Christmas Season can either be one filled with joy or one filled with discouragements, frustrations and difficulties. Last week, we talked about the hopelessness that has the ability to overcome us during the holiday season. So often, we struggle through life silently and in isolation, refusing to open up about our problems and challenges. After all, everybody has it rough these days and nobody wants to hear about my junk, right? The message of silent struggle is a false message. It is a message that keeps us in bondage. It is a message that drains the life from us.
Together we named the struggle of hopelessness and we attempted to rediscover the meaning of hope during the Advent Season. This morning I hope to rediscover the Advent meaning of peace. The struggle this morning is one of anxiety, guilt, shame, turmoil and chaos. I’ll make a bit of a confession about the Christmas season. One of the things that I struggle with this time of year is all of the charity work that goes on. Everybody and their brother is getting in on the action. Toys for Tots, Coats for Kids, Food for the Hungry, Salvation Army, and the list goes on. Then, the kids are selling stuff at school, ornaments, candy, flowers, and the like. The worst for me is at the cash register they will ask if you would like to donate a dollar to _____ charity. I usually say no, but then I think, “Gosh it was only a dollar.”
I don’t have a problem with people doing good deeds, in fact, I encourage it. My struggle in in the fact that if you say no, you feel like you are a horrible person. I know personally, I don’t feel like I can give to every organization that is asking for money. We tithe to the church and that doesn’t leave us with much additional margin to give to other charities. They are all good organizations, working towards worthy causes. I just don’t have enough to go around.
At any rate, I think most of us can get cynical about all of the charities that are soliciting this time of year. If you don’t and you just give to everyone, you are probably a saint and bless you for that. Most of us probably get a little hard hearted towards the movement just a little bit. The movie that we are going to watch this morning is “The Christmas Carol” addresses some of these age old struggles. It is a classic Christmas story of Ebenezer Scrooge, a wealthy man who is a stingy man. Throughout the years, he has become jaded, greedy, and downright mean. The story unfolds on Christmas Eve as three ghosts of Christmas: past, present, and future visit Scrooge in the night. Through the experience, Scrooge is a renewed man and rediscovers the true Christmas Spirit.
We are going to join Scrooge on his journey towards redemption, in attempts of discovering peace in our own lives. e are going to watch a clip from the beginning of movie. In it you will see the hardness of Scrooge’s heart and inner turmoil that he experiences.
[CLIP OF SCROOGE]
PROPHETS AND JOHN THE BAPTIST
Scrooge is definitely a bitter old man. Don’t all of us have a little bit of Scrooge in us. We are stingy, we hoard, and at times we are even mean. As Scrooge makes his way home on Christmas Eve, the poor of the streets, badger Scrooge for a little bit of help: a coin, a piece of bread, anything on Christmas Eve. While Scrooge’s heart has been hardened over the years, the voices on the street seem to have a penetrating effect on him. As he returns to his house, he is visited by the three Ghosts of Christmas, past, present, and future. The purpose of these voices is to call Scrooge out of that place of bitterness and inner turmoil and into a place of peace and joy.
While you may not ever be visited by the Ghosts of Christmas or read about them in the Bible, God does speak into our lives and in the Scriptures in order to call us out of our own turmoil and chaos. As we the Gospel text was read this morning, we heard one of God’s voices calling out into the word. The voice is that of John the Baptist. John is considered a prophet in the same vein that the prophets of the Old Testament. In the Bible, prophets were God’s mouth piece to the world. They cried out against the injustices of the world, they exposed people’s sinful actions, their wrong motives, and called them back into a relationship with God.
As Jesus is beginning his ministry, John is acting as a prophet and calling the people to repent and be baptized. In Luke 3 it tells of John’s ministry: “He went into all the country around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 4 As is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet: “A voice of one calling in the desert, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him. Every valley shall be filled in, every mountain and hill made low. The crooked roads shall become straight, the rough ways smooth. And all mankind will see God’s salvation.’” The people responded in crowds to John’s message. They felt convicted of their evil ways and wanted to receive forgiveness for their wrongs. It was the voice of John that allowed the people to receive and respond fully to the ministry of Jesus later on.
VOICES, SIN, AND REPENTANCE
Although prophets like John the Baptist aren’t common these days, God is still speaking to us. There are voices in our lives that call out to us and call us back to a relationship with God. The voices come in various forms. It can be the friend who falls ill and causes you to reevaluate life. It might be your own near death experience. It might be that you’ve hit a place of rock bottom like George Bailey does in “It’s a Wonderful Life.” How do you hear the voices of the prophets in your life? What do your Ghosts of Christmas look like? Regardless of how you hear God calling to you, he is attempting to do several things in your life.
#1. God’s voice is revealing your sin and its affects.
Sin is one of those funny concepts in today’s culture. Biblically, the word sin was an ancient archery word that meant to miss the mark. Biblically, sin is something that everyone struggles with. Romans states, “That all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”
Sin results in an alienation from God. It permeates everything relationship we have, every decision that we make, every thought that we have. Sin results in conflict, turmoil, and a lack of peace. Sin is the antithesis of peace. The Hebrew word for peace is “shalom” and it means wholeness, completeness. It is the action of sin that breaks the shalom of God. If you lack peace this Christmas season, sin is ultimately at the root of the problem. God wants to show you your sin so that you can turn away from it and repent of it.
While most of us aren’t as hardened, conflicted or even as rich as Scrooge, we all have a bit of Scrooge in us. Scrooge’s sins were numerous. He was greedy, he was vindictive, he was selfish, and he was hardhearted. At the beginning of the movie, Scrooge’s sinful ways negatively affect Tiny Tim’s family and many others. As we consider Scrooge’s, we should ask ourselves:
What are our sins? What effect on others does our behavior have?
#2. God’s voice is leading you to repentance.
When God gives us the gift of awareness of our sin and its affects, it should move our hearts. It should lead us to a place of brokenness and sorrow. Our response needs to go beyond simply feeling bad about our behavior. It needs to lead to actual repentance. The word repentance means to change direction. In regard to God’s voice, God is calling us to repent of our sin that is to turn away from it and back to God.
Ezekiel talks about repentance of sin like this: “Therefore, O house of Israel, I will judge you, each one according to his ways, declares the Sovereign Lord. Repent! Turn away from all your offenses; then sin will not be your downfall. 31 Rid yourselves of all the offenses you have committed, and get a new heart and a new spirit. Why will you die, O house of Israel? 32 For I take no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Sovereign Lord. Repent and live!” (Ezekiel 18:30-32).
For Scrooge, repentance comes as he realizes that his behaviors have so negatively affected others. When faced with the prospect of death, he wants to live so that he can change his ways. Repentance is the component that will allowed Scrooge to move from turmoil to peace. IT will allow him to discover redemption.
We must repent of our own sin as well if we are going to discover peace. Repentance call us to rid ourselves of all our offenses. It means to stop actively engaging in the areas that God has revealed as sins.
DISCOVERING PEACE
#3. God’s voice is helping us to discover peace. When we stop our old ways, we can receive a new heart and spirit. We will receive new life. As we receive new life, we can also discover the peace in our hearts that we long for. God’s voice leads us to repentance which allows us to receive a new heart and spirit. Repentance is not just a change of heart. Repentance leads us into action. A good rule of thumb is that your new actions should help make right your sinful actions. If you robbed from God, you should give back to God more than you stole. In Catholic terms it is called penance. Penance these days is ascribed as say a few Hail Mary’s and Our Father’s. True penance is making right what we messed up.
When your heart and conscience are clear, you will be able to experience the peace of God. Your good deeds don’t earn the forgiveness that you have received and they don’t make your sinful actions disappear but they make a difference. They promote peace in others lives and they promote peace in your own lives.
Scrooge discovers Christmas peace through helping others. We are going to watch a clip as Scrooge begins to act out of his new heart and make right his sinful ways.
[CLIP SCROOGE DISCOVERS PEACE]
CONCLUSION - PERSONAL PEACE
The only way for us to experience peace is to be in right relationship with God. As long as we have unconfessed sin in our lives, we will be haunted by the Ghosts of Christmas. The voice of God will cry out against our spirits until we can see the sinful actions in our lives. The acts of confession, repentance, and penance are not easy. They are can be frightening and difficult, but they lead to life.
As we conclude this morning, I want to take a moment and lead you in a prayer of confession and repentance. #1. Confession #2. Repentance #3. Peace through action (Penance)
Prayer: Lord, I confess that there are motives and thoughts in my heart, words that I speak, things that I have done, and things I Have left undone that did not please you. Among the things I struggle with are the following: __________. Please forgive me through the name of Jesus. Amen.
Now be empowered by the Holy Spirit to engaged in acts of peace and generosity. Be filled with the true Ghost of Christmas and know the peace of God!
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
Advent 2009 - It's a Wonderful Life... really?
We began our Advent series, "A Very Movie Christmas" this past week with a message of hope in the face of hopelessness. The message is called, "It's a Wondeful Life... really?" Please join us this week for a message of peace through the eyes of Ebenezer Scrooge.
Download and listen to the audio here or read the text below.
http://www.mediafire.com/file/mywngonli2h/Its a Wonderful Life really.mp3
A TIMELESS STRUGGLE
Download and listen to the audio here or read the text below.
http://www.mediafire.com/file/mywngonli2h/Its a Wonderful Life really.mp3
“It’s a Wonderful Life… Really?”
Brimfield Faith UMC
November 29, 2009
Luke 21:32-36
Brimfield Faith UMC
November 29, 2009
Luke 21:32-36
INTRODUCTION
With Thanksgiving celebrated, the turkey eaten and pie consumed, the Christmas holiday season has officially commenced. At the promise of a really good deal on a gifts I wanted to get for Michelle, I ventured out to Toys-R-Us on Thursday night as the opened the store at the stroke of midnight for their door buster deals. I was not a Black Friday shopper before this weekend and I won’t be after this weekend. I’ll be honest though, the experienced was worth it. I didn’t get the item I was hoping to get. I never really expected to get it because when I pulled into the parking lot at Chapel Hill at 11:45 pm and it was full. The line outside the store wrapped under the overhang all the around past the Burlington Coat Factory. There were probably 1000 people there easily. I stood outside the front of the store instead of getting in line because I wanted to watch as people went it. I laughed out loud as people in line were screaming at the people standing next to the line to go to the end of the line. It was an unbelievable event to witness.
Eventually I got into the line and went into the store. It was a bit saddening to watch as people filled their carts with discounted toys as they pushed and shoved and became frustrated and angry with each other. . It kind of broke my heart as I drove home thinking about all of the people that seemed to think they needed to have this stuff. I had two thoughts: First, I thought these people should have heard the “Enough” sermon series that we just finished at church. Second, I thought what a way for us to prepare for Christmas and the birth of our Savior. This type of stuff was what Jesus came to free us from and here were all of these people preparing to celebrate his birth by remaining in bondage.
The Christmas season is supposed to be a time of preparation: a time of hope, joy, peace, and love. For many of us, the Christmas season is anything but. The pressures of a struggling economy, the stress of provided lavish gifts, feelings of inadequacy, shame and guilt seem to mark the season. The reality is that the Christmas season can be an overwhelming time to deal with for many of us. As we gather this morning, I think it is important that we recognize and name these pressures for what they are. If we gather together, we can overcome the messages of this world and rediscover the purpose and meaning of the Christmas season.
Hollywood in all of its shortcomings has produced some classic Christmas movies that have powerful captured the Christmas spirit. This Advent season, the four weeks leading up to Christmas that we use to prepare for the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ, we are going to look at several of these movies and listen for the messages of Christmas in them. The first movie we are going to look at is “It’s a Wonderful Life.” The title of the sermon is “It’s a Wonderful Life… really?” Because as we’ve just discussed, most of us probably don’t feel like it is a wonderful life, especially if we are feeling the pressures of the season.
Eventually I got into the line and went into the store. It was a bit saddening to watch as people filled their carts with discounted toys as they pushed and shoved and became frustrated and angry with each other. . It kind of broke my heart as I drove home thinking about all of the people that seemed to think they needed to have this stuff. I had two thoughts: First, I thought these people should have heard the “Enough” sermon series that we just finished at church. Second, I thought what a way for us to prepare for Christmas and the birth of our Savior. This type of stuff was what Jesus came to free us from and here were all of these people preparing to celebrate his birth by remaining in bondage.
The Christmas season is supposed to be a time of preparation: a time of hope, joy, peace, and love. For many of us, the Christmas season is anything but. The pressures of a struggling economy, the stress of provided lavish gifts, feelings of inadequacy, shame and guilt seem to mark the season. The reality is that the Christmas season can be an overwhelming time to deal with for many of us. As we gather this morning, I think it is important that we recognize and name these pressures for what they are. If we gather together, we can overcome the messages of this world and rediscover the purpose and meaning of the Christmas season.
