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Well, welcome to the weekend here
at Christ Community Chapel.

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Welcome to you

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if you're watching this in East Hall
or in the gym.

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So glad you are here
as part of our weekend.

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Listen, we're in week
two of the Summer of More,

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which is what we're calling
this kind of historic season

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we're in as a church.

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Our sanctuary is being renovated,
we're displaced, we're all over the place.

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I told my wife last weekend,
it was like running the circus.

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There was something happening
everywhere, there was a lot going on.

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But we're not focused on what we've lost.

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We're focused on what God's going to do
during our displacement.

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We're excited to see all that he does.

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We're also continuing our sermon series

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through Proverbs, as we're calling it
More Wisdom, More Life.

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You know, we our theme for the year
in 2026 is More Life.

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That's because Jesus said in the Gospel
of John chapter ten, verse ten,

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that he came so that we might have life
and life more abundantly.

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He wants more life for us.

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Of course we want that.

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So we're leaning into Jesus and saying,

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hey, if you have more life for us,
how do we get it?

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And what we're learning in part
is this when Jesus says he's come

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so that we might have more life,
he's saying a couple of things implicitly.

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One is that we are currently living
less life.

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Right.

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You don't need more life if you're already
living life to the maximum.

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Jesus is looking at our world and saying,
you're not living the life

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you were designed to live.

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There's more out there for you.

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The second thing he's saying
is that only he can get us there.

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That's why he says, I've come
so that you might have more life.

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The implication is, if I hadn't come,
you wouldn't have gotten it.

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Jesus is saying,
I know how to get you there.

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I guess I say that because it follows then

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that if we want more life,
we're going to have to listen to Jesus.

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That's what this series is about looking
at Proverbs, God's wisdom for more life.

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But we're also going to have to expect
that he will want to talk about things

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that we don't want to talk about,

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and that he'll talk about them in a way
that will feel foreign to us,

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that he'll push us to think differently
about all kinds of things

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so that we can go from less life
to more life.

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I just want you to keep that in mind
because this week's sermon is on money.

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So of course, Jesus is going
to want to talk about things

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we don't want to talk about,
and he's going to think about them

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in a different way.

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If you have a Bible,
I'm going to be reading in

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just a second from Proverbs
chapter 22 verse seven.

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Let me read it to you, and then I'll use
an outline to guide our time together.

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Here's what the writer of Proverbs says in
Proverbs 22 seven to be on the screen

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behind me,
he says, the rich rules over the poor,

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and the borrower is
the slave of the lender.

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The rich rules over the poor,
and the borrower is slave to the lender.

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All right, three points
I want to use to guide our time together.

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Their questions, they just go like this.

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Are you trapped?

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Are you leaking?

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And are you ready to get out?

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Are you trapped?

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Are you leaking?

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And are you ready to get out?

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Let's start with the first one.
Are you trapped?

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The writer says the borrower
is slave to the lender.

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Of course he's talking about debt.

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He's talking in particular,
I think probably about consumer debt,

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about going into debt
in order to buy the things we want.

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And he says, really,
what debt is, is slavery.

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Now here's the problem.

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Debt is a huge part of American culture.

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Our parents went into debt.

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We have gone into debt.

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We will teach our kids
that car payments are normal,

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that if you can't pay for something,
you let visa or Mastercard

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or American Express pay for it
and you figure it out later.

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We've learned to live with debt,
but the writer says it's slavery.

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So here's what I know.

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We probably don't agree.

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So when I ask, are you trapped?

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I want to kind of tease out,
what does he mean

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that the borrower is slave to the lender?

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I think he's saying two things.

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One is logical and one is existential.

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Let's start with the logical thing.

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You know, before,
let me give you a little econ 101.

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Hopefully there are no econ professors
here in the room.

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Before there was money,
we had a barter system.

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Right? Like if I made shoes for a living.

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I would make shoes.

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And then let's say you grew apples

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and I would show up at your house
and I would say, hey,

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how about I give you a pair of shoes
and you give me a bushel of apples?

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And everybody, one like

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you didn't have to walk around barefoot,
and I didn't starve to death.

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It was a good 1 to 1 trade.

