Kingdom Treasure

Subtitle: When the King Rules the Heart, Treasure Follows

Phrase of the Day: Where the King rules, generosity flows.

Introduction:

As we head into the holiday season, Americans are about to spend real money—research shows the average person will spend roughly $900 on gifts, food, decorations, and seasonal items. That’s not households—that’s per person.

I was watching the news and they said we set a new record for Thanksgiving and Black Friday spending of 18.2 billion dollars.

And none of us blink at it, because this time of year has a way of loosening our grip on our wallets. We’ll spend freely on the people and moments we value. It’s a simple reminder that money always follows the heart. And as we’ve seen the last few weeks, when Jesus rules your time and your talent, your whole life starts to align with His Kingdom—and today we see how that same rule extends to your kingdom treasure. Because long before Christmas shopping became a thing, Jesus told us something far deeper about treasure—something that goes all the way to the throne of the heart.

Luke 12:34 ESV

34 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

Opening Illustration (True Story):

In 1855, a young missionary named Anthony Norris Groves left England for the Middle East. What made Groves different was not just where he went but what he left behind. He was a successful dentist with a strong income, but when he sensed God calling him, he sold nearly everything he owned—not because he despised money, but because he refused to allow money to master him.

Groves famously wrote, “I will not allow God’s work to depend on my treasure, but on God Himself.” His life became a testimony that where the King rules, generosity flows.

Phrase of the Day:

Where the King rules, generosity flows.

Romans 8:32 ESV

32 He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?

Road Map for Today:

Jesus defines kingdom treasure in three movements.

Here’s where we’re going:

Kingdom Treasure Reveals the Master We Serve

Kingdom Treasure Begins with Firstfruits Honor

Kingdom Treasure Fuels Kingdom Mission

Let’s walk through Jesus’ words, the Potter’s Clay mindset, and what it means to give the King our first and best.

Point 1: KINGDOM TREASURE REVEALS THE MASTER WE SERVE

Matthew 6:19–21, 24 (ESV)

Matthew 6:19–21 ESV

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. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Matthew 6:24 ESV

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.

Treasure Exposes Trust

Jesus could not be clearer: Your treasure follows your heart, and your heart follows your treasure.

Treasure exposes where you run for security.

Treasure exposes what you’re most afraid to lose.

Treasure exposes the master you trust.

In Potter’s Clay language:

Old Thinking: “Money solves my problems.”

New Thinking: “God is the source and supplier of my needs.”

Money Makes a Terrible Master

Jesus calls money a master because it demands allegiance.

It demands loyalty. (Money is relative and there’s never enough)

It demands fear. (What if something happens)

It demands control. (It demands your time and talent)

But money can’t protect you from betrayal, sickness, death, or eternity.

Money is a tool, not a god.

A servant, not a savior.

Only Jesus can carry the weight we often shift onto money.

Illustration (True Story):

John Wesley kept meticulous records of his finances. In his early ministry, he lived on 28 pounds ($10K) a year and gave the rest away. As his income grew over the years—first to 60 pounds, then 90, then over 1,400 ($500k) pounds a year—he still lived on 28 pounds ($10K) and gave the rest away.

He said, “I have nothing I consider my own. Everything is for the Kingdom.”

His treasure revealed his master.

APPLICATION (Personal):

What does your spending say about your spiritual life?

What does your giving reveal about your trust?

Is money a tool, or has it quietly become the master?

APPLICATION (Reliant Outposts – Moderate):

As a church, we are building Outposts to reach our neighbors and multiply disciples.

These Outposts reflect Kingdom mission—but they also reveal our collective heart.

When the King rules a church, generosity flows toward Kingdom work.

Point 2: KINGDOM TREASURE BEGINS WITH FIRSTFRUITS HONOR

Proverbs 3:9–10 ESV

9 Honor the Lord with your wealth and with the firstfruits of all your produce; 10 then your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will be bursting with wine.

Firstfruits Is About Honor, Not Money

From Genesis forward, God established firstfruits.

Not leftovers.

Instead of putting your name on the line, put God’s name on the line.

