The Church of Eleven22 - Storing up Treasure - 1 Timothy - Wk 11

Episode Date: March 16, 2025

What does your relationship with money reveal about your faith? In this sermon, Pastor Joby unpacks 1 Timothy 6, where Paul warns about the dangers of loving money and the true gain found in godliness with contentment. Money itself isn’t the problem—it’s our heart posture toward it. Are we using our resources to glorify God, or are we consumed by the pursuit of wealth? Pastor Joby challenges us with a convicting question: If we were God, would we trust ourselves with more money? This message shifts our perspective, reminding us that generosity isn’t just a duty—it’s a reflection of our trust in God’s provision. True riches aren’t found in material wealth but in living with open hands, using what we have to advance the Kingdom. The Church of Eleven22® is a movement for all people to discover and deepen a relationship with Jesus Christ. Eleven22 is led by Pastor Joby Martin and based in Jacksonville, Florida, with multiple campuses throughout Jacksonville and the surrounding areas. To find out more about how God is moving at Eleven22, go to CoE22.com. If this message has encouraged you, consider partnering with us to bring the gospel to more people. Your generosity helps us continue our mission. Give today at coe22.com/donate

Amen and amen and amen. I love that kid. That's one of my Timothy's there. Hey, if you got your Bible, grab them, we're going to be in First Timothy chapter six. We're going to pick it up where we left off last week. Now, if you're like in the gifted class, you probably read ahead. And so you're nervous.

You look tense because you know what we're going to talk about, right? We're talking about money. I can't wait. It's fun for me. But relax. Everybody breathe, okay? Just breathe. Now you don't want to leave early today.

Everybody thinks you're a greedy son of a gun. That's what they'll do. Look at that piece of something leaving right there. So you can't leave. All right. But here's the thing. This is the third time I've talked through this text in this room. I went back and looked.

The first time I did it was a compassion weekend. And I was incredibly emotionally manipulative and brought Reagan Capri up on the stage. We sponsored 3,000 kids and set a record. So praise God for that. Good job. And then the next time I preached on it, it was a commitment weekend. And good job. It was for 10-10 life.

And you guys did good. So what I want you to let you know here is take a breath. At the end of this service, there's nothing out of the ordinary. We're not taking an offering. You don't have to sign anything. You don't have to commit to anything. I just want you to do what the Bible says to do. And I also want to point this out.

If you are not a Christian, then don't give any money. Give your heart to Jesus during the sermon, but do whatever you want to with your money. It's probably a good idea to live on less than you make, just generally speaking, even though that's a biblical principle. but I'm really just talking to the believers here. And if you're from another church, then your tithes should go to your church. All right, so let's get that out of the way. Now, what's interesting, I hope you've enjoyed us walking through First Timothy,

God's timeless word, right? And so he's talking to Timothy, who's pastor in this church 2,000 years ago, but as we've seen, every single week, everything that he has to say applies to us today in our church. And the way, even though we're going to finish this up, we're going to skip a few verses because we're going to finish up on that next week. weekend is the thing that the Apostle Paul is going to end with when he talks to Pastor Timothy

about pastoring the church at Ephesus is he says, all right, now, last thing. Mom, has you ever noticed the last thing out of your mouth of your kid is the most important thing, right? Like when you drop them off at their friends' house, you're like, hey, hey, look at me, look at me. Brush your teeth or whatever the thing is that you want him to remember. So this is going to be like, he's going to sum it all up right here, okay, basically. The last The last major topic is this. He goes, all right, listen to him, when you're preaching, there's going to be two types of people that you're preaching to at church, okay?

Just two types of people. You're going to be talking to rich people and want to be rich people. Those are the two groups that you're going to talk to. And so when you're either talking to rich people or people that want to be rich, then I want you to make sure you teach these things. And if you remember last week when we talked about how to honor God with your job, one of the things that we said is what you do with what you make matters, and now he's going to be going to do a deep dive on that.

But again, take a breath. We're not going to do anything extra at the end, but we're just going to teach what the word says. First Timothy chapter 6, beginning in verse 2, Paul says to Timothy, teach and urge these things. Don't just teach them, but you've got to urge these things. Because we live in a world that's going to urge in a different way. He says, if anyone teaches a different doctrine

and does not agree with the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the teaching that accords with godliness, he is pumped up with conceit and understands nothing. And so Paul says, look, Tim, teach the Bible. Don't just teach what people want to hear and don't just teach what you want to fight about. But you're going to teach the Bible. One second. Thank you for being incredible, like, not only consumers, but not only consumers, but listeners of the Word of God being taught. I mean, we say the most offensive thing in here all the time.

I call you wretched, blackhearted sinners. You're like, I love you so much. Okay, so it's just, thank you. You guys are like connoisseurs of the word. And the deeper we go, the louder you move and bring your friends with you. So thank you, thank you, thank you for being a receiver of what's not always fun to listen to. Like tonight, it's going to be fun at all. Unless you're already generous, then you probably have been more generous. That's not going to be fun either. but this is but thank you thank you all right so he so the person that teaches a different doctrine has an unhealthy craving for controversy for quarrels about words which produced envy dissension slander evil and suspicion again we've talked about this before the Greek word there is twitter that's what that

means a constant friction among people who are depraved in mind and depraved of the truth imagining and here's what they imagine ready that godliness is a means of gain What does that mean? Here's what this means. This will be true of anyone that puts yourself in the center of your own universe. And then you begin to think that God is a means to your end. That's called idolatry. And God will not fuel and fund your idolatry.

