Investing in God's Kingdom, Part 2

Welcome

Good Morning! I’d like to welcome you all to the gathering of Ephesus Baptist Church!

Are you happy to be here this morning? Look at your neighbor and tell them you are happy to be hear and eager to worship the Lord!

Why have we gathered here this Sunday morning? (Pause)....That’s right! The same reason we have gathered on Sunday’s since 1880!

We gather to worship and exalt the name of Jesus Christ, our risen King. Today, provides us another opportunity to fall more in love with Jesus Christ as we seek to follow Him as His disciples.

If you are our guest this morning, we want you to who we are here at Ephesus...

We are all one family of faith: “giving our all to love God, love people, proclaim Jesus, and make disciples in our generation.”

That is our mission, our purpose, why we exist as a church.

We have a connect card in the pew in front of you. I invite you to take one and fill it out! If you have prayer needs, you can let us know about those as well.

I promise, our prayer team will lift you up your request confidentially. You can place those cards in the offering plate when it comes around.

Scripture Memory

Colossians 1:19–20 ESV

19 For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.

Opening Scripture Reading

Matthew 6:19–34 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. 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! 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. 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? 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? 31 Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. 34 “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

Introduction

Today, we are picking back up on the letter “I” in our acronym THRIVE, which we are using to guide us through principles that will help us learn to thrive in our houses and in God’s house!

(Quick Review)

T - Trusting God in All Things!

H - Heighten the Habits of Holiness in Our Lives!

R - Relationships Matter!

Today, we are finishing our discussion of the “I” which stands for....

I - Investing In God’s Kingdom!

The single greatest investment is the Investment into that which lasts, the church, God’s Kingdom!

Remember that there is one large Biblical principle that sits on top of all three of our principles that we are going to discuss under “Investing in God’s Kingdom.

Everything on Earth Belongs to God!

Everything belongs to the King of all the earth! God owns creation, man does not!

Every moment that we exist belongs to God! Everything that we know how to do came from God! And, everything that we own belongs to God!

God has called all of humanity, but especially believers, to to serve alongside him as His Vice-regents, created in His image, to exercise a dominion of stewardship over all of His creation.

Define Stewardship

Fundamentally,

Stewardship is about exercising our God-given dominion over His creation, reflecting the image of our creator God in His care, responsibility, maintenance, protection, and beautification of His creation.

Stewardship in the New Testament describes and defines what it means to be a servant of Jesus Christ as we seek to invest in God’s Kingdom out of the overflow of His Grace.

(Transition)

Last week we learned the first principle of investing in God’s Kingdom which we stated as.....

1. We Invest in God’s Kingdom by Investing Our Time! (Col. 4:2-6)

Today, we are going to look at two more ways that we can invest in God’s Kingdom. So let’s dive right in!

2. We Invest in God’s Kingdom by Investing Our Talents!

Some of you might say, “Pastor, I don’t have any talent.” Listen, The Bible says that God has given all of us different kinds and amounts of talent.

Each of you sitting here this morning has a God-given talent or ability. Are you using it for His glory?

What are you really good at? Art? Painting? Counseling? Maybe you’ve never met a car problem you couldn’t repair, or you’re an amazing chef. Maybe you have the voice of angels or you have a knack for making the complicated easier to digest.

Perhaps you just find opportunities to help people wherever you go. Whatever your talent or skill is, guess what? God’s behind it!

James 1:17 ESV

17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.

But He doesn’t bless us with talents or skills so we can get noticed or earn lots of money. Yes, that can be a result of it. But it’s so much bigger than that.

God wants us to honor Him with those gifts! He wants us to be “good and faithful servants” faithful stewards of our talents.

How exactly does God want us to use our talents for Him? We are going to look at three ways that we can use the talents God has given us for His glory!

(First)

a. Invest Your Talent by Investing It In Others. (1 Pet. 4:10-11; Gen. 12:2-3)

God wants us to bless others.

Consider God’s words to Abram in the Abrahamic Covenant:

Genesis 12:2–3 ESV

2 And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

God wanted Israel, His chosen people, to be a blessing to all the nations. Now we know that ultimately that was fulfilled in Jesus Christ coming from Israel to save all who would believe in His atoning sacrifice.

But God wanted the people themselves to bless the nations as well. And guess what?.... He wants us to bless others too!