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There's a problem with

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that system, though, and that is next week

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when I show up and I'm like,
how about a different color pair of shoes?

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You're less interested,
but I'm still hungry.

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So we can't we can't make a 1 to 1 trade.

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So eventually someone said, well,

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what we'll do,
we'll create a system of currency.

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And then and then Zach, you can sell
your shoes to anybody who wants them.

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It doesn't matter if you want
what they make, they'll give you money.

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And then you can take that money
and you can buy apples,

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even if the person who makes apples
doesn't want your shoes.

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So instead of turning shoes into apples,
I turn shoes into money, into apples.

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I mean, you with me so far,
pretty simple, right?

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Then someone came along though,

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and they said, listen, Zach,
you're not young, but you're not old.

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You might say, you're in your prime.

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You're going to make.

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I was expecting more from that.

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I am, I am in my prime.

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You you have a lot of shoemaking
ahead of you.

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So I'll tell you what.

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Instead of waiting for the next 20 years
for all the money

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you're going to make incrementally
from making shoes, how about we do this?

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I will advance you
the money you would make.

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And you can buy all the apples you want.

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You can make apple pie, apple fritters,
Apple like, you can do whatever you want.

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And then you'll go to work and make shoes.

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And I will get your future work
and your future earnings.

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You get money now, I get money later.

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And the concept of debt was introduced.

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But I want you to follow the logic.

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The minute I take that deal,

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I now work for you.

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I go to work the next day to make shoes.

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I'm not going to work to make shoes
because I love making shoes.

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I'll say this
and I'll say more about this in a minute.

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I'm not going to work
because I'm passionate about shoes.

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I'm going to work because I have to,
because I need to make money to pay you

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back.

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I'm working not for my own profit,
but for your profit.

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What do you call someone who goes to work?

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Not to benefit themselves,
but to benefit the person who owns them?

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A slave.

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You see,
the borrower is slave to the lender.

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That's just logic.

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You go to work to make the shoes
because you have to your future

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work, your future
earnings belong to someone else.

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But it's not just a logical point
he's making.

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It's an existential one.

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In other words, it's our lived in reality
look.

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Most of us are a part
of a generational wave of debt.

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We saw our parents do it. We're doing it.

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We'll pass it down to our kids.

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It's never occurred to us
to think critically about that.

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That's why I can tell you
that the average American monthly

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spends $1,392 on debt.

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Consumer debt, 11% of the average
Americans income after taxes.

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That's a different sermon.

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After taxes give 11.5%

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of their income after tax to debt.

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So they haven't even paid
the light bill yet.

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The gas bill, the food bill,
they haven't done anything fun.

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They've done nothing like that.

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They've just Uncle
Sam gets his American Express

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chase visa, whoever they get theirs.

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You see, the reality is we

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bought, we are

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owned, we are working for someone else.

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Our future work, our future earnings
belong to other people.

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In fact, when I read this passage
and he says the rich rules over the poor,

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it made me think that there are companies
out there right now meeting and I guess

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midtown Manhattan and their meetings
are about how to convince you and I

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we need more of the products
they sell or how to convince you and I

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that even if we don't have the money,
that's okay.

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We can just make payments.

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A little bit of interest, no big deal,
so that they can get not just our money

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now, but our future work in our future
earnings.

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They are in meetings right now

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trying to figure out how to own us,
how to enslave us.

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That's their business.

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And so

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the writer says the borrower is slave
to the lender.

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That's just logic.

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That's just our lived in reality.

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Let me ask you a question.

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Are you trapped?

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Do you belong to someone else?

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Your future work? Your future earnings?

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Are they already the property
of someone else?

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Well, if they are,
then I have a second question for you.

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And that is.

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Are you leaking?

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I'm a man,
so I don't like to talk about my feelings.

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Okay.

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When I get home and my wife says,
how was your day?

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I say, it was, I see, you know, some men.

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Yeah, it was fine.

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It was fine.

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And here's what I believe as a man,

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if I don't talk about my feelings,
no one will know I have feelings.

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Okay, so I can have had a bad day.

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Someone could have hurt my feelings.
I could be feeling insecure.

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But if I don't talk about it,
no one knows. I like to think of myself.

