Life.Church with Craig Groeschel - This Is What We Do, Part 2: Living in Abundance

Episode Date: April 2, 2017

Do you do This? This opens doors and solves problems. This inspires others to do This, too—it’s the good kind of contagious. When they tell our life stories, we want them to put This at the top. We are hardwired for This. This is who we are, and T... Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Thanks for joining us here at Life Church, where we are one church, meeting in multiple locations and reaching around the world with the help of what God is doing at Church online. If you ever have any questions or you'd like to learn more about us as a church, you can always check us out online simply by going to life.church. And we'd love for you to stay connected throughout your week and everywhere you go with the Life Church app available wherever you download your apps from. Coming up in today's message, we'll see that when we put God first with our finances, it helps us realize that God is a God of abundance and opens the doors for him to do more than we could ever ask or imagine.

And today we'll see why. And part two of this is what we do. Hey, I'm just curious who's a little bit excited to be at church today. All of our churches, I want to tell you next week I have a message for you. I've already prepared that I promise you it will build your faith. it will inspire and motivate you. We get to be a part of something amazing in our church. Today, I want to do something a little bit different.

I've actually asked one of our pastors to preach today, and I want to tell you why, because this pastor lives this message out, unlike just about anybody I know, his faith for this topic is very deep and very, very real. He's married to an amazing woman, Cindy. They've got a fantastic story. He is one of my very, very,

close, close friends, and he's one of the best pastors I know, would you put your hands together, and please help me welcome Pastor Chris Beal. I got to say, when you get an introduction like that from arguably the best communicator of our generation, it kind of makes me want to vomit just a little bit, just this much. Craig is my pastor and has been my friend for 15 years, and we know him as a great communicator, great leader, from the seat that I sit in, he is a far better Christian and follower of Jesus than all of those other things. And I think, man, where would we be if they had not answered the call 21 years ago to start the church? Can we show Pastor Craig and Amy some love today?

Love you guys. The only part of my life he has not influenced is my philosophy of childbearing and procreation. I only have three boys, so I'm an underachiever according to the Groshell standard. of six. So all of you at all of our campuses, network churches, and those of you with us at church online, thank you for being with us today. We are all family. I want to ask you a quick question, and you have to be honest. How many of us, how many of you love stuff? Come on. Who loves stuff? Raise your hand. Be honest. I am a recovering stuff addict. I love stuff. I like buying stuff. I get excited about things that I see on sale that I've never. never thought before that I needed. Anybody ever feel that way? One of the worst things that's ever

happened to me ever is this right here. This has been terrible. So, so, no, don't clap for that. So two-day free shipping to your door. It's so easy. And then, so, you know, it becomes easy to buy stuff. And then, like, there are times that I want to put something in my cart and just think about it. Do I need this? But I accidentally clicked the one-click purchase button. And then I've already bought it. And so it's like, well, it must have been God's will for me to have it. So in 66 books of the Bible, from Genesis to Revelation, God talks about the topic of money and possessions over 2,000 times.

2,000. Is God obsessed with this? Well, let me put it to you this way. Those of you who are parents, think back to when you had your first kid. And they were born, and they were perfect, and every other kid kind of paled in comparison. And then something happened around the age of 18 months,

and you discovered that they were a wretched sinner. So it typically goes like this. They grab a toy, there's some other kid somewhere. They grab a toy, and a word comes out of their mouth, and the word is mine. The first glimpse for almost every human being of sin is the sin of selfishness. And God speaks about it over 2,000 times. 2,300, I believe, is the accurate number.

I believe that our God knows that the number one thing competing for your heart is money and stuff. So we could not. if this is what we do, if this is what we do, we are open-handed people. We want to be influential, we want to be generous, we could not be talking about a more important topic today. So last week, Pastor Craig, he opened up the idea of what we call the scarcity cycle. And for those of you that weren't with us, I want to revisit it just really briefly. So here's how the scarcity cycle works. God supplies. We begin to consume what God supplies. Then after a while, we start lacking because we've been consuming. After we've been lacking, that brings us into a place of fear

