A World of Possibility Week 3

Good morning, and welcome to all of you who have joined us this morning, whether here in person or on our livestream. We are grateful that you have chosen to worship with us this morning!

Let us begin this morning with prayer.

Let’s take a few minutes to focus in on our Lord and His goodness and grace that allows us to have hope no matter what we face! Let’s watch this video together and contemplate His blessings!

Show video

As David joins me, let’s sing along together with this video - no matter what we face, and it has been a difficult time for many of us! We can have hope! We can trust that God will be with us and see us through.

Sing song

Prayer needs: Those who have lost loved ones - Lisa’s dad passed away this week. Continue to pray for the McCarriher family and the Lipke family -Ginny Rithchie update - Len Baun - Cheryl Keslar - Lisa’s cousin, Stacey

Let’s sing together this old hymn as our prayer chorus.

Prayer

Seeing wealth as God sees it

We have been talking over this month of January about A World of Possibility. If we are going to experience the blessings God has in store for us, we will need to try to see things as God sees them. We have looked at how God sees others, and we have looked at how God sees us - this morning, I want us to focus on seeing wealth as God sees it. Let’s look at our text this morning - it is just 1 verse, and many of you can probably quote it from memory.

Matthew 6:33 NIV

33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

Today’s Focus: We can trust God to provide for our needs.

I can choose to trust God and not be overly worried about my future.

Introduction

Once upon a time, a mother gave each of her sons two dollars and took them to a toy store to buy the beautiful, shiny marbles they had been asking for. The older son quickly figured out how many marbles he could get with his two dollars, chose the biggest and best of them all, and brought them to the counter in a brown paper bag. He was very happy.

Now, the younger son, who loved the marbles just as much as his brother, realized he needed a strong bag to carry them around in so he could play marbles with his friends. After choosing a sturdy little drawstring bag, he could buy only half as many marbles as his brother, but he was happy too.

The older brother thought so much of his small treasure that he would never let anyone else play with those shiny marbles—in fact, he wouldn’t even play with them himself. He would only look at them adoringly in the privacy of his own bedroom. Whenever he went anyplace, he gathered them up in the brown paper bag and clutched it to his side to be sure no one would get them.

The younger brother, on the other hand, went to the park every day and played marbles with his friends for hours and hours. At first, he lost many of his precious marbles to his friends, but he soon became good at the game and won back more than he lost, filling up his sturdy little drawstring bag.

One day, as the younger brother walked to the park, he found a beautiful marble on the sidewalk. He found another a few feet later, and then another. He found marble after marble all the way to the park. He couldn’t fit all the new marbles into his bag, so he handed them out to some kids who didn’t have any and invited them to play marbles too. They had more fun that afternoon than any other day so far.

When the younger brother returned home for dinner, the older brother was in the kitchen staring mournfully at his brown paper bag. It was empty, with a hole in the bottom.

In God’s kingdom, everything is upside down and backwards from the way the world handles things: The first shall be last, the weak are strong, the foolish confound the wise. In the area of stewardship, those who give generously and use their resources have so much more than those who hoard. That’s a promise of scripture, we are blessed when we give, although not always monetarily, we are blessed.

1. God Is Rich

Sometimes we get things confused when the preacher starts talking about stewardship. We may even be tempted to think that the reason I am preaching on stewardship is because God needs my money! Well, that really would be something, the God of all the universe NEEDS MY MONEY! I hope you understand how absurd that even sounds. God created everything there is, and He NEEDS MY MONEY? I think, NOT! God doesn’t need my money—He gave it all to me—it’s ALL His!

Sometimes we may think, well, maybe it’s not God that needs MY MONEY, it’s the church that needs MY MONEY. Again, I hope you understand, when I talk to you about stewardship that is not at all on my mind. In fact, if you understand stewardship principles correctly, we don’t own anything, everything we have belongs to God, and we are just managing what He has entrusted to us. So, the reality is that it isn’t even your money! It all belongs to God, so when I preach about financial stewardship, I am not preaching about YOUR money at all, I’m preaching about our faithfulness to handle God’s money His way!

For some here this morning, hoarding is the least of our temptations. There may be some who have to spend the last cent on groceries, gas, or taxes. We’re not gathering up marbles to stare at adoringly like the older brother. Everything is spent on survival.

Maybe we have more than enough to survive, but not much more. We can’t afford that family vacation we’ve always dreamed about. We can’t even think about getting the newest tool or gadget that would make our job or home or schooling so much easier. We are careful and wise about how we spend our limited income, and we plan for the future. We have very little available to us to hoard or to spend on others.

Or maybe we are spending lavishly. We’re not hoarding. We’re enjoying the money that we have worked hard to acquire.