Hollywood in all of its shortcomings has produced some classic Christmas movies that have powerful captured the Christmas spirit. This Advent season, the four weeks leading up to Christmas that we use to prepare for the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ, we are going to look at several of these movies and listen for the messages of Christmas in them. The first movie we are going to look at is “It’s a Wonderful Life.” The title of the sermon is “It’s a Wonderful Life… really?” Because as we’ve just discussed, most of us probably don’t feel like it is a wonderful life, especially if we are feeling the pressures of the season.
A TIMELESS STRUGGLE
For those of you less familiar with the movie, “It’s a Wonderful Life” was released in 1946. It is the story of one man, George Bailey’s, timeless struggle with life. The short synopsis goes like this:
On the Christmas Eve of Bedford Falls, the guardian angel Clarence is assigned to convince the desperate George Bailey to not commit suicide. George is a good man, that sacrificed his dreams and his youth on behalf of the citizens of his small town. He inherited the loan business of his father and he gave up traveling the world and joining University as scheduled. Later he resisted the proposals of the evil banker Mr. Potter, and never sold his business to protect the poor community of Bedford Falls and offer a means to afford to buy their own house. He married his beloved Mary Hatch Bailey and had four children with her and a tough life with his family. When his uncle Billy loses US$ 8,000.00, found and stolen by Mr. Potter, George decides to commit suicide, since he believes he worth more dead than alive. When Clarence sees that he is not able to persuade George to give up his intention, he decides to show the life in town if George had never existed. George concludes that life is wonderful.
George is like many of us. We’ve gone through life doing everything we can to live a good life and to care for others needs before our own. As I was watching the movie this week, I kept thinking through the movie that this could really be a movie about how a person needs to act selfishly once in a while in order to succeed in life and be happy. George seems to have gotten the raw end of life’s deal. And as a result he has come to the end of his rope and decides that life just isn’t worth living anymore. The clip we are going to watch right now, George has lost $8000 and he is finally overcome by feelings of hopelessness.
[CLIP- GEORGE MELTDOWN]
Like George, most of us eventually come to a place of mental and emotional breakdown. We hit the wall and we find ourselves overcome with frustration, anguish, despair and hopelessness. We find ourselves in a dark hole or what the addict calls hitting rock bottom. How many of you find yourselves in a similar place this morning? I know some of you have felt this way in the past. And others of you are going to be there in the future. The reality is that George’s struggle is not a unique one nor is it a new one. George’s struggle is a story of human struggle. This life comes with obstacles, challenges, and difficult moments, and given the right set of circumstances it can bring even the most powerful man to his knees. The ultimately problem does not lie in arriving at this destination, but rather how we respond when we get to a place of despair and hopelessness.
For George, he initially responds to his hopelessness by contemplating suicide. When we arrive to a moment of hopelessness in our own lives, we too may be tempted to do something drastic. Thanksfully, most of us won’t commit physical suicide; instead, we simply give up on life. We begin to go through the motions like a mindless robot. We live in a place of lifelessness devoid of hope, joy, peace, and love. We resign ourselves to the dead end job, to the broken relationship, to the dysfunctional children, to the joyless existence. We become embittered, angry, and resentful. Thankfully, God doesn’t intend for us to live in a place of hopelessness and fear. Which brings us to our Scripture…
THE SECOND COMING OF CHRIST
Earlier we heard some interesting verses out of Luke 21. This text is the lection text for the first Sunday of Advent. I always thought that it was a strange text with which to start Advent. In this chapter, Jesus spends some time prophesying about the future and the end of times. He talks about the temple being destroyed, the persecution that will come, and even the wars and insurrections that will arise. He tells how people won’t be able to withstand the challenges ahead. These words are very different from most of Jesus words. They are frightening words, overwhelming words, and even doom-filled words.
Many people feel that these words describe the times that we live in. Indeed, today’s culture seems to be obsessed with end-times prophesies and how and when the world is going to end. The alleged 2012 Mayan prophecy is all over the news. Nostradamus also has been popular in recent years. Christians with certain perspectives have even gotten into the fold. Most widely known of course is Tim LaHaye and the Left Behind Series. While this passage, the book of Revelation, and other biblical texts do in fact discuss the end of the world, they don’t talk about them in the context that we might think they do.
Many people think of prophecy as a tool of gloom and doom. It is a way in which to scare and guilt people into doing the right thing. Christians are sometimes the worst offender of this use of prophecy, but God never intended prophecy to be used in this manner. Sure prophecy is a way to sound the warning shot against certain behaviors and actions but prophecy is much more than that. Prophecy, at its heart, is the way to undermine the established authority. It is a subversive way to spread hope in the face of hopelessness. Prophecy is meant to inspire not to frighten. Prophesy speaks truth where false messages have been spread.
The prophesy of the second coming of Christ which is the subject of the Luke 21 text is perhaps the most powerful text in the Scriptures. In verse 27 Jesus shares amazing words: “Then they will see ‘the Son of Man coming in a cloud’ with power and great glory.” Unfortunately, many Christians have gotten caught up in the wrong details of the text. They try to literally interpret texts that are poetic, cryptic, and figurative. They get caught up in trying to figure out the exact moment of Jesus’s return or precisely when the world will end. While the Scriptures make it very clear that Jesus will return triumphant over heaven and earth, they make it equally as clear that we will not know the time or place. In short, we waste valuable energy trying to postulate the time, place, location, and specific events of Jesus’s glorious return.
DISCOVERIES FOR LIFE
When Jesus prophesies about his return, I think he wants us to be prepared in the midst of the darkest hour. These words apply to the ultimate end of time, but in a very real sense we have been living in the end times ever since Jesus ascended into heaven in Acts 1. So whether we are living in the literal end times or not, we all face moments of darkness, despair and hopelessness. Jest as George Bailey reaches the end of his rope, we too find ourselves weighed down by the burdens of life.
With that in mind, Jesus says to his followers, in verse 34-36, “34 “Be on guard so that your hearts are not weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of this life, and that day does not catch you unexpectedly, 35 like a trap… 36 Be alert at all times, praying that you may have the strength to escape all these things that will take place, and to stand before the Son of Man.” George had let his guard down and fallen into the trap. He needed to say alert. Instead he had lost perspective and thought that losing $8000 meant his life was over. Through George’s time with Clarence, his guardian angel, he is about to discover two important things about life.
On the Christmas Eve of Bedford Falls, the guardian angel Clarence is assigned to convince the desperate George Bailey to not commit suicide. George is a good man, that sacrificed his dreams and his youth on behalf of the citizens of his small town. He inherited the loan business of his father and he gave up traveling the world and joining University as scheduled. Later he resisted the proposals of the evil banker Mr. Potter, and never sold his business to protect the poor community of Bedford Falls and offer a means to afford to buy their own house. He married his beloved Mary Hatch Bailey and had four children with her and a tough life with his family. When his uncle Billy loses US$ 8,000.00, found and stolen by Mr. Potter, George decides to commit suicide, since he believes he worth more dead than alive. When Clarence sees that he is not able to persuade George to give up his intention, he decides to show the life in town if George had never existed. George concludes that life is wonderful.
George is like many of us. We’ve gone through life doing everything we can to live a good life and to care for others needs before our own. As I was watching the movie this week, I kept thinking through the movie that this could really be a movie about how a person needs to act selfishly once in a while in order to succeed in life and be happy. George seems to have gotten the raw end of life’s deal. And as a result he has come to the end of his rope and decides that life just isn’t worth living anymore. The clip we are going to watch right now, George has lost $8000 and he is finally overcome by feelings of hopelessness.
[CLIP- GEORGE MELTDOWN]
Like George, most of us eventually come to a place of mental and emotional breakdown. We hit the wall and we find ourselves overcome with frustration, anguish, despair and hopelessness. We find ourselves in a dark hole or what the addict calls hitting rock bottom. How many of you find yourselves in a similar place this morning? I know some of you have felt this way in the past. And others of you are going to be there in the future. The reality is that George’s struggle is not a unique one nor is it a new one. George’s struggle is a story of human struggle. This life comes with obstacles, challenges, and difficult moments, and given the right set of circumstances it can bring even the most powerful man to his knees. The ultimately problem does not lie in arriving at this destination, but rather how we respond when we get to a place of despair and hopelessness.
For George, he initially responds to his hopelessness by contemplating suicide. When we arrive to a moment of hopelessness in our own lives, we too may be tempted to do something drastic. Thanksfully, most of us won’t commit physical suicide; instead, we simply give up on life. We begin to go through the motions like a mindless robot. We live in a place of lifelessness devoid of hope, joy, peace, and love. We resign ourselves to the dead end job, to the broken relationship, to the dysfunctional children, to the joyless existence. We become embittered, angry, and resentful. Thankfully, God doesn’t intend for us to live in a place of hopelessness and fear. Which brings us to our Scripture…
THE SECOND COMING OF CHRIST
Earlier we heard some interesting verses out of Luke 21. This text is the lection text for the first Sunday of Advent. I always thought that it was a strange text with which to start Advent. In this chapter, Jesus spends some time prophesying about the future and the end of times. He talks about the temple being destroyed, the persecution that will come, and even the wars and insurrections that will arise. He tells how people won’t be able to withstand the challenges ahead. These words are very different from most of Jesus words. They are frightening words, overwhelming words, and even doom-filled words.
Many people feel that these words describe the times that we live in. Indeed, today’s culture seems to be obsessed with end-times prophesies and how and when the world is going to end. The alleged 2012 Mayan prophecy is all over the news. Nostradamus also has been popular in recent years. Christians with certain perspectives have even gotten into the fold. Most widely known of course is Tim LaHaye and the Left Behind Series. While this passage, the book of Revelation, and other biblical texts do in fact discuss the end of the world, they don’t talk about them in the context that we might think they do.
Many people think of prophecy as a tool of gloom and doom. It is a way in which to scare and guilt people into doing the right thing. Christians are sometimes the worst offender of this use of prophecy, but God never intended prophecy to be used in this manner. Sure prophecy is a way to sound the warning shot against certain behaviors and actions but prophecy is much more than that. Prophecy, at its heart, is the way to undermine the established authority. It is a subversive way to spread hope in the face of hopelessness. Prophecy is meant to inspire not to frighten. Prophesy speaks truth where false messages have been spread.
The prophesy of the second coming of Christ which is the subject of the Luke 21 text is perhaps the most powerful text in the Scriptures. In verse 27 Jesus shares amazing words: “Then they will see ‘the Son of Man coming in a cloud’ with power and great glory.” Unfortunately, many Christians have gotten caught up in the wrong details of the text. They try to literally interpret texts that are poetic, cryptic, and figurative. They get caught up in trying to figure out the exact moment of Jesus’s return or precisely when the world will end. While the Scriptures make it very clear that Jesus will return triumphant over heaven and earth, they make it equally as clear that we will not know the time or place. In short, we waste valuable energy trying to postulate the time, place, location, and specific events of Jesus’s glorious return.
DISCOVERIES FOR LIFE
When Jesus prophesies about his return, I think he wants us to be prepared in the midst of the darkest hour. These words apply to the ultimate end of time, but in a very real sense we have been living in the end times ever since Jesus ascended into heaven in Acts 1. So whether we are living in the literal end times or not, we all face moments of darkness, despair and hopelessness. Jest as George Bailey reaches the end of his rope, we too find ourselves weighed down by the burdens of life.
With that in mind, Jesus says to his followers, in verse 34-36, “34 “Be on guard so that your hearts are not weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of this life, and that day does not catch you unexpectedly, 35 like a trap… 36 Be alert at all times, praying that you may have the strength to escape all these things that will take place, and to stand before the Son of Man.” George had let his guard down and fallen into the trap. He needed to say alert. Instead he had lost perspective and thought that losing $8000 meant his life was over. Through George’s time with Clarence, his guardian angel, he is about to discover two important things about life.
#1. Georges discovers a new perspective on life.
He sees that life is not purposeless. He sees that his life is indeed part of God’s plan. Many people would have suffered if it weren’t for George’s selfless living. George discovers the truth of Jeremiah 29:11, “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” When we find ourselves in moments of despair, it is important that we remember the purpose of God. We can stand firm on the fact that God wants us to prosper and thrive. Even when we give up on ourselves, our lives, and our God, God never gives up on us.
#2. George discovers the power of friendship and prayer.