God is the end. And everything in our world, every breath that we take, is a means to the end, which is him. The chief aim of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him. forever. The chief aim of God is not to get you to enjoy you forever. By the way, as we're talking about generosity and giving, and we're going to talk about this, the root of the heresy of the prosperity gospel, you know the things on TV all the time? Where it says, if you love Jesus, that he's going to give you, there's even an accent, they all have the same accent, that he's going to give you health and wealth and prosperity. You know what the problem with that is? Well, first,

the Bible. But the real problem is not. that God doesn't want to prosper you. God does want to prosper you. Now what? Not with cotton candy and Cadillacs. Anybody ever met a kid that got everything they ever wanted? That ain't good, is it? No, no, no, no, no, no. They end up running HOA's and stuff like that. So, so, uh, right, right, right. So God, God doesn't just want to give us what we want. What God wants to give us is Him. So He wants to prosper us in that we can have Him. But the, but that's not even the root of the heresy. The root of the heresy is that when you think that if I do this, God owes me that, then I am the preeminent one and God has to respond to me. And that's not true. God is first and we respond to him. And then he says, but, okay? However, there's another way to live, and this is so good, man.

Just camp on up, out on this one for a second. But godliness with contentment is great gain. So there's two ways to do this thing. You can try to use God. to get what you want and always be trying to manage the circumstances to your own comfort and satisfaction. That's one way to live and to wear you out. Then there's another way to live, which is godliness with contentment is great gain. Can you just imagine for just a second? I mean, just imagine. Like breathe in, breathe out. Can you imagine complete contentment in this world? like no matter what the weather is, no matter what mood your wife wakes up in,

no matter what grades your kids make, I mean, seriously, no matter the price of eggs, no matter what it is. Because you've got the Lord, and you know he's in control of all situations that you could be content. This is your actual goal in life, and most people will never get there

because the path at your own just doesn't lead there. Because peace never comes from a set of circumstances, peace comes from a person and he is the prince of peace and his name is Jesus. So that video that we show with Josh Wells, he's married to a girl named Morgan. I didn't check with them, I'm sharing this, but I prayed about it. I feel good about it. Okay, listen.

Gretchen and I have been discipling them for about 10 years since they moved to Jacksonville and he played for the Jags and all that. And we had dinner with them this week, not because it was their video. We just love them and have been discipling them. And so he retired from the NFL last year. and the thing that came across across the dinner table was the contentment in which they are living. All of their friends, you've got to think about who their friends are, right? They're all the NFL people, and they just want more, more, more, more.

And they have decided to live in such a way where they're going to bring God first and best, they're going to save for the future, that we're going to act like they're going to make that kind of money forever. And now what they want is Jesus and each other. And when I met Morgan, that was not the kind of thing that she was talking about. She was raised in kind of like a real housewives kind of situation. And she was like, more, more, more. Now she makes sourdough bread and she's this close to getting her own chickens. I'm telling you, man.

I'm telling you. I'm serious. She's homeschooling her kids and she just wants to, she's just enjoying the gifts that God has given her instead of putting her hope in a bunch of stuff that she's realized we'll never fully and finally satisfy. That's what this is. Paul keeps going. He says, four, we brought nothing into this world, and we cannot take anything out of this world.

My daddy used to misquote this. He used to say, boy, you know, the Bible says, I brought you in this world, I'll take you out. I'm like, no. Bill Cosby said that. I wouldn't quote him, okay? That's not what that means. And we know this. It all stays here.

You know, you own nothing. You own nothing. We all know this to be true. I've talked about it all the time. Everything you have one day is we're going to, you're going to. going to sell in a garage sale. Or if you're making bank, it's an estate sale. Same thing. Just sell your stuff, but they've got Permanichie sandwiches, cutting triangles if you make a bank. Everything you have to have, those clubs, you have to have. I'm going to sell them in

Hope's closet for a dollar a club. Think about that. Those pants that you had to have, $2, Hope's closet. And I'm telling you, I say just to crush your spirit. And somebody you've never met is going to look better than you in your used pants. How about that? Say law. Think about that for a minute. And although we all cognitively believe that's true, we just spend all of our life as if the opposite is true. As if the stuff of this earth is what makes us alive. And we all know that it's just temporary. How about this, verse 8, but if we have food and clothing with these, we will be content.

Can you imagine that? A chalupa and a hoodie. And you're like, I'm all set. That's all I need. Are you serious? And you're like, who could be that way? Here's why you need to go on a mission trip. It ain't because they need Jesus.

They got way more Jesus than you do. Because you've got too much stuff. Me too. And what will happen? You'll roll up on an East Africa-Ugandan hut. And this lady will come out with this like incredibly beautiful colored dress. She's only got two of them. She's going to put her best one on them to come say hey to you.

