A Wealth of Wisdom

Sermon Series

Part 3 of 4

INTRODUCTION:

BASIC OUTLINE

Message Overview

Alternate Titles: Being Wise with My Money

Length: 35-40 minutes.

Big Idea:

Activity: Committed and Spendable categories

Call to Action: Register for the Make Space Small Group

BASIC OUTLINE

To Be Wise with Money, I Will…

1. Make a Plan

Good planning and hard work lead to prosperity, but hasty shortcuts lead to poverty. (NLT)

2. Save for the Tomorrow

The wise man saves for the future, but the foolish man spends whatever he gets. (TLB)

3. Give to God

Honor the Lord with your wealth and with the best part of everything you produce. 10 Then he will fill your barns with grain, and your vats will overflow with good wine. (NLT)

INTRODUCTION:

<<GROUP POLL: Financial Mistakes>>

How many of us here have regretted a financial decision?

How many of us have ever done something dumb with our money? or maybe the dumb thing is what we haven’t done with our money.

How many of us have ever done something dumb with our money?

Now, look around. That's pretty much everybody.

I can recall sometime around the end of 2010 being on my computer and seeing an advertisement for Bitcoin: $1 US dollar for one Bitcoin. What’s bitcoin? It is the pioneer to cryptocurrency--it is supposedly the money of the future. Digital, decentralized—no government involved, currency in which to invest. In 2010, being a computer geek, I barely heard about it but I knew that almost no business in the WORLD accepted any form of cryptocurrency, and that only two types of people used cryptocurrency then. One group was a handful of computer geeks predicting it would take off, and the other group much more sinister: online dark web black market traders looking to sell drugs, weapons, and even child slaves. These evil people could not be traced (as easily) using bitcoin. So, as I sat at my computer looking at this advertisement for Bitcoin: $1 US dollar for one Bitcoin, I thought to myself, I don’t think this will take off as a good investment, and I’m thinking that the F.B.I. might start spying on me for just the conspicuous nature of purchasing Bitcoin. Plus, for all I knew, that advertisement might be some spammer’s pop-up click bait. Needless to say, I didn’t buy it, but I did watch it occasionally throughout the years. At the beginning of 2013, Bitcoin got to 1 Bitcoin for $13.30 USD, so not a bad choice for those who took the offer back in 2010. Things happened in 2013 and some world businesses did start to accept Bitcoin as a form of payment. So, by December 4th it hit a staggering 1 Bitcoin for $1,200.00 USD, making some computer geeks who bought hundreds back in 2011 instantly rich, but it started to fall and continued to fall for a couple years to a low of 1 Bitcoin for $309 USD. But this was not the end of Bitcoin. In 2015 and 2016, it became even stronger until February 2017, Bitcoin broke its 2013 record of $1,200, surpassing for the first time the price of one Troy ounce of gold. In late November 28, 2017 it crossed the $10,000 mark and less than 24 hours later it was trading above $11,000. The price kept surging in December and hit an all-time high of $19,783 but the bubble burst and deflated to February of this year at $3,887. As of a couple days ago, Bitcoin trades for USD $5,646.07 per one Bitcoin.

If you didn't raise your hand, you're either too young or you're just lying at church. (We'll have to cover lying in church some other Sunday.)

Today Bitcoin trades for USD $5,646.07 per one Bitcoin

Did I make a mistake? If I spent $1 back in 2011, even with all that volatility, I would still be $5,600 better off today—not a bad investment.

WE'VE ALL MADE MONEY MISTAKES

The simple fact is that pretty much everyone has made many financial mistakes in their lives.

Nobody here, to my knowledge, is batting a thousand when it comes to money.

But for some reason, it seems everyone's hesitant to fess up.

The truth is that we could all benefit from some solid financial wisdom. In fact, wisdom is more valuable that actual finances.

In fact, wisdom is more valuable that actual finances.

