Sermon Tone Analysis
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Today we are starting a new series called “Money Talks”.
When you think of that phrase, “Money Talks,” you think about people that have lots of money can use money to get what they want.
We live in a world where they tell you that those you have money can do what they want.
If you want something you go make money so you can buy it.
If you want fame, you make money.
If you want nice things, you make money.
We spend most of our life chasing after the things that we think will make us happy.
But the question that I want to answer over the next few weeks is what does God say about money.
Did you know that Jesus talks about money in the Gospels more than any other topic?
So, how do we apply what the scripture says to our everyday life?
This series we are going to look at what the Bible says about earning, spending, saving and giving.
Today we begin this series my talking about earning.
How many of you can remember the times that your small child came up to you can uttered the words, “chase me daddy” or “chase me mommy.”
And you proceed to run after your child as they try to get away from you.
They take off giggling.
Or how many of you remember watching your children play with their friends and they play the game chase.
The object was to keep pursuing the other person until you caught them.
The children would play until they wore themselves out.
The worlds view of money offers the same invitation.
Money says to you, “chase me!
Chase me!”, but when we think we’re about to catch it, so close to a win, money changes direction and we’re forced to start again, chasing and chasing, continually in pursuit.
Even when we think we are about to catch it, there’s always more to chase when it comes to money.
All too soon we get winded and start experiencing “the rat race of life.”
That game is never fun.
It’s like a rat race always spinning in circles.
Sure it’s possibly fun at first, but that fun soon fades.
God invites you to a better way of working.
A way where you earn money through purposeful work, through serving God, rather than chasing money.
Both ways, the relentless chase and the purposeful service, involve work; but the pace is different, the pursuit is different, and ultimately the posture of the heart is different.
Both ways result in income, but God’s way doesn’t come at the expense of all of the people and things most important in your life.
So, the question I want to ask you today is...
Do you want your money to say, “chase me!”?
Or do you want to teach it to recite a different script?
If you have your bibles with you this morning, go with me to the book of 1 Timothy, chapter 6.
This is the first of two letters that Paul would write to his young protege.
Timothy was pastoring the church at Ephesus and Paul gives Timothy instructions on what the people of Ephesus should be aware of.
Go to verse 3.
When we think of money, we must understand that it is neutral and when we do work it is a good thing.
However, today’s consumer culture wants you to always chase money so you can spend, spend, spend.
If we allow this culture to rule our life, then money can become an idol, something that we chase and devote all our time and energy to winning.
This kind of idolatry leads people to becoming workaholics.
It can result in gambling addictions for those who want to get rich quickly.
And it can lead to us putting our value and worth in how much money we have rather than in God.
That is why Paul issues the warning here in our text.
If we had time today to look throughout all of the scriptures that the bible speaks about money and wealth and earning and saving and giving, we would get an honest look at stewardship and how God wants us to handle money.
But we don’t have time to cover all of it in one sermon.
We won’t even be able to cover it in the four sermons of this series.
But we can start somewhere and today we are starting with earning.
To begin, look at what Paul writes to Thessalonica about earning money.
Scripture tells us that we should earn a living.
We should work for the food that we eat.
The financial motto of John Wesley, the found of Methodism, was “earn all you can, save all you can, give all you can.”
That is some pretty good advice.
We should all put that to use.
My question to you is “What is God calling you to do?”
With the thought of earning all we can and with what scripture tells us, I want to give you 4 thoughts when it comes to earning money.
Thought #1 - Earn All You Can, But Don’t Forsake Your Calling
What is God calling you to day?
What exactly does it mean to work for the Lord?
Some people think that it means you have to go into full time ministry or part time ministry or have a leadership position in the church.
God does call some people to be career ministers, but not all of us.
Some people are called to the job that God has planted them in.
Right where you are is your calling.
And where you are may be your calling for a season.
And just because God has placed you there now, doesn’t mean that is where He is going to keep you.
When I stepped out of full time ministry for seven years, God was able to use me to help different churches in areas that those churches were not able to hire someone full time.
He used me during that season in my life.
British author C.S. Lewis, famous for his incredible children’s fiction series The Chronicles of Narnia, was given a platform with Christians and non-Christians alike when he wrote about a certain lion, witch, and wardrobe.
Originally published from 1950 to 1956 in London, the collection is now considered a children’s literature classic with over 100 million copies sold in 47 languages.
by far Lewis’s best-selling work, it has provided a platform for his Christian apologetics books such as Mere Christianity.
His excellence in the literary craft then gave him more credibility when he shared the Gospel.
You may not always understand why God has placed you in the place you are, but while you are there do it with all you have unto the Lord
God has you there in that place to earn money as well.
Don’t let it take away your calling.
Thought #2 - Earn All You Can, But Don’t Pay More Than It’s Worth.
As you are earning all the money you can, you need to remember that as you are earning money, don’t let it be at the expence of your life or health.
Always remember that there are more important things in this life than money.
One of those things is your physical and mental health.
There are jobs out there that will take a toll on your health, including ministry jobs.
Some people can handle certain jobs and some people can’t.
There may be times when you need to make a career change.
There is a growing pandemic in American called workaholism.
If you allow it to your job can take your health away.
The thrill of making money, the excitement of closing a deal, the feeling of being needed; each of these factors can fill a need for worth that is unhealthy emotionally, spiritually, physically and relationally.
And it is simply not worth it.
Earning more at the expense of our life, family, health, Sabbath, and relationship with God is all in vain.
Even God rested.
We need to be at a point in our life where we can say, “God, I trust you with all that I have and all that I am, and I know you will take care of everything else.”
Thought #3 - Earn All You Can, But Not At the Expense of Your Neighbor.
When was confronted by a lawyer about what was the greatest commandment.
He knew there were over 600 laws and he was trying to trick Jesus.
Look at what Jesus told him in Matthew 22.
Jesus told us that loving our neighbor was right there with loving God.
That also extends to how you treat your neighbor through your work.
There is no way that we can experience the fullness of God through rugged individualism and selfishness.
Money can all too quickly become a point of tension and impede our relationships with others.
Look at what God tells Israel in dealing with their eastern neighbors.
Your neighbor is not just the person who lives next door.
This term applies to anyone you encounter.
That means in every situation we are not to cheat and never take advantage of or rip someone off for personal gain.
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