Investing in God’s Treasury Fund

Introduction (5m)

A confession: I’m not sure I wanted to announce this series!

We don’t like to talk about investing, especially money - but time and talents too.

Why? Money - we’re British! It’s not the done thing. Law - finding out from each other what you were earning was frowned upon.

Sometimes, taught badly. Heard sermons on tithing, on giving more money, time, talents, to the church, and not much else. There is a danger we can feel manipulated.

I’ve seen giving modelled really badly - from local officers who allowed the plate to pass them by every week (in the days before STOs and online giving) to those posters we used to have of thermometers where a nanometer of red pen would be added every six months to show progress!

I am also too willing to say your no for you. I anticipate reluctance, resistant, misunderstanding, and embarrassment.

In fact, reminded of officer who announced one week that next Sunday would be preaching on stewardship and giving to the church, only to discover when the day came that half his congregation had felt “led by the Spirit” to visit their sick aunt!

Jesus makes it clear that money gets at the heart like nothing else does

That’s why, however, awkward it is, we do have to talk about it. I do have to preach about it.

If we’re honest much of our awkwardness comes from defensiveness. We don’t want to talk about money, because we don’t want anyone to tell us what to do with it - not our friends, not the preacher, and not even God.

But over the next few weeks, we are going to press through the awkwardness and explore five key ways to invest in eternal impact, spiritual growth, and global mission.

At the end of this series, I’m inviting you to a Business and Administration meeting after our corps lunch on 9 February, where will look at the state of the corps - our rolls, our finances, and our mission.

Jesus talks about our relationship with money a lot!

Mentions money more often than prayer and faith. More than heaven and hell. More than 40 percent. of his parables and teaching on the Kingdom of God are about money.

This morning, just one example:

Bible Reading

MESSAGE NOTES

Matthew 6:19-24

Matthew 6:19–24 NLT

“Don’t store up treasures here on earth, where moths eat them and rust destroys them, and where thieves break in and steal. Store your treasures in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal. Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be. “Your eye is like a lamp that provides light for your body. When your eye is healthy, your whole body is filled with light. But when your eye is unhealthy, your whole body is filled with darkness. And if the light you think you have is actually darkness, how deep that darkness is! “No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other; you will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and be enslaved to money.

Explanation (5m)

Jesus encourages us to use our money for the Kingdom of God

Matthew 6:20 NLT

Store your treasures in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal.

Jesus says you should use your money.

That is how the Bible teaches about money.

That it should be used not loved.

The Bible doesn't say that money is bad.

It is not wrong to have money.

Nowhere does Jesus condemn all wealth.

Nowhere in the Bible does it say Christians should not own private property.

The Bible does not prohibit saving for a rainy day.

In fact, that is encouraged.

But the Bible does say that the love of money is bad

Selfish accumulation of goods is wrong.

Money is a tool.

It's a tool that God gives you to help fulfil your purposes in this life.

And that's exactly how it should be used.

Money has a great potential for good if you use it the way God intended.

Jesus says it's okay to store up treasures for yourselves

But that treasure must be stored up financially in eternity.

How do you do this?

By using your money for God's purposes for your life.

1 Timothy 6:18–19 LBP

Tell them to use their money to do good. They should be rich in good works and should give happily to those in need, always being ready to share with others whatever God has given them. By doing this they will be storing up real treasure for themselves in heaven—it is the only safe investment for eternity! And they will be living a fruitful Christian life down here as well.

Jesus’ command is not just for the rich

Now you may be sitting there thinking, "Well, clearly this message is for rich people, not for someone of limited means, like me".

The problem with that thinking is that the Greek word for "treasures" is an inclusive term.

Whilst it refers to money, it is not confined to money.

What Jesus had in mind were people who get their entire satisfaction from things that belong to this world only.

Jesus warns us against focusing our ambitions, interests and hopes on the things of this life.

A home can be a sinful treasure if all your time and energy is spent dreaming of chairs and sofas, the right furniture, the colours of the wall, the carpets, everything you do not have.

Even family can be a treasure if you put it before everything else. This can become a form of narcissism and selfishness. It excludes our neighbours and our community, for example.

A CD collection, a position of responsibility at work, a memory can all become an earthly treasure if you become fixated on it.

Jesus was talking to the poor

Not only that but Jesus was talking to a crowd, the majority of whom would have been peasants.

They would have been living hand to mouth, eking out a living from the Galilean countryside.

What they were able to grow would have been their food supply until the next harvest, or feed for their work animals, or seed for next year's crops, perhaps with enough to sell or barter for other necessities.

They would have been required to pay any surplus as taxation to both the Jewish rulers and their Roman occupiers.

Matthew 6:21 NLT

Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be.

This has a universal application to both rich and poor.

Application (5m)

So, how can we store our treasures in heaven?

By using our money to further God's purposes in our lives. In other words, by investing in God’s Treasury Fund.

How?

Give to make God happy

You and I can give God nothing that he needs.

God doesn't need your money.

But when you give an offering to God, you're saying, in a very practical way, "God, I love you".

Your offering tells God that you are thinking of him.

Your offering says to God, I'm making you my first priority in life.

When you give back to God some of what he has given you, it makes God smile.

He doesn't need it.

But he smiles because you are telling him you love him.