and anxiety. And so what do we do with that fear? We medicate it by more consumption. And the cycle goes on and on and on. And I want to just take this topic just a little bit deeper. And so if you're taking notes, I want you to write this thought down. The scarcity cycle starts in the mind, not in the wallet. The scarcity cycle starts in the mind, not the wallet. So Solomon, Proverbs 23, verse 7, for as he thinks in his heart, so is he. Every choice you make, your lifestyle, your behavior patterns can all point back to the way you choose to think about the world. For as he thinks in his heart, so is he. And so if you're sitting here saying, Chris, we're talking about this is what we do, but this is not what I do. I want to challenge you today to ask yourself,

and really more than that, ask God, God, am I thinking in the right way? We're going to look at one of the greatest miracles Jesus ever performed. And so open up your Bible apps to the Gospel of Mark chapter 6. We're going to look at the story when Jesus fed the 5,000. But I need to give you a little bit of context because he didn't actually feed 5,000. He actually fed more like 15 to 20,000. So is the Bible lying? Of course not. In the time of Christ, Jews, whenever they counted crowds, they would only count adult men. It's all they would count. And so this doesn't include children. It doesn't include women, wives. And so the reality is that Jesus is about to preach and about to feed the equivalent of an NBA stadium, an NBA arena.

That's the audience. That's the context. And so we're going to read through this entire text, starting in verse 34. So when Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he began teaching them many things. By this time, watch this. By this time, it was very late in the day, so the disciples came to him and said,

This is a remote place, they said, and it's already very late. Wow, would you look at the time? Hey, Jesus, send the people away so they can go to the surrounding countryside and villages and buy. Everyone say buy. And buy themselves something to eat. I can just picture it. Peter comes up. Jesus.

Man, this sermon is. lit. It is amazing. And that 18th point that you just made, that is life-changing. I am totally putting that on Instagram. But hey, you know what? You know the sun? Well, of course you know it. You made it. Hey, it's setting right now. And would you look at the time? There's not an applebees nearby. We just had a great idea. Really not me. I'm fine. I can stay here all night. But really, Andrew and Philip, they're really hungry. Why don't you just dismiss everyone so they can go to the neighborhood nearby and get something to eat. And I want you to notice something. The disciples were focused on a word that you're going to see over and over so that they can buy themselves something to

eat. Jesus answers him and said, you give. Everyone say give. See, the disciples were preoccupied with what they were going to have to spend. Jesus didn't say a word about what they were going to have to buy he simply said, you give. This is what we do. You give them something to eat. They said to him, here we go with more money. That's going to take more than a half years wages. Are we to go and spend that much on bread and give it to them to eat? And so Jesus then asked a question that I pray you're going to ask yourself today. What do you have? How many loaves do you have? How many loaves do you have? go and see. And so they didn't. They went and found out what they had. They found a little boy that happened to have five loaves of barley and extra credit. You didn't ask for this. We got a

couple of perch to go along with the bread. Awesome. Right? So this story is happening and they're all in the middle of it. But here's what you're going to see. Two groups of people were viewing this with radically different mindsets. The disciples viewed this whole process through a mindset of scarcity. What is that? There is not enough. It's going to run out. It is laughable how much we have in light of how much we need. Have you ever been there? Are you living there right now? Where you're starting to get ahead financially and then something expensive breaks or medical bill comes and you're like, it is ridiculous what I have. in light of how much I need.

And I'm not trying to dismiss those crises that we find because we all find ourselves in those seasons sooner or later. But here's the thing. If you let that get in your head, that circumstance, that isolated circumstance becomes the mindset for the rest of your life. There is never going to be enough. And that's just not true.

Jesus viewed this through a completely different lens. He viewed it through the lens of abundance. That is simply the belief that there's more than enough. You fast forward to the end of the story, the end of the miracle. And Scripture says that they all ate and were satisfied. And the disciples then, in cleaning up after the 15 to 20,000 people, the disciples picked up 12 basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over. Everyone say left over.

So just track with me for a minute. five loaves of bread and two fish. The disciples view that and say, it's not enough. Jesus looks at it, and in his mind, he says, no, that's more than enough. They say that is laughably small. Jesus says, really, it's plenty. I want you to write this thought down. Scarcity asked the question, what can I afford?