And she's going to sweep her dirt floors until that thing looks like marble. You're like, what is it? It's just real clean dirt. And they are going to have a joy unspeakable, and you're going to lay in your bed at night going, what's wrong with me? Answer, you were wrong with you. Because you thought some stuff, first of all, you thought you were the Savior that was going to do something for them, and really what you need to happen is you need to be disciples to realize that with God,

as the center and foundation of your life, a little bit of food and clothing, and with these, you could be content. And he goes on to say this, but those who desire to be rich. Anybody here desire to be rich? All right, us six, and then all you liars. If you take notes in your Bible, write down the Greek word, uh-oh. I want to, I mean, I don't desire to be poor. We'll talk about this in a minute.

We are already rich. Well, we actually desires to be richer. You ever notice that? Like, rich isn't enough. Depends on who you're with. I've told you this before. Man, I love our house. When we first moved in our house, I thought it was awesome.

I'll just tell you who it is. Then Tebow invited me to his house. Then I went back to my house, which before I went to Tebow's house, my house is fine. When I walked back into my house, I was like, I don't feel like I can stand up straight all the way. How am I going to go fit in a nine-foot ceiling now? What are we going to do, babe? What are we hobbits, live in a cave? I mean, you know what I'm talking about?

And he goes, man, when you desire, that word desire matters. when you're driven by this want to have more, there's all kind of temptations that come along with this. And the reality is, no matter what you have, most people think if they just had 20% more than they'd feel rich. And here are the temptations, man, you'll begin to lie to get more. Not you, but, you know, the people you work with,

let's talk about them. Let's talk about us. You know anybody that cheats or steals to get more? You know anybody that thinks they're better than anybody else because they have more? You know anybody that's willing to do somebody wrong to get some more? You ever know some greedy people? Again, not us.

We're here worshiping Jesus. Yeah. One of the greatest temptations, though, is you'll forget God. Because you'll forget that you need him. Because you have everything you need. Jesus has some really scandalous things to say about the things that we desire. He basically says, there are these things that surround your heart, but only ones gets to sit down at a desire.

time. He says this, this is Jesus, email him. He says, no one can serve two masters for either he will hate the one and love the other. He will be devoted to the one and despise the other. No one can serve God and money. It's the number one competitor for our heart. And so Paul's instructing Timothy when you preach, but those who desire to be rich, we, I fall into a temptation, into a snare into many senseless and harmless desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. Now here's the problem right now. You are thinking, not me.

Yeah, that's why it's called a snare. You ever snare anything? I know you have it. Our Palacca campus is like, uh-huh. Okay. It's a trick. It's a trick. Like turkey season opens in Florida Saturday.

And you know what I'm going to do? I'm going to trick one. and then shoot him in the face to the glory of God. My Bible says, rise up, kill, and eat. Acts 1013. I'm just trying to do what the word says. It's a trick. I sound like a non-Christian hen, girl turkey,

and the boy turkey is like, ooh. And when he comes lured in, got him. And the moment you begin to think, well, I would never be tricked and lured in, then you're too dumb to talk to. Listen, I told you the story before, but there's new people. So here we go.

I used to have these dogs. I told you it a hundred times. I had a boxer's name of Samson. He was great. And then we introduced the female and it all went to hell. Very biblical. It's Genesis 3.

Look it up. Okay? No, I kid. I kid. We tell jokes. So we went to the Petco place and was like, well, we can't leave the dogs out anymore

because they tear out of the house when we leave. And I don't worry about it. They were originally wolves and they love a den. If you'll just get this crate and you just say, crate, then their inner wolf will come out and they'll just get in there and huddle up and pray for you while you're gone. Well, they're liars.

That's what they are. There's not, that was the case at all. And we would say crate and they would go get under the bed. And you try to like, I mean, we, so the one thing I figured out, they hated, hated, hated, hated, hated the crate. You know what they love? Cheese. See, somebody's been listening. We go, crate.

They'd run away. You go cheese. And they were boxers. They would come in with that big drool and they love cheese. And you just take it like this and you throw it in a crate and they dive in there. And they'd eat it up one second. They're like, I got it. And they'd turn around every time.

I go, crap, he got me three times a day. And then you walk out and you're like, what a stupid dog. And the devil would be like, well, that cheese looks like a truck or a house or a new school district or some pants. Yeah, man. you see we all have these cravings and appetite, these desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. And a lot of us think, well, you know, if I had some money, then I would know how to handle it. Okay, anybody from the 90s, like the greatest, you know, decade of all time? Praise God for the 90s.

Remember MC Hammer? Yeah, his Hammer Time album made $33 million in one day. and now he's bankrupt. One of the songs on the album is you got to pray. Pray. You got to pray to make it today. Okay. But if you spend more than you got, I don't care how much you pray.

His problem with the $33 million is he spent $36 million of it. That's the only problem. How about Mike Tyson? Remember that guy? I met him once in an airport. It was awesome. It was like petting a tiger. I was shaking his hand.

I was like, this is cool. I could die at any second. That's what I thought. the whole time. How about this? I love it so much. Okay, between 1985 and 2005, so 85 to 05, Mike Tyson made just over $500 million. I know. So I went back and during that same time, now it was like in middle school at an 85, but between 1985 and 2005, I made $280,000. Big baller. That averages out to $14,000 a year, okay? In 2000. In 2000,000, I made $2,000.000. When we launched the Church of 1122, Mike Tyson declared bankruptcy, and I had plenty to live on.