All throughout George’s life, he had made sacrifices on the behalf of his friends. He gives up desire to go to college, to travel the world, and even to go on a honeymoon for the sake of the people of Bedford Falls. George’s ability to see that life still had meaning and purpose hinged on the friends George had unknowingly surrounded himself with. These friends understood the power of prayer and the importance of generosity. They understood how the plans for prosperity were executed by God in Jeremiah 29. God says, “Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. 13 You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. 14 I will be found by you,” declares the Lord, “and I will restore your fortunes.”
George was not able to pray much himself, but his friends stood in the gap for him. They petitioned on his behalf. While George may have given up on himself, no one else had. They loved George too much and knew God was not finished with him. As a result, George is able to discover that life has a future with hope.
The clip were are going to watch now is a piece from the opening of the movie and then the very end. Listen to the affect George’s friends’ prayers have and then see how George’s life is transformed as he discovers hope again.
[CLIP – PRAYER AND MIRACLE]
CONCLUSION
Life isn’t always as wonderful as we think it should be. In fact, life is often filled with challenges, difficulties, and obstacles. There will be times when we are filled with frustration, despair and hopelessness. In those moments, remember that Jesus will return, that God is in control and that life will triumphant over death. The situation may not change. When George is filled with hope and joy, nothing has changed. It doesn’t matter because George has rediscovered purpose and found hope again.
So as this Christmas season begins, do your best to stay on guard against hopelessness. Refuse to give into the pressures of this world. Remember God is not finished with us. During the darkest time of the year, God brought the brightest light into the world. There is a reason we celebrate Jesus’s birth in the cold of winter. It reminds us there is hope in the midst of despair. Therefore, As Advent continues over the next several weeks, will you seek to hear the voice of God who speaks hope over your life? Will discover and nurture friendship that will sustain you in the difficult times?
Let’s pray.
#2. George discovers the power of friendship and prayer.
All throughout George’s life, he had made sacrifices on the behalf of his friends. He gives up desire to go to college, to travel the world, and even to go on a honeymoon for the sake of the people of Bedford Falls. George’s ability to see that life still had meaning and purpose hinged on the friends George had unknowingly surrounded himself with. These friends understood the power of prayer and the importance of generosity. They understood how the plans for prosperity were executed by God in Jeremiah 29. God says, “Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. 13 You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. 14 I will be found by you,” declares the Lord, “and I will restore your fortunes.”
George was not able to pray much himself, but his friends stood in the gap for him. They petitioned on his behalf. While George may have given up on himself, no one else had. They loved George too much and knew God was not finished with him. As a result, George is able to discover that life has a future with hope.
The clip were are going to watch now is a piece from the opening of the movie and then the very end. Listen to the affect George’s friends’ prayers have and then see how George’s life is transformed as he discovers hope again.
[CLIP – PRAYER AND MIRACLE]
CONCLUSION
Life isn’t always as wonderful as we think it should be. In fact, life is often filled with challenges, difficulties, and obstacles. There will be times when we are filled with frustration, despair and hopelessness. In those moments, remember that Jesus will return, that God is in control and that life will triumphant over death. The situation may not change. When George is filled with hope and joy, nothing has changed. It doesn’t matter because George has rediscovered purpose and found hope again.
So as this Christmas season begins, do your best to stay on guard against hopelessness. Refuse to give into the pressures of this world. Remember God is not finished with us. During the darkest time of the year, God brought the brightest light into the world. There is a reason we celebrate Jesus’s birth in the cold of winter. It reminds us there is hope in the midst of despair. Therefore, As Advent continues over the next several weeks, will you seek to hear the voice of God who speaks hope over your life? Will discover and nurture friendship that will sustain you in the difficult times?
Let’s pray.
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Definted By Generosity
This is the last sermon in the series, "Enough." This past Sunday was Commitment Sunday. If you are able to give financial to the church in 2010, we would ask that you let us know. It helps us to budget for the coming year and make good stewardship decisions. If you got a pledge card, please send it to the church or bring it this Sunday. If you need one, please contact us at the church office.
Click here for the audio download:
http://www.mediafire.com/file/mhd2m2gcugn/Defined By Generosity.mp3
Here is the text and at the very bottom is the personal goals text.
Vanessa is going to play some soft music to conclude this morning. I would invite you to fill out your Personal Goals and commitment card in the few minutes we have. Then I am going to prayer and invite you to bring your cards to the front and place on the altar as a sign that you are choosing a life of abundance and joy.
2. I will seek contentment and simplicity and live within my means. My spending goal is _____.
3. I will seek freedom from the bonds of credit and debt. My debt reduction goal is _________.
4. I will seek to wisely manage the gifts God has given me, investing and saving for the future. My savings goal is ______.
5. I will worship God each week by giving of my tithes and offerings. My estimate of giving for 2010 is _________.
Click here for the audio download:
http://www.mediafire.com/file/mhd2m2gcugn/Defined By Generosity.mp3
Here is the text and at the very bottom is the personal goals text.
INTRO
Over the past several weeks we have been taking a closer look at the world of finances and the business of God. The Scriptures speak so often and so insightful into the realm of money that we would be foolish to ignore the wisdom that can be gleaned from God. We have talked about the miserable financial reality that our country and our region find ourselves in. As a culture we have bought into the false message that we can buy happiness and purpose. Most of the country is beginning to realize the words of Jesus that “Life does not consist in the abundance of possessions.” Yet, instead of pursuing God in the light of this reality they have given up on life.
My hope is that you have not given up on life, on happiness, on joy. Jesus came to give life and life abundantly. For that reason, the Bible gives us valuable insight into how we should manage our resources. Most of you hopefully got a static cling with the Six Financial Principles we talked about in week two. Last week, we examined the practice of cultivating contentment through simplicity. We discussed the importance of be grateful and making conscious choices towards contentment. If we can apply some of these principles, I think we have a real shot at discovering joy and abundance in our lives.
This morning we are in our final week of the four week series called “Enough: discovering joy through simplicity and generosity.” This morning is called “Defined by Generosity. Generosity is another vital piece of the puzzle towards discovering lasting joy in your life. Proverbs 11:24-25 speaks to the importance of generosity: “Some give freely, yet grow all the richer; others withhold what is due, and only suffer want. A generous person will be enriched, and one who gives water will get water.” Generosity is probably the most counterintuitive piece of joy and abundance. And yet generosity most closely resembles the kingdom of God.
My hope is that you have not given up on life, on happiness, on joy. Jesus came to give life and life abundantly. For that reason, the Bible gives us valuable insight into how we should manage our resources. Most of you hopefully got a static cling with the Six Financial Principles we talked about in week two. Last week, we examined the practice of cultivating contentment through simplicity. We discussed the importance of be grateful and making conscious choices towards contentment. If we can apply some of these principles, I think we have a real shot at discovering joy and abundance in our lives.
This morning we are in our final week of the four week series called “Enough: discovering joy through simplicity and generosity.” This morning is called “Defined by Generosity. Generosity is another vital piece of the puzzle towards discovering lasting joy in your life. Proverbs 11:24-25 speaks to the importance of generosity: “Some give freely, yet grow all the richer; others withhold what is due, and only suffer want. A generous person will be enriched, and one who gives water will get water.” Generosity is probably the most counterintuitive piece of joy and abundance. And yet generosity most closely resembles the kingdom of God.
THEOLOGICAL FOUNDATION
The world tries to tell us that we need to hoard in order to gain. God tells us we need to give in order to gain. Many of us know the Scripture, “It is better to give than to receive.” Most of us don’t actually believe it though. The reality is that we were created to receive joy from giving because we are created in our Heavenly Father’s image.
God created us with the willingness to give—to God and to others. This design is part of our makeup; we actually have the need to be generous. Yet there are two voices that “war” against our God-given impulse toward generosity, tempting us to keep or hoard what we have.
God created us with the willingness to give—to God and to others. This design is part of our makeup; we actually have the need to be generous. Yet there are two voices that “war” against our God-given impulse toward generosity, tempting us to keep or hoard what we have.
#1) The voice of fear: Fear, of what might happen to us, along with a misplaced idea about the true source of our security, keeps us from being generous and leads us to hoard what we have. The truth is that hoarding offers us no real security in this world.
#2) The voice of self-gratification: Our culture tells us that our lives consist in the abundance of our possessions and pleasurable experiences. So we find ourselves thinking, If I give, there won’t be enough left for me.
When we give our lives to Christ, invite him to be Lord, and allow the Holy Spirit to begin changing us from the inside out, we find that our fears begin to dissipate and our aim in life shifts from seeking personal pleasure to pleasing God and caring for others. Although we still may wrestle with the voices from time to time, we are able to silence them more readily and effectively the more we grow in Christ. And the more we grow in Christ, realizing that our lives belong to him, the more generous we become. Generosity is a fruit of spiritual growth.
When we give our lives to Christ, invite him to be Lord, and allow the Holy Spirit to begin changing us from the inside out, we find that our fears begin to dissipate and our aim in life shifts from seeking personal pleasure to pleasing God and caring for others. Although we still may wrestle with the voices from time to time, we are able to silence them more readily and effectively the more we grow in Christ. And the more we grow in Christ, realizing that our lives belong to him, the more generous we become. Generosity is a fruit of spiritual growth.
WHY: Biblical Reasons to Give to God and Others
#1) We find more joy in doing things for other people and for God than we ever did in doing things for ourselves. (Acts 20:35) Paul talks to the leaders of Ephesus. He is departing them but he has shown them the example that “It is more blessed to give than to receive.” Paul spoke of the secrets of joy and he lived them out through his generosity. The selfish person will never prosper, will never find joy, will never discover abundance. It is the person who discovers selflessness and generosity that will discover joy and abundance.
#2) In the very act of losing our lives, we find life. In Matthew 16:25, Jesus calls us not only to give of our possessions but he calls us to give our lives. “For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it.” By engaging in the practice of being generous with our possessions, we will be able to give up our lives for God. At the end of the day, God wants all us of, not just parts of us. He wants to do an extreme makeover with our entire lives. When we allow him to do that work, we will be closer to discovering abundance and joy.
#3) Life is a gift, and everything belongs to God. The last biblical reason that we need to give to God and to his church is that everything has been given to us. We stray from joy when we adopt an entitlement attitude. We need to remember the words of Psalm 24:1, “The earth is the Lord’s and all that is in it, the world and those who live in it.” Giving to God reminds us that it is all his and that life is a gift. When we pray for the offering every Sunday this is one of the things that I try to pray each time. I never want to forget that life and everything in it is a gift and I don’t want us as a church to forget that either.
HOW: Biblical Guidelines for Giving
Now that we’ve discussed the why now to the how: the biblical reasons for giving, I want to spend a few minutes talking about the biblical guidelines for giving. From the early days of the Old Testament, God’s people observed the practice of giving some portion of the best of what they had to God. A gift offered to God was called the first fruits or the tithe, and it equaled one-tenth of one’s flocks or crops or income. Abraham was the first to give a tithe or tenth.
In Genesis 14, we read about Abraham giving the first tithe. If you don’t like the concept of tithing, you can blame Abraham. The story is quite fascinating. Listen to a few verses of it. “And King Melchizedek of Salem brought out bread and wine; he was priest of God Most High. He blessed him and said, “Blessed be Abram by God Most High, maker of heaven and earth; and blessed be God Most High, who has delivered your enemies into your hand!” And Abram gave him one-tenth of everything."
The priest brings out what we would identify today as communion and Abraham gives him a tenth of his possessions. Abraham’s motivation is revealed in verse 23. He doesn’t want the kings to say they made him rich. Abraham realizes that true wealth and abundance come from God and not people.
In Genesis 14, we read about Abraham giving the first tithe. If you don’t like the concept of tithing, you can blame Abraham. The story is quite fascinating. Listen to a few verses of it. “And King Melchizedek of Salem brought out bread and wine; he was priest of God Most High. He blessed him and said, “Blessed be Abram by God Most High, maker of heaven and earth; and blessed be God Most High, who has delivered your enemies into your hand!” And Abram gave him one-tenth of everything."
The priest brings out what we would identify today as communion and Abraham gives him a tenth of his possessions. Abraham’s motivation is revealed in verse 23. He doesn’t want the kings to say they made him rich. Abraham realizes that true wealth and abundance come from God and not people.
#1) Giving a tithe.
As Christians who live under the new covenant, we are not bound by the Law of Moses; we look to it as a guide. Yet most Christians agree that the tithe is a good guideline for our lives, and one that is pleasing to God. Like Abraham, the tithe can be a reminder to us that the world does not make us rich, but that God does.