Someone operating at a mindset of scarcity is consumed with the thought of what can I afford? An abundance thinker asks, what do I have? Because what I have, there is infinitely more where that came from. That's what abundance thinkers think. This is who we are. This church is what we do. I heard an amazing story this week. Pastor Tim Knox is an amazing leader of Life Church, Jinks.

Shout out to all of you in our Tulsa area. Kelly attends the Jinks campus. Kelly is a single mom of two kids. She has not slept in a bed for four years. She owns a bed, but her kids sleep in that bed. Kelly sleeps on the couch. There's a couple in the church. who hear the need, and you know what they ask themselves, what do we have?

We have a guest room that has a bed that's almost never slept in. That's a need we can meet. We're in. This is what we do. They load up the truck, and they go to Kelly's house. And you know what abundance thinkers do? They don't just bring what is needed. We always bring an upgrade.

And so they brought an almost new bed to Kelly's house, but they also brought a dining room table. and six chairs. And that night, Kelly got to sleep in a bed for the first time in four years. And upgrade, they got to sit at a table

as a family for the first time and have a meal together. This is what we do. What do I have? Is there a need that I can meet? So the next day, Kelly calls this couple, and she says this,

I cannot wait to be in a position financially, where I can do for someone else what you did for me. And the couple says to Kelly, Kelly, that day is today. I promise you, there is something you have, time, prayer, something in your house, something that you have. I know it seems like you are broker than broke, but there is something that you can have that would be a blessing to someone else.

And in that moment, she realized, I have a neighbor two doors down who just had a baby like a week and a half ago, brand new newborn. And you know what? She doesn't have, my neighbor, a rocking chair to put that child to sleep. What does Kelly have? A rocking chair. And so that day, Kelly took the rocking chair and gave it to her neighbor. She's never been more broke, but she has something to give.

I need you to hear me on something. Many of us have this mindset that when my bank account is bigger and my salary is higher, that's when I'm going to be open-handed. You are lying to yourself. Craig talked about it last week. The more we make, the tighter the grip on what you have. Fact. We start today.

What do I have? God, everything that I have is yours. Use it in whatever way that you want. Here's the thing. The disciples and all these people were around Jesus. And when we get closer to Jesus, we realizes he completely redefines what can be done with a little. In fact, I want to do an experiment. This is one dollar. George Washington, one dollar. Is this a little or a lot? It's a little, right?

This is ridiculously small. What could we buy today with this dollar? A Dr. Pepper, maybe, a can of mint. Some of you might need that. What else can we buy? What can we buy at a movie theater with this dollar? Nothing. Highway robbery. Wait till it comes out on video, whatever. But here's the thing. What if this wasn't insignificant? What if it was more than ridiculously small?

So here's the experiment. It only works if everyone participates. For those of you at our open network family, your pastor's going to give you instruction later on in the service. But this is just for our life church physical campuses. and those of you at church online. In the next 15 minutes, I would like to ask you,

would you consider giving $1 over what you normally would have given this weekend? Just $1. Just $1.00. If you give in the app normally, do that. If you give in the bucket when it's past, give that way. You can give via text message. We call it smart giving. The number is on the screen.

But here's what's going to happen. I believe God wants to redefine for us what can happen with what seems ridiculously small. So as Pastor Craig comes and wraps up our series next week, which I will tell you, you will have more vision for our church next week than you've ever had before, and you will be more proud to be a part of it

than you've ever felt before. And so next week, Craig is going to unpack via story what God does by simply giving something so insignificant as $1. Here's the deal. If you live with a mindset of fear scarcity, there's not enough I'm going to run out, your life will be marked by fear and anxiety. And that is not God's purpose for you. It's not. Jesus said it himself, the Gospel of John chapter 10, verse 10.

The thief comes only to steal, kill, and destroy. But I came for a different purpose, Jesus said. I came that you may have life and have it more abundantly. Everything about the nature of God is more than enough. It is extravagant. It is abundant. It is his nature. Therefore, the life of his children adopted into his family have to be lives of abundance.

More than enough. So why do so few of us experience it, honestly? Why? How do we experience this life of abundance? I want to talk about just two things for the rest of our time, about how we can experience God's abundance. There's many other ways, but I just want to talk about two for the rest of our time. So if you're taking notes, first thought, write this down.