I had exponentially more dollars than he hit. Now, don't tell him, because he might punch me in the face and bite my ear off, but that's not the point. And what happened, man, he fell into a snare into many senseless and harmful desires and plunges people into ruined and destruction. Ecclesiastes 510 says, he who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor he who loves wealth with his income. This is also vanity. Have you ever met a family and they don't do Thanksgiving anymore together? Because when Nana passed away, they couldn't figure out the inheritance and it ripped them apart. You ever met some friends and they started a business together and they were broke

it was fine but when some money got involved they got sideways with each other and they hate each other. You ever met a couple and they couldn't figure out money? And when they were there, broke, it was fine, and they stood before Jesus and all of us at church, and they said, for better, for worse, for rich or poor. But they really just meant the richer part, and they fought over money. It's one of the primary reasons that people give for splitting up. Turns out the theologian from the 1900s, Biggie Small was right. More money, more problems. Because if you ain't got no money, it feels like you ain't got but one problem. Paul tells Timothy in verse 10, this is a very misquoted verse, for the love of money is

a root of all kinds of evil. It doesn't say money is the root of all kinds of evil. Money is benign. Money is a tool. Money is neutral. What we're supposed to do is love God, love people, and use money to love God and love people. But what will happen is the moment you fall in love with money, you'll begin to use God and use people. And what you act, your functional savior will be those dollars. He said, it is through this craving that some have wandered away. You know what a Craving is cravings come from an appetite, and we're all a big old bundle of appetites, and our appetites will never be fully and finally satisfied by the things of this world, and our appetites are very, very focused.

Our appetites have two words, more and now. And no matter how much you feed that appetite, it just grows that appetite. And so you can have more and more and more, but if you love money, it will not love you back, and you will never have enough. and it is through this craving that some have already, wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs. You ever know somebody that used to be very involved in the church and they're not here anymore because they've got a boat?

A boat. Anything wrong with boats? No. Jesus is going boats all the time. Anybody got a boat here? Fishing boat. I don't care about riding around. You got a fishing boat.

Raise your hand higher, please. Okay. I may need to decide, Mr. Allen, may need to spend some time on that. Do some Jesus work with you, okay? So let me know about that. But what begins to happen is somebody gets a boat, right? And they're like, you know, we can get a boat. And that's cool.

And then one day it's rainy on Saturday. So on Sunday, you don't be like, well, it's sunny on Sunday. So I'm not going to go to church. I'm going to go out of my boat. And eventually people are like, anybody seen Ted? He hasn't been in a disciple group in a while. Well, he's got a boat. And so now Ted ain't hanging out with church people,

hanging up with boat people, having a good time. And then guess what happens when the wheels go falling off, his life? Because it's coming. At some point, we're going to find ourselves on the mat. His boat ain't going to help him. But his church would. And then the one that he neglected, the Lord himself, he's going to run back to him. He's going to, hey, remember me?

This is who he's talking about here. That some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs. Next week we'll cover verses 11 through 16. He's just going to give him some encouragement. He's going to get really into it. You know Paul's a good preacher because he's going to give a doxology and say amen. and he's still got 26 minutes left in the sermon. I love that.

You see, what I want you to know here as we get into some more of this is I don't want you to respond in generosity to a sermon. I want you to live a life of generosity in response to the gospel of Jesus Christ. These are not the same things. Okay?

So the first party is like, all right, Tim, when you're talking to people that want to be rich, you better warn them about where their heart is. And then you're going to talk to some people that are already rich. Look at verse 17. As for the rich in this present age. Anybody know some rich people?

Mm-hmm. Yeah, you wrote here with them. They sat in your seat. Yeah, the Bible is a timeless book written to every tribe, tongue, and nation. And so globally speaking, the overwhelming majority at all of our campuses are rich. If you make $35,000 in combined annual household income, you're the top 1% richest people in the world. I'm still waiting.

One year I'm going to say that, and somebody's going, say, hallelujah, I told you, Martha, we rich. Look at us. 35K, just knocking it down. That's right, man. But it's hard to be rich. Rich people have different problems than non-rich people. Do you realize this? You ever deal with rich people problems? You know what rich people do? Mostly rich women. They have entire rooms dedicated in their houses just to hold their clothes. It's bigger than most people houses around the world. And rich people walk into that room and look at a room full of clothes and say, I got nothing to wear. Poor people don't have to worry about that. Y'all have to worry about that.

That's a lot to deal with. You know what, rich people, rich people's clothes have season. Four people can just wear with the guy. If you're rich, you can only wear certain clothes during certain times of the year. That's a lot to put up with. Rich people have to match. If you've ever picked out your belt based on your shoes, man, I mean, that's a lot to, you know, that's a lot. How about this?

You ever run out of hangers? It's hard, isn't it? That's rich people problem. Poor people don't run out of hangers. They've got plenty of hangers, no clothes. Rich people, they got clothes, they got no hangers. Rich people get home from the restaurant and open their fridge with their, you know, because you over-ordered.

