Sermons About Riches
Declaration of (in) Dependence Part 25
Coping with problems ultimately comes down to our perspective. Granted, if someone has no hope in Jesus Christ and their only hope rests in their own strengths and abilities, despair seems pretty appropriate. But knowing the promises of God and the fulfillment of those promises in Jesus Christ, despair for the believer is a matter of perspective. With Christ, all things are possible. With Christ, all hope is gone. When we lose that perspective (all hope because of Christ), we fall into despair – a state in which many people are living in at this moment. Francis Chan in his book “Crazy/Love” does a good job of helping us find that perspective. Imagine that you are an extra in a movie. There is a crowded scene where you stand with about a hundred other folks, and once your day day of shooting is done, the back of your head accounts for about 2 seconds of screen time. Now, this is not a huge debut for your movie career, but the back of your head makes 2 seconds of screen time among another 100 folks, so I guess you are in showbiz. So in light of your debut, you rent out a local movie theater and invite all of your friends and family. You tell them that they are invited to see the movie made about your life. Of course everyone shows up excited, but once they realize that the back of your head makes up about two seconds of screen time and you have billed the movie as the movie of your life, they all think your crazy. Obviously your perspective is skewed at the least and you are crazy at the worst. Unfortunately, as Chan notes, this perspective most of us take before God. In the grand scheme of God’s work and the unfurling of His plan and character, we make up about 2 seconds of head time, yet we yell and scream that this world and this life is about us. We shake our fists and God and yell, “How dare you do this!” We yell, “Why have you done this to me? I’ve been faithful.” Most folks lose perspective that this world is the unfurling of God’s eternal plan to bring glory to Himself and not to cater to our whims. The hope though in the midst of that is that God is pledged Himself to you in love so much so that He gave His only son, Jesus Christ, so that you might be with Him both now and in eternity. So in light of that, our perspective should change. Yes, God cares about you and is about your well-being, but it is His plan at work, it is His glory, and His movie if you will. Finding our selves in it instead of trying to make God fit into ours corrects our perspective. When it comes down to it, God is only going to meet His expectations and not going to conform to yours, mine, or anyone else’s. The question is, can you worship that God? Big Picture Question: How is a God who meets His own expectations more worthy of praise than a god that meets your expectations?
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Stewardship
In the west we are rich and need to give generously. We should be syetematic in giving, give of our first fruits not what is left.
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You Can't Take It With You
In His love, God forgives you and me for putting our confidence in the money and possessions that have been entrusted to our care, freeing us from their weight, making it possible for us to follow Christ as His people.
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Poverty and Riches
Proverbs 30:7-9 is a prayer for contentment for neither poverty or riches, but just enough to meet daily needs. There is a danger in being rich (forgetting God and becoming arrogant) and a danger in being poor (stealing to meet your needs). The Bible says a lot about poverty; we need to care for those who are poor and learn from them (they tend to be humble) The Bible also has a lot to say about the rich. Christ followers who are rich need to be humble and hope in God and enjoy their money with thankfulness (1 Timothy 6:17-19).
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Relationship Over Possession
Jesus is teaching a large crowd and is interrupted by a man who wants Jesus to settle an issue for him, to make his brother give him his share of an inheritance. We might want to think this parable doesn't really have anything to do with us, but when we see it as a story of a man, not seeking justice, but with a clenched fist demanding that God give him what he wants and claiming that life isn't fair if he doesn't, it begins to become a familiar theme that we all struggle with on a regular basis.
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The Riches of His Grace
Paul's letter to the Ephesians makes known t he riches of God's grace in Jesus, the Beloved. Of infinitely greater value than any earthly treasure, the riches of God's amazing love, mercy, and forgiveness are freely given through faith in Jesus. This is not something which can be earned or merited; nor is it something which we deserve. The riches of God's grace are given to us as a gift through the cleansing blood of Jesus. Rather than hoarding this incredible treasure and keeping it all to ourselves, our calling is to share with others what we ourselves have received so they too will be blessed with the riches of God's grace in Christ Jesus.
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