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It's like the Clint Eastwood of my dinner
table, right?

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I just squint and play it tough
and no one knows what's going on.

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And my wife says, Zach,
you're not tough. You're an idiot

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because she says, and I
think people work with me would say this.

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Everyone knows you're upset.

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Like we feel it.

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We feel your frustration.

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We feel your disappointment.

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We just don't know who you're mad at
or how to fix it.

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She'll say, Zach, you think you're
holding it in, but you are leaking.

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Let me ask you a question.

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Is it not true that right now, more
than any other time in American history,

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we are pretty bad at relationships,

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pretty bad at mental, emotional,
social health?

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I've never heard in my whole lifetime
of as many families

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broken as I have heard of now.

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And I'm not just talking about divorce,

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I'm talking about parents
who don't speak to adult children,

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adult siblings
who don't speak to each other.

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Where's that coming from?

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Well, I think the answer is we're leaking.

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Because, you see, when you are enslaved,
it changes you.

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Let me give you three ways
that financial slavery will change you.

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And then I want to show you
how maybe it leaks out of you.

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The first is it robs you of your purpose.

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Remember, I told you, the minute
I agree that I'll take your money now

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and you can have my future shoe making.

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I'm no longer in the shoe business
because I love it.

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I'm no longer in the shoe business
because I'm passionate about it.

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I'm in the shoe business because if I
don't show up to work, you'll take my car.

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You see, my point

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is, if we don't work out of passion,
we don't work out of purpose.

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Some of us are in careers we hate.

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And if I say to you,
why don't you get out of it?

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Why don't you do something else?

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What will you say?

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I can't, I have bills to pay.

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And we mean in large part debt. It's.

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Why would you ask a kid
what they want to be when they grow up?

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They always say something cool, right?

238
00:11:49,191 --> 00:11:51,627
Like I want to be a firefighter
or God help them.

239
00:11:51,627 --> 00:11:53,229
They'll say,
I want to play for the Browns.

240
00:11:53,229 --> 00:11:55,347
You're like, you're right. Right.

241
00:11:55,347 --> 00:11:57,750
They'll say those kinds of things because
here's how a kid thinks about work.

242
00:11:57,750 --> 00:12:00,753
They think about something
they think would be awesome.

243
00:12:00,753 --> 00:12:02,722
And I'll do that, right?

244
00:12:02,722 --> 00:12:04,874
They think of purpose.
They think of meaning.

245
00:12:04,874 --> 00:12:07,927
You don't ever see a kid drive
by a building and go, dad, what's that?

246
00:12:08,043 --> 00:12:09,628
I said, that's a factory, son.
They make things.

247
00:12:09,628 --> 00:12:13,232
And he goes, I can't wait to to
work there and turn a widget.

248
00:12:15,151 --> 00:12:16,752
We end up in the jobs we end

249
00:12:16,752 --> 00:12:20,523
up in because we have to add,
we have to become.

250
00:12:20,523 --> 00:12:23,676
We've already promised our future work
in our future earnings.

251
00:12:23,676 --> 00:12:25,778
We live lives of no purpose.

252
00:12:25,778 --> 00:12:27,396
Well, here's the other thing.

253
00:12:27,396 --> 00:12:27,997
We also.

254
00:12:27,997 --> 00:12:31,000
It also robs us of our peace.

255
00:12:32,268 --> 00:12:35,271
You see, if you're spending $1,392

256
00:12:35,271 --> 00:12:38,707
a month on consumer debt,
then here's what I already know.

257
00:12:38,908 --> 00:12:43,078
You're worried about the next financial
thing that's coming down the road,

258
00:12:43,078 --> 00:12:45,598
and it crippling you
because you can't pay for it.

259
00:12:45,598 --> 00:12:46,949
If you're living life like this,

260
00:12:46,949 --> 00:12:51,470
you are always on the edge of your seat
for your kid to come home with.

261
00:12:51,470 --> 00:12:55,558
One more thing we have to purchase
parents, school administrators.

262
00:12:55,558 --> 00:12:57,359
You're robbing us.

263
00:12:57,359 --> 00:12:59,595
Just kidding. But you are really.