Now we are going to watch a short video about tithing and the potential struggles of it. (“Tithing and the Ten Apples.”) Though tithing can be a struggle, it is possible at virtually every income level. If you cannot tithe right away, take a step in that direction. Perhaps you can give 2 percent or 5 percent or 7 percent. God understands where you are, and God will help you make the adjustments necessary for you to become more and more generous. [Tithe goes to the church because the Church is the most direct representation of Christ’s body on earth.]
#2) Giving beyond the tithe.
Tithing is a floor, not a ceiling. God calls us to grow beyond the tithe. We should strive to set aside an additional percentage of our income as offerings for other things that are important to us, such as mission projects, schools, church building funds, and other nonprofit organizations. [Do this after you've given your full tithe.]
As Christians who live under the new covenant, we are not bound by the Law of Moses; we look to it as a guide. Yet most Christians agree that the tithe is a good guideline for our lives, and one that is pleasing to God. Like Abraham, the tithe can be a reminder to us that the world does not make us rich, but that God does.
Now we are going to watch a short video about tithing and the potential struggles of it. (“Tithing and the Ten Apples.”) Though tithing can be a struggle, it is possible at virtually every income level. If you cannot tithe right away, take a step in that direction. Perhaps you can give 2 percent or 5 percent or 7 percent. God understands where you are, and God will help you make the adjustments necessary for you to become more and more generous. [Tithe goes to the church because the Church is the most direct representation of Christ’s body on earth.]
#2) Giving beyond the tithe.
Tithing is a floor, not a ceiling. God calls us to grow beyond the tithe. We should strive to set aside an additional percentage of our income as offerings for other things that are important to us, such as mission projects, schools, church building funds, and other nonprofit organizations. [Do this after you've given your full tithe.]
WHO IT AFFECTS: GOD AND US
Now we have covered the why and the how, I want to conclude this morning talking about who our giving affects and what it means.
#1) What Our Giving Means to God
From the earliest biblical times, the primary way people worshipped God was by building an altar and offering the fruit of one’s labors upon it to God. They would burn the sacrifice of an animal or grain as a way of expressing their gratitude, devotion, and desire to honor God. The scent of the offering was said to be pleasing to God. It wasn’t that God loved the smell of burnt meat and grain. Rather, God saw that people were giving a gift that expressed love, faith, and the desire to please and honor God; and this moved God’s heart. When given in this spirit, our offerings bless the Lord.
When we give, God responds by giving back to us. While it is not a magical formula, Luke 6:39 says, “A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap; for the measure you give will be the measure you get back.” Tin the parable of the talents, God gives each servant talents or money to invest and use for him. The person who uses the money wisely is given more responsibility. God wants to see our faithfulness and seeks to reward us accordingly. These are some of the ways that God responds to our giving. Equally important is to see how our generosity affects us.
#1) What Our Giving Means to God
From the earliest biblical times, the primary way people worshipped God was by building an altar and offering the fruit of one’s labors upon it to God. They would burn the sacrifice of an animal or grain as a way of expressing their gratitude, devotion, and desire to honor God. The scent of the offering was said to be pleasing to God. It wasn’t that God loved the smell of burnt meat and grain. Rather, God saw that people were giving a gift that expressed love, faith, and the desire to please and honor God; and this moved God’s heart. When given in this spirit, our offerings bless the Lord.
When we give, God responds by giving back to us. While it is not a magical formula, Luke 6:39 says, “A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap; for the measure you give will be the measure you get back.” Tin the parable of the talents, God gives each servant talents or money to invest and use for him. The person who uses the money wisely is given more responsibility. God wants to see our faithfulness and seeks to reward us accordingly. These are some of the ways that God responds to our giving. Equally important is to see how our generosity affects us.
#2) How Our Generosity Affects Us
When we give, our hearts are changed and a transformation occurs. When we are generous—to God and to our families, friends, neighbors, and others who are in need—our hearts are filled with joy. They are enlarged by the very act of giving. When we give generously, we become more generous.
Many Christians have it wrong. They say that if you give, then God will give more back to you. But that is not how it works. We do not give to God so that we can get something in return. The amazing thing is that when we give to God and to others, the blessings just seem to come back to us. In Malachi 3, the prophet challenges the people not to rob God of his tithes and offerings. God calls us to “put him to the test… see if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you an overflowing blessing.” This is one of the few places that God says to test him in Scripture. Of course, there is no guarantee that if you tithe you will never lose your job or never have other bad things happen to you. Nevertheless, when we give generously, the unmistakable blessings of God flow into our lives.
When we give, our hearts are changed and a transformation occurs. When we are generous—to God and to our families, friends, neighbors, and others who are in need—our hearts are filled with joy. They are enlarged by the very act of giving. When we give generously, we become more generous.
Many Christians have it wrong. They say that if you give, then God will give more back to you. But that is not how it works. We do not give to God so that we can get something in return. The amazing thing is that when we give to God and to others, the blessings just seem to come back to us. In Malachi 3, the prophet challenges the people not to rob God of his tithes and offerings. God calls us to “put him to the test… see if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you an overflowing blessing.” This is one of the few places that God says to test him in Scripture. Of course, there is no guarantee that if you tithe you will never lose your job or never have other bad things happen to you. Nevertheless, when we give generously, the unmistakable blessings of God flow into our lives.
CONCLUSION
As we conclude this morning, I ask that you hear God’s challenge, God’s call, God’s plead to live lives of simplicity and generosity so that you might begin to discover your purpose, to discover abundance, and to discover joy for God truly is enough. Vanessa is going to play some soft music to conclude this morning. I would invite you to fill out your Personal Goals and commitment card in the few minutes we have. Then I am going to prayer and invite you to bring your cards to the front and place on the altar as a sign that you are choosing a life of abundance and joy.
PRESONAL GOALS:
1. I will thank God daily for all my blessings. My goal for daily Bible reading and prayer is ____ days a week.2. I will seek contentment and simplicity and live within my means. My spending goal is _____.
3. I will seek freedom from the bonds of credit and debt. My debt reduction goal is _________.
4. I will seek to wisely manage the gifts God has given me, investing and saving for the future. My savings goal is ______.
5. I will worship God each week by giving of my tithes and offerings. My estimate of giving for 2010 is _________.
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Cultivating Contentment
Week three of the "Enough" sermon series... Hope you enjoy it. If you didn't get a key tag please let the office know and we'll get you one.
http://www.mediafire.com/file/mnmy3yjgmhu/Cultivating Contentment.mp3
The text is below if you'd rather read it.
Keep your lives free from the love of money, and be content with what you have; for he has said, “I will never leave you or forsake you.” So we can say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid.” (Hebrews 13:5-6)
And [Jesus] said to them, “Take care! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of possessions.” (Luke 12:15)
Whatever my eyes desired I did not keep from them; I kept my heart from no pleasure. . . . Then I considered all that my hands had done and the toil I had spent in doing it, and again, all was vanity and a chasing after wind. (Ecclesiastes 2:10-11)
http://www.mediafire.com/file/mnmy3yjgmhu/Cultivating Contentment.mp3
The text is below if you'd rather read it.
Cultivating Contentment
Keep your lives free from the love of money, and be content with what you have; for he has said, “I will never leave you or forsake you.” So we can say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid.” (Hebrews 13:5-6)
And [Jesus] said to them, “Take care! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of possessions.” (Luke 12:15)
Whatever my eyes desired I did not keep from them; I kept my heart from no pleasure. . . . Then I considered all that my hands had done and the toil I had spent in doing it, and again, all was vanity and a chasing after wind. (Ecclesiastes 2:10-11)
INTRO
Back in August the basement at the parsonage got water in it and created conditions that allowed mold to infiltrate everything. Michelle and I had a significant amount of our stuff in storage down there. One afternoon, Michelle went to clean a suitcase that had some mold on it and it turned into a three week ordeal. We ended up losing a decent amount of stuff included childhood keepsakes. After the incident, we have talked to so many people that have lost possession to some sort of natural disaster or another. This reality reminds me of Jesus’s words, in Luke 12:15, “[My] life does not consist in the abundance of possessions.”
While intrinsically we know that life is not made up of what we have, we often let our hearts be fooled into believing that this is true. As a result, we find ourselves defaulting into a place of discontent. Not all discontentment is necessarily negative. In fact, it can be a gift from God. God actually wired our hearts so that they would be discontent with certain things, causing us to seek the only One who can fully satisfy us. We are meant to yearn to know God more, to cultivate a deeper prayer life, to pursue justice and holiness with increasing fervor, to love others more, and to grow in grace and character and wisdom with each passing day.
The problem is that those things we should be content with are the very things we find ourselves hopelessly discontented with. For example, we find ourselves discontented with our stuff, our jobs, our churches, our children, and our spouses. Let’s have a moment of honesty, is anyone ever discontent with this stuff? [Raise hands] It’s safe to say that we are all in the same boat when it comes to contentment and discontentment. We let God down once in awhile and we fall short of our desires.
God’s heart is really for us to have abundance and be filled with joy. For that reason, we are in week three of our four week stewardship and finance series called “Enough.” Last week, we addressed Six Principles to Financial Success. You should have received a static cling in the mail this week. If you missed the sermon, I’d encourage you to check out the blog. This week’s topic is how to cultivate contentment.
While intrinsically we know that life is not made up of what we have, we often let our hearts be fooled into believing that this is true. As a result, we find ourselves defaulting into a place of discontent. Not all discontentment is necessarily negative. In fact, it can be a gift from God. God actually wired our hearts so that they would be discontent with certain things, causing us to seek the only One who can fully satisfy us. We are meant to yearn to know God more, to cultivate a deeper prayer life, to pursue justice and holiness with increasing fervor, to love others more, and to grow in grace and character and wisdom with each passing day.
The problem is that those things we should be content with are the very things we find ourselves hopelessly discontented with. For example, we find ourselves discontented with our stuff, our jobs, our churches, our children, and our spouses. Let’s have a moment of honesty, is anyone ever discontent with this stuff? [Raise hands] It’s safe to say that we are all in the same boat when it comes to contentment and discontentment. We let God down once in awhile and we fall short of our desires.
God’s heart is really for us to have abundance and be filled with joy. For that reason, we are in week three of our four week stewardship and finance series called “Enough.” Last week, we addressed Six Principles to Financial Success. You should have received a static cling in the mail this week. If you missed the sermon, I’d encourage you to check out the blog. This week’s topic is how to cultivate contentment.
Four Keys to Cultivating Contentment
The Apostle Paul is an excellent example of contentment. In his letter to the Philippians, he wrote of the “secret” to his contentment (Philippians 4:11-12). He says, “11 Not that I am referring to being in need; for I have learned to be content with whatever I have. 12 I know what it is to have little, and I know what it is to have plenty. In any and all circumstances I have learned the secret of being well-fed and of going hungry, of having plenty and of being in need.” Like Paul, we can learn to be content in whatever circumstances we may find ourselves. Four keys, which include the “secret” Paul referred to in his letter, can help us to do that.
#1 Key. Four Words to Repeat: “It Could Be Worse”
John Ortberg, pastor at Menlo Park Presbyterian Church in California, says there are four words we should say whenever we find ourselves discontented with something or someone: “It could be worse.” This is essentially the practice of looking on the bright side or finding the silver lining. It is recognizing that no matter what we may not like about a thing or person or circumstance, we can always find something good to focus on if only we will choose to do so.
#2 Key. One Question to Ask: “For How Long Will This Make Me Happy?”
So often we buy something, thinking it will make us happy, only to find that the happiness lasts about as long as it takes to open the box. There is a moment of satisfaction when we make the purchase, but the item does not continue to bring satisfaction over a period of time. Many of the things we buy are simply not worth the expense. This is why it is a good idea to try before you buy.
#3 Key. Developing a Grateful Heart
Gratitude is essential if we are to be content. The Apostle Paul said that we are to “give thanks in all circumstances” (1 Thessalonians 5:18). A grateful heart recognizes that all of life is a gift. Contentment comes when we spend more time giving thanks for what we have than thinking about what’s missing or wrong in our lives.
With Thanksgiving approaching this is an important principle to remember. One of our members posted on her Facebook page this week the following challenge: “Every day this month until Thanksgiving, think of one thing that you are thankful for and post it as your status. "Today I am thankful for..." The longer you do it, the harder it may be! Now if you think you can do it then repost this message as your status to invite others to take the challenge, then post what YOU are thankful for today.” If you don’t have Facebook, try sharing one thing at dinner with your family or a friend.
#4 Key. Where Does Your Soul Find True Satisfaction?