I am not here this morning to sell you Bitcoin, but the Bible actually has quite a bit to say about money and its proper place.

Proverbs 16:16 ESV

How much better to get wisdom than gold! To get understanding is to be chosen rather than silver.

We all know that gold and silver are valuable, because they are tangible. We can see the difference between having riches and not having riches.

We all know that gold and silver are valuable, because they are tangible.

We can see the difference between having riches and not having riches.

It is harder to see the benefits of wisdom, quite literally! Wisdom isn’t a tangible thing. We can’t see it or smell it. We can’t buy wisdom—we can buy knowledge, but not wisdom.

Wisdom isn’t a tangible thing. We can’t see it or smell it. We can’t buy wisdom—we can buy knowledge, but not wisdom.

And yet, we're told here that when it comes to valuable things, it's far better - much better - to have wisdom than other types of wealth.

WHY is WISDOM BETTER?

Wisdom is a combination of knowledge and understanding.

It’s not just knowing something; it’s understanding how to use that knowledge.

Wisdom is important in all areas of our lives. In the Hebrew, wisdom can be translated as “life-skill.”

When we seek to not only learn about something, but truly understand it, that is when we can act in wisdom.

Think about an important relationship in your life. You met them, and then you got to know them, and then you came to understand them, right? Think about how much richer your relationship is because you invested that time and effort and with that relationship, now you can act in wisdom.

Our finances are no different - it requires time and effort to not only know how to manage our money wisely, but to understand the benefits.

That is why having wisdom is actually more important than having riches. If you have wisdom, you'll use what He has given you in a better way.

If you have wisdom, you'll use what He has given you in a better way.

Wisdom will help us leverage every financial blessing in your life for the better, and help us be in control of our finances, and not the other way around.

We NEED FINANCIAL WISDOM

We often don’t think of money as being a very spiritual topic. Some of us may even think that if we are going to avoid that trap of “loving money” then we need to ignore it as much as possible.

However the opposite can actually be true: Avoiding things can give them power.

Have you ever avoided doing something that you believe will be unpleasant? Maybe it’s postponing calling your family because you know you have some bad news to share. Maybe it’s something you’ve been dreading, like pulling weeds, or a needed confrontation, or a sin issue you know you have but you ignore it. Does avoiding it help any? No, of course not. The only thing that actually makes us stop dreading it is to do it, to face it. When we stop ignoring the things we perceive as unpleasant, they actually lose a great deal of power over our minds and emotions. We’ve all heard the saying “face our fears” - well that applies not only to the things that might truly scare us, but to the things that may just scare us a little. Like money.

When we look at scripture, we see that God does not ignore money. In fact, the opposite is true.

God actually has a lot to say about how money should fit into our lives.

He wants us to understand it. He wants us to use what He teaches us to be wise with our money.

He wants us to use what he teaches us to be wise with our money.

That starts by learning and increasing our knowledge, by renewing our thinking through scripture:

Romans 12:2 ESV

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

That renewing of our mind, learning and understanding what God has given us, is what will help guide us to make wiser choices, in our lives and our finances.

TODAY, WE'RE GOING TO TALK ABOUT THREE WISE FINANCIAL HABITS

We're going to be seeking God's wisdom about money.

And, whenever you need a jolt of wisdom from God, one of the best places to start is the book of Proverbs in the Bible.

So we're going to be learning a lot from the book of Proverbs today.

Proverbs 3:9 ESV

Honor the Lord with your wealth and with the firstfruits of all your produce;

To Be Wise with Money is Honoring the LORD.

As we talked about last week, there are a lot of reasons why we spend our money unwisely.

To Be Wise with Money is Honoring the LORD. So first we...

The impulse to spend when we don’t really need to is a hard one to break.

We talked about understanding how much we really need and how to be content with that.

This week we’re going to take that idea one step further.

Transition:

So first we...

1. MAKE A PLAN

If we're going to ever be wise with our money, we need to start by actually controlling where our money goes by planning.