Put your money where your heart is

Where is your heart?

The answer is, it's wherever you're putting your money.

Your treasure may be in your home.

It might be in your car.

It might be your family.

It might be your hobby.

Even if I did not know you very well, I could tell you where your heart is.

Because your heart is wherever your treasure is.

Our consumer society constantly tells us life at its best is about having more and more possessions and pleasures.

Now, as Christians, we know this is not true.

But this worldview is so strong that many of us end up trying to balance between what the Bible teaches and what the TV adverts tell us, between the spiritual riches God offers us in Christ and the worldly treasures that cannot feed our souls.

Many sincere Christians still have idolatry in their hearts in relation to money because they trust more in their jobs or bank accounts than they do in the Lord. (Rick Joyner, Christian speaker and author)

So, you may tell me that God's Kingdom is your first priority, but regardless of this, the way you spend your time and your money actually shows what's really important to you.

That’s why, in all his passion:

The love of money is the root of all evil. It is a dangerous passion. It is a consuming fire. It is a whirlpool that draws men down to destruction... It destroys the soul. It makes men hard-hearted and cruel. It leads them to sin, and it makes them unfit for heaven. (General William Booth)

If you want to know what's important to me, all you've got to do is look at two things: my calendar and my bank statement

The same is true for you.

Whatever you say is important, how you spend your time and the way you spend your money shows what is really important to you.

Your calendar and your bank balance can both show the contrast between "treasures here on earth" and "treasures in heaven.”

The "heart" represents the core of your being, the real inner person, the source that defines your spiritual, emotional and psychological life.

What you value is driven by the nature of your heart.

So, where do you want your hearts to be?

I hope your answer is, "I want my heart to be with God".

If it is, then you need to put your treasure in God.

Give to your family

1 Corinthians 16:2 LBP

On every Lord’s Day each of you should put aside something from what you have earned during the week, and use it for this offering. The amount depends on how much the Lord has helped you earn. Don’t wait until I get there and then try to collect it all at once.

If you value this Corps, your spiritual family, if your heart is fully here, then Paul says you must put aside something from your earnings during the week and give it in our offering.

Worship giving is given when and where you worship.

You give the first part of your money on the first day of the week and say, "God, you’re first in my life".

Notice that Paul says, "put aside something".

That means you plan it.

You have to think through what you're going to give.

Worship giving is not spontaneous giving.

It's not whatever's in the bottom of your purse or wallet, or whatever change you happen to have on a Sunday morning.

It's thought through.

That’s why a little later this year, we will have the opportunity to take part in or renew our participation in Generous Discipleship - a chance to plan the time, talents, and treasure we will give to God through our Corps family.

Where your treasure is, your heart is.

If we invest in God’s Treasury Fund through this corps, then this corps will continue to fulfil its mission

Island of Kos.

Home of Hippocrates, the father of modern medicine.

Here you can find the Tree of Hippocrates, an olive tree, supposedly dating from his time.

If this is true, then this tree is some 2,400 years old.

The trunk of the tree is very large but completely hollow.

The tree is little more than thick bark.

There are a few long, straggling branches, but they are supported by sturdy wooden poles every few feet.

It has an occasional leaf here and there and might produce a few olives each year.

But In the fields around are olive groves in every direction.

The strong, healthy, young trees with narrow trunks are covered with a thick canopy of leaves, under which masses of olives can be found each year.

The tree of Hippocrates can still be called an olive tree by nature, in that it still shows the essential unique characteristics, but it has long since ceased to fulfil an olive tree’s function.

Tourists file up to inspect this ancient relic, having some link to a dim history, but the job of the olive tree passed long ago to many successions of replanted trees.

Let’s not allow Maidenhead Corps to become like the Tree of Hippocrates.

Let’s not be the form of The Salvation Army, but cease to function like The Salvation Army.

Let’s ensure, through our giving, that we do not stop reproducing and just become satisfied being the size we are, or having a noble history.

Giving is not a duty, it's a privilege. It's an opportunity to share in God's work and see lives transformed. (General Brian Peddle)

Where do you want your treasure to be?

So let me ask you this morning: where do you want your treasure to be?

The thing is, it's your choice.

God doesn't force you to do anything with your money or possessions.

You can blow them all on yourself.

You can spend all of your money on your own comfort.

But I can promise you, that if you invest it in heaven every day of your life, then you're going to get to enjoy it for eternity.

Not only that, but if you store up treasures in heaven, your total being will be there too.

Your entire self will be intertwined with the treasures of heaven.

And your heart will be in the right place.

Next Steps

HH 52 / SOF1 493 - Seek ye first the Kingdom of God

1 Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you. Allelu, alleluia. 2 Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. Allelu, alleluia. 3 Ask and it shall be given unto you, seek and ye shall find; knock and the door shall be opened up to you. Allelu, alleluia. Karen Lafferty (born 1948) © 1972 CCCM Music/Maranatha! Music/Adm. by Song Solutions CopyCare, 14 Horsted Square, Uckfield, East Sussex, TN22 1QG, UK.  [e-mail]  Used by permission. 8 5 11 and alleluias Used By Permission. CCL Licence No. 135015 Copied from HymnQuest: Copyright Licence Users' Edition HymnQuest ID: 60685 CCLI#: 1352