Dethroning King Mammon
Notes
Transcript
Over the last few weeks we have been talking about harvest and vision and what 2026 will look like.
In the first week of January, we began a season of dedicating our firstfruits to God.
As a church we have begun our first project of the year and taken on a new monthly missions pledge as our institutional firstfruits.
Both of those things are us giving to God what is first in the year.
We could have started with lights or chairs or an internal remodel, but we chose to give the time and resources back to God in firstfruits fashion, doing something for the community with no direct benefit for us.
As we round out this first month of the year, we will be talking about dedicating our first to God in ways you might not have thought about.
I would pose this challenge to you that if you will participate in these words from this month and not just listen, but put them to action, you will see that the realignment of these three areas do something drastic in us…
Aligning the three areas we are talking about strip down the excuses and break down the walls that keep our own preferences on the throne of our heart and return God to His rightful place there.
In fact, I would go so far as to say there are three idols that every believer must contend with and dethrone from their heart and allow God to reign in their life.
Those three idols are Appetite, Busyness, and Mammon.
For the month of January, we dedicated the first of the year to put God first and in so doing, dethrone the three idol kings that would take His place on the throne of our hearts.
We have dedicated time to dethroning King Appetite by reminding ourselves of our need for God’s voice and His word in fasting…
We have militantly attacked the throne of King Busyness through prioritizing prayer…
And this week we are focusing on dethroning the third King: King Mammon.
Here’s what I know: God has been preparing us for what is to come in the near future.
In fact, the movement has already begun, the momentum has already started to build…
In our pursuit of God’s plan to grow disciples that make disciples, it is imperative that we teach what the bible teaches, live how Jesus lived, and operate as God would have us to operate.
I am always careful to speak where the bible speaks and be silent where the bible is silent.
This is one of those topics that many preachers avoid and others weaponize…
It has been misused, abused, and manipulated to be something it is not for the benefit of wolves in sheep’s clothing, who look only to gain from the giving of the flock.
It is unfortunate that this topic has become so controversial, as it is a basic tenant of the faith in the early church…
And the act of giving is the only effective method to dethrone King Mammon and see Jesus prioritized in our finances.
It is less about dollars and more about paradigm…
When it comes to this idea of generosity and giving, I could present a theological prose on the development of the tithe before the Law with Abraham and Melchizadec…
I could tell you about the promises of God to open the windows of heaven in Malachi…
I could preach that He will rebuke the devourer for your sake…
I could share the wisdom of Solomon, when he said Proverbs 3:9–10 “9 Honor the Lord from your wealth And from the first of all your produce; 10 So your barns will be filled with plenty And your vats will overflow with new wine.”
But this morning I want to look to the teaching of Jesus to His disciples, because we grow disciples in here that embody Jesus out there…
If we are to embody Jesus, we must know what He teaches and He said…
38 “Give, and it will be given to you. They will pour into your lap a good measure—pressed down, shaken together, and running over. For by your standard of measure it will be measured to you in return.”
This isn’t an Old Testament, out of context promise for someone else…
This is a promise to believers from Jesus…
Give and it shall be given unto you. By the same measure…
By the same measure…
Take it or leave it, this is a promise from Jesus…
Paul reiterates this when he tells the church at Corinth:
6 Now this I say, he who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.
7 Each one must do just as he has purposed in his heart, not grudgingly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.
8 And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that always having all sufficiency in everything, you may have an abundance for every good deed;
In other words, don’t just do it because I’m telling you what the bible says about it..
First you need to have an encounter with God and allow Him to deal with you and you can decide whether your response will be that of breaking the back of King Mammon or submitting to his rule and rejecting the teachings of scripture.
We like to recite verse 6, but the sowing and reaping cannot be disconnected from the paradigm in verse 7…
We should give, but we must do it out of our passion for Him and His mission, not begrudgingly…
But if we can get our perspective right and see this for what it is…
Our giving declares, God is able!
He’s able to provide for me!
He’s able to make grace abound…
He’s able to make sure you have all sufficiency in everything you need…
He’s able to cause an abundance to come to you for every good deed..
He’s able!
It’s a perspective shift…
It’s a release of control…
It’s relying on God to be who He said He would be rather than trying to do His job for Him…
We do what we can and leave the rest to Him…
But so often we get into this mode where we reduce or generosity to tipping rather than giving…
As a man and his family drove home after church, he was complaining about everything. He said, “The music was too loud. The sermon was too long. The church announcements were unclear. The building was hot. The people were unfriendly.” He went on and on, complaining about virtually everything. Finally, his son said, “Dad, you’ve got to admit it wasn’t a bad show for just a dollar.”