And what's the problem? Man, I got so much food that I bought at the store that I'm going to throw out later that I ain't going to room to put this that I'm going to throw out later. Yeah, it's hard to be rich. There's a rich guy that walks up to Jesus one time. They call him the rich young ruler, and he goes, hey, I got a question. What must I do to inherit eternal life? So there's all kind of flaws in that question, right?

Because what do you do to get an inheritance? You have to be the son or daughter. You don't do anything. But then Jesus is like, oh, no, that's cool. Just be perfect. And he's like, well, I'm crushing that. What else you got? And he's like, well, it's just one thing, man.

Your functional savior is that money. So why don't you just go sell everything that you have and give it to the poor, then come follow me. And the Bible says that he goes away sad. And then Jesus says this. said, Matthew 9, 24. That's the conduct. He says, because the disciples come up and be like, well, if that guy can't get saved,

who can get saved? And a part of the reason they believe that is because Jewish tradition began to teach that if you give to the poor, it would absolve your sin. That was in what's called the Talmud. And Jesus is like, whoa, whoa, whoa, that's not how it works. And see, the disciples saw it would be easier for rich people to get saved. And Jesus goes, no, no, no, no, Matthew 19, 24. He says, again, I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a

needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God. Now I'm gonna check this. I got some camels right here okay and I got a needle and man theologians fight about what this need but what I'm going to tell you I've tried all day long okay it won't go it won't go okay here Vinkie give these back to Pastor Britt with you thanks that'd be great so what is Jesus saying He's going to you can't buy your way in heaven, you can't earn your way in heaven, you can't do your way into heaven. And what is impossible for man is impossible for God.

Why? Because if the tomb is empty, anything is possible. You know why it's hard for rich people to get in heaven? Because you know what you need to be saved? Need. And rich people start thinking, I don't need anything because I got me and you ain't got you. And he's all right. So when you talk to rich people, ask for the rich in this present age, charge them.

you don't make a request. You yell at them. This is what this means. This is why I yell at you. I'm trying to be biblical. You charge them, and he's going to give them two don'ts and four dues. Okay?

First of all, don't be haughty. If you're 20, this isn't haughty. This isn't like, oh my gosh, it's so hot. That's not what that is. This means prideful. If you're rich, it's because God has blessed you. And if you're like, well, I work hard for this. Yeah.

With the brain. he gave you with the opportunity he gave you he let you be born in this country or come you know like the parents he gave everything good and perfect is from him and god's common grace is punished you think you made all those deals happen no no no no man the moment you begin to try to take credit for the thing like the the life that you have you know what it looks like it's like we see this a lot around here you ever see a teenager driving like a sweet mercedes you never look at that 17 year old be like That must be an industrious young man. No.

You're like, you're driving your mom's car, sport. Right? Yeah, don't be haughty. The second thing, nor set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches. I mean, how many BH1 behind the musics do they have to make for us to realize that stuff does not equal happiness? And when you put your hope in stuff, it's always going to let you down. And the reasons, I tell you this all the time, your money lies to you. It lies to you.

It's not good or bad, but it's a liar because what your money will tell you is this. It'll proposition you. And your wallet, your checking account, your money will say, come here, come here, dude, come here. If you love me, I'll love you back. What do you mean? I'll provide and I'll protect. I'll bring satisfaction and security. Those are the biblical definitions of love, and it can't do either.

It can't satisfy and it can't secure. I don't care you. I don't care how much money you have in the bank. One phone call from the doctor and there went to your security, right? You can have all the money in the world, the biggest house in the world, and you let your kid be a prodigal, and you'd sell it all just to get that kid home, amen? It just can't do what it promises to do. So don't be prideful about it. Don't set your hope on the uncertainty of riches. But the third thing, He says, but put your hope on God who, I love this so much. This is going to be some participation.

I'm warning you. You're going to have to say a word out loud, ready? But on God who richly provides us with everything to. It's the weakest in joy I've ever heard in my life. Your face is saying one thing and the word is, enjoy. Come on, man. That's not a Southern Baptist church. We can laugh.

Shout one more time. Wake your people up. But on God who richly provides us with everything to. That's it, dude. We're supposed to enjoy life. We're the abundant life people. I don't know where, I mean, there's a bunch of Christians that walk around look like they were weaned on a pickle. Just, you know, everything.

We're supposed to be the people that enjoy life more than everybody else. Listen, if you're not a Christian, I've got terrible news for you. My steak tastes better than your steak. because the best you can do is celebrate the cow, and I get to celebrate the one that came up with the idea of cow and pig and put them together in a bacon rat filet, rat medium rare, and when I bite into that thing,