The impulse to spend when we don’t really need to is a hard one to break.

We talked about understanding how much we really need and how to be content with that.

This week we’re going to take that idea one step further.

If we're going to ever be wise with our money, we need to start by actually controlling where our money goes.

(TEV)

Proverbs 21:5 ESV

The plans of the diligent lead surely to abundance, but everyone who is hasty comes only to poverty.

WHY PLANNING IS A KEY PART OF GOD’S PLAN

WHY PLANNING IS A KEY PART OF GOD’S PLAN

The first idea is that of planning. Simply put, we cannot ignore our finances. We need to plan.

Let’s take a minute to remind ourselves why this matters.

<<ACTIVITY - WHAT HOLDS US BACK?>>

What is one or two things that you’ve always dreamed about in your life but haven’t yet accomplished?

Write it down on the back of your bulletins on the notes section.

Picture that dream for a moment & write it down on the back of your bulletins on the notes section.

Now think about this - What is stopping you from doing it? What is holding you back? What do you need before you can begin to make that dream a reality?

For many of us, we let money be a stumbling block. We think, when I have more money I will be able to see that place I’ve always dreamed of, or go on that mission trip, or write that book.

While we don’t want money to be the answer to all our problems, as we talked about last week, we also don’t want it to be the barrier to what we are called to do.

YHWH likely has given you the desire behind these dreams for a reason, and we want to be good stewards to fulfill that God-given desire.

Now, not every dream we have is something that God has given us. We need to think about if those dreams and desires are indeed in line with the character of YHWH, we pray about them, and make sure they are in agreement with scripture—This is indeed biblical!:

We need to think about those dreams and desires, pray about them, and make sure they are in alignment with what God wants:

Proverbs 16:3 ESV

Commit your work to the Lord, and your plans will be established.

Like we talked about in the first sermon of this series, we need to trust in God. Commit your desires to Him, and trust He will guide you.

But that doesn’t mean we just sit back! Proverbs also has a few things to say about that:

Proverbs 16:9 ESV

The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps.

There is a balance here. Commit to YHWH your desires, and listen for where He calls you. And then take action and make a plan, trusting that He will guide you.

In other words, take the work God is calling you to, and turn them into goals you can achieve, having faith that God’s purpose will be evident.

REMOVING TEMPTATION

Now, most of us know what good financial practices are, but somehow it is hard to focus on that knowledge when presented with opportunities to make less than wise choices.

How can we set ourselves up for success?

Here is one way - remove the temptation to spend more than we should by physically keeping that money apart.

So what if we get proactive? What if we set ourselves up for success, so that keeping watch over the finances that God has entrusted to us is not something we want to ignore but something that fills us with joy.

LET’S GET TACTICAL

Everyone is has a different relationship with money, as we discussed a couple weeks ago.

Some of us are very comfortable with our money, some of us are not. Some of us have more than enough, and yet others are struggling.

Some of us have more than enough and others are struggling.

One of the simplest ways to get started is to think about our money in terms of what we use it for.

All of our money should fit into one of the following categories:

Committed – This is the money that you already know is spoken for before you spend anything. It’s the mortgage, it’s subscriptions, it’s utilities, it’s your offering, it’s savings for things big and small. By putting it in its own account, you can spend what’s left without having to constantly recalculate what is truly available to spend. And thanks to things like autopay, you can also avoid fees on payments.

Spendable – Having an account that is just for money that is available to spend on day to day expenses removes so much of the stress from money decisions.

ONE SPENDABLE NUMBER

This one simple number clears away so much of fear & stress that accompanies thinking about how much money is really there.

With that stress gone, there is so much more clarity around what our true financial state is.

With that stress gone, there is so much more clarity around what our true financial state is.

With that stress gone, there is so much more clarity around what our true financial state is.

Maybe that spendable number isn’t as big as you would like it to be - well that can lead us to really think and pray about where else our money is committed and make some wiser decisions.