In 1 Peter 4:10-11, we’re called to use our gifts to serve others as faithful stewards of God’s grace for God’s Glory!.

1 Peter 4:10–11 ESV

10 As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace: 11 whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies—in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. To him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.

Now, in that context, Peter was specifically talking about spiritual gifts, like prophecy and serving. Those are supernatural abilities God gives each Christ-follower, but the general idea of blessing others also carries over to all other talents.

God doesn’t give us anything just for our own benefit. Like Israel before us, we’re blessed to be a blessing. God wants us to use our talents and skills for the benefit of others.

How can you put that into practice? Maybe there’s a ministry that uses your skill or talent to help others. If you love working on cars, volunteer to repair single moms’ cars for free. Or if you paint, hold art classes for nursing home residents.

Maybe you are a great listener! Do you realize there are lonely people all around us who would love to have someone visit with them and spend time listening and talking with them.

If you look in around in our community, you’re sure to find a need you can meet with the talents God’s given you. And if nothing exists, you can always start your own ministry!

God wants us to bless others. So invest your talent by investing it in the lives of others!

(Second)

b. Invest Your Talent by Investing It In Your Household. (1 Tim. 5:3-8)

God wants us to bless our family!

Now we all know that, as parents, God wants us to bless our children. Deuteronomy 6; and Proverbs 22:6 for starters remind us of our need to bless our children with the gifts we are given in God as we pass down our faith to them generation after generation.

We also know that as spouses, we are to love each other with everything we have, including our giftedness and talents.

What about when family members are struggling or times get hard. What about when our parents grow old and are left widowed. Does God want us to forget them or to be a blessing to them?

1 Timothy 5:3–4 ESV

3 Honor widows who are truly widows. 4 But if a widow has children or grandchildren, let them first learn to show godliness to their own household and to make some return to their parents, for this is pleasing in the sight of God.

(Comment briefly on verse 4)

Later in the same paragraph, God tells us, in no uncertain terms, how He wants us to view taking care of our family!

1 Timothy 5:8 ESV

8 But if anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for members of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.

God wants us to bless our families! So invest your talent by investing it in your household. Invest in your family!

(Third)

c. Invest Your Talent by Investing It In God’s Household! (Rom. 12:3-8)

God wants us to be bless His Family!

God made us all different. That’s great, because together, all of us make up the kingdom.

In 1 Corinthians 12, Paul compares the body of Christ to a human body: Each of us is unique, but together we make the body completely unique. And Christ is the head of that body (Ephesians 5:23), so everything we do points back to Him. He directs it all! He is preeminent over it all!

God repeats Himself on this in Romans 12. Now, I don’t know about you, but when I see God repeating Himself, I stop and listen, because I know it is something important!

Romans 12:3–8 ESV

3 For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. 4 For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, 5 so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. 6 Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; 7 if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; 8 the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads, with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness.

God has gifted each of us with different gifts and talents that He wants us to use in being the church, His Son’s Bride! He wants us to bless each other and Himself with the gifts He has given us.

Teach for Him

Preach for Him

Serve for Him

Encourage and Exhort for Him

Be Generous for Him

Lead for Him

Meet the needs of others for Him

Maybe your gift is retirement! Maybe God wants you to use your time for Him!

In other words, God wants you to use your unique role in the body of Christ to glorify Him. So, if God made you an amazing singer, sing for Him.

If your talent is a little less conventional—maybe you’re good with numbers or with writing code—then find a way to translate that into a job or volunteer work for a God-honoring company or ministry.

Bottom Line is this: Use your God-given abilities to reach those who don’t know Him as you give Him the credit for your talents.

God wants us to bless His family! Invest in your talent by investing it in God’s Household.

Now we transition to our last principle.

The final of the three ways we can invest in God’s Kingdom.

3. We Invest in God’s Kingdom by Investing Our Treasures!

Why do we give money to the church? Some common reasons we might give are....

The pastor needs a salary.

The church needs electricity and upkeep.

Our budget needs to be met.

The real reason that includes the others, but also overrides the others, is because God deserves it and wants to use it to expand His Kingdom of Grace among the nations so that others may come to His Son, Jesus Christ, and find the salvation their souls desperately need through us as His ambassadors.

God’s plan is for Christians to support the advancement of the Gospel through our Time, our Talents, and our Treasures!