Or maybe we are hoarding. Maybe we have too much money to spend it all now, so we put it in a place where it can’t be touched. When we retire, we won’t need to worry and when we die our children will have plenty.

We all fit in that continuum someplace. But no matter where we are on that scale, there is one job that we each have been given: to manage what we have been given by God. What I want to ask you this morning is whether you are using the resources you’ve been given wisely? Are you using them to grow more and to benefit others? Or do you believe that the resources you have are all that is available and must be used only to benefit yourself or your family?

Because we have finite minds, it’s difficult for us to believe that we have unlimited resources available to us. I’m not saying that we don’t need to take care of the resources God gave us in this beautiful world. We do! God made us stewards of earth, and caring for it is the number one item on the job description God gave Adam and Eve.

What I am saying is that God has riches in glory (Philippians 4:19)! He has cattle on a thousand hills (Psalm 50:10)! His wealth is so abundant that the useless pebbles in heaven are made of our most precious commodity: gold! And his plans for the world — God’s mission — are so big they reach from the ends of the earth to the heights of the heavens (Isaiah 65:17-18, Revelation 21:1-2).

God is rich. The resource supply is endless, limitless, eternal. He may not give us access to much of His wealth, but He does supply our every need.

Yet God sees all of our money as chaff that will blow away in the wind. Compared to God, Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk are poverty-stricken beggars — no, not even that. We simply cannot compare God’s wealth to anyone’s; he’s too far beyond us. We don’t need to worry about whether God can provide for us.

Do you get the picture? When you realize God has abundant wealth beyond your imagination, you can quit worrying about money. Quit thinking about what you don’t have. Focus instead on managing what He has given you well and obeying God’s will, knowing he will provide for your needs.

2. God Is Generous

Okay, so God has abundant riches in glory. Great. But we still have bills to pay. God may have cattle on a thousand hills, but our electric bill has to be paid in money. Heaven may have streets of gold, but around here our streets of asphalt are driven on by cars, and gasoline is expensive.

Here’s the good news: God is not stingy; he is generous. His abundance is accessible to us. God is not only able to provide, he will if we let him.

A few months ago, we spent some time looking together at the Lord’s Prayer. Have you noticed that when Jesus taught us to pray, he gave just one line about asking God to provide? “Give us this day our daily bread.” Simple. God, please give us what we need.

After we ask that, we can consider it done and focus on more important things. The problem comes when we misuse or mismanage what He does supply! God doesn’t give us money so we can hoard it! He wants us to hold loosely to things, and be able to give. John Wesley said it well when he said, “earn all you can, save all you can, so you can give all you can!”

When we quit focusing on acquiring money for ourselves — when we quit hoarding — we open ourselves up to his riches.

When we won’t let go and trust God to provide for us, we will spend all our energy on trying to provide for ourselves. If we turn our attention to seeking his kingdom — things like defending the weak, living holy lives, praising God, telling others the good news —then all the things we need will be provided for us.

A great example of someone who applied this principle is George Mueller. In 1836, Mueller and his wife prepared their own home to accommodate 30 orphan girls. Soon after, three more houses were furnished growing the total of children cared for to 130. Growth continued, and by 1870, more than 2,000 children were being accommodated in five homes. The children were dressed well and educated; Mueller even employed a school inspector to maintain high standards.

The expenses for this operation were huge: The five homes cost over £100,000 to build. Approximately 23,000 children had been educated in the schools and very many thousands had been educated in other schools at the expense of the orphanage. Hundreds of thousands of Bibles and religious books were given away. About 150 missionaries were supported.

Through all this, Mueller never made requests for financial support, nor did he go into debt. Many times, he received unsolicited food donations only hours before they were needed to feed the children.

God gave Mueller beyond what he asked or imagined, and Mueller depended entirely on God to provide. We can do the same. God wants to lavish us with blessings beyond our imagination. When we do well with a little, he gives us more.

Quit worrying about providing for yourself, or even about how you can possibly afford whatever ministry God is calling you to. Focus instead on the mission of God’s Kingdom.

3. God Expects Us to Be Generous Too

Perhaps the hardest part of having plenty is that we become satisfied with what we have. If we have a nice home and a decent job, it’s easy to become complacent; we forget about those around us who are in need. If our ministry is humming along nicely, it’s easy to become complacent; we stop seeing how enormous God’s mission to the world is.

