The Church of Eleven22 - Why Do You Worry? - When He Asks - Wk 2

Episode Date: November 24, 2024

Worrying can not add a single hour to our lives, yet our society is plagued by it. The #1 cause of worry in America today is finances. Worrying about not having enough, worrying about running out, worrying about our future investments. But worry is just misplaced prayer. If we bring our finances to God and let Him have Lordship over them, there is nothing to be anxious about. - 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

Amen, amen, amen. How we're doing, church? Good. You look great. You sounded really good today. Good job. I know I did. So I feel like the people around me did too.

Hey, if you got your Bibles, I hope you do. We're going to be in two places. Luke 12 and Matthew 6. Luke 12 and Matthew 6. And as you turn there, I got a question for you. Do you worry? Do you worry? How many of you can just hear the word worry?

You were like, I wasn't even worried until you thought about worry. Now I'm worried. Oh, gosh. Yes, not even my question. question that Jesus asked, and this sermon is placed here on time, on purpose, because as the holidays are upon us, oftentimes it can stir up a bunch of worry, a bunch of family worry, bunch of financial worry, all kind of worry. And the question, do you worry, is actually a question from Jesus.

We're in the second weeks of this series called When He Asked. Some of you've heard people say sometimes, when I meet Jesus, I've got some questions. That's adorable. In the four of Gospels, Jesus asked 307 questions of us, and he only answers three or four of them. And one of the questions that he asked is this, why do you worry? And today, that's what we're going to talk about.

In fact, Jesus was a question asker. The first thing that he ever said to the disciples, they're on the Sea of Galilee. There was a miraculous catch of fish. These boys were cleaning up their nets, and they began to follow after Jesus, not like spiritually, they were just walking behind the dude, and he just turns around to them and he asks this question,

what are you seeking? Some translations translate that, what are you looking for? My favorite translation of that is, what do you want? That's what I would ask, what you want? That's a good question, isn't it? What do you want? What are you seeking? What are you looking for?

What are you worried about? Today we're going to look at seven or eight questions that all revolve around this one thing. Do you worry? And we worry, man. We worry about all kind of things. We worry about health and relationships and our future. But do you know what the number one worry in America is right now in 2024?

The number one worry is all around money and stuff. And do I have enough? It's kind of amazing. Two thousand years ago, the thing that Jesus talked about most when he talked about worry is about money and stuff. And what's crazy is over the last hundred years in our country, as our wealth and safety have increased exponentially. You know what increased with our wealth and safety? Worry.

You see, we always think if we just had a little bit more, then we would be a little bit more peaceful. Well, the numbers don't add up that way. You see, I don't know. You ever hear people talk about like 100 years ago? Like, it was a simpler time. I don't think you know what you're talking about, okay? There's all kind of things that have happened since 1924.

Can you imagine if you went back two people, in 1924, and you tried to tell them that today we would have the houses that we have and the cars that we have and the medicine that we have and the kind of comforts that we have, and yet the two highest prescribed medicines right now are anti-acids and antidepressants. Can you imagine? I mean, in 1924, the average family income was $3,000 a year. Adjusted for inflation, that would be the equivalent of $30,000 a year in our day. The average house would be worth $75,000 today.

There were no cars. Model T was kind of the only thing that was about to come on the scene. There were no fridges, no microwaves, no hairdriers. Almost nobody had running water or private bathrooms in their home. Think about that. Most medicine cabinets in 1924 only had over-the-counter medicine, which included heroin and mercury, which maybe that's why they weren't worried because they were hot-down-old heroin.

I'm not sure. basically no teenagers were in school. They were all working in the fields, working in the factories, that the maternal mortality rate was about 850 deaths per 100,000. One of the things you were most worried about in 1924 is you didn't want to have your baby in the winter because they may not make it.

Now that number is down to 7.2 per 100,000. You get it? And the chances of a mom dying in childbirth used to be extremely high, now it is very, very rare. In the 30s and 40s, things like transfusions and antibiotics come around so that the common flu doesn't kill people anymore. It was not a simpler time. And yet, as we have more money and more comforts and more safety,

we have more anxiety and more worry. What's going on here? Well, apparently circumstances are not the solution. that Jesus, the sovereign saviour of the universe, is going to be the only one to give you that peace that we're looking for. Do you worry? Well, Jesus has some really good news if we worry.

In Luke chapter 12, he's going to tell a parable. It's called the parable of the rich fool. So if you're sitting next to a rich fool, let them know, so they'll pay attention, all right? Luke 1213 starts out this way. It says, someone in the crowd said to Jesus, teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me. Now, think about this.

How often do we go to God and say, God, I need you to work it out so that I can get some more money for me? You ever do that? You know you do that. Because if you're out of money, what do you do? You go to God and go, God, I need more money. Let me ask you this. This is a tough question, though.

If you were God, based on what you've done with the money he already gave you, would you give you more money? This is what's happening here. because the reality is is God will get involved in your finances if you want him to. He will, but not as a genie in a bottle so that if you can figure out the code that you can get more of it, but so that you can be entrusted with all that he has given you. But Jesus says to this guy, here's our first question. Man, who made me judge or arbitrator over you?