In my time in ministry, it is interesting that I have met many people who are okay donating there time and talents to the church, but not necessarily their money.

I have also witnessed many who are okay giving their money, but don’t want to offer their time and talents.

Very seldom have I found church members who are willing to invest their time, their talents, and their treasure to the cause of Christ.

R.C. Sproul, in his book, “How Should I Think About Money,” told the follow account about Richard DeVos.

Richard DeVos, co-founder of Amway and one of the world’s wealthiest men, give a lecture on the material well-being of humanity. He asked his Christian audience,

“Do you care about the material welfare of human beings? Because God obviously does.”

This is a truth that is easy for us to forget. We can so spiritualize the things of God that we miss, for example, that Jesus Himself taught of giving food to the hungry, giving shelter to the homeless, clothing the naked, and visiting those who are sick or in prison.

We have to realize that when we invest in God’s Kingdom it is all worth it if we practice good stewardship of what God has given us!

Allow me in our remaining time to give you three truths about investing your treasure.

(First)

a. Invest Your Treasure Regularly to the Local Church! (1 Cor. 16:1-2)

This is a truth that is hard for many in our society, including many of us in the church, to grasp. We have witnessed for decades now the misuse or really poor stewardship of God’s resources by churches of all sizes.

Small and medium sized churches often misuse God’s money on themselves rather than on the mission of making disciples of all nations.

Large churches look to be building their own miniature kingdoms rather than God’s Kingdom.

TV preachers have really hurt us by their constant appeals for seed gifts. Then they go and buy million dollar mansions, personal jets, and stay in the best hotel suites money can buy!

Poor management, greed, embezzlement, and fraud have many of us questioning can we even trust God’s church with our finances. That is a pure shame church!

That is not what God intended! Listen to what God’s word says about giving.

1 Corinthians 16:1–2 ESV

1 Now concerning the collection for the saints: as I directed the churches of Galatia, so you also are to do. 2 On the first day of every week, each of you is to put something aside and store it up, as he may prosper, so that there will be no collecting when I come.

Paul here teaches the Corinthians that their taking up of the collection is an act of worship which is to be a part of their regular Lord's Day worship.

When we put our money in the plate, we are worshiping Almighty God in accordance with His Word.

Note well, Paul is speaking here of a "collection for the saints" - this is giving by the Church to the Church for the Church to use in ministering to the needs of all people. People in need inside of the church and taking the gospel to those outside.

This giving was to be done every week on the Lord’s day as they gathered to worship. Giving is an act of worship.

Do you see the regular rhythm God has given us when it comes to when and how often we are to give?

It wasn’t based on how the church or the ministry handles the money. It was to be collected as an act of worship before God!

God charged the Israelites of Malachi’s Day with robbing him because they weren’t giving the prescribed tithe or tenth of their income as they were told.

Malachi 3:8 ESV

8 Will man rob God? Yet you are robbing me. But you say, ‘How have we robbed you?’ In your tithes and contributions.

I am sure some of them held back because they didn’t like what some of the false prophets were doing with the money. There were many false prophets during the days of Malachi. Yet God still held Israel accountable to how they were to give.

Church we are instructed to give back to God so that He can propel His church forward through us. We are called to give to God, not to men. We trust Him, not others. Some will abuse that trust, but they will stand before God one day and have to give an account.

We will also one day have to give an account for how we give, live, and serve. I for one want to be on the right side of the ledger. Not that I am earning my salvation by doing so, but I want to live in a way that I bring my Lord the most honor and glory.

God wants us to give regularly to His local church. So Invest your treasure regularly in your local church for God’s glory and your good.

(Second)

b. Invest Your Treasure Proportionately to Your Income! (1 Cor. 16:2; 2 Cor. 8:12; Mark 12:41-44; Prov. 3:9-10; Mal. 3:10; Luke 6:38)

The Bible teaches that Christian giving should be done in accordance with our means.

Paul is quite clear on this:

2 Corinthians 8:12 ESV

12 For if the readiness is there, it is acceptable according to what a person has, not according to what he does not have.

Put another way, God is saying through Paul that you should give in proportion to what God has given you. He said it this way in 1 Corinthians 16:2, "each of you is to put something aside and store it up, as he may prosper."