God’s plans are big. He wants us to use what we have to grow our sphere of influence even larger, to make an even bigger impact on the world. Jesus once told a parable about a master who left money for his servants and told them to put it to work. When he returned, some had used the money well, and the master gave them more; but one servant had not done anything with the money. The master took the little bit that lazy servant had and gave it to the one who had the most, saying, “to everyone who has, more will be given, but as for the one who has nothing, even what he has will be taken away.” Note that in that parable every servant was expected to manage what he was given well. We can’t be extravagant with what He gives us just because we expect He will give more. We are to manage it well! That starts by returning just a small portion to the storehouse. That is an Old Testament word, but in New Testament terms, the storehouse is the local church, so your giving needs to start there. The tithe, literally means a tenth, so 10% of your increase should be returned as tithe. There are plenty of great things to give offerings to above that, but you should start there—again, not because God needs the money, and not because the church needs the money—but because you need to give the money. Something happens when we return the tithe. It is a reminder that everything we have comes from God! In returning the tithe, we are tangibly saying, yes, God, I trust you!

Consider the widow who fed the prophet Elijah during a famine (1 Kings 17:7-15). She baked him a small cake of bread using the last of her oil and bread, knowing full well that with nothing left, she and he son would soon die. God however honored her obedience; until the day rain fell on the land again, the flour did not run out and the oil did not run dry. And the widow was able to feed herself, her son, and the prophet until the famine ended.

In God’s upside down kingdom, the more we give, the richer we truly are.

Giving is exactly what God expects of us. He gives to us for no other reason but so that we will give to others. And it is through giving that we draw close to God.

There’s an old story about a woman who found a letter in her mailbox with no stamp or postmark, only her name and address. Curious, she opened it and read:

Dear Susan,

I’m going to be in your neighborhood this evening and I’d like to stop by for a visit.

Love Always, Jesus

Her hands were shaking as she placed the letter on the table. She was terrified and excited at once. Jesus, to her house? Tonight? It was already four o’clock! She had no time to lose. Susan had just a simple home, but she would make it as beautiful as possible. She would use her best dishes and create the most beautiful meal she could in a short amount of time. She hurried out the door to run to the local grocery store before it closed. She had time to grab a loaf of French bread, a half-pound of sliced turkey, and a carton of milk before the shop closed up.

Just then a man called out to her. “Hey lady, can you help us?” Susan had been so absorbed in her dinner plans she hadn’t even noticed two figures huddled in the alleyway — a man and a woman, both of them dressed in little more than rags. She knew who they were. They had been living in the park all summer, doing odd jobs for people in the community to earn their meals. Susan had never helped them before because she knew others were looking out for them. In fact, she thought they would be gone by now since the cold weather was settling in.

“Sorry to bother you, lady,” the man said, “but nobody had any work for us today and my wife is hungry. We haven’t eaten yet today. I’d be glad to help you in any way I can, if only you’ll share just a piece of your bread.”

Susan looked at them. They were dirty, they smelled bad, and frankly, she was certain they could get some kind of work if they really wanted to.

“Sir, I’d like to help you, but I’m having an important guest for dinner tonight and I was planning on serving this food to Him.”

The man put his arm around the woman’s shoulders. “Yeah, well, okay. I understand. Thanks anyway.” They turned and headed back into the alley.

As she watched them leave, Susan felt a twinge in her heart. “Sir, wait!”

The couple stopped and turned as she ran down the alley after them. “Look, why don’t you take this food. I’ll figure out something else to serve my guest.” She handed the man her grocery bag.

“Thank you, lady,” the man said. “Thank you very much!” His wife smiled weakly, and Susan could see she was shivering.

“Here, take this.” Susan unbuttoned her jacket and took it off. “I’ve got another one at home.” She slipped it over the woman’s shoulders.

“What can I do to repay you?” the man asked gratefully.

“No, don’t worry about it,” Susan said. “It was an honor to help you.” Then smiling, she turned and walked back towards the street without her coat and with nothing to serve her guest. Her guest! Suddenly Susan realized that she should have invited this couple to join her that night to meet Jesus. They could use Jesus even more than bread or milk. She turned back, but they were gone.

Susan was cold by the time she reached her front door, and starting to feel a bit worried. The Lord was coming to visit and she didn’t have anything to offer Him. She fumbled through her purse for the door key. But as she did, she noticed another envelope in her mailbox. She opened it quickly, worried that she had missed him:

Dear Susan,

It was so good to see you again. Thank you for the lovely meal. And thank you, too, for the beautiful coat.

Love Always, Jesus

When we give generously out of the abundance God gives to us, we are blessed by a close sense of his presence. Quit worrying about what you have or don’t have. Seek first his kingdom and all this will be added unto you.

Conclusion

God is preparing a mansion in heaven for you. You will have more than you can ask or imagine, in this life and the next, if only you seek his kingdom, ask him to provide, and trust him.