Not convenience. (God’s not looking for a tip, but Honor)

Not “if I have enough.” (Money is relative, you never have enough).

Firstfruits means the first and best.

It is not about amounts—it is about allegiance.

It is not about funding a system—it is about honoring a King.

This is the Potter’s Clay Mind Shift:

Old thinking: “I give to God so He will bless me.”

New thinking: “I honor God with my firstfruits because He has blessed me.”

Tithing Is God’s Design for Kingdom Funding

It’s not about equal giving, but equal sacrifice.

God requires 10% from everyone. Rich and poor.

In my experience the rich find loop holes to give less and the poor give more than 10%

Abraham practiced it.

Israel practiced it.

The early church practiced radical generosity.

The New Testament affirms it.

Tithing is not about paying God—it’s about placing God first.

Tithing is placing the god of money into subjection to the King of Kings. Tithing is the only place God says, “Test me.”

Malachi 3:10 ESV

10 Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And thereby put me to thΩ test, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need.

The promise isn’t, “Give and get rich.”

It’s this: Honor God first, and He blesses the rest.

Not always financially, but always faithfully.

Sometimes you don’t need more money you need peace that passes all understanding

Sometimes you need wisdom and direction for your life.

Sometimes you need protection from the wicked one.

Sometimes you need salvation and forgiveness from sin.

Illustration (Historical):

In early America, before salary structures, church members brought literal firstfruits—grain, livestock, produce—to the church to support the pastors and the ministry.

Everyone gave something.

Everyone embraced responsibility.

Everyone honored the King.

APPLICATION (Personal):

Firstfruits is not about wealth but worship.

Tithing is not about the church’s need but your heart’s freedom.

Honor God first. Blessing follows.

APPLICATION (Reliant Outposts – Moderate):

When our church honors God first, we position ourselves for God’s provision.

We’re not building Outposts by pressure or manipulation—we are honoring God and trusting Him to bless the rest.

Point 3: KINGDOM TREASURE FUELS KINGDOM MISSION

Acts 2:44–47 (ESV)

Acts 2:44–47 ESV

44 And all who believed were together and had all things in common. 45 And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. 46 And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, 47 praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.

Kingdom People Use Treasure as a Tool

The early church did not give because they were pressured.

They gave because they were united around a mission.

Their hearts were captured by Jesus, so their treasure followed Him.

“Where the King rules, generosity flows.”

Kingdom Treasure Builds a Future You Cannot See Yet

The early church didn’t know the churches they would plant.

They didn’t know the nations they would reach.

They didn’t know the generations they would influence.

Their giving shaped a Kingdom future.

So does ours.

Illustration — Sherwood Baptist Church

In the late 1950s, Sherwood Baptist Church in Albany, Georgia, was a fairly typical Southern Baptist congregation. Good people. Faithful people. Not wealthy. Not large. Just a church trying to honor God in their community. Throughout the decades that followed, they did what faithful churches have always done: they gave sacrificially, invested in ministry, and supported pastors and missionaries far beyond their size.

What they didn’t know—what they couldn’t know—is how God would one day use their steady, consistent generosity to shape a global movement.

Fast forward to the early 2000s. Sherwood called a young pastor named Michael Catt, who cast a bold vision: “Our church is going to reach the world from Albany, Georgia.”

Nobody could see how.

It was a small city.

Ordinary people.

Ordinary means.

But the people of Sherwood had already built decades of trust in God’s provision. They had practiced faithful giving. They had honored God with their firstfruits year after year. So when God opened the door for a small church media ministry—led by Alex and Stephen Kendrick—to create a low-budget Christian film, the church didn’t see it as a burden. They saw it as a Kingdom investment.

They prayed.

They funded it.

They served as extras.

They cooked meals for the cast.

They gave their time and treasure with joy.

That little film—Flywheel—was the beginning.

Then Facing the Giants.

Then Fireproof.

Then Courageous.

Then War Room, which hit #1 at the box office.

And here’s the part that still floors me: Every one of those films was funded by a local church that simply chose to obey God with what they had.

Sherwood didn’t have millions.

They didn’t have Hollywood backing.

They just had a people who honored God first—and God blessed the rest.