264
00:12:59,595 --> 00:13:01,547
School's expensive, right?

265
00:13:01,547 --> 00:13:04,116
Or you're waiting for something
to break in the house

266
00:13:05,067 --> 00:13:06,001
or to get in the car.

267
00:13:06,001 --> 00:13:08,070
You hold your breath hoping
it doesn't make a funny noise

268
00:13:08,070 --> 00:13:12,842
because, you know,
if it does, you just might be ruined.

269
00:13:13,309 --> 00:13:16,629
You don't think that hanging
over your head

270
00:13:16,679 --> 00:13:19,632
changes you as a person.

271
00:13:19,632 --> 00:13:22,751
You don't think that anxiety
and that fear comes through?

272
00:13:22,802 --> 00:13:23,402
Sure it does.

273
00:13:23,402 --> 00:13:25,754
In fact, it robs us of our purpose.

274
00:13:25,754 --> 00:13:26,989
It robs us of our peace.

275
00:13:26,989 --> 00:13:30,559
And I think here's the third thing
it robs us of our patience.

276
00:13:31,677 --> 00:13:33,362
I think that's why we're so angry.

277
00:13:33,362 --> 00:13:35,714
At least it's a reason
why we're so bitter.

278
00:13:35,714 --> 00:13:37,082
It's why we're lashing out.

279
00:13:37,082 --> 00:13:39,869
We're not yelling at our kids
because they're the problem. Their kids.

280
00:13:39,869 --> 00:13:42,071
We're yelling at them
because we spent the whole drive home

281
00:13:42,071 --> 00:13:44,790
trying to figure out
how we're going to pay for stuff.

282
00:13:44,790 --> 00:13:47,760
We're not yelling at our spouse
because they're the problem.

283
00:13:47,760 --> 00:13:50,029
We're yelling at them
because we're embarrassed.

284
00:13:50,029 --> 00:13:53,032
We can't get control of our spending.

285
00:13:53,432 --> 00:13:57,403
You see, we're leaking, we're leaking,
we're financially enslaved.

286
00:13:57,403 --> 00:14:01,106
And the consequence is it's destroying us.

287
00:14:01,156 --> 00:14:03,108
So it's not just, are you trapped?

288
00:14:03,108 --> 00:14:04,793
It's do you understand?

289
00:14:04,793 --> 00:14:05,794
Your leaking?

290
00:14:05,794 --> 00:14:09,832
It's coming out for the people you love
and the places

291
00:14:09,832 --> 00:14:14,153
where you want to matter, in the places
where you want to make an impact.

292
00:14:14,153 --> 00:14:15,788
That's what it does.

293
00:14:15,788 --> 00:14:19,758
You know, when I read this passage,
I couldn't help but think about a story

294
00:14:19,758 --> 00:14:21,844
that I read when I was a kid, a book
I had to read in school.

295
00:14:21,844 --> 00:14:23,829
It was called where the Red Fern grows.

296
00:14:23,829 --> 00:14:25,998
I don't know, maybe you read it.

297
00:14:25,998 --> 00:14:27,750
It was a different time. It was.

298
00:14:27,750 --> 00:14:33,472
It was about a little boy whose dream in
life is owning two raccoon hunting dogs.

299
00:14:33,472 --> 00:14:36,475
I guess they didn't have TV, I don't know.

300
00:14:36,559 --> 00:14:37,960
And so he wants these dogs.

301
00:14:37,960 --> 00:14:39,962
Finally gets the dogs.
Mission accomplished.

302
00:14:39,962 --> 00:14:43,115
And his grandfather
says, okay, now you need a raccoon skin

303
00:14:43,115 --> 00:14:45,834
to teach those dogs how to hunt,
which is a little bit of a chicken

304
00:14:45,834 --> 00:14:48,070
and egg problem,
because how do you get the raccoon?

305
00:14:48,070 --> 00:14:50,990
And the grandpa says, no, no, you don't
need the dogs to get your first raccoon.

306
00:14:50,990 --> 00:14:51,907
Here's how you do it.

307
00:14:51,907 --> 00:14:53,709
And they go out into the woods and

308
00:14:53,709 --> 00:14:56,762
and the grandfather
drills a hole in the log