What a wonderful opportunity to seek God’s will on where He would like us to give.

When you build a plan with intentionality and purpose, and then get things down to just one number to manage every month, it’s incredibly freeing.

TRANSITION:

So, our first step towards financial wisdom is planning carefully and steering our money where it should go. The next principle is another big step in the right direction. It's...

2. SAVE FOR TOMORROW

Going back to the passage again, Look at this next verse with me.

Proverbs 21:20 ESV

Precious treasure and oil are in a wise man’s dwelling, but a foolish man devours it.

The wise man saves for the future, but the foolish man spends whatever he gets.

yet...

Simply put, Americans in general aren't savers.

In fact, according to Forbes magazine, 63% of Americans don't even have enough in savings to cover a $500 emergency.

It's not news that Americans are terrible savers. Years ago Pew Charitable Trusts reported that one in three American families have no savings at all.

SAVING MONEY IS HARD

Saving is hard. Why is that?

For some people there simply isn’t enough money coming in. But for most, the money is there, but it burns a hole

When we find ourselves in that situation, it can be easy to feel like there is no way to change it.

It’s important to remember that even with our 1 talent, God wants us to have faith in him, and to manage it to the best of our abilities.

Finding a way to think about either increasing our income through side-jobs, reducing our expenses, or even asking for help are all ways we can actively trust God and take control of our finances at the stage we are at.

For a lot of us though, we simply don’t know where to start. We lack the knowledge and understanding of how to save, which means we can’t act wisely.

Look for easy and effective tools. Find reputable sources of financial information.

Make learning about finances a priority, even if it isn’t something we are excited about.

Look for easy and effective tools. Find reputable sources of financial information.

Find reputable sources of financial information.

THE SAVING MINDSET

Whenever you save money, you're saying, "I'm thinking about the future and I don't know what the future might hold for me."

You're preparing for unexpected things. You're putting some money in reserve for unforeseen problems, or even opportunities.

You are doing your future a favor by thinking about what those future needs may be.

It's not a lack of faith in God, it's trusting Him enough to listen to what He's saying to us in this verse which is, "Be wise and save."

SAVE FOR THE FUTURE

Most of the time, when we spend everything or more than everything, we're not really thinking about that future. We're not thinking biblically.

In Genesis 41, God revealed to Joseph that Egypt was going to experience a significant famine.

Genesis 41:34–36 ESV

Let Pharaoh proceed to appoint overseers over the land and take one-fifth of the produce of the land of Egypt during the seven plentiful years. And let them gather all the food of these good years that are coming and store up grain under the authority of Pharaoh for food in the cities, and let them keep it. That food shall be a reserve for the land against the seven years of famine that are to occur in the land of Egypt, so that the land may not perish through the famine.”

In this passage, God revealed to Joseph that Egypt was going to experience a significant famine. The availability of food was going to be scarce, and, if they didn’t plan for this event—save up, the people of Egypt would starve.

Most bad financial decisions are always made thinking only about the short term.

To turn this around, we've got to start asking ourselves questions like, "How will I feel about this decision in 5 or 10 years?"

That will help to bring wisdom into our financial decisions.

THE DEBT TRAP

<<STATISTIC: WE SPEND MORE THAN WE MAKE>>

Not only are we bad savers but we're spenders, big spenders. Did you know that the average American spends 103% of their annual income.

Did you know that the average American spends 103% of their annual income.

We’re spending more than we’re making by going into debt. Our conventional institutions like banks are not set up to give us good guidance.

We’re spending more than we’re making by going into debt. Our conventional institutions like banks are not set up to give us good guidance.

Our conventional institutions like banks are not set up to give us good guidance.

They offer us loans and credit lines they know we can’t really afford, and they sure don’t give us the wisdom to manage them well.

The Bible has a lot to say about the dangers of borrowing and spending more than we have.

