Sermon Tone Analysis

CONTRAST IN STORING UP TREASURES IN HEAVEN VS STORING UP TREASURES ON EARTH

Treasure- wealth accumulated; a great quantity of any thing collected for future use.

the definition of “treasure” gives two insights …

A treasure is what is valued by an individual

a treasure can be what is currently valued by the person who is accumulating it.

Money holds current value , therefore the obtaining of alot of money can become treasure.

2.A treasure is often accumulated over time

Webster’s definition speaks of having a great quantity of anything collected for future use.

This speaks of time accumulating of a certain thing.

Spending time, days, years , decades even...... to be able to one day use what i have accumulated.

i think of a retirement plan as a great picture of this.

A person may spend 40 years working and putting money into a retirement plan with the hopes of one day not having to work and living off of what they saved…

the thought is that most of the time we are not making one decision that will determine OUR TREASURE.

Most of the time it is a serious of decisions made, time after time, as with a savings account ..... that will ultimately lead to the fruit of what was stored.

TRANSITION

there are two places where we can store up treasures or invest into.... Heaven and earth

Heaven - The picture given is where moth/ rust cannot destroy, where thieves cannot steal.

The thought is that the treasure stored in heaven is eternal or will last.

Earth - the picture given is where moth/ rust can destroy and where thieves can steal.

The thought is that the treasures stored on earth are temporal and will fade away.

These are ultimately of no value after we die.

The thought is that we can invest our time, our money, our efforts into many things even in this life....

But only certain things will be accounted with value .

Example.

WEIRD THINGS PEOPLE COLLECT

A North Carolina Dematologist collected 675 back scratchers from 71 countries

2. A woman from the UK has a collection of over 5,000 soap bars .

She has been collecting them since 1991

3. One woman from Perks Island, Main..... Has collected 730 Umbrella cover sleeves

4. a couple has collected chicken related items which include, fridge magnets , chicken planters and chicken ornaments.

They have 6,505 items.....

my mom had a collection of cow items when i was growing up.

She had our whole kitchen full of cow stuff, had to be over a 100 items of cows.

the point being that not everything that you have a large quantity of will have value associated to it.

The things that have monitary value to it, will be the things that are considered a treasure or of great value when it is accumulated.

TYPES OF TREASURES

EARTHLY TREASURE ( things people on earth can make their treasure )

Money

position

wisdom

education

pleasure

ability / talents

HEAVENLY TREASURES

service to God ( using my ability and gifts for his service )

service to God’s people ( using my ability and gifts for his people)

financially investing into God’s work

building Godly character

developing holiness / purity

QUESTION

WHAT DOES IT PRACTICALLY LOOK LIKE TO STORE UP TREASURES ON EARTH?

i think to address this we have to look at

1. What is an earthly treasure that people often pursue ?

money, position , pleasures, satisfaction, education, toys…etc..

practically speaking , it is the prioritizing of anything in our lives other than God.

Often the things we pursue are not bad in and of themselves.......

But when the pursuit of accumulating these things or achieving these things becomes my priority ...... then it has become my treasure and can become my God if not careful

Money

there are many people who make it their entire lives to pursue money and the making of money.

This desire consumes them, it takes up all of their time.

Position

the same thing can be said of trying to obtain a certain position on a job .

People will make it their live to move up the ladder, they will spend every moment they have to make it to the next position.

When they have achieved that, they will pursue the next position.

Youth

for youth , the pursuit can be to become good at a sport.

How many youth kids have we know who have made it their lives to play a certain sport.

To make varsity, to make the championship , to make the travel ball team.

And this becomes the priority in their lives..... these things are not bad .... but often times we have seen this take them away from church and church events…

but it is not just sports, it can be getting good grades or pursuing education.

The having to get a better grade , or get into that college , or having to take certain classes often becomes priority and kids can often trade the things of God for the pursuit of these things.

you see this take place a lot with seniors who graduate.

Four 6 years in JR high then High school their lives have revauled around church, retreats and youth events.

Then they graduate.

This is where young adults have a hard time.

They are now having to learn to balance out their college classes, their jobs, their friends and their relationships..... and often times in the midst of all of this, the one thing that gets placed in the back burner is God and the things of God.

QUESTION

WHAT DOES IT PRACTICALLY LOOK LIKE TO STORE UP TREASURES IN HEAVEN

What are Heavenly treasures?

service to God, ministering to God, servicing God’s people, using my abilities, talents and resources for God’s glory

2. What does God Value AS Worth ?

LOVE

SERVICE TO GOD

SERVICE TO GOD”S PEOPLE

HELPING THE POOR

SAVING SOULS

DEVELOPING A GODLY CHARACTER

REMAINING HOLY AND PURE

Transition

If these are the things that God sees to hold value in the heavenly realm, than practically i should be about doing these things.

Be about Loving people, be about serving God and His people.

a very practical way is ..... know what your gift and talents are that God has given you.

.... and use these gifts to the best of your ability to bless others with it.

This is as it relates with others.... but there is something to be said about my own personal life.

There should be disciplines i am working on in my life to develope Godly character and purity

QUESTION

WHY IS IT IMPORTANT TO STORE UP TREASURES IN HEAVEN VS EARTH ?

the importance is found in v.21.

“where your treasure is , there your heart will be”

the connection between our heart and the treasure we pursue is the key.