I can say, bless the Lord, oh, my soul, and all that is in me bless his holy name. It stirs worship. He's a good dad. He's a good shepherd. He wants to give good gifts to his kids. And that's not just cash and prizes, man. You see, money is, all the money that we have 100% of it, not just what we bring,

money is meant to glorify God. And here's some ways that we glorify God. We bring our first and best and we sow into His kingdom. That's exciting. Every single time we celebrate a life change or baptism or a church plant or a baby saved at First Coast Women's Services, we get to say, I was a part of that because I brought my first invest. That God gives us money to bless people, starting with the people that share your last name

and your address, you blessed your family and other people. And we celebrate its grace. We should enjoy life more than everybody else. Let me tell you what you can enjoy. If you can't afford it, you can't enjoy it. I'm telling you, man, if you buy stuff you can't afford, you'll never be able to enjoy it. If you worship it, you can't enjoy it because it will let you down. It'll never do for you what it promised. And when it let you down, you'll hate it. And this one might sting a little, I hope it does. And if you stole it, you can't enjoy it. What you mean stole it? The first and best is gods. The tithe is gods. And when you begin to use money that he's allowed you to steward and you use 100% on you and your stuff, you're taking what

belongs to him and you're just trying to entertain you. And there's just a level that you will never be able to experience in freedom. Like I'm telling you, you got a vacation budget, but you got no plan in your generosity, it's a problem because you are the Lord of you in that circumstance. That you're taking what is God's, what belongs to him, and you're spending it on you. And here's our problem. C.S. Lewis says this. He says, if we consider the unblushing promises of a reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the gospels, it would seem that our Lord finds our desires not too strong but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures fooling about

with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at sea. We are far too easily pleased. He wants to prosper you. He wants you to enjoy. And again, the prosperity gospel is a lie. Like if I give God one, he owes me 10. He don't owe you anything. But the other extreme is a lie too. The poverty gospel is a lie. He's a good dad He's a good dad We are to bring him our first and best

And we are to enjoy him with every bit of it We should celebrate I mean one of the descriptions of heaven is a party man Not debauchery but a party to celebrate We are the people that celebrate And when you know Jesus here's what happens What you enjoy begins to change You see the Bible says

that God loves a cheerful giver. That word in Greek is the same word that we get hilarious from. Can you imagine? I still haven't seen it. The person going to the giving box and they're like, ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha. I love it so much. But that's what it's supposed to be, man.

And I'm not trying to twist your arm whatsoever. I want you, I want the love of God to overflow in your life so much that you can't wait to bring back to him what is his first and best. And man, I'm telling you. you, the Psalms say, delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart. But my experience is the more I delight myself in him, the more my desires change. Like the stuff of earth just kind of loses it.

And we're supposed to enjoy 100% of what God gives us unto his glory. And so Paul in verse 18 is going to say they, in the day he's talking about is rich Christians. So globally, that's anybody over $35,000 is in the top 1%. And so here's how we are supposed to enjoy God's good gifts to us, that they are to do good to be rich in good works. Like there's a right way to be rich. There's a right way to enjoy what God has given us is don't brag about it, don't be prideful about it, don't put your hope in it, bring to God what's his first and best,

and then enjoy it all. And then the fifth thing he tells us, and to be generous and ready to share. Let me just ask you this. are you generous? Are you sure? Maybe I'll ask it this way. If you were God, would you give you more money? I mean parents in the room, right? You give your kids some goldfish. Let's just say you got two and one's a son and one's a daughter and the son's the oldest. Let's just pretend. And you gave your son a pile of goldfish. And then your daughter says, can I get some goldfish and say, hey, just get it from him. I gave him plenty. And then he gets stingy with his goldfish. And he's like, I ain't get, no, and these are mine. What you mean yours? You can have this one that fell out my mouth and the dog licked here. You can have that. that one. Parents, are you gonna give that kid more goldfish? No, no, no, no, no.

And we serve a good, good, good dad. The Bible, one of the themes throughout the New Testament is that whoever is faithful with little will be trusted with more. And that's not a guarantee that if you just, you know, tie, then God's gonna give you more money. But when you demonstrate the kind of character that trust him first and most, then you become the kind of person that he could trust you with. This doesn't just apply to finances, too, single men, which bowed the way boys it's time to we got the cowboy up around here good gracious there's so many amazing single girls at our church just walking around still single anyway i'm gonna get you all in the fall but get ready all right but even now if you're if you're like a boy that can shave and you're not ready to be a

man because boys take and men serve and you and you treat every girl you go out with like a commodity then why in the world what good dad would let you date his daughter you think the king of the universe is going to let you date one of his girls see but when you when you become trustworthy in your dating relationships and your own line life, then maybe you'll position yourself to be the kind of man that God can trust and say, okay, now you're ready to bring a wife into the situation there. The same thing with finances. If you were God, would you trust you with more money?

Pastor Jim Bergen, my friend from Colorado, he's been here all week. We've been learning from each other all week. It's great. And he shared this little story, and I'm going to share it. He says, can you imagine this? Imagine if I was going out of town. I was going to go to Africa on a mission trip for a year, a year. And then I went to Pastor Britt and said, hey, Pastor Britt, here's what I'm going to do.

I'm going to be going for a year, and I need you to say, of course, yes, sir, no problem, what you would need. And I go, here's what I'm going to do. Every week, I'm going to transfer $1,000 into your account. And all I need you to do is I need you to take $500 of those dollars, and I need you to take them to Gretchen. So she can buy groceries and pay the bills and take care of her. and I don't even care what you do with the other 500 because, you know, I mean, we live four miles apart, so it'll cover gas or whatever inconvenience you have. And he's like, okay, deal. Does that sound like a good deal? So all I do is drop all 500 and I'm going to keep 500 for me and do what I want. Yeah, that's the deal, okay, because I love and trust you, cool.