The world answers this question by telling us that we find satisfaction in ease and luxury and comfort and money. The Bible, however, answers the question very differently. From Genesis to Revelation, it tells us that we find our satisfaction in God alone. Psalm 63: reads, “O God, you are my God, I seek you, / my soul thirsts for you. . . . / My soul is satisfied as with a rich feast, / and my mouth praises you with joyful lips / when I think of you on my bed, / and meditate on you in the watches of the night.”
We too often look to the world, when we need to look to God. Jesus tells us very succinctly how to void worry and dissatisfaction in Matthew 6:33, “Strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” If we are serious about cultivating contentment, we need to ask ourselves the question, are we striving for God in all we do? Do you pray for his guidance each morning as you start the day? Do you pause to consider his will as you make decisions? Your heart will continue to wander in search of contentment unless you seek him who provides all things.
#1 Key. Four Words to Repeat: “It Could Be Worse”
John Ortberg, pastor at Menlo Park Presbyterian Church in California, says there are four words we should say whenever we find ourselves discontented with something or someone: “It could be worse.” This is essentially the practice of looking on the bright side or finding the silver lining. It is recognizing that no matter what we may not like about a thing or person or circumstance, we can always find something good to focus on if only we will choose to do so.
#2 Key. One Question to Ask: “For How Long Will This Make Me Happy?”
So often we buy something, thinking it will make us happy, only to find that the happiness lasts about as long as it takes to open the box. There is a moment of satisfaction when we make the purchase, but the item does not continue to bring satisfaction over a period of time. Many of the things we buy are simply not worth the expense. This is why it is a good idea to try before you buy.
#3 Key. Developing a Grateful Heart
Gratitude is essential if we are to be content. The Apostle Paul said that we are to “give thanks in all circumstances” (1 Thessalonians 5:18). A grateful heart recognizes that all of life is a gift. Contentment comes when we spend more time giving thanks for what we have than thinking about what’s missing or wrong in our lives.
With Thanksgiving approaching this is an important principle to remember. One of our members posted on her Facebook page this week the following challenge: “Every day this month until Thanksgiving, think of one thing that you are thankful for and post it as your status. "Today I am thankful for..." The longer you do it, the harder it may be! Now if you think you can do it then repost this message as your status to invite others to take the challenge, then post what YOU are thankful for today.” If you don’t have Facebook, try sharing one thing at dinner with your family or a friend.
#4 Key. Where Does Your Soul Find True Satisfaction?
The world answers this question by telling us that we find satisfaction in ease and luxury and comfort and money. The Bible, however, answers the question very differently. From Genesis to Revelation, it tells us that we find our satisfaction in God alone. Psalm 63: reads, “O God, you are my God, I seek you, / my soul thirsts for you. . . . / My soul is satisfied as with a rich feast, / and my mouth praises you with joyful lips / when I think of you on my bed, / and meditate on you in the watches of the night.”
We too often look to the world, when we need to look to God. Jesus tells us very succinctly how to void worry and dissatisfaction in Matthew 6:33, “Strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” If we are serious about cultivating contentment, we need to ask ourselves the question, are we striving for God in all we do? Do you pray for his guidance each morning as you start the day? Do you pause to consider his will as you make decisions? Your heart will continue to wander in search of contentment unless you seek him who provides all things.
Four Steps for Simplifying Our Lives
While the last key to contentment may seem too simple, that is the point. Much of contentment is found in simplicity. In fact, contentment and simplicity go hand in hand. In addition to cultivating contentment in our lives, we need to cultivate simplicity.
#1 Step. Set a Goal of Reducing Your Consumption, and Live Below Your Means.
Set a tangible goal to reduce your own personal consumption and the production of waste in your life. For example, use canvas bags when you go grocery shopping and refuse any extra packaging. Whenever you are making purchases, look at the mid-grade instead of the top-of-the-line product. When buying a new car, aim to improve fuel economy over your existing car by at least 10 percent. Reduce your utilities by 10 percent by setting the thermostat back a couple of degrees when you are away during the day and asleep at night. Find other ways to reduce your consumption and live below your means. Do some research, share ideas with others, or have a brainstorming session with your family.
More is not always better… This step will also help care for the creation!
#2 Step. Before Making a Purchase, Ask Yourself, Do I Really Need This? and, Why Do I Want This?
These questions will help you to determine the true motivation of your desired purchase. Is it a need, a self-esteem issue, or something else? You may find yourself wrestling with your true motive and decide that your reason for purchasing the item is not a good one.
Along the same lines, you might realize that you can continue to use what you already have instead of replacing it. If you take good care of the things you buy and use them until they are empty, broken, or worn out, you won’t need to buy things as often. Also, Buy things that are made to last; and, when buying things that have a short lifespan, spend your money wisely.
#3 Step. Plan Low-cost Entertainment That Enriches.
When it comes to choosing entertainment for your family or friends, plan things that are simple and cheap. You’ll be amazed at how much more pleasure you derive from low-cost, simple activities. [What do you do for fun that is free?]
#4. Ask Yourself, Are There Major Changes That Would Allow Me to Simplify My Life?
Consider selling a car and buying one you pay for in full, downsizing your home, or getting rid of a club membership you don’t use. Ask yourself questions related to your home, possessions, job, and activities to identify some significant changes that will simplify your life. Remember, if you cannot do all the things God is calling you to do and you’re unable to find joy in your life, perhaps it’s time to simplify in some major ways.
Set a tangible goal to reduce your own personal consumption and the production of waste in your life. For example, use canvas bags when you go grocery shopping and refuse any extra packaging. Whenever you are making purchases, look at the mid-grade instead of the top-of-the-line product. When buying a new car, aim to improve fuel economy over your existing car by at least 10 percent. Reduce your utilities by 10 percent by setting the thermostat back a couple of degrees when you are away during the day and asleep at night. Find other ways to reduce your consumption and live below your means. Do some research, share ideas with others, or have a brainstorming session with your family.
More is not always better… This step will also help care for the creation!
#2 Step. Before Making a Purchase, Ask Yourself, Do I Really Need This? and, Why Do I Want This?
These questions will help you to determine the true motivation of your desired purchase. Is it a need, a self-esteem issue, or something else? You may find yourself wrestling with your true motive and decide that your reason for purchasing the item is not a good one.
Along the same lines, you might realize that you can continue to use what you already have instead of replacing it. If you take good care of the things you buy and use them until they are empty, broken, or worn out, you won’t need to buy things as often. Also, Buy things that are made to last; and, when buying things that have a short lifespan, spend your money wisely.
#3 Step. Plan Low-cost Entertainment That Enriches.
When it comes to choosing entertainment for your family or friends, plan things that are simple and cheap. You’ll be amazed at how much more pleasure you derive from low-cost, simple activities. [What do you do for fun that is free?]
#4. Ask Yourself, Are There Major Changes That Would Allow Me to Simplify My Life?
Consider selling a car and buying one you pay for in full, downsizing your home, or getting rid of a club membership you don’t use. Ask yourself questions related to your home, possessions, job, and activities to identify some significant changes that will simplify your life. Remember, if you cannot do all the things God is calling you to do and you’re unable to find joy in your life, perhaps it’s time to simplify in some major ways.
The Power of Self-Control
Before I conclude, a brief side note: Achieving contentment and simplicity aren’t easy; they require the practice of self-control. Solomon wrote in Proverbs 25:28, “Like a city whose walls are broken down / is a [person] who lacks self-control.” Self-control comes down to making a choice between satisfying an impulse and choosing the future good. If you aren’t good at it, get help from a friend. Go to God with it. The person without self-control is always one decision away from destruction. You can begin to strengthen self-control by asking these three questions:
· “What are the long-term consequences of this action?”
· “Is there a higher good or a better outcome if I used this resource of time, money, or energy in another way?”
· “Will this action honor God?”
· “Is there a higher good or a better outcome if I used this resource of time, money, or energy in another way?”
· “Will this action honor God?”
CONCLUSION
In conclusion, I ask you the question: Which Tent Will You Live In? Will you live in discon-tent or con-tent-ment? You and you alone determine which “tent” will be yours. By utilizing self control to implement the keys of contentment and simplifying your life, you will be able to move towards contentment. You choose it in large part by deciding what life is about. If you decide that “life does not consist in the abundance of your possessions,” then you are choosing contentment. Choosing contentment means we look to God as our Source, giving thanks for what we have; we ask God to give us the right perspective on money and possessions and to change our hearts each day; we decide to live simpler lives, wasting less and conserving more; and we choose to give more generously.
Pray the prayer together as the close. “Lord, help me to be grateful for what I have, to remember that I don’t need most of what I want, and that joy is found in simplicity and generosity.”
Pray the prayer together as the close. “Lord, help me to be grateful for what I have, to remember that I don’t need most of what I want, and that joy is found in simplicity and generosity.”
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Widsom and Finance
Here is the link to Sunday's sermon. You can follow it and download the audio of the sermon or you can read the text below. Hope to see you this coming Sunday!
http://www.mediafire.com/file/y0m4owtlnoj/Widsom and Finance.mp3
INTRO: Where Did All Our Money Go?
Living as Prodigals
Do you ever get to the end of the month and wonder where all of your money went? If you do, did you know you might be a prodigal? Prodigal is a word we associate with the story of the prodigal son told in Luke 15:11-16. The younger son takes his sher of his father’s inheritance and runs off to squander it. The word prodigal does not mean someone who wanders away or is lost.
It literally means “one who wastes money.” A prodigal is one who wastes money, who is a spendthrift. Many of us struggle with that habit as well. We’re not worried about tomorrow. We want it today. The problem with that kind of thinking is that, for most of us, the “famine” eventually comes. It comes when we have spent everything we have and even a little bit of next year’s income. So we use the credit card and charge it, and we go a little further into debt. Finally, we come to a place where we “find ourselves.” We have nothing left, not even any credit, and we can’t figure out how we are we going to make it.
So if you think you might be a prodigal or have wasteful tendencies don’t worry you are in the right place. We are now in week two the sermon series, “Enough: discovering joy through simplicity and generosity.” This week’s sermon is entitled, “Wisdom and Finance.” While finances may feel like a black hole of doom for you, they don’t have to. There is a lot of good, sound, and even simple, advice when it comes to properly handling finances. As we begin this morning, I want to draw your attention to the insert in the bulletin. On one side is a budget guide and on the other is a goal sheet. I’m going to mention them during the sermon, and I would encourage you to take them home and spend some time with them this week. Like I said last week, I trust you are going to get some helpful information during this series, but for it to have an impact you’ll need to put it into action.
The More We Make, the More We Waste
I hope the insert can be tools to help you implement, because implementing good financial stewardship can be difficult. For many people, the thought of money can be stressful. What if I told you that money or the how much money you have aren’t the real issues? The reality is they aren’t. Those of you in the congregation that make more money I’m sure can attest to this.
It seems that the more financially secure we become, the less we worry about spending money here and there. We waste a dollar on this or that, and we forget where it went. Money just seems to flow through our fingers. We’re not as careful with our money as we should be. There are many ways we waste money, but there are two primary money-wasters that many of us struggle with. It is not necessary to eliminate these two things all together, but we should think more carefully about how we spend our money.
As we begin to talk about the wisdom of finances, it is important that we learn to not waste money. After all, your parents always told you, “Money doesn’t grow on trees!” The two biggest money wasters are impulse buying and eating out.
Tips for avoiding impulse buying: 1) Never go grocery shopping when you are hungry. 2) Shop for what you need only. 3) Make a list and stick to it; buy what you need and get out of the store! 4) Wait twenty-four hours before purchasing an impulse buy.
Eating out: The issue is frequency. The average American eats out an average of four times a week. By eating out less frequently, we will have more money to save, spend on something more important, or give away.
SCRIPTURE: Clarifying Our Relationship With Money and Possessions
Once we eliminate wasteful spending, the next step is to begin to redefine and clarify our relationship with money and our stuff. If we can’t learn to relate to it properly, we will remain a slave to it. Instead of working for money, we need to learn to get money to work for us. We do not exist simply to consume as much as we can and get as much pleasure as we can while we are here on this earth We begin to redefine our relationship with money by being clear about our life purpose and then setting worthy goals. We have a higher purpose. We need to know and understand our life purpose—our vision or mission or calling—and then spend our money in ways that are consistent with this purpose or calling.
#1. Be Clear About Your Purpose and Calling
Our society tells us that our life purpose is to consume—to make as much money as possible and to blow as much money as possible. The Bible tells us that we were created to care for God’s creation. We were created to love God and to love our neighbors as ourselves. We were created to care for our families and those in need. We were created to glorify God, to seek justice, and to do mercy. Our money and possessions should be devoted to helping us fulfill this calling. We are to use our resources to help care for our families and others—to serve Christ and the world through the church, missions, and everyday opportunities. We have a life purpose that is greater than our own self-interests, and how we spend our God-given resources reflects our understanding and commitment to this life purpose or mission.