Today, the ripple effects of that church’s obedience—missions giving, church planting, salvations, marriages restored, prayer movements launched—span the world. Their treasure built a Kingdom impact far beyond anything they imagined.

And it all started with the simple truth we’re talking about today:

Where the King rules, generosity flows.

And here’s what makes this even more meaningful for us as a church: this past summer, I had the privilege of leading a Training Map for the pastors at Sherwood to help them equip their residents for new kingdom works. Their heart to keep sending church planters hasn’t slowed down. Decades after God used them to reach the world through a small media ministry, they’re still investing their treasure to advance the Kingdom. They’re still raising up leaders. They’re still planting new works. And I stood there with those pastors and thought, This is exactly the kind of church we want to be. Faithful. Generous. Kingdom-minded. Trusting God with their firstfruits so He can bless the rest.

APPLICATION (Personal):

Your treasure writes the future of your discipleship.

What you give today shapes who you become tomorrow.

APPLICATION (Reliant Outposts – Moderate):

The Outposts are not buildings; they’re platforms for mission.

They’re our way of doing what Acts 2 did—creating space for worship, discipleship, community, and mission.

Your generosity shapes the next generation of faith near Dallas and West Paulding.

CONCLUSION PARAGRAPH

Jesus’ teaching leads us through a progression:

Treasure reveals the master.

Firstfruits honors the Master.

Generosity fuels the mission of the Master.

The Potter’s Clay lesson reminds us:

The Lord gives me all I need to accomplish His work.

When Jesus is King of your treasure, He is King of your heart. And when He rules your heart, generosity flows from your life into His Kingdom. Honor Him with your first and best, and trust Him to bless the rest.

NEXT STEPS (D × V × F)

1. Dissatisfaction

Where have you trusted money more than God?

Where is money creeping toward mastery?

2. Vision

What could your life look like if Jesus ruled your treasure?

How would peace, confidence, and joy increase?

3. First Step

Begin honoring God with your firstfruits.

Practice first, not leftovers.

Give consistently.

Give joyfully.

Give as worship.

Expanded Invitation

Before we close today, I want to speak to two groups of people in the room.

1. For those who do not yet know Jesus as King.

You’ve heard a message about treasure, but the starting point of the Christian life is not giving God your money. It’s giving Him yourself. The greatest treasure exchange in history happened at the cross, where Jesus gave His life for yours. He took your sin, your shame, your rebellion, your debt—and He offers you forgiveness, cleansing, and eternal life.

You cannot buy God’s love.

You cannot earn His grace.

You cannot clean yourself up enough to deserve Him.

But you can receive Him.

The Bible says, “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, so that you by His poverty might become rich.” Jesus laid down everything so you could be brought into God’s family.

If you’ve never placed your faith in Christ, the King is inviting you today:

Come.

Lay down your sin.

Trust Him as Savior.

Surrender to Him as King.

He will save you, forgive you, and make you new.

If that’s you, I want to invite you—right where you are—to call on Him. Tell Him, “Jesus, save me. I trust You as Lord. I surrender my life to You.”

2. For the believer who needs to return to Jesus as King.

Many believers love Jesus sincerely, but when it comes to trust, worry, finances, and treasure, life gets divided. A part of the heart stays off-limits.

Today is a moment to come back under the King’s rule.

Maybe you’ve been anxious about money.

Maybe you’ve been holding tightly to what God asked you to release.

Maybe treasure has drifted toward the wrong places.

Maybe fear has taken the driver’s seat.

You don’t need to be condemned—you need to be real with God.

Return to firstfruits.

Return to trust.

Return to the joy of generosity.

Return to the freedom of knowing that God owns it all and you belong to Him.

And if you want to lay that before God today, this altar is open.

Kneel, pray, ask Him for courage, ask Him for clarity, ask Him for obedience.

As we respond today, don’t miss the heartbeat of this message:

(Time for People to Respond)

Pastor Bill’s last words after the time of response:

Where the King rules, generosity flows.

If He rules your heart, He will lead your treasure.

If He leads your treasure, He will shape your future.

If He shapes your future, your life becomes part of His Kingdom story.