And then I was gone for a year and imagine if I came back a year later and I walked into my house and I was like, how come the lights ain't on? What's that smell? And then I see my wife curled up starving to death and I go, whoa, whoa, whoa, what happened? What happened? What happened? Did he not bring the money? She said, yeah, he brought a dollar a week. What do you think my attitude towards him would be? It ain't going to be a text. I'd probably call the police, either to protect him or me, you know what I'm saying? Because I don't help me understand. I gave you plenty of money to care for my bride. We're going to have to have a talk here because I thought we were boys. I don't know if you can realize this, but the church is called the bride of Christ. And God will return one day and every single one of us will be held accountable.

And we are to bring our first and best to him. And he says they, the rich people that God has blessed, are to do good, be rich and good works, to be generous and ready to share, thus storing up treasures for themselves as a good foundation for the future so that they may take hold of that which is truly life. What defines your life, an abundance of stuff? or the abundant life that Christ has for us. You don't get to keep any of it. You can send it forward.

The only way that you can send it forward is to invest in the advancement of the kingdom. So the only thing you can take to heaven, man, is praises and people. And I'm telling you, I'm going to have a bunch of friends in heaven. Because Gretchen and I have positions ourselves. We bring our first. We bring our best. We try to get more generous every single year, regardless of what's happening right here at the church. Because what I want to do is when I get to heaven, I want to have a bunch of friends already there.

going, I can't, we've been waiting on you because I have been sewing into what is eternal. And the reality is, is that the closer, man, you find a mature Christian and ask them, the closer you get to Jesus, the more you'll enjoy what he enjoys. It just changes. Like, you'll start enjoying the party more than the house that you host the party in. You ever see somebody in a big old sweet house and they don't even live in it? You don't what I'm talking about? It's so nice.

You can't sit on the couch. Can't scuff a wall? You'll enjoy the ride you give more than the ride you're in. You'll enjoy the smile of a friend, way more than them being impressed with what you're wearing. You'll enjoy the people you serve or build memories with way more than the places you get to go. You'll enjoy the people sitting around the table

way more than whatever table the restaurant's in. See, this is what begins to happen because over time, not overnight, you're being changed and transformed into the image and likeness of the Son of God himself. You want to be godly? For God so loved the world he gave. So here's what I want us to do. I want us to do good. Be rich and good works.

Be generous, ready to share. Take hold of that which is truly life. Don't let chasing after money choke your life out. So let me ask you, are you rich towards God? And this between you and him, man. Church is doing great. You get zero credit for attending a generous church. Are you rich towards God?

Here's the problem. You don't feel rich and you are, but you feel generous even if you aren't. It's a very dangerous combination. I've told you this before. Everybody feels generous because you have generous feelings. You know, you're sitting there in that, what's, you know, those, they put the dying dogs on there and that girl's singing, in the arms of an angel.

And you're like, oh my gosh, I have so many feelings right now. Wow. I am such a generous person because I would love to give Sarah and her dead cat some money. I mean, I'm not going to give any money, but I have feelings that I should. I, go get ice cream. I'm so generous. You didn't even do anything. Now, by the way, they're actually starving humans.

I would prioritize them, but that's a different talk. So it's a dangerous, dangerous, dangerous. Last time I taught on this, guy comes up, he's like, all right, I've got some problems. I said, okay. He's like, you mean, so, all right, if I don't give me anything, where should I start? I go 10%. Bottom baseline, 10%. And he said, and I quote, if I gave 10%, I'd have to rearrange my entire life around

God. You think? Because right now it's all arranged just around you and you are the functional savior of your own life. Let me ask it to you this way. The way you were stewarding the money that God gives to you, is it bringing contentment and joy or anxiety and pride? I mean, the way that we follow after Jesus

and manage what he has trusted us with, it should lead to peace, not anxiety. not pride. You see, if you believe more is mine than you think you are the king of your own universe. There's three different ways to look at money. Some people think mine is mine. That's called selfish. Some people think yours is mine. That's called stealing. You said when the government does it, it's called socialism, but I don't have time for that. But what we're supposed to do as believers is think mine is gods. It's all his. And that's called stewardship. I mean, are you ready to experience godliness with contentment? Well, then bring your first and best.

That's where it starts. Now, you didn't get in your financial situation overnight, so you may not get out of it overnight, but there should be, just like you plan to save for a vacation or whatever is it important to you, then you should make a plan in your life, a generosity plan, to say, God, God is first, God loves first, God went first. And Jesus says, where your treasury is,

there your heart will be also. And so as a demonstration of worship to God, you make a plan to say, God, I want to bring my first and best to you because you first love me by giving your best in Jesus Christ. One of the ways we do this at my house is first and best also means most. I don't have a Bible verse for it. It was just a conviction at my house. So I want the most money coming out of the Martin account to go to the church of 1122 every single month.

I want it to be the thing that the whole rest of our financial situation has to adjust to. and not the other way around. Because God's not the God of leftovers, man. He's preeminent. He's first. The Lord our God, the Lord is one, and we should love him with all of our hearts,

soul, mind, and strength. A part of the way that you can do this, I don't have a Bible verse for this either. This is just life hacks with Jesus, okay? You could sign up for recurring giving. And I'm telling you, man, you're like, are we in trouble? No.