God multiplies what is blessed. God multiplies what is blessed. Mark 640 through 41. So we're feeding the 5,000, right? So they sat down in groups of hundreds and 50s, and he took the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, what does he do? He blesses the food.

The blessing of God over anything in our lives is a powerful thing. Well, how does that relate? to our finances. Here's the thing. Returning the tithe releases God's blessing over every other part of your life. Returning what is not yours and never has been yours to whom it belongs, God, the tithe is holy and set apart, it belongs to me, says God. Returning it to the one to whom it belongs, releases blessing over every other part of your life. And I want you to see, I'm going to look at the same passage that Craig looked at last week through a little bit different lens, Malachi 310.

Now here's what I need you to know. Malachi is a minor prophet. He's one of the three last prophets of God before the birth of Jesus. And so Malachi is speaking to the people of God as the voice of God. Scripture says this. He says this, bring the whole. Tithe, everyone say tithe, into the storehouse that there may be food in my house. Now, people would say, well, I've heard it said that the tithe is 10% of my income.

That is not true. The tithe is not 10% of your income. The tithe is the first 10% of our income. I'm telling you, God has to be first. It's the, when God is first, the rest of your life is in order. Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me. God says, I dare you.

Just trust me. Just test me. And see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing, there will not be room enough to store it. So I want to just talk about one phrase in this whole text. floodgates of heaven. Interesting imagery. That phrase in Hebrew was used three times in the Old Testament.

One here in Malachi, another time in Second Kings, but the first time is the time that when every Hebrew heard Malachi say these words, they would think back, floodgates of heaven. That sounds familiar. Genesis, the flood, the reason Noah had to build an ark to save humanity. That was the first time that phrase in Hebrew was used, floodgates of heaven. So what do we know about the flood? Because this is the way God has chosen to illustrate his blessing when you put him first. What do we know about the flood? Ridiculous amount of water.

And scripture says there was no part of the earth left untouched. God chose to illustrate it this way. How will I bless you? What God is saying is that there is more than you can imagine. And it's like a huge lake behind a dam waiting to pour into our lives. And it's not that God has sting you saying, hey, as soon as you pay up, then I may throw you a bone. That's not it at all. What he's saying is, when I find a heart that puts me first, that is a heart that I can entrust the abundance of heaven too. Because if my heart was all about me and God blessed me with the abundance of heaven, what would I use it on? Me, and it would be self-destructive. And God would never let me do that to myself.

But when I see a heart that has put me for faith in action through the tithe, now that's a heart that I can bless. that's a heart that I can release the abundance of heaven too. The other thing, as I was preparing this, that the word I could not get out of my head is the word heaven. Heaven. It doesn't say, test me in this and see that I don't open the floodgates of Wall Street. That's not what it says. The floodgates of your local bank,

the floodgates of your state lottery or whatever way we're thinking about getting rich quick. It doesn't say that. floodgates of heaven. What does scripture say about heaven? We will experience the undiluted presence of Jesus. Undescribable joy. And yes, abundant provision. This is the stuff of real value. In fact, I want to just illustrate it this way. Two months ago, I'm out in the lobby of the church that I lead, and there's a couple there that saw me coming. They're like, Pastor Chris, we got an amazing story for you. They said, last month, we started tithing for real. And they said, we've been giving for years, but last month we started tithing for real. So I'm confused. I'm like, so you just started tithing for real, but you've been

giving for years. What were you doing before a month ago? And this is what he said. Um, we were really tipping God, I think. That's what he said. We were tipping God. Like, like, my life is going kind of good right now. Good job, God. Here's a hundred bucks. Or, hey, I got real big goosebumps during the church service today. Here's 50 bucks. We're just tipping God. And then they had a moment. And as a couple, they said, look, either we believe this or we don't. Either we trust him or we don't. And they took the step. They started tithing. And he said, Pastor Chris, has God blessed us financially? Sure, yes. But here's what I did not see coming. He said, our marriage was all right before, but I'm telling you there is an intimacy.

It's weird. Like the moment we took this step, there's this closeness we've never had before. We've come to this church for years. We love it. Love seeing what God's doing. Now when we come, the band starts playing and worship, and the tears just start flowing. And then he said, Chris, it feels like God is one inch away from me. This is the abundance of heaven. And how many of you want that? Because I'm telling you, your soul was made for this. Some of you say, well, I just want God to multiply it.