If you haven’t discovered your life purpose, I would encourage you to talk to me or someone in your life that you trust. Knowing what you are passionate about, having a cause to pursue, will help you in your quest for financial stability. [family, community, cause]
#2. Set Worthy Goals
Being able to accomplish the greater purposes God has for our lives requires some measure of planning. Taking the time to set goals related to our lives and our finances is crucial if we are to become wise stewards of our God-given resources. The Proverbs which are filled with wisdom about finances says, “The plans of the diligent lead surely to abundance, but everyone who is hasty comes only to want.” (Proverbs 21:5) If you are going to discover abundance and live out of that abundance, then you need to be wise and plan.
Each of us should think about our life purpose and goals and then identify two short-term financial goals, two mid-range financial goals, and two long-term financial goals that are aimed at helping us to accomplish our broader life goals. At least one goal in each category should relate specifically to our faith. Take a look at your insert, “My Life and Financial Goals Worksheet.” now. I remember hearing once that you are like twice as likely to execute a goal if you write it down that if you don’t. So if you really want to accomplish something in life, write it down.
The Discipline of Managing Your Money
#1. The Necessity of a Budget/Spending Plan
It begins with a plan. Once you have established some personal goals and maybe some family goals, the next step is to establish a plan to manage your money. Proverbs 21:20 says, “Precious treasure remains in the house of the wise, but the fool devours it.” If we don’t learn to be wise with our money, we will devour it or someone will devour it for us [think spouses, children, charitable organizations even].
Once we have set some financial goals, we need to develop a plan to meet those goals. A budget is a spending plan that enables us to accomplish our goals. Some people use an envelope system to help them manage their saving and spending and stay on budget. Others use a variety of different approaches. Many people find it helpful to seek the advice of a financial advisor. For those who find themselves in the midst of a financial crisis, a financial counselor can help to work out terms with creditors and develop a workable financial plan. Whatever approach you choose, the important thing is simply to have a plan. (*** Show the video clip “Finding Financial Stability.”)
#2. Six Financial Planning Principles The following financial planning principles can help us to manage our money with wisdom and faith: As a side note, many of you will be getting a letter in the mail with these six principles on a static cling this week. If you don’t, please contact the office and we’ll get you one.
1. Pay your tithe and offering first.
Put God first in your living and your giving. Give your tithe and offering from the “top” of your paycheck, and then live on whatever remains. So many of us have a tendency to give what’s in the wallet or write a check at the end of the month. Giving period is good, but if we are going to discover joy through our finances, we need to make giving to God a priority. [We’ll talk more about this in a couple of weeks.]
2. Create a budget and track your expenses.
Creating a budget is simply developing a plan in which you tell your money what you want it to do. Tracking your expenses with a budget is like getting on the scales: It allows you to see how you are doing and motivates you to be more careful with your expenditures. I think this is important so I’ve included the bulletin insert “Basic Budget Worksheet.” Again, there is something confessional and powerful in writing stuff down, so I would encourage you to sit down and do this.
3. Simplify your lifestyle (live below your means).
Because this discipline is critical to the success of any financial plan, next Sunday’s sermon will be devoted to this topic. [do I really need this to survive?]
4. Establish an emergency fund.
An emergency fund is an account separate from checking or long-term savings that is set aside specifically for emergencies. Dave Ramsey recommends beginning with $1,000 and building that to three months’ worth of income. When you have this amount, you won’t need to use your credit cards anymore.
5. Pay off your credit cards, use cash/debit cards for purchases, and use credit wisely.
As you are building your emergency fund, begin to pay off your credit card debt and start using cash or debit cards for purchases. Some experts suggest starting with the credit card that has the highest interest rate. Others suggest paying down the smallest debt first, experiencing that victory, and applying your payments from the first card to the second, and so on, creating a snowball effect to pay off the cards as soon as possible. Cut up your cards as you pay them down so that you are not trapped or leveraged by your future for present-day pleasure, as the prodigal son was. If you must use a credit card, such as when traveling or making purchases online, be sure to pay off the debt monthly. If you are unable to do this, then it is better for you to cut up your cards and stop using them altogether.
6. Practice long-term savings and investing habits.
Saving money is the number-one wise money management principle everyone should practice. We do not save merely for the sake of saving. There is a word for that: hoarding. Hoarding is frowned upon in the Bible as the practice of fools and those who fail to understand the purpose of life. Saving, on the other hand, is meant to be purposeful. There are three types of savings we should have: 1) emergency savings, 2) savings for wants and goals, and 3) retirement savings.
CONCLUSION
I used to be afraid to talk about finances in church. I felt the fear and anxiety that many people feel when talking about this issue. I must confess that stewardship and money has become one of my favorite topics because the Scriptures have so much to say about it. The church and God really have much more to say about money than simply give us yours. It has much practical advice that can radically change lives.
I was talking to one of our members after church last week and she was talking about how she had put some of these principles into action. There was a joy and excitement in her face. It reminded me that regardless of how much or how little money you make joy is accessible when we chose to live in simplicity and out of generosity.
Please make sure you spend some time this week looking these things over. If your spouse doesn’t attend worship with you, I would encourage you to still talk over these issues of finance with them. They may not want to talk about tithing but they might benefit from the advice nonetheless. May you be filled with joy as you apply timeless wisdom to your finances.
Resources for Developing a Budget
http://www.crown.org/Tools/Calculators/Budgeting_SpendingPlan.asp
This is a fun and helpful budgeting calculator that automatically generates a suggested budget based upon the user’s inputs and Crown’s recommended expenditures.
http://crowncanada.ca/resources/CrownSpendingPlan2.pdf
This is another Crown resources site focused on budgeting and financial freedom. There is good information here.
Getting Out of Debt
Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace University offers a great deal of online information including his approach to reducing debt found at this site: www.daveramsey.com/the_truth_about/get_out_of_debt_4055.html.cfm.
http://www.mediafire.com/file/y0m4owtlnoj/Widsom and Finance.mp3
INTRO: Where Did All Our Money Go?
Living as Prodigals
Do you ever get to the end of the month and wonder where all of your money went? If you do, did you know you might be a prodigal? Prodigal is a word we associate with the story of the prodigal son told in Luke 15:11-16. The younger son takes his sher of his father’s inheritance and runs off to squander it. The word prodigal does not mean someone who wanders away or is lost.
It literally means “one who wastes money.” A prodigal is one who wastes money, who is a spendthrift. Many of us struggle with that habit as well. We’re not worried about tomorrow. We want it today. The problem with that kind of thinking is that, for most of us, the “famine” eventually comes. It comes when we have spent everything we have and even a little bit of next year’s income. So we use the credit card and charge it, and we go a little further into debt. Finally, we come to a place where we “find ourselves.” We have nothing left, not even any credit, and we can’t figure out how we are we going to make it.
So if you think you might be a prodigal or have wasteful tendencies don’t worry you are in the right place. We are now in week two the sermon series, “Enough: discovering joy through simplicity and generosity.” This week’s sermon is entitled, “Wisdom and Finance.” While finances may feel like a black hole of doom for you, they don’t have to. There is a lot of good, sound, and even simple, advice when it comes to properly handling finances. As we begin this morning, I want to draw your attention to the insert in the bulletin. On one side is a budget guide and on the other is a goal sheet. I’m going to mention them during the sermon, and I would encourage you to take them home and spend some time with them this week. Like I said last week, I trust you are going to get some helpful information during this series, but for it to have an impact you’ll need to put it into action.
The More We Make, the More We Waste
I hope the insert can be tools to help you implement, because implementing good financial stewardship can be difficult. For many people, the thought of money can be stressful. What if I told you that money or the how much money you have aren’t the real issues? The reality is they aren’t. Those of you in the congregation that make more money I’m sure can attest to this.
It seems that the more financially secure we become, the less we worry about spending money here and there. We waste a dollar on this or that, and we forget where it went. Money just seems to flow through our fingers. We’re not as careful with our money as we should be. There are many ways we waste money, but there are two primary money-wasters that many of us struggle with. It is not necessary to eliminate these two things all together, but we should think more carefully about how we spend our money.
As we begin to talk about the wisdom of finances, it is important that we learn to not waste money. After all, your parents always told you, “Money doesn’t grow on trees!” The two biggest money wasters are impulse buying and eating out.
Tips for avoiding impulse buying: 1) Never go grocery shopping when you are hungry. 2) Shop for what you need only. 3) Make a list and stick to it; buy what you need and get out of the store! 4) Wait twenty-four hours before purchasing an impulse buy.
Eating out: The issue is frequency. The average American eats out an average of four times a week. By eating out less frequently, we will have more money to save, spend on something more important, or give away.
SCRIPTURE: Clarifying Our Relationship With Money and Possessions
Once we eliminate wasteful spending, the next step is to begin to redefine and clarify our relationship with money and our stuff. If we can’t learn to relate to it properly, we will remain a slave to it. Instead of working for money, we need to learn to get money to work for us. We do not exist simply to consume as much as we can and get as much pleasure as we can while we are here on this earth We begin to redefine our relationship with money by being clear about our life purpose and then setting worthy goals. We have a higher purpose. We need to know and understand our life purpose—our vision or mission or calling—and then spend our money in ways that are consistent with this purpose or calling.
#1. Be Clear About Your Purpose and Calling
Our society tells us that our life purpose is to consume—to make as much money as possible and to blow as much money as possible. The Bible tells us that we were created to care for God’s creation. We were created to love God and to love our neighbors as ourselves. We were created to care for our families and those in need. We were created to glorify God, to seek justice, and to do mercy. Our money and possessions should be devoted to helping us fulfill this calling. We are to use our resources to help care for our families and others—to serve Christ and the world through the church, missions, and everyday opportunities. We have a life purpose that is greater than our own self-interests, and how we spend our God-given resources reflects our understanding and commitment to this life purpose or mission.
If you haven’t discovered your life purpose, I would encourage you to talk to me or someone in your life that you trust. Knowing what you are passionate about, having a cause to pursue, will help you in your quest for financial stability. [family, community, cause]
#2. Set Worthy Goals
Being able to accomplish the greater purposes God has for our lives requires some measure of planning. Taking the time to set goals related to our lives and our finances is crucial if we are to become wise stewards of our God-given resources. The Proverbs which are filled with wisdom about finances says, “The plans of the diligent lead surely to abundance, but everyone who is hasty comes only to want.” (Proverbs 21:5) If you are going to discover abundance and live out of that abundance, then you need to be wise and plan.
Each of us should think about our life purpose and goals and then identify two short-term financial goals, two mid-range financial goals, and two long-term financial goals that are aimed at helping us to accomplish our broader life goals. At least one goal in each category should relate specifically to our faith. Take a look at your insert, “My Life and Financial Goals Worksheet.” now. I remember hearing once that you are like twice as likely to execute a goal if you write it down that if you don’t. So if you really want to accomplish something in life, write it down.
The Discipline of Managing Your Money
#1. The Necessity of a Budget/Spending Plan
It begins with a plan. Once you have established some personal goals and maybe some family goals, the next step is to establish a plan to manage your money. Proverbs 21:20 says, “Precious treasure remains in the house of the wise, but the fool devours it.” If we don’t learn to be wise with our money, we will devour it or someone will devour it for us [think spouses, children, charitable organizations even].
Once we have set some financial goals, we need to develop a plan to meet those goals. A budget is a spending plan that enables us to accomplish our goals. Some people use an envelope system to help them manage their saving and spending and stay on budget. Others use a variety of different approaches. Many people find it helpful to seek the advice of a financial advisor. For those who find themselves in the midst of a financial crisis, a financial counselor can help to work out terms with creditors and develop a workable financial plan. Whatever approach you choose, the important thing is simply to have a plan. (*** Show the video clip “Finding Financial Stability.”)
#2. Six Financial Planning Principles The following financial planning principles can help us to manage our money with wisdom and faith: As a side note, many of you will be getting a letter in the mail with these six principles on a static cling this week. If you don’t, please contact the office and we’ll get you one.
1. Pay your tithe and offering first.
Put God first in your living and your giving. Give your tithe and offering from the “top” of your paycheck, and then live on whatever remains. So many of us have a tendency to give what’s in the wallet or write a check at the end of the month. Giving period is good, but if we are going to discover joy through our finances, we need to make giving to God a priority. [We’ll talk more about this in a couple of weeks.]