This means at least two things: (1) since we are all supposed to give proportionately, those who have more money are expected to give more [we who are particularly blessed materially must remember this],

and (2) the Lord never asks us to give what we do not have, or contribute beyond our means. Are you really giving in proportion to the material blessings that the Lord has given you?

Consider the widow’s offering:

Mark 12:41–44 ESV

41 And he sat down opposite the treasury and watched the people putting money into the offering box. Many rich people put in large sums. 42 And a poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which make a penny. 43 And he called his disciples to him and said to them, “Truly, I say to you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the offering box. 44 For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on.”

The rich put in quite a good bit of money, but Jesus valued the widow’s offering of a penny (two copper coins) as more valuable because they gave some from their abundance, she gave out of her poverty.

So how much are we to give and still please God?

First, understand that God loves us when we give and when we don’t give. Giving isn’t a way to earn God’s love—because we already have it.

Second, giving is more of a spiritual discussion than a financial discussion. Because giving isn’t about the money—it’s about the heart. It's living with the attitude that we’re blessed to be a blessing.

Third, giving means you’re being obedient to God, so you should give without expecting anything in return. Giving encourages a grateful and generous spirit and can help steer us away from being greedy or loving money too much.

But the Bible does give us some guidelines on not just when to give but also how to give and what our attitude should be when we give.

Let’s look a few verses that tell us more about how to give.

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.

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 the 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.

Luke 6:38 ESV

38 give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you.”

Many Christians argue about whether the tithe (10% of our income) is still the standard for our giving to the Church. Most of those who dispute the tithe usually want to show that less than 10% is okay with God.

Paul shatters the whole debate in one verse. He says:

2 Corinthians 8:9 ESV

9 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.

Christ's self-giving is now the standard for our giving!

If we begin from the base of the tithe, that is okay and commendable, but our aim should be to emulate Jesus’ self-sacrifice. Our giving is to be inspired and instructed by Christ's inexpressible gift.

In light of such a challenge, who could possibly satisfy themselves with asking "how little a percentage is acceptable for me to give?"

Do you try to get by with giving as little as possible to the Lord, or do you give in view of the Lord's costly sacrifice?

The overwhelming teaching of the Bible, is that we are to give proportionately to our income. If we are wealthy and have more, then we give more!

If we are poor, then we give in proportion to our income. The tithe is a great place to start, but it should never be our bottom line.

We are to invest regularly, We are to invest proportionately to our income, and

(Third) we are to invest cheerfully and joyfully.

c. Invest Your Treasure Cheerfully and Joyfully! (2 Cor. 9:6-8; Phil. 4:19; 1 Tim. 6:17-19)

Here is the heart of our giving! Gratitude!

2 Corinthians 9:6–8 ESV

6 The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. 7 Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. 8 And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work.

Ultimately God wants us to give, but what we give is between God and the individual.

He doesn’t want you to give because the pastor tells you too.

He doesn’t want you to give begrudgingly or reluctantly.

He wants you to give cheerfully and joyfully with a heart of gratitude. We give knowing that God owns the cattle on a thousand hills. He owns it all! And if we need more we can trust....

Philippians 4:19 ESV

19 And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.

Conclusion

1 Tim 6:19 instructs us to...

1 Timothy 6:19 ESV

19 thus storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life.

What is truly life? Life lived out in obedience to God daily. It is a life that brings contentment and satisfaction, know that God loves us no matter what we give. He loves us because we are His!

So we are okay laying up treasure in heaven which is the best foundation for the future, as we seek to invest in God’s Kingdom through our time, our talents, and our treasures all the while trusting God for each day’s blessing.

Billy Graham once said,

“We have found in our home, as have thousands of others,... that if we…try giving…with joy and even abandon.... you’ll see, you’ll see!”

He was right, try investing in God’s Kingdom and you will see the blessing of contentment, cheer, and joy that it will bring to you.

You can’t invest your time, your talent, and your treasure into someone that you don’t know or trust.

Maybe your next step today is to learn more about Jesus and seek out the salvation that He freely offers you.

Maybe you need to commit your life to Him.

Maybe you need help with understanding your finances. There are people here that can help you with that.

Maybe you have been looking for a good church that you can invest in, hopefully you don’t have to look any more. Talk to me today about joining our family!

We are about to sing our song of response

Living for Jesus

Hymn no 282