ESV

Proverbs 22:7 ESV

The rich rules over the poor, and the borrower is the slave of the lender.

I think any of us that are still paying off student loans can attest to this one.

God wants us to be wise in our spending, and that means saving up for big purchases when we can, borrowing only when we have to, and paying off our debts as quickly as we can.

When we pay off our debts, not only are we following biblical wisdom, we are also setting ourselves up for a great deal of financial freedom from the word’s conventional financial wisdom.

That freedom and surplus allows us to use our money for the things God wants us to spend money on.

Now, one of the ways to stop chasing the carrot is to put money in the proper perspective in our lives.

That's why I'm so excited about the Make Space small group we've got coming up in just a couple of weeks.

This small group is going to help us all get a better handle on our finances and along the way we'll also learn how to keep money from driving our lives.

Be sure to sign up for that today.

(Give details on how to sign up.)

TRANSITION:

So, we know a big part of being wise financially is telling our money where to go and keeping some in savings. That brings us to the most important principle. It's...

3. GIVE TO GOD

Honor the Lord with your wealth and with the best part of everything you produce.10 Then he will fill your barns with grain, and your vats will overflow with good wine. (NLT)

Proverbs 3:9–10 ESV

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

FULL BARNS AND FULL VATS OF WINE!

Now, perhaps you don't have wine vats but obviously, this means that big blessings come as you put YHWH first in your finances.

Obviously, this means that big blessings would come your way if you put God first in your finances.

For us today we should read that as full joy and even full kitchen cupboards, with plenty to share.

So, how do we act on this promise? What do we need to do?

FIRST AND BEST

We are to honor Him in a way that He wants and makes sense given all He has done for us and that means giving Him our first and best in everything, including our finances.

The verse says that we should honor YHWH by giving Him our first and best. Not leftovers. Not afterthoughts.

Not leftovers. Not afterthoughts. Not seconds.

Not after we pay the bills, not after we buy that morning coffee . First.

Honoring God by giving to Him before we give to any other area of our lives is a biblical mandate to living in financial wisdom.

HOW CAN GIVING SOMETHING AWAY BE A WISE FINANCIAL MOVE?

Giving back to YHWH reminds us that all we have is, in fact, God’s to begin with.

When we remember that we are only stewards of the resources that God has given to us, it means we stress less about our money.

Giving also fills us with a sense of well being. And that sense of well being lasts longer and brings more joy than the thrill of purchasing something new.

This feeling of well being can help us resist the pull to to fill our lives with possessions.

When we invest financially in our faith, we involve ourselves more in our LORD

So What?

The biblical wisdom of making a plan, saving, and putting God first by giving back puts us in a healthy cycle for our minds, our possessions, and our money.

Conclusion:

GIVING IS ABOUT TRUSTING GOD

When it comes to your money, it's always about trust.

How are you going to trust?

Are you going to trust your wisdom or God?

Are you going to trust God's ability to bless you or your plans and schemes?

Are you going to trust your abilities or God's supernatural capabilities?

I hope you choose to trust God in all things...including your finances.

<<CLOSING PRAYER>>

<<CLOSING PRAYER>>

Let's pray.

Heavenly Father, we thank you for understanding that while there is more to life than money, we need money to live in this life.

We thank you that you don't want us to be ignorant of your wisdom when it comes to our finances and that you share that wisdom with all who seek you for it.

We thank you that you not only want to give us wisdom but you also want to bless us in all things, including our finances.

Please help us to be wise with our wealth and help us to also walk in your blessing.

Thank you for providing for us.

It's in your name we give all the praise.

Amen.

ADDITIONAL MATERIALS

Alternate verse: Many are the plans in a person's heart, but it is the Lord's purpose that prevails.

Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak. (NIV)

References:

http://www.forbes.com/sites/maggiemcgrath/2016/01/06/63-of-americans-dont-have-enough-savings-to-cover-a-500-emergency/#198dc56c6dde