2. Create a budget and track your expenses.
Creating a budget is simply developing a plan in which you tell your money what you want it to do. Tracking your expenses with a budget is like getting on the scales: It allows you to see how you are doing and motivates you to be more careful with your expenditures. I think this is important so I’ve included the bulletin insert “Basic Budget Worksheet.” Again, there is something confessional and powerful in writing stuff down, so I would encourage you to sit down and do this.
3. Simplify your lifestyle (live below your means).
Because this discipline is critical to the success of any financial plan, next Sunday’s sermon will be devoted to this topic. [do I really need this to survive?]
4. Establish an emergency fund.
An emergency fund is an account separate from checking or long-term savings that is set aside specifically for emergencies. Dave Ramsey recommends beginning with $1,000 and building that to three months’ worth of income. When you have this amount, you won’t need to use your credit cards anymore.
5. Pay off your credit cards, use cash/debit cards for purchases, and use credit wisely.
As you are building your emergency fund, begin to pay off your credit card debt and start using cash or debit cards for purchases. Some experts suggest starting with the credit card that has the highest interest rate. Others suggest paying down the smallest debt first, experiencing that victory, and applying your payments from the first card to the second, and so on, creating a snowball effect to pay off the cards as soon as possible. Cut up your cards as you pay them down so that you are not trapped or leveraged by your future for present-day pleasure, as the prodigal son was. If you must use a credit card, such as when traveling or making purchases online, be sure to pay off the debt monthly. If you are unable to do this, then it is better for you to cut up your cards and stop using them altogether.
6. Practice long-term savings and investing habits.
Saving money is the number-one wise money management principle everyone should practice. We do not save merely for the sake of saving. There is a word for that: hoarding. Hoarding is frowned upon in the Bible as the practice of fools and those who fail to understand the purpose of life. Saving, on the other hand, is meant to be purposeful. There are three types of savings we should have: 1) emergency savings, 2) savings for wants and goals, and 3) retirement savings.
CONCLUSION
I used to be afraid to talk about finances in church. I felt the fear and anxiety that many people feel when talking about this issue. I must confess that stewardship and money has become one of my favorite topics because the Scriptures have so much to say about it. The church and God really have much more to say about money than simply give us yours. It has much practical advice that can radically change lives.
I was talking to one of our members after church last week and she was talking about how she had put some of these principles into action. There was a joy and excitement in her face. It reminded me that regardless of how much or how little money you make joy is accessible when we chose to live in simplicity and out of generosity.
Please make sure you spend some time this week looking these things over. If your spouse doesn’t attend worship with you, I would encourage you to still talk over these issues of finance with them. They may not want to talk about tithing but they might benefit from the advice nonetheless. May you be filled with joy as you apply timeless wisdom to your finances.
Resources for Developing a Budget
http://www.crown.org/Tools/Calculators/Budgeting_SpendingPlan.asp
This is a fun and helpful budgeting calculator that automatically generates a suggested budget based upon the user’s inputs and Crown’s recommended expenditures.
http://crowncanada.ca/resources/CrownSpendingPlan2.pdf
This is another Crown resources site focused on budgeting and financial freedom. There is good information here.
Getting Out of Debt
Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace University offers a great deal of online information including his approach to reducing debt found at this site: www.daveramsey.com/the_truth_about/get_out_of_debt_4055.html.cfm.
Basic Budget Worksheet
The Basic Budget Worksheet
Item Actual % Suggested %* Plan for next 12 months
Housing 25-35%
Transportation 10-15%
Charitable Gifts 10-12%
Food 5-15%
Saving 5-10%
Utilites 5-10%
Debt 5-10%
Clothing 2-7%
Miscellaneous 12-23%
*These percentages are adapted from Dave Ramsey's The Total Money Makover (Thomas Nelson, 2007).
Widsom and Finance Worksheets
This is the first worksheet that we handed out in worship this week, 11/8/2009
My Life and Financial Goals Worksheet
How would you define or describe your life purpose?
What are three goals that can help you to achieve this life purpose?
What are some financial goals that can help to support your life goals and purpose?
Short-term financial goals (next 12 months):
1.
2.
Mid-range financial goals (2–5 years):
1.
2.
Long-term financial goals (5 years to retirement):
1.
2.
How would you define or describe your life purpose?
What are three goals that can help you to achieve this life purpose?
What are some financial goals that can help to support your life goals and purpose?
Short-term financial goals (next 12 months):
1.
2.
Mid-range financial goals (2–5 years):
1.
2.
Long-term financial goals (5 years to retirement):
1.
2.
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Money and Wealth in Proverbs
Here is a short overview of money in wealth as addressed in Proverbs. I hope this is interesting and helpful. YHWH is the Hebrew name of God (read it Lord). I wrote this a couple of years ago while in seminary.
Wealth and Money
When reading through Proverbs there are numerous verses discussing the issues of money and wealth. To begin to get an understanding one should know the Hebrew words behind the English translation. The Hebrew word for money is kasaph which can also be translated silver. The most common word used for wealth is chayiel, which can also be translated riches or possessions. There are other Hebrew words that pertain but for brevity sake these are the two most common. As with all of the Hebrew language these terms are fluid and translated in a variety of ways, which also reflects the various ways wealth is viewed by the sages of Proverbs. [1]
Wealth is truly the epitome of the allegorical double-edged sword. Some passages affirm that it is good and others warn against the dangers of it. Essentially, there are two types of wealth according to the sage. There is good wealth, which must still be handled with caution, and then there is evil wealth, which has been acquired by wicked means. The sage Agur provides the model verse for wealth in Proverbs 30:8b-9. He states, “Give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with the food that I need or I shall be full, and deny you, and say, ‘Who is the LORD?’ or I shall be poor, and steal and profane the name of my God” (NRSV).
Wealth is one place where middle of the road seems to be the safest place to be. With that said, wealth is looked upon favorably when achieved with good means and through godly character. The Master Card commercials capture the essence of wealth as described in Proverbs. Wealth can purchase many things and provide for many things but it cannot obtain the most important things in life: love, fellowship, and wisdom. Basically, wealth should not be despised but it should not be coveted.
There are definite benefits to having wealth. Wealth results in honor and power. People are more likely to listen to you if you have money. People will give you respect when you have money. You will be able to accomplish things with money. People who have wealth are more likely to have a lot of friends. Wealth ensures that you will not starve. People in poverty will be unable to achieve these things. Wealth gives security but it does not save a person from death. Wealth can provide many things but it is not a replacement for God. True wealth is actually provided by YHWH.
One of the paradoxes of Proverbs and wealth is that while wealth is a blessing from God you cannot pursue wealth. When a person sets out to pursue wealth, they will fail to obtain it. They may obtain many riches but they will not find the true wealth of God. True wealth is a combination of worldly goods and godly wisdom. Wealth must be obtained through hard work and integrity. Only the person who walks in righteousness and seeks wisdom will find true wealth. The sage advises us to chase after wisdom and righteousness. Only then will wealth and possessions not be a curse. When a person walks in wisdom and righteousness wealth will be a reward for their faithfulness. Acquiring wealth at the cost of others, especially the poor, is utterly wicked and vile. It is better to be poor yourself than to steal wealth from others.
In summary, wealth is a result of and a reward for faithful living. A person who seeks wisdom and walks with integrity will find true wealth. True wealth cannot be measured by worldly goods but rather by the richness of relationships, the honor given by others, and by intimacy with YHWH. Pursuit of worldly wealth will result in deceitful behavior, disgrace, and ruin. Money and possessions are to be seen as a blessing from God. If we forget that they are from God, we may forget who our God is. Therefore, seek wisdom and a fear of the LORD above all else and wealth will find you.
[1] From several searches using Gramcord Bible Companion and The New Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, I was able to find the subjects of wealth and money in the following passages of Proverbs. The list is an attempt to be as complete as possible. Proverbs 5:10; 7:20; 8:10, 18, 21; 10:2-5, 15; 11:2-8, 28; 12:27; 13:7-11, 22; 14: 24; 15:7-8; 18:11; 19:4, 14; 28:8.
When reading through Proverbs there are numerous verses discussing the issues of money and wealth. To begin to get an understanding one should know the Hebrew words behind the English translation. The Hebrew word for money is kasaph which can also be translated silver. The most common word used for wealth is chayiel, which can also be translated riches or possessions. There are other Hebrew words that pertain but for brevity sake these are the two most common. As with all of the Hebrew language these terms are fluid and translated in a variety of ways, which also reflects the various ways wealth is viewed by the sages of Proverbs. [1]
Wealth is truly the epitome of the allegorical double-edged sword. Some passages affirm that it is good and others warn against the dangers of it. Essentially, there are two types of wealth according to the sage. There is good wealth, which must still be handled with caution, and then there is evil wealth, which has been acquired by wicked means. The sage Agur provides the model verse for wealth in Proverbs 30:8b-9. He states, “Give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with the food that I need or I shall be full, and deny you, and say, ‘Who is the LORD?’ or I shall be poor, and steal and profane the name of my God” (NRSV).
Wealth is one place where middle of the road seems to be the safest place to be. With that said, wealth is looked upon favorably when achieved with good means and through godly character. The Master Card commercials capture the essence of wealth as described in Proverbs. Wealth can purchase many things and provide for many things but it cannot obtain the most important things in life: love, fellowship, and wisdom. Basically, wealth should not be despised but it should not be coveted.
There are definite benefits to having wealth. Wealth results in honor and power. People are more likely to listen to you if you have money. People will give you respect when you have money. You will be able to accomplish things with money. People who have wealth are more likely to have a lot of friends. Wealth ensures that you will not starve. People in poverty will be unable to achieve these things. Wealth gives security but it does not save a person from death. Wealth can provide many things but it is not a replacement for God. True wealth is actually provided by YHWH.
One of the paradoxes of Proverbs and wealth is that while wealth is a blessing from God you cannot pursue wealth. When a person sets out to pursue wealth, they will fail to obtain it. They may obtain many riches but they will not find the true wealth of God. True wealth is a combination of worldly goods and godly wisdom. Wealth must be obtained through hard work and integrity. Only the person who walks in righteousness and seeks wisdom will find true wealth. The sage advises us to chase after wisdom and righteousness. Only then will wealth and possessions not be a curse. When a person walks in wisdom and righteousness wealth will be a reward for their faithfulness. Acquiring wealth at the cost of others, especially the poor, is utterly wicked and vile. It is better to be poor yourself than to steal wealth from others.
In summary, wealth is a result of and a reward for faithful living. A person who seeks wisdom and walks with integrity will find true wealth. True wealth cannot be measured by worldly goods but rather by the richness of relationships, the honor given by others, and by intimacy with YHWH. Pursuit of worldly wealth will result in deceitful behavior, disgrace, and ruin. Money and possessions are to be seen as a blessing from God. If we forget that they are from God, we may forget who our God is. Therefore, seek wisdom and a fear of the LORD above all else and wealth will find you.
[1] From several searches using Gramcord Bible Companion and The New Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, I was able to find the subjects of wealth and money in the following passages of Proverbs. The list is an attempt to be as complete as possible. Proverbs 5:10; 7:20; 8:10, 18, 21; 10:2-5, 15; 11:2-8, 28; 12:27; 13:7-11, 22; 14: 24; 15:7-8; 18:11; 19:4, 14; 28:8.
Bibliography
Bruce K. Waltke, The book of Proverbs Chapters 1-15. The New International Commentary on the Old Testament. Grand Rapids, MI; Eerdmans, 2004.
Perdue, Leo G. Proverbs. Interpretation: A Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching. Louisville: John Knox Press, 2000.
Bruce K. Waltke, The book of Proverbs Chapters 1-15. The New International Commentary on the Old Testament. Grand Rapids, MI; Eerdmans, 2004.
Perdue, Leo G. Proverbs. Interpretation: A Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching. Louisville: John Knox Press, 2000.
Enough
We started our new finance series called "Enough: discovering joy through simplicity and generosity." The first sermon didn't get recorded so I'm posting the text here. This series is from Rev. Adam Hamilton.
“When Dreams Become Nightmares”
Brimfield Faith UMC
November 1, 2009
Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith, and pierced themselves with many griefs. (1 Timothy 6:10b, NIV)
The lover of money will not be satisfied with money; nor the lover of wealth, with gain. This also is vanity. (Ecclesiastes 5:10)
For what will it profit them if they gain the whole world but forfeit their life? Or what will they give in return for their life? (Matthew 16:26)
** Show video clip The Economic Crisis
INTRO: The American Dream
I don’t know if you saw in the news this week or not, but economists have declared that the recession is over. The Vice President even got up this week to tell the American public that the bailout plan is working. I sort of chuckled at the fact that we need to be told these things. Shouldn’t we know if the recession is over? Of course, the recession being over simply means that overall spending in the country is up. It doesn’t mean that the average American is back at work. In fact, the unemployment rate continues to hover around 10% in the country and especially in this region.