Just, I want multiplication. And God's saying, you know what? I'm waiting for you to give. I'm waiting for you to trust. It starts with a step of faith. And if this is an area of your life that you feel like you're at a brick wall in your faith journey and you've not taken this step, as one of your pastors, I'm asking you, trust him. Trust him.

It is the tide that releases God's blessing over every part of your life. And there will be no part of your world untouched. God multiplies what is blessed. Secondly, write this down. God multiplies what is given away. For some of you, this is about to be your aha moment. So we're going to look at how the miracle happens. We already know there was 12 basketfuls left over, but how did it happen?

Matthew 1419. Scripture says that Jesus, he gave thanks and broke the loaves. he gave them to disciples to do what? The disciples gave them to the people. In order to feed 15 to 20,000 people, there would roughly need to be the equivalent of three semi-trailer-fulls of bread. And this story was told in all four Gospels

in the New Testament, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. And not a single writer of the Gospels said anything about this miraculous amen amount of barley showing up the moment Jesus said amen after he blessed it. He gave it to the disciples for them to distribute to the people. Don't miss this. When did the miracle happen? The miracle had to have happened the moment it left the disciples hands. It had to have. Because there's no mention of anything else. There is a distribution and then there was doggy bags for everyone.

That's it. That's the story. That's the miracle that we see. It had to have happened the moment it left the disciples' hands. Everything about being a follower of Jesus is completely counterintuitive to the world that we live in. Jesus said, hey, if you want to find your life, you have to do what? You have to lose it. Well, that doesn't make any sense.

Actually, in heaven it does. because we find our life through surrender to the one who gave his life for us. He said, if you want to be great, you need to push everybody else down and elevate yourself. No, no, no, that's not what he said. If you want to be great, you'll be the servant of all. Everything about a follower of Jesus is countercultural. So it should be no surprise when Solomon writes in Proverbs 11 that one person gives freely, this is the economy of God, Church, one person gives freely, yet gains even more. Another withholds unduly.

There's not enough. I'm afraid. We're going to run out. And the person that's holding on unduly comes to poverty. A generous man will prosper. He who refreshes others will himself be refreshed. this is how heaven works. And this is what God wants for you. This is the adventure, folks. It's not all for you. We are not reservoirs of things. We are conduits of God's resource.

To place wherever he wants to place them. I remember several years back, Cindy and I, we were in the lowest place financially we'd ever been in. And I wasn't in ministry. I was working in retail. barely making more than minimum wage. And she was working. We were in debt.

We were struggling. And I remember going to church. You remember this day? We were driving to church. And we were talking about, I don't know how we're going to buy groceries for the next two weeks. Like, it's not there. And we sat through church, and the bucket's passed. And Cindy pulled out a check.

I think it was like $250. That was our tithe. And then I heard my wife, because this is, this is. This is who she is. She, under her breath, said, God, I trust you. And then it left her hand. What happened to us next may not happen to you. But this is what happened to us.

The very next day, she was coming home from running errands, and she pulled into our neighborhood, pouring down rain, and weird, God impressed on her heart, stopped the car, get out. She did. She was covered in rain, and she walked about 20 feet, and in the middle of the street, there is a stack of money. And she looked around, there was nobody there. She picked it up.

She brought it home. I'm in the living room, and my wife walks through the garage door with a stack of money, $520, to be exact. And she's weeping. And I looked at what was in her hand, and I looked at her tears, and that moment I knew it. my wife just robbed the 7-Eleven. Like, it's come to this. This is where we are. She just knocked off a convenience store.

