Grace's Economy
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Grace’s Economy
Grace’s Economy
Welcome back
I hope all had a good week
Last week we talked through 3 disciplines and the heart motivations behind them:
Giving, Praying, Fasting
All is to be done in a way that points us and others to God
This week we continue to walk through how living lives marked by Grace is fleshed out.
But first,
What is your most prized possession?
How long will it last?
How important is it to you?
The man and his money story-
Is having stuff and wealth wrong?
26 For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul?
It is not the having that’s an issue
What do we do and how do we view our stuff
The world asks, 'What does a man own?' Christ asks, 'How does he use it?' - Andrew Murray
This is the question that must be answered
This is what we will walk through today
Let’s pray
Eternal Investments
19 “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, 20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.
What will I take into eternity?
Only two things go with us into eternity : People and His Word
Heaven and earth pass away......
The point of this life is preparation for the world to come
Why do they call ruins ruins?
Divided Loyalty
21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
Materialism will enslave the heart, mind, and will
Heart - what we love most we will worship
Mind - what we focus on will fill our thoughts
22 “The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light, 23 but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!
Focus on the things above
1 If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.
Will - can’t serve both
24 “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.
Placing other things in front of God, trying to fill ourselves with things outside of God - leads to anxiety and worry
Focusing on God
Identify the distractions
25 “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?
Acknowledge the source
26 Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27 And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? 28 And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, 29 yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30 But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?
Focus on the kingdom
33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
You are where you are, living, working, for the Kingdom’s sake
Grace’s Economy
Grace’s Economy
3 things in this passage that will make all the difference
Faith - who or what are you trusting
Father - we have a Father that knows our needs and wants
First - when we place God first in our lives - everything else falls into place
It is not easy
“Faith never knows where it is being led, but it loves and knows the One who is leading.” - Oswald Chambers
Questions or comments
Next week: Matthew 7
Let’s pray