The question you have to ask yourself is are you cultivating generosity or occasionally tipping…
When we go to the restaurant we tip 20%… 25 if they are good… But we cap our giving to God at 10%…
Tipping…
It reminds me of a story in Mark 12:41-44
41 And He sat down opposite the treasury, and began observing how the people were putting money into the treasury; and many rich people were putting in large sums.
42 A poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which amount to a cent.
43 Calling His disciples to Him, He said to them, “Truly I say to you, this poor widow put in more than all the contributors to the treasury;
44 for they all put in out of their surplus, but she, out of her poverty, put in all she owned, all she had to live on.”
The rich were putting in from their surplus… Tipping.
But the widow took what Jesus calls, “All she owned, all she had to live on.” And gave it back to God…
But when Jesus saw the widow woman give these two coins that Mark says amount to about a single cent, He stops everything and honors her with His attention…
He teaches His disciples and makes a point based on these two little coins… Because it’s not about the number of dollar signs… it’s about the position of your heart…
That’s why Jesus said…
21 for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
For some of you, this is the first time you’ve considered or been challenged to give back to God.
For others of you, you may be a faithful giver of a comfortable amount that you never miss when it comes out of your account…
But it wasn’t those who gave from surplus that Jesus recognized, it as the one who gave everything…
And this was what set the stage for the pattern of generosity of the early church in Acts 4 where they would sell their lands and possessions in order to make sure all the needs were met.
Here’s what I know about giving…
Giving Reveals Your Source
Giving Reveals Your Source
As believers, we don’t give because we are rich.. We don’t give because we have an abundance…
We give because it’s all His anyway.. The earth is His and the fullness thereof….
When we give, we are admitting that God is our source…
If our job is our source, and we lose our job, then the outcome is hopeless…
If our investments are our source and the market crashes, then the future is bleak…
If our own strength or strategy is our source then when we reach the end of ourselves, we find out we were lacking all along…
24 “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.
You give to what you love…
You support what you believe…
Our giving reveals our source…
He is either provider or He is not… Who is he to you?
If money is your source, king mammon reigns on the throne of your heart, but if God is your source, it changes your perspective on giving…
I’m simply teaching what Jesus taught, so we can be the disciples He called us to be…
I believe we can only succeed as believers, as a church, and as disciples if we follow the teachings of Jesus…
People get so caught up on the tithe and 10%, but I’ll be honest, I think 10% is a cop out…
Zaccheus gave half of everything, plus 4x what he extorted…
The rich young ruler was called to give everything…
The widow woman gave all she had to live on…
Those in the early church were selling their properties and possessions to give…
Let me say it this way: If you’re looking for a standard in the tithe that you can just figure into your budget and not have to think about it again, you have missed the point of Jesus’ teachings…
He will speak to you about what you’re supposed to give, but I know this, when God asks you to give, it will be enough to remind you that He is your provider…
Our giving reveals our source and it dethrones the hold of King Mammon on our heart…
I believe this not only on an individual level, but also as a church, which is why we support missions the way we do and give to special projects at the district level the way we do…
I am of the belief that the scripture we read in Luke 6:38
38 “Give, and it will be given to you. They will pour into your lap a good measure—pressed down, shaken together, and running over. For by your standard of measure it will be measured to you in return.”
and the one in 2 Cor. 9:6
6 Now this I say, he who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.
I believe these are not only true, but they are a promise and if we will give to support what God is already doing, He will bless us in our efforts in what we are doing at The Shed as well…
Call Worship Team
So as we wrap up our month of first fruits and begin the next phase of our Harvest in 2026, I want to ask you this question:
Will you commit the firstfruits of this year of harvest to God with me?
Will you put Matt. 6:33 into action today with your giving?
33 “But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
Let’s act on our faith and put Him first in our giving.
We are going to pass these buckets around and give you the opportunity to give a firstfruits offering to God as we begin the year, believing that the harvest that has already begun will be more than enough…
I’m going to pray, they will come around with the buckets while the worship team sings a couple songs, then we are going to break early and join together in the fellowship hall for our Meet’n’Eat.
We will begin with communion, then eat together.