Guys, you know, we called the police. We reported it. They said, if nobody claims it in 72 hours, it's yours. And what she said was she was standing there holding the money. She wasn't saying, hey, we get to buy groceries. Here's what she said. she said we're not alone we're not alone he knows he's with us and so today can i just leave you with the words of jesus in matthew six church do not worry stop it do not worry about what you will eat

or what you will drink or what you will wear for the pagans run after these things and your Heavenly Father knows that you need them, but seek first. God has to be first. His kingdom and his righteousness and all these things will be added to you as well. Why does he want us to be generous? Because God knows that an open-handed life is the antidote to materialism and the most certain death sentence to your selfishness. It makes you like Jesus. And so in the this moment, God, we pause. And we thank you for blessing us beyond what we deserve. God, I pray that you would give us the ability to just be courageously honest about where we really are in this area of our lives. At all of our campuses, there are some of you here today

saying, you know what, if I'm really honest, I view life through the lens of fear and anxiety more than I would care to admit. God, give me a moment. A man. mindset of abundance, help me operate in a lifestyle of open-handedness. If that is your prayer today, lift your hand up high and lift it up boldly at all of our campuses, hands going up everywhere. Father, thank you for those who are courageously desiring the life that you've purposed for us. I pray a blessing over every one of their families and their homes. God, would you prove yourself faithful as provider, even for those taking the step to tithe for the first time? God, we trust you.

As we continue to pray, there are some of you, you are in need, but your need is different. It's spiritual. Scripture says that every single one of us, we've sinned, and that sin has a price, and the price is death. Eternal separation from God forever. That's terrible news. Forever. scripture says but Jesus came lived a sinless life allowed himself to be beaten beyond recognition and hung on Calvary's cross why to pay a debt that your sin caused that you cannot afford

but he paid it for you but church it's not enough to know this you have to receive it you have to receive it for yourself. So what do you do? You call out on the name of Jesus. You repent of your sin. You turn to God. You surrender every part of your life to Him. And at that moment of faith, the Bible says, you will be forgiven of every one of your sins and made new and born as a son and daughter into God's family. If that's your prayer, you're leaning into this moment at all of our campuses. Boldly lift your hand right now. Say God, I'm saying yes to Christ. Hand here. Bro, right over here. I got you. Hand lift it high over here. Come on. Say yes. Both one, two, three. four of you guys in the middle back section here in the middle section, man, to praise God

for you, others of you, Jesus, this is my moment. I'm saying yes. Here to my left, praise God for you. Praise God for you. Church online, you just click the button right below me saying, I'm giving my heart to Jesus today. We are going to pray out loud with every single one of you stepping across the line of faith. Pray this out loud. Father, I need you. I have sinned. I'm asking you to save me. Jesus, I believe you died on a cross you didn't deserve to pay for my sin I receive your grace

I surrender my life fill me with your Holy Spirit that I could serve you always in Jesus name I pray somebody better go nuts today and celebrate the goodness of God amazing here at Life Church, it's our honor to play even a small part in all that God is doing in and through your life.

And we would love to continue with you on that journey. To find out what your next steps could be in your relationship with Christ, all you have to do is go to life.com slash next. You know, here at Life Church, we love our church online community, made up of hundreds of thousands of people from every country around the world. And recently, I had a chance to sit down with two of those people, Brian and Carrie, who lived just outside, of San Francisco, California, and talk to them about how their irrational generosity is truly making an eternal difference. Well, Brian and Kerry, thank you so much.

You're a part of our church online family. You guys are not only a part of our church online family. You invest in it. You invest it with your time. You invest financially. We say a lot of times to people like you, we say thank you. But more than me saying thank you,

more than our church saying thank you, we actually have some people that want to say thank you themselves. I'm going to leave these for you. Oh my God. To go ahead, there's some thank yous from our Church Online community that we'd love for you to receive. Oh, you'd like to open them now? When I first came to Church Online three years ago, I felt unloved, unwanted, and worthless.

In order to be able to open my heart, I had to be accepted for who I was, and I needed to feel safe. When the time was right, I surrendered my life with all my deep, dark secret. The suicide attempts the drug and alcohol use was all in my past. He forgave everything. Thanks to your generosity, Brian and Kerry. Not only did I find a place that loved me when I fell unloved. But a new family of us, friend, and most of all, God. At life church, we say whoever finds God finds life.

I mean, every month it's not a question. First of the month, and when we get paid, we give. because this is what we see happening. So many times we can say, and you can see the hands raised, you can see the numbers go up. Behind every number is a name. Yeah. Every name has a story.

Thank you for living out what it means to be a fully devoted follower of Christ and helping others find the same. Here at Life Church, it's our mission to lead people to become fully devoted followers of Christ. That statement drives everything we do here as a church, all in an effort to help people find God and truly find life.