He's saying, are you sure? You sure you want me to get involved? do you just want me to do for you what you want for yourself so that you can get more for you or do you actually want me to be ruler and reiner over all of your finances? It's a very, very, very significant question. And as we talk about this, listen, I can already tell you're uptight and your tents. I can always tell when I talk about money, you don't laugh like you normally laugh. Normally everybody's just like, ah, that's so fun coming to this shirt. When we talk about money, you're like, ha, ha, ha, dang it. You don't have to do anything. You don't have to do anything.

anything Jesus says, okay, do whatever you want, all right? There's not going to be a test at the end. Well, there will in heaven. It's kind of a big deal. They're not going to be a test to get it to the parking lot today, all right? He says, man, who made me a judge or arbitrator over you? And he said to them, take care and check this out. Be on your guard against all covetousness.

Are any of us on our guard against covetousness? No. We're actually on the lookout for covetousness. Isn't that what Black Friday is? Like how many of you right now, legitimately are a little bit worried, a little bit anxious, you've got a little bit of pressure because you're actually trying to find a gift for somebody

and they don't need anything. I mean, we all are doing this. We're not on the guard against covetousness. We have signed up so that they will send us covetousness to our phone and we can be alerted that we can go get some stuff that we don't need. I mean, it's the world we live in. Listen, man, you ever not even know what you're looking for,

you just got to go to the place and look for some stuff to get somebody for some stuff? This is the world we live in. It's called the mall. Man, you ever walked to a store and you didn't even know you needed something until you saw it? And you're like, I can't live without it. You ever do that? And I'm the worst. I'm just telling you, I'm the worst.

You ever been to this place called Shields? It's in the Midwest. Any Midwesterners here? Love y'all. Love y'all. All right. Bless y'all. Lean on those New Jersey and New York people a little bit. All right. So there's this place called Shields. It is the winter wonderland for a country man. You understand what I'm saying? They just have guns hanging out everywhere. Neighbor Gassie talks about it. The comedian, love that guy too. He's like, you can just walk in there and just tote one around. Ride down an escalator with a gun. Go next door to the Apple store. He can't get the phone to your ear. But it shields, you can just tote AKs around.

What's up? All right. Anyway, I was hunting last one. week in South Dakota, we go to Shields. I don't need anything. I have more camo than you can even imagine, all. I got it all. I got first light. I don't have first light yet. I got, I got Kewu, I got mossy oak. I love that a lot. I got real tree. I got sicka. I got all the camo. And then I walked by and they had first light there. I don't have first light. And I thought, huh? And then check this out. It was 40% off. See, so here's how this works. I don't know if you're good at math, but listen, by the third item you buy, 40% plus 40% plus 40, that's 120%. you're making money at this point, I think. Uh-oh. Take care and be on your guard against

all covetousness. For one's life does not consist in the abundance of possessions. This is what we've been doing for two years in the 10-10 life. We're asking this fundamental question, are you living the abundant life that Christ has for you? Or are we, we taking the bait of this world and chasing after just an abundance of stuff. Because our life does not consist in an abundance of possessions. Verse 16, and he told them a parable, saying, the land of a rich man. Now you've got to stop right there. Here's the problem.

When the Bible talks about rich people, we always think he's talking about somebody else. The land of a rich man produced plentifully. And you're thinking, rich people need to pay attention to this. Well, I've got some terrible news for you. Most of us in the room, I mean, 99% of people listening right now, you're rich. You're rich. If you make $35,000 as a combined annual income, you're in the top 1% of richest people in the world. How about that?

Congratulations. If you're a part-time substitute teacher at Fletcher Middle, congratulations. You're a rich person. The problem is, the reason you don't think it's talking about you, is because you don't feel rich, right? You see, we measure whether we're rich or not on how we feel. The problem is we also measure whether we're generous or not based on how we feel. And the crazy thing is, is most of us are actually rich and not very generous, but we think we're very generous because we feel that way and not very rich. Here's what I mean. Do you know the average American gives

less than 2% towards any kind of charity whatsoever? And yet they feel very very rich. And yet they feel very generous. You know why you think you're generous? Because you feel generous. Over the next few days, you're going to be sitting on your couch with nothing to do. It's awesome. Looking at your flat screen TV, which is awesome. And Sarah McLaughlin's going to come on. There's going to be some gangly little puppies and kittens. And you're going to hear, and the arms of an ang... And you're going to have feelings. And you're like, baby, look at these dead cats. We need to pray for these dead cats. All right. You can't give no money to it, which you probably shouldn't. But anyway, that's a different sermon. There's actually people that need food. Anyway. But you're going to feel a feeling for dying cats.

and you're going to feel I'm so generous. Why? Did you do anything? I didn't do anything, but I had feelings, all right? And so this is us. He's talking to us. He's like, all right, rich people. There was the land of a rich man produced plentifully and notice how this man talks to himself.

And he thought to himself, what shall I do for I have nowhere to store my crops? And he said, I will do this. I will tear down my barns and build large ones and there I will store all my grain in my goods and I will say to my soul. Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years, relax, eat and drink me, and be married.

You know what this is? America. This is us, man. Did you know that there are 27 million storage units in America? It's a $44 billion annual business. There are 2.1 billion square feet of storage units in America, that there is enough square footage in storage units that every American man, woman, and child could stand in about 10 square feet of their own space

of storage units, stuff that we haven't even seen. Anything wrong with storage units? Not if you're the owner of them. You've got a great business, all right? And yet, even this pagan man in this story understands that there is a connection between his stuff and his soul.