I don’t need to tell you this but finances is a sticky issue in Northeast Ohio. We have been experiencing recession for a number of years. Many of you find yourselves in tight financial positions either unemployed or underemployed. For this reason, we are going to spend the next several weeks talking about issues of finance and stewardship both for the individual and for the church.
The series is called, “Enough: discovering joy through simplicity and generosity.” It is a campaign from The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection and Rev. Adam Hamilton. My expectation is that over the next four weeks you will gain some valuable information and that if you are willing to put it into action you will benefit greatly from it. I believe this because we have often been given false messages by the culture. After all…
What Characterizes the Greatest Hopes, Desires, and Dreams of Most Americans?
For most people, the American Dream has to do with a subconscious desire for achieving success and satisfying the desire for material possessions. It is the opportunity to pursue more than what we have, to gain more than what we have, and to meet success. We tend to measure our success by the stuff that we possess.
The Pursuit of Immediate Material Pleasure
The love of money and the things money can buy is a primary or secondary motive behind most of what we Americans do. We want to consume, acquire, and buy our way to happiness—and we want it now.
Let’s watch a short video talking about the economic crisis.
THE REALITY: The American Nightmare
The American Dream has become an American Nightmare due to two distinct yet related illnesses that impact us both socially and spiritually. The first illness is:
#1. Affluenza: is the constant need for more and bigger and better stuff—as well as the effect that this need has on us. It is the desire to acquire, and most of us have been infected by this virus to some degree.
· The average American home went from 1,660 square feet in 1973 to 2,400 square feet in 2004.
· Today there is estimated to be 1.9 billion square feet of self-storage space in America.
#2. Credit-itis: is an illness that is brought on by the opportunity to buy now and pay later, and it feeds on our desire for instant gratification. Our economy today is built on the concept of credit-itis. Unfortunately, it has exploited our lack of self-discipline and allowed us to feed our affluenza, wreaking havoc in our personal and national finances.
· Average credit card debt in America in 1990 was around $3,000. Today it’s over $9,000.
· The average sale is around 125 percent higher if we use a credit card than if we pay cash, because it doesn’t feel real when we use plastic instead of cash.
· Credit-itis is not limited to purchases made with credit cards; it extends to car loans, mortgages, and other loans. The life of the average car loan and home mortgage continues to increase, while the average American’s savings rate continues to decline.
THE SPIRITUAL PROBLEM: The Deeper Problem Within
These illnesses are really just the symptoms of a greater and deeper problem. The problem goes beyond our spending and saving habits. It goes beyond our ability to budget successfully. It goes beyond our greed, self-sufficiency, and pride. It is a spiritual issue.
#1. Spiritual Issue Beneath the Surface of Affluenza and Credit-itis.
Our souls were created in the image of God, but they have been distorted. We were meant to desire God, but we have turned that desire toward possessions. We were meant to find our security in God, but we find it in amassing wealth. We were meant to love people, but instead we compete with them. We were meant to enjoy the simple pleasures of life, but we busy ourselves with pursuing money and things. We were meant to be generous and to share with those in need, but we selfishly hoard our resources for ourselves. There is a sin nature within us.
#2. The Devil Plays Upon This Sin Nature.
Jesus said, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly” (John 10:10). The devil doesn’t need to tempt us to do drugs or to steal or to have an extramarital affair in order to destroy us. All he needs to do is convince us to keep pursuing the American Dream—to keep up with the Joneses, borrow against our futures, enjoy more than we can afford, and indulge ourselves. By doing that, he will rob us of joy, make us slaves, and keep us from doing God’s will.
Matthew 4:8-10 (Satan tempts Jesus with the world)
Luke 8:14 (Parable of the sower: the word of God withers because of the riches and pleasures of life)
Mark 8:36 “For what will it profit them to gain the whole world and forfeit their life?
1 Timothy 6:10 “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, and in their eagerness to be rich some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many
While these passages very clearly warn us about the dangers of money, notice money in itself is not the problem. It is the lies that we believe about money that creates the problem. It is our belief and trust in money that creates the problem. Interestingly enough, our cash currency reminds us of this reality with the words, “In God We Trust.” Don’t trust in the Almighty dollar because it will fail you every single time. And so instead of heeding the advice, we use plastic credit cards that don’t remind us of the allures of money. Our sin nature takes control and leads us astray.
THE BIBLE’S SOLUTION
Thankfully, this condition of the human heart is not a new one. People for thousands of years have attempted to find lasting joy through material possessions. God knows our shortcomings and suggests some significant solutions.
#1. We Need a Heart Change
Although we receive a changed heart when we accept Christ, in a sense we need a heart change every morning. Each morning we should get down on our knees and say, “Lord, help me to be the person you want me to be today. Take away the desires that shouldn’t be there, and help me be single-minded in my focus and my pursuit of you.” As we do this, God comes and cleanses us from the inside out, purifying our hearts.
#2. We Must Allow Christ to Work in Us
Christ works in us as we seek first his kingdom and strive to do his will. As this happens, we begin to sense a higher calling—a calling to simplicity and faithfulness and generosity. We begin to look at ways we can make a difference with our time and talents and resources. By pursuing good financial practices, we free ourselves from debt so that we are able to be in mission to the world. A key part of finding financial and spiritual freedom is found in simplicity and in exercising restraint. With the help of God, we can:
· simplify our lives and silence the voices constantly telling us we need more
· live counter-culturally by living below, not above, our means
· build into our budgets the money to buy with cash instead of credit
· build into our budgets what we need to be able to live generously and faithfully
Money and possession are not bad in themselves. In fact, John Wesley told us “Earn all you can. Save all you can. And give all you can.” Over the next few weeks, I expect us to benefit from the wisdom of God concerning our finances and begin to discover joy through simplicity and generosity. After all, Jesus came to give us life and life abundant. Let’s pray.
“When Dreams Become Nightmares”
Brimfield Faith UMC
November 1, 2009
Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith, and pierced themselves with many griefs. (1 Timothy 6:10b, NIV)
The lover of money will not be satisfied with money; nor the lover of wealth, with gain. This also is vanity. (Ecclesiastes 5:10)
For what will it profit them if they gain the whole world but forfeit their life? Or what will they give in return for their life? (Matthew 16:26)
** Show video clip The Economic Crisis
INTRO: The American Dream
I don’t know if you saw in the news this week or not, but economists have declared that the recession is over. The Vice President even got up this week to tell the American public that the bailout plan is working. I sort of chuckled at the fact that we need to be told these things. Shouldn’t we know if the recession is over? Of course, the recession being over simply means that overall spending in the country is up. It doesn’t mean that the average American is back at work. In fact, the unemployment rate continues to hover around 10% in the country and especially in this region.
I don’t need to tell you this but finances is a sticky issue in Northeast Ohio. We have been experiencing recession for a number of years. Many of you find yourselves in tight financial positions either unemployed or underemployed. For this reason, we are going to spend the next several weeks talking about issues of finance and stewardship both for the individual and for the church.
The series is called, “Enough: discovering joy through simplicity and generosity.” It is a campaign from The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection and Rev. Adam Hamilton. My expectation is that over the next four weeks you will gain some valuable information and that if you are willing to put it into action you will benefit greatly from it. I believe this because we have often been given false messages by the culture. After all…
What Characterizes the Greatest Hopes, Desires, and Dreams of Most Americans?
For most people, the American Dream has to do with a subconscious desire for achieving success and satisfying the desire for material possessions. It is the opportunity to pursue more than what we have, to gain more than what we have, and to meet success. We tend to measure our success by the stuff that we possess.
The Pursuit of Immediate Material Pleasure
The love of money and the things money can buy is a primary or secondary motive behind most of what we Americans do. We want to consume, acquire, and buy our way to happiness—and we want it now.
Let’s watch a short video talking about the economic crisis.
THE REALITY: The American Nightmare
The American Dream has become an American Nightmare due to two distinct yet related illnesses that impact us both socially and spiritually. The first illness is:
#1. Affluenza: is the constant need for more and bigger and better stuff—as well as the effect that this need has on us. It is the desire to acquire, and most of us have been infected by this virus to some degree.
· The average American home went from 1,660 square feet in 1973 to 2,400 square feet in 2004.
· Today there is estimated to be 1.9 billion square feet of self-storage space in America.
#2. Credit-itis: is an illness that is brought on by the opportunity to buy now and pay later, and it feeds on our desire for instant gratification. Our economy today is built on the concept of credit-itis. Unfortunately, it has exploited our lack of self-discipline and allowed us to feed our affluenza, wreaking havoc in our personal and national finances.
· Average credit card debt in America in 1990 was around $3,000. Today it’s over $9,000.
· The average sale is around 125 percent higher if we use a credit card than if we pay cash, because it doesn’t feel real when we use plastic instead of cash.
· Credit-itis is not limited to purchases made with credit cards; it extends to car loans, mortgages, and other loans. The life of the average car loan and home mortgage continues to increase, while the average American’s savings rate continues to decline.
THE SPIRITUAL PROBLEM: The Deeper Problem Within
These illnesses are really just the symptoms of a greater and deeper problem. The problem goes beyond our spending and saving habits. It goes beyond our ability to budget successfully. It goes beyond our greed, self-sufficiency, and pride. It is a spiritual issue.
#1. Spiritual Issue Beneath the Surface of Affluenza and Credit-itis.
Our souls were created in the image of God, but they have been distorted. We were meant to desire God, but we have turned that desire toward possessions. We were meant to find our security in God, but we find it in amassing wealth. We were meant to love people, but instead we compete with them. We were meant to enjoy the simple pleasures of life, but we busy ourselves with pursuing money and things. We were meant to be generous and to share with those in need, but we selfishly hoard our resources for ourselves. There is a sin nature within us.
#2. The Devil Plays Upon This Sin Nature.
Jesus said, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly” (John 10:10). The devil doesn’t need to tempt us to do drugs or to steal or to have an extramarital affair in order to destroy us. All he needs to do is convince us to keep pursuing the American Dream—to keep up with the Joneses, borrow against our futures, enjoy more than we can afford, and indulge ourselves. By doing that, he will rob us of joy, make us slaves, and keep us from doing God’s will.
Matthew 4:8-10 (Satan tempts Jesus with the world)
Luke 8:14 (Parable of the sower: the word of God withers because of the riches and pleasures of life)
Mark 8:36 “For what will it profit them to gain the whole world and forfeit their life?
1 Timothy 6:10 “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, and in their eagerness to be rich some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many
While these passages very clearly warn us about the dangers of money, notice money in itself is not the problem. It is the lies that we believe about money that creates the problem. It is our belief and trust in money that creates the problem. Interestingly enough, our cash currency reminds us of this reality with the words, “In God We Trust.” Don’t trust in the Almighty dollar because it will fail you every single time. And so instead of heeding the advice, we use plastic credit cards that don’t remind us of the allures of money. Our sin nature takes control and leads us astray.
THE BIBLE’S SOLUTION
Thankfully, this condition of the human heart is not a new one. People for thousands of years have attempted to find lasting joy through material possessions. God knows our shortcomings and suggests some significant solutions.
#1. We Need a Heart Change
Although we receive a changed heart when we accept Christ, in a sense we need a heart change every morning. Each morning we should get down on our knees and say, “Lord, help me to be the person you want me to be today. Take away the desires that shouldn’t be there, and help me be single-minded in my focus and my pursuit of you.” As we do this, God comes and cleanses us from the inside out, purifying our hearts.
#2. We Must Allow Christ to Work in Us
Christ works in us as we seek first his kingdom and strive to do his will. As this happens, we begin to sense a higher calling—a calling to simplicity and faithfulness and generosity. We begin to look at ways we can make a difference with our time and talents and resources. By pursuing good financial practices, we free ourselves from debt so that we are able to be in mission to the world. A key part of finding financial and spiritual freedom is found in simplicity and in exercising restraint. With the help of God, we can:
· simplify our lives and silence the voices constantly telling us we need more
· live counter-culturally by living below, not above, our means
· build into our budgets the money to buy with cash instead of credit
· build into our budgets what we need to be able to live generously and faithfully
Money and possession are not bad in themselves. In fact, John Wesley told us “Earn all you can. Save all you can. And give all you can.” Over the next few weeks, I expect us to benefit from the wisdom of God concerning our finances and begin to discover joy through simplicity and generosity. After all, Jesus came to give us life and life abundant. Let’s pray.
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