No, church is going great. But when you decide, you know what, Jesus says, nobody builds a building without first counting the bricks. One of the things that recurring giving does is it allows us on staff to count bricks as we're deciding what's coming next

in regards to campuses and missionaries and churches planted and all of that. And the other thing it does is it doesn't let your emotions rule you. You're just going to pre-decide, God, I'm bringing my first and my best, and so I'm going to sign up for recurring giving, and it just does that.

And then nobody ever asked me this. I don't know. I've heard I'm intimidating. I don't mean to be. But sometimes, through the grapevine, I heard that there were some people that are being stingy towards God. And a disciple group leader was like, why aren't you being rich towards God? And they said this.

Well, how do I know where it's going? Okay, well, we don't want you to be haphazard. First and foremost, you can look at a financial report online. It's right there, no problem. We're very transparent where it all goes. We are ECFA accredited. We get third parties to come in and make sure we're doing everything on the up and up. And we're audited every single year.

But then to the person, was like, well, how do I know where it's going? I said, do you have kids? Uh-huh. Do you put them in the kids ministry? Uh-huh. So you will trust us with your whole kid, but not 10% of your income? I think we've just revealed who your Lord is. That's very scary. Because the real question is just simply this. Do you trust God? Do you trust God? Do you trust God? Do you trust God? I mean, trust me, man. We have elders and we have all the things to make sure that we're doing the right things

and the God-glorifying things. I had a whole staff meeting this week. And I said, I don't mean to get political, but I said, if you think what Elon is doing is important and trying to make sure we're not crazy, people and are spending government money on weird stuff, like, you know, like three-legged peacocks in some other country, then how much more important is it that we're going to be? We take care of every single penny that our people bring as an offering of worship to the one true God.

Last story, and I'll close. This is an old preacher story. I think it actually happened, which is crazy. There's this old dead Southern Baddest preacher named Adrian Rogers. He could sling it. He's mean as a snake, too. I love him so much. And I mean, that joker, he's so good.

Adrian Rogers. And he was teaching on tithing. Tithing doesn't just mean 10%. tithing me it's the first or the best you know it's all three it's basically from cover to cover in the whole bible and so there was a couple in his church that comes up to him and they were like well we don't what if we don't have enough what are we going to do he goes all right i tell you what if you write me a check this month for 10 percent and what would you trust me to just keep it on my desk and if you have enough by the end of the month call me and then i'll deposit it and they go

they said you would do that he goes of course i would do that they go okay yeah Yeah, we'll do it. So they write out the check, they hand it to him. Then he tears it up in their face and says, why in the world would you trust a sinful man and not the one true God until you're ready to trust God that he's a good dad? He's not empty-handed. He's got everything you will ever need,

and he will provide for you if you will just trust them, and he handed it back. So listen, man, I'm not here to beat you up. Well, I am. If you're worshiping idols. I'm here to tell you, man, on the throne of your heart, there are all kinds of things that are circling around, like musical chairs. Remember the first time you ever played musical chairs? Remember, you're like in second grade?

You're like, oh, this is fun. And then you're like, counting the chairs and counting the people. You're like, hey, hey, wait a minute, remember? And that anxiety began to come up. You're like, oh, no. And then it would get down to two, it was one chair, and there was just two people circling around after all the losers couldn't get on the seat, you know. There's going to be all kind of things circling around on the throne of your heart. But when it gets down to it, the two things left circling in your heart is going to be this.

It's going to be faith and fear. That's it, every single time. It's going to be faith in God or fear of man or fear of circumstances or fear of what happens to me. That's what's going to circle your heart. And the reality is, is only one gets to sit down. And Jesus says, seek first the kingdom and His righteousness. you allow faith to sit down and Jesus says I'll take care of everything else. Would you please stand? Let me pray for you.

Our good and gracious Heavenly Father Lord, I thank you and I praise you that Jesus, when you came to this earth you did not merely give 10% of leftover blood that you went to the cross and you gave it all. and you redeemed us. And God, I thank you that you're such a good dad. And that if we're in Christ that not only are you our heavenly father, but you're the sovereign king, maker, judge, and ruler over all things. And, God, there's not a lightning bolt that strikes that you don't know about.

God, there's not a bird that falls from the air without getting permission from you. God, you establish where the oceans stop and where the land begins. and you know us down to the very hairs on our head. You know where you want and need that we have. And we also know that the devil is a liar and his native tongue is out of fear and condemnation. And so, God, I thank you that you have not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.

And so, God, I pray that you would call every single one of us in every area of our life to just trust you, to just do what you tell us to do, and then trust you with the consequences. God, may our whole life, our relational life, our church life, our work life, our financial life, may all of our life be worship unto you. We pray it in Jesus' name. Amen.

So we're going to respond. We don't pass plates. There's no special offering. We're going to respond. We're going to sing. We're going to bring. And we're going to pray. Let's respond.

The reality is everything already belongs to God. And when we give financially, we're acknowledging that we trust him. If you just watch this and feel led to make a donation, text the word donate to 441122, or visit COE22.com slash donate. Your generosity is not only an act of worship, but an investment so all people can discover and deepen a relationship with Jesus Christ.