Notice that he says to his soul, and I will say to my soul, so you have ample goods laid up for you. You see, fear and worry will rise when you think, one, it all belongs to you, and two, you think it's all yours. You ever go from like, I remember for a long time in my youth pastor days, I had the worst cars. I just had beater trucks. People would be like, is that your hunting truck? I was like, that's my everything truck. I just got a truck. So if it smells like dead deer a little bit, that's because there's been one in here, you know? And then one year, I got a new truck. It was awesome. I loved it. It was great.

Great. But you know what increased with my new truck? Anxiety. When I had my old truck, I could park anywhere. Even if there wasn't enough room, I would just squeeze it in there and get out like Bo and Luke Duke and leave a note. Sorry, I think first came to God. Don't worry about stuff. You know what I mean? I get a new truck. I cannot find a place to park. I had to park and get an Uber to go where I was going. There's a connection between stuff and work. So here's what God says to this man that's got more stuff than he's got space. Anybody got more stuff than he's got space? Anybody can't park your car in the garage

because you've got too much stuff in your car's house? But God said to you, him, fool. A fool is somebody that thinks that he is in control and he's got it. And he says, fool, and he's going to ask him a question. This night, your soul is required of you. Second question. And the things you have prepared,

whose will they be? Answer, not yours. You realize you don't own anything. You ain't taking anything with you. I don't know if you realize this. I check my statistics to make sure I'm on point here, that the death rate in America hovers right around 100%. That's it.

You gone. And all your stuff, still here. And everything you have will be in somebody else's hands one today. I mean, you'll either sell it in a garage sale or if you make a bank in a state sale, which is the same thing. They just got little pomeina cheese sandwiches there. or we're going to sell your stuff in Hope's closet.

You're going to tithe. Everything you have, you're going to give to the Lord. You realize that? Everything. Is there anything wrong with stuff? Only if you put your hope in it, man. You see, the problem is, I mean, let me break your heart. You know those $99 pants you had to have, Mama?

I mean, you just had to have you feel so good in them right now, right? One day, you're going to die, and your kids are going to look at your stuff, and they're going to make fun of you for whatever style you died in, you know? Look at Mama's mom jeans. Good gracious. They're going to drive them off at Hope's Clause and we're going to sell your $99 pants for $2.

And some lady you ain't ever met is going to look better in your pants than you do right now. How about that? Yeah, I know. And husbands are like, I told her. All right, fella. You're golf clubs.

We ain't even going to sell the whole set. We can't do that at Hope's Clause. We're going to break them down like a club at a time. Some Joker ain't even practicing right now is going to be a better golfer than you are. You're going to be dead. And he's going to be playing in your clubs. You understand.

that what I'm saying? That's what happens to this dude. He says, fool, this night your soul is required of you. And the things you have prepared, whose will they be? And then story's over. And here's his point. So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God. Anything wrong with treasure? Mm-mm. Depends on what you use it for. If this treasure is for yourself, you've got a real problem. If you were using things to treasure God, praise God. and it says it's not rich towards God. Let me just ask you a question that only you and Jesus can deal with, man. I'm not going to follow up one-on-one with you and ask you this.

You ask you this. Are you rich towards God? Are you treating the stuff of this world as if it all belongs to you and the reason for the stuff is to bring you happiness? Or are you laying up for yourself's treasure in heaven and being rich towards God? And you say, how can I be rich towards God? The first thing you've got to understand is it's all. his, all of it. Then we bring our first and best to him. And then we use all that he has given it

unto his glory to love him and love people. And then from here, so after he tells this story about what it looks like to be rich towards God, he immediately now is going to talk about worry and anxiety. Why? Because the way you treat finances or the way they treat you is going to be directly connected to how much peace and contentment or worry and anxiety you walk around. around with. And he said to his disciples, therefore, and any time the Bible says, therefore, you've got to see what it's there for. So since you and I are stewards with an eternal mindset, not owners with a temporary bottom line, therefore, I tell you, do not be anxious about your life. I love this so much. Jesus tells you how to feel. In counseling, they always tell you,

never tell people how to feel. Jesus doesn't do that, okay? Jesus says, hey, are you anxious? Mm-hmm. Don't. Okay. How do you do that? That makes me anxious since you would say that way, Jesus. He says, I tell you, don't be anxious about your life, about what you will eat or about your body, or what you will put on. See, apparently being rich towards God impacts whether you're anxious or not.

He says, don't worry about that. Listen, the first pastor that I served out of seminary, a guy named Dr. Bill Ross, super awesome guy. He used to say this. If you pray, why worry? And if you're going to worry, why pray? because what worry is, worry is like misplaced prayer. Prayer is when we have wants, when we have needs, when we have desires, when we have

unmet expectations, when we have anxiety, we take that and we place it in the hands of God. Worry is when we have those same situations, but then we go and we try to place it in the circumstances and hope the circumstances will get better. Paul addresses it in Philippians chapter 4. Again, Paul will be my favorite counselor. He says, be anxious. for nothing. Like, that's a command. Can you imagine going to Paul? Hey, Paul, I need to talk to something. What's going on? I'm anxious. He go, okay, step one, stop. What? How do you stop worrying?

Stop being anxious. That seems like, it's like trying to sleep. It makes it worse. It's like, how do you do that? Can you give me a little more? He goes, be anxious for nothing. But in prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, make your request known to God. That worry does not have to be, it could actually be a trigger for you to go, you know what? I'm reminded because I'm feeling a little bit of anxiety here. It's a trigger for me to go to God again. He's like, well, I did it last Thursday at the altar. Yeah, you probably have to do it again and again and again and again.

And then we can trust God to do what he promises. And the God of peace that transcends all understanding will guard your heart and mind in Christ Jesus. He goes on to say, for life is more than food. and the body is more than clothing. Now, we believe this cognitively. We just don't live that way. I mean, we define success by how much stuff and how much entertainment

and how much comfort we have. He says, for life is more than food and the body is more than clothing. Verse 24, consider the ravens. They neither sow nor reap, and they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them. Here's what's going to happen. Here in Luke chapter 12, this is called the sermon on the plane.

It's the same content as the sermon on the mount, but it's a different audience, different times, same stories. So if you ever wonder, why you tell the same stories all the time? Trying to be like Jesus, okay? He used same stories a lot. So what he's going to do here is he's going to talk about worry and anxiety and how it's tied to finances. And one of my favorite quotes is this old Scottish proverb that says for every mile of road, there's two miles of ditch. And so if you hit it down the fairway in regards to money and finances, we are to be stewards of all that God has given us. And we bring him our first and best, and we trust him with it all. And if he wants us to have more, we'll have more. And if we are faithful with a little, then maybe we will be trusted to have more.

So being a steward with an eternal mindset, that's right down the middle. But on either side, we can have a tendency to fall into one of two ditches. Some people get obsessed with saving, some people get obsessed with spending. Those are the two ditches that Jesus is going to illustrate here. How many of you by nature are savers? If you're a saver, raise your hand, okay? See, look around, look around. Notice?

They don't even, it's like right here. Notice that? They're like, yep, I'm a saver. It is inefficient for me to lift my arm all the way. And I'm pretty sure you can see it from here. I wonder if anybody's counting. This is the sabers, all right? God bless you, sabers, all right?

Then how many of your spenders? You're, oh, yeah, that's it right there, my crowd. There we go, baby. It's Christmas time. This is our time, isn't it? Yeah. And then typically, in God's economy, what happens is a saver falls in love with a spender, and they get to fight it out for the rest of their life.

That's fine. Now, is there anything wrong with saving? No, is anything wrong with spending? No, no, no, no. The problem is when you begin to put your hope in one of these two things. When you begin to believe the lie of the enemy, and I don't know if you know this or not, but your money lies to you.

Your money, here's the lie. It sounds so sexy. You ready for this? Your money looks at you and says, if you love me, I'll love you back. That's what it says. Like, what you mean you'll love me back? Well, love, if you love somebody,

you provide and protect. That's what you do, you provide and you protect. And so money lies to us and said, if you love me, I'll love you back. I promise you security and satisfaction. That's the promise. Look at every commercial that you see on TV over the next few days.

And that's what they're promising, satisfaction or security. The problem is money just doesn't have the ability to do either of those things. And so, the first group of people that he's going after are you savers. He's like, all right, savers.

With your 401K and all your plans and you're, okay, pay attention to the birds. Have you seen a bird lately? They don't sow or reap, and they have neither storehouse nor barn. Yeah, God feeds them. Now, he's not saying that'll work hard. They don't stand on the branch with the mouth open hoping a worm falls in it.

They work very, very hard. They're just not worried about tomorrow. Why? Because they know that God will take care of them. Here's the problem with the saver, if you're a saver, is if you begin to believe that your security is bound up in how much you have saved. This is what it looks like. That you go on in one of your many accounts, because if you're a saver, you're probably diversified. So I hear, and you've got many accounts.

And you log on all the time, right? and you're looking for a number and you associate peace and security with a number on a screen. Jesus says, ooh, watch yourself. Why? Because if you're doing this,

then you're putting your hope and security in the wrong thing. Because it can't protect you. One phone call from the doctor, there goes your security. One phone call from the highway patrolman, there goes your security. One jacked up relationship

and how much does it matter? It doesn't. Now, you see, the birds don't even worry about their future, so please tell me you got more faith than a bird. This is what Jesus is saying. Now, should you have a retirement account? Yes. Proverbs 1322 says that a godly man leaves an inheritance for his grandkids.

For sure we should save. But you've got to ask the question as you're accumulating wealth in some accounts out there somewhere, what are you going to do with it? Like, what's the plan? What's the purpose? Do you trust God? Are you rich towards God? are you being rich towards you? And a lot of people say, well, I just want to enjoy retirement.

Praise God. There's just no retirement in the Bible. I hope you know that. Now, you don't have to have your same vocation all of your life, but what you do is you stay committed to the gospel in the advancement of the kingdom of God forever and ever and ever. And maybe what you need to do is take a big chunk of that growing number that's there and invest it into the kingdom of God. Listen, man, if you're at retirement age, you need to be in our senior adult ministry because you have, you have more resources, more knowledge, more experience, more time than ever, and you are perfectly positioned to help us advance pushing back darkness and advance the kingdom of God. Please, please, please, don't waste your life just sitting on some nest egg that you've been

building up. Please get in the game and be involved in the kingdom of God. Some of you're like, well, I'm going to leave it to my kids. Be careful. Have you met some people that got a, that's had a big bunch of money left to them? They're not awesome. There's not awesome. There's not awesome. Here's what Ecclesiasee too says. I hated all my toil in which I toiled under the sun, seeing that I must leave it to a man who will come after me, and who knows whether he will be wise or a fool?

Some of you kids are fools. That was a chance for an amen right there. You could have done it, right? Amen. Yet he will be master for all of which I toiled and use my wisdom under the sun. This is also vanity. So why not leverage it for the kingdom of God? as we are closing out this 10-10 life journey for two years,

some of you have some stored resources, and all they're doing is you're sitting there, sitting there, sitting there, and God has a plan for them, and you don't. And if the Spirit of God leads you, maybe you should do it. Or even where you store it makes a difference. Maybe you consider partnering with CFR, who's in all of our lobbies right now, and it's a Christian financial resource organization,

and you camp money there so that they can lend money to church planners and so that we can advance the kingdom of God while you're making interest in all those kind of things. And then he kind of closes this section with this of how much more value are you than birds? Do you believe that? Do you believe if God's going to take care of the birds and he didn't die on the cross to save the center of the birds

but it did for you, can you trust that he's going to take care of you? So do you believe that? The way you handle money, does it reflect that? Only you can answer that. That's between you and the Lord. And so around here, we say a part of the way that we are rich towards God is we bring our first and our best, that we bring our ties and our offerings to God because he loved us first by giving us his best in Jesus Christ. And listen, and in my house what this means is first and best also means most.

And so as we continue to give to our 10-10 commitment, and we're going to, we actually pass it, we're going to keep going. But one of the things that we're doing in my house right now is we want to give, like I asked Greg, you the other day. All right, I need you to figure out how much Christmas cost us this year. All the things, man. All the parties, all the presents, all the things. How much does it cost us? Because this year at Christmas, we in my house, we're going to bring more to God at Christmas than we bring to other people in name of God, if that makes sense. Why? Because I don't want to get so caught up in the holidays that I lose focus on the giver of all good things. Because I want to have more faith than a bird. I hope you do too. He keeps going. I

And he asked another question. And which of you, by being anxious, can add a single hour to his span of life? Answer, nobody. In fact, modern medicine is very clear that worried anxiety leads to a shortened lifespan. You have a higher risk of heart disease the more worried you are. That should calm you down worried people. You're like, I'm going to die right now. I know.

If then, you are not able to do as small a thing as that. Fourth question, why are you anxious about? the rest, answer, because I think I'm in control. Because I've misplaced my hope into the uncertainty of stuff. And I've forgotten, I've forgotten that we don't live here forever. You see, the more you begin to think that more is mine and I'm going to live here forever, than you'll quickly forget that you were a son of the most high king, and that this current state of existence is not your forever home.

In one of my favorite quotes, in one of my favorite books, John Piper says this, and don't waste your life. He says, I am wired by nature to love the same toys that the world loves. Me too. I start to fit in. I start to love what others love. I start to call Earth home. And before you know it, I am calling luxury's needs.

Do you ever do that? I need a new fridge. Why? Wrong color. My milk has never looked at me and be like, if we don't get rid of this yellow fridge, I'm going bad. No, no, no, no. and using my money just the way unbelievers do, and I begin to forget the war.

I don't think much about people perishing. Missions and unreached people drop out of my mind. I stopped dreaming about the triumphs of grace, and I sink into a secular mindset that looks first at what man can do, not what God can do. It's a terrible sickness. And I thank God for those who have forced me again and again

towards a wartime mindset. So if you fall into the ditch of saving, you should pray really, really hard about taking some stored resources and bringing them to the Lord. And it's about this time the spenders in their house are like, you get them, pastor. My stingy grinch of a husband

won't let me go out to eat except on triple coupon Thursday, ain't no fun. All right. To the spenders in the house. This is me, by the way. Oops. He says, consider the lilies and how they grow.

They neither toil no spend, yet I tell you, even Solomon and all, His glory was not array like one of these. You know what? A flower's never woke it up and be like, I wonder what I'm going to wear today. No, no, no, no, because God takes care of how good they look. And the problem with spenders is we think we're going to find satisfaction and stuff. We think new clothes or a new car, a new house, or a new weight, or a new face, or a new body part. You can buy all kind of stuff these days. It's going to make you look so good that you're going to feel fully and

finally satisfied. And around here, we lovingly call that the cul-de-sac of stupidity. Why? Not because stuff is stupid, because you're stupid. Me too. I need no more camo, but I'm getting it, all right? You see, the problem with those new pants, ain't the pants. The problem is in you. That's it. We keep chasing it, keep chasing. He says, but if God closed the grass, which is alive in the field today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, here's the fifth question. How much more will he clothe you, oh, you with little faith? Answer a lot. Internally, we got robes of righteousness in heaven, man. We don't have to worry about what we wear. And do not seek what you were to eat and what you were to drink. You know what I thought about during the bumper video?

I thought, uh-oh, I was supposed to buy a turkey yesterday. I didn't buy a turkey. I am literally not, I'm sinning as I'm preaching the sermon. I'm worried. I hope I got turkeys. Somebody can run the public for me in between services. I'd appreciate you. All right.

Do not seek. you were to eat and what you were to drink, nor be worried for all the nations of the world seek after these things. He's like, listen, when you look for ultimate satisfaction and stuff, you're acting like an atheist. It's like, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, I'm not an atheist. I go to church, I worship with my hands up, I'm in a group, I do all the things. He's like, yeah, cute, that's adorable. You know the words to the song. But if you look at your chat book, it looks like you have the same values as people that don't even know God. And your father. knows that you need them.

Not want him. Instead, seek His kingdom. In Matthew 6, we'll read in just a second. It says, seek first his kingdom. And these things will be added unto you. What will be added unto you? Not cash and prizes. That's not the point.

Security and satisfaction. Because he has it. And then he closes with this. Fear not. Fear not. Why do you think he brings it up? Because there's so much fear around money. This is why you always get nervous when I talk about money.

Jesus has two commands here. He says, don't worry. And you're like, I want that. Be rich towards God. You're like, wait, what? I don't know if I want that. Yeah, it's kind of like a trainer. It's like, be in shape.

I'll take that. Push-ups. They go together. Listen, last year, maybe two years ago, I was when I was coaching football at Providence, and I was in the weight room with a bunch of those little goobers, you know, it's all these 16, 17-year-old guys just dinking around, not doing the things you got to do, not deadlifts and power cleans and things that matter on the field. Everybody's just wants to curls so they can look good for their Instagram junk.

You know what I mean? And I'm so awing. And they're just wasting time. They want to be a good football player, and they don't want to train in the weight room. And remember my anger sermon for a few weeks ago? It's an issue, all right? And I mean, I've had it to hear. And at the top of my lungs, I yell,

everybody wants to be strong. Nobody wants to be sore. And I thought, that'll preach. Everybody wants the peace of Christ that transcends understanding. Nobody wants to go first with their finances and say, I trust you more than the stuff of this world. I'm telling you, man. So he says, hey, don't be afraid.

Fear not. Fear not, little flock. For it is your father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Man, he doesn't want anything from you. It is his good pleasure to give you the kingdom. So why in the world do you act like we're going to live here forever? Listen, I travel way too much. All right, way too much.

If you don't travel, you think hotel rooms are cool. If you travel, they ain't cool, man. Can you imagine if I roll into a Holiday Inn Express, call down and say, hey, listen, I need to upgrade. And they're like, what room? No, no, no, I'm going to upgrade this room. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So Lowe's is coming.

We're going to knock that window out. We'll put a breakfast nook in here. I don't need a kitchenette. I need an industrial kitchen in this, you know, maybe with a pizza maker, right? Taking out this nasty carpet, I don't know who's been here. Daddy got to walk on some hardwood, you understand? Can we upgrade the thread count on my sheets? The Holiday Inn Express will be like, well, we appreciate the investment into the Holiday Inn Express,

but seems like an awful waste of money for such a short stay. Right. We act like we are going to live here forever. And yet, our, if you know Jesus, he's not. He's got a kingdom for you, where we will spend forever and ever and ever and ever. So he says, sell your possessions, doesn't say all of them. And give to the needy. He doesn't say sell it all and give it all to the needy.

He told one guy to do that. He says, provide yourselves with money bags that do not grow old and treasure in heaven that does not fail where no thief approaches and no moth destroyed. You know what you can take to heaven? People in praise. It's all you can take. So why in the world would we waste all of our money here on some stuff that is so very temporary when the mission of God is so urgent. There are people all over the world that

have never even heard the good news of the gospel. And we should leverage all that we have to treasure him above all the stuff of the world. Verse 34, for where your treasure is there, your heart will be also. Something's got to go first. Your heart follows your money. This is what it says. Now, jump over to Matthew 6, because I'll go faster on this one. I want to use the Bible as commentary to itself. Jesus preaches a different sermon, but it's almost all the same content with a few differences. In Matthew 619, do not lay up for yourselves's treasures. Anything wrong with having a lot of treasures? Depends on what you do with them. There are righteous rich people and unrighteous rich people. Just like there are righteous poor people

and unrighteous poor people. It says, do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and seal, but lay up for yourself treasures in heaven where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not. break in and steal. Again, all you can take to heaven is people and praise. So we should leverage it for him. And, and Paul tells Timothy, command those who are rich in this present age, don't be haughty, don't put your hopes in the uncertainty of riches. God has given you everything to enjoy. The Christians should enjoy the resources that we have more than anybody else and what you will enjoy will begin to change the more you get to know Jesus. He says, for where your treasure is,

there your heart will be also. Listen, God doesn't need your money. He wants your heart. I'm going to shoot you straight, man. And 1122 ain't struggling. You might be the most generous church in the history of churches. Like, honest, the goodness. You are so generous. We're not in a place of deep financial need right now. In fact, spoiler alert, we're going to exceed our 10-10 life goal by tens of millions of dollars. That's just where it is. So it's not like, we're like, hey, Toby, you might need to talk about money real quick coming into the holidays. No, no, no, no. I want freedom for you. I want freedom for you.

The Bible says the rich rule over the poor and the debtor is slave to the lender and some of you are slaves. You're like, I'm not slave to anybody. Okay, then take your next paycheck and give it away to somebody in need. You're like, well, I can't do that? Right, right, right, because it's already accounted for

because you gotta master it, it's not you. Do you realize if you did money God's way that what should happen is at the end of every month, you still got some money? See, a lot of you, at the end of you every money, you still got some months? Uh-oh. Here's something I'm doing this Christmas, okay?

And I dare you, I want you to take this challenge. Somewhere between $200, depending on your socioeconomic situation. I want you to take some money out of your wallet, and I want you to put it in a different place, and the point and purpose of that money is you're going to give it away. So I got a $20 bill. Actually, I did it last night, so I don't have it right now. I've got to do it again. And so I want you to fold up the money.

that money, I want you to put it in a different place, and I want you to walk around with that $20 or $100 or $2, whatever it makes sense for you, and you're pre-decided, this ain't my money. And you're asking God, God, who do you want me to give this $20 to? That's going to be the most important $20 you've ever held in your life. You know why? Because you're going to treat it like it's all his. And you're going to bump into somebody in public. So you're like, oh, is this her? Is this what? Dear God, you've got to tell me, because you don't want to waste this money. and maybe for the first time you're going to rely on the spirit of God to speak to you and give you directions about that $20,

and then maybe you'll get a little taste of what it looks like to trust him first with your finances, and that could be the door that opens you up to live in the kind of freedom that God has for you. That's what I want for you, man. And in these verses, they seem so out of place. The eyes, the lamp of the body, so if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be, of light, but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness? You're like, huh?

Why is this sandwich between money and worry? Here's why. Because in the first century, they believe that your eye told the story about how healthy your whole body is. Jesus is saying your bank account tells the story about your spiritual health. Not how high your hands are raised in church. Not about how many big words you know in prayer. But where your treasure is, there your heart will be awesome.

Then he says, no one can serve two masters. For either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money. See, we're supposed to love God, love people, and use the money to that end. Some of you'll say, well, doesn't the Bible say that money is the root of all evil?

No, no, no, no, no. It says the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Because what will begin to happen is, if you love money, nobody can serve two masters. and you'll begin to use God and use people to serve your ultimate love, which is money, as opposed to using money to serve your ultimate love, which is loving God and loving people.

Be very, very careful. Therefore, since your heart follows your money, therefore, I tell you, do not be anxious about your life and what you'll eat or drink and about your body, what you'll put on. Here's the sixth question, is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? Not if that's where your heart is.

If that's where your heart is, that's all your life is. That's it. Look at the birds of the air. Again, these are real birds. They neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your Heavenly Father feeds them. Seventh question, are you not of more value than birds? Verse 27,

and which of you, by being anxious, can add a single hour to a span of life? That's a repeat question. Eighth question. And why are you anxious about clothing? And you would say, because I care so much about what everybody thinks. and he says consider the lilies of the field how they grow and they neither toil or spin yet i tell you

even solomon in all his glory was not a raid like one of these but if god so closed the grass of the field which is today alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven ninth question will he not much more clothe you oh you of little faith therefore so the therefore is since you can trust that god will take care of you don't be anxious saying what will he eat or what will we drink or what will we wear for the and how all seek after these things. He's saying, don't be a practical atheist, man. Come to church all the time, but you can begin to believe

that the stuff of earth is more important than the giver of all good things. He said, your Heavenly Father knows that you will need them all, but seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you.

What thing? Stuff, no, no, no, no. Satisfaction and security will be added unto you. Therefore, did I be anxious about tomorrow for tomorrow, be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. You know why you don't need to worry about tomorrow? Because God has not given you the grace that you need for tomorrow. The gifted class, when do new mercies come?

In the morning. New mercies come in the morning. So what happens when we begin to worry about tomorrow, God has not given us the mercies that we need to walk through what's coming tomorrow. His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness to walk through today. So don't be anxious. It's a misplaced fear and God is in control. Back to Luke 12.

The way he closed it in Luke 12 is this fear not little flock. For it is your father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. I've told you a hundred times before about going fishing with my daddy when I was growing up. What was I afraid of? Nothing. Why? because it's just like we saying, everything I need, everything I need, my father has it. Do I need a fishing license?

Yeah. Does he have it? Maybe. I don't know. I think he did. I didn't worry about where we were fishing or what we're going to fish with or what we're going to do with the fish. Why? Because I was with my dad.

And I didn't have to worry because I was with him. Did I worry about lunch? Everybody knows. He had Vienna sausage. That's what we had. Everything I needed, he had it. And then at the end of it, he says, for where your treasure is there, your heart will be also. Let me ask you this question.

Are your finances ruled by fear and control? Like you think more is mine and comfort and entertainment is king? And fear drives you in that direction. And there's stored resources sitting there while the mission of God is urgent. Or your finances rule by faith and freedom. God says, bring me your first. And I dare you to carve out that 20 bucks and pray that God would lead you to give it to somebody. and that everything you have would bring him honor and glory.

You see, there's so much fear when it comes around money. And fear doesn't come from God. The Bible says, God did not give you a spirit of fear. The whole book of Galatians is about freedom, which comes from God. So if fear defines your finances, you're not doing it. it right. You got to trust him. It should be defined by freedom. And listen, I don't typically operate in fear. I don't. I don't get scared much. It's just, it's not because I'm a super awesome Christian or anything. It's just the way I'm wired, okay? I just, I don't, I just, that's how I operate.

And yet two weeks ago, terrified. Terrified. Terrified. So afraid. A couple weeks ago, I got invited to do a very cool thing. Meet a bunch of pastors with an organization called pray.com. We're invited to go out to San Diego, California, and train with the Navy Seals. And it was awesome, dude. It was awesome. And everything was a competition. And they taught us, like, how to escape abduction, you know, in case there's somebody out there trying to steal pastors.

Better not come from me because I know how to get out now. They'd, like, wrap you up with duct tape. And they're like, ptah! How to get out. It was pretty easy. And then we went to the firing range the next day, and we shot all kind of guns. And everything, and I dominated, okay?

But it's against pastors, you know what I mean? So it's not like, it's like racing a one leg of guy. I'm like, I think I got him. All right, so anyway. They took us up in a helicopter, we shot stuff out of there, everything is awesome. And then, and then they say to us, okay, who's ready to go skydiving? What? Skydiving.

And then inside, I was like, oh no, oh no. I don't want to do this. Who would do this? This is the dumbest thing I've ever heard in my life. I'd know it. But there's so much peer pressure, these pastors, and my brother was there. My brother was so pumped. He was like, I'll go.

And in my heart, I was like, no, no, no, no. And my hand went, I'll go. What are you doing? It never got better. It was never got awesome. Then we got to the place and you sign up, you know, you fill out this very long form. All that needs to say is, if you die, who cares? That's me right there.

Then there was a weight limit. I'm like, okay, good. I'm out. All right, surely I won't pass this situation. And I step on the scale and they're like, close enough. Close enough. Right. So we get in this plane. They hook a Navy seal to your back and you go up 14,000 feet in the air. And it was terrible. And it never got better. And I want you to see it. So check it out. Let's go. What up, my man? Let's go. What are we doing right now, baby? We're going to watch the show about up an airplane. I'm sweating now. Just watching it.

See what my shirt said? Pray, that's what I said. Hey, show him the picture real quick. I want you to see this one. I told Jake B. I was going to show you this picture. He's like, are you preaching on humility? What's that for? So I'm so glad my beard covered my lips to censor me.

So you can't see me saying, oh, scuba on, scuba, scuba, scuba, scuba, scuba, scuba, scuba, scuba, all the way down until I got down. Okay, so. Now, here's why I bring this up. A couple weeks ago. This guy comes up to me in the lobby. And he says, hey, I just got saved here a couple weeks ago, and I have a gift for you. And he's an airborne ranger, a retired airborne ranger. He's got thousands of jumps, and he fought in the Middle East.

And he's a paratrooper that would jump behind the enemy lines. And then we retired from active duty, he flew with the Golden Knights. By flu, he flew out of the plane and did parachute stuff. and his whole life was jacked up and he came here and he heard the gospel and he put his faith in Jesus and he says I want you to have my Ranger Altimeter. That's what this is. And I go, tell me more about it. He goes, well, here's the thing, man. We would do a bunch of jumps at night behind enemy lines when I was in war over in the Middle East. And he said, when you jump out of the plane, you can't trust anything around you in the dark because you can't see anything. And he said, and you can't turn a

light on or they're just shoot you out of the air. So you're falling through the air. And here's what he says. He says, and you can't trust your eyes because you can't see what you think you see. And you can't trust your feelings because you might feel like you're at one level, but you might not be there and it will lead to your certain death. And the only thing that will tell you the truth and the only thing that will keep you alive is this altimeter right here. And so while your eyes are telling you one thing and your feelings are telling you something else, you have to tell you this, you have to trust this because this is what's telling you the truth. truth and he gave it to me. His name's Enrique. When you see him, he looks like an airborne

ranger. Okay, he's a stud. And I thought, boy, that'll preach. Because when it comes to money, you can't trust your eyes. Can't trust your circumstances. And I know you watch your cable news all the time and you watch those little lines go up and down. And if you put your trust there, it's going to lie to you. And you can't trust your feelings? Because I'm telling you, even right now, some of you are so defensive. You don't know my story. I don't know your story. And you're saying, See, I knew it. All the church, the church, all they want to my money. If you say that, it sounds like all you want is your money, and it ain't yours.

And we have to trust Jesus and trust the Word of God, not our circumstances and not our feelings, and do what he says. Here's the whole point. Do you trust God in His Word or are you setting your hopes, your satisfaction, and security on the temporary things of this world? In John 1633, Jesus says this. He says, I have said these things to you. He's talking about all the things that he said.

I have said these things to you that in me, you may have peace. You want peace? Then you better trust the truth of the Word of God. He's the only one for you and the only one telling you the truth. He says, in the world you will have tribulation, but take heart, I have overcome the world. Here's what I need you to do. You got something better than a Navy seal named Bobo hook you back. because when I'm going, oh, he's like, I got it, I got it, I got it. I'm like, okay.

If you're in Christ, you have the spirit of God in you, leading you and guiding you and directing you. And what I'm asking you to do is fear not. So don't put your worry in the temporary things of this world. That you would grab it, you would bring it back, and you would be rich towards God. And the details of that, listen, man, you just do whatever. Jesus tells you to do. And what he promises he will do is he will give you peace. Because in this world, you will face tribulations of many kinds, but he has overcome this world. We just stand. Let me pray for you. Our good and gracious Heavenly Father, God, I thank you that you don't want anything

from us but us. But God, for us, you have peace and contentment and godliness and secure. and satisfaction, because everything we need, you have. And you are not an empty-handed father. And so, Lord, this all just boils down to trust. God, may the words of our mouths, the meditation of our heart, and primarily the way we handle our finances, scream out loud, I trust in God. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. So church, we're going to respond. There's no special offering. It's just a normal service. We're not doing anything.

We don't even pass a plate around here. You know that. But may we be reminded that part of the way we worship God is we bring our first and our best. And so we bring our ties and our offerings. Almost all of us do it online. Go on the app or there's boxes all over the place. And we're going to sing, and that's what we're going to sing, that I trust in God. And we're going to pray.

Because like that Piper quote, I'm like you. I need to be reminded on a daily basis that we are at, war and I want to ask God to lead me in such a way that I would leverage all of my time, talent, and treasure to glorify him. So let's sing, let's bring, let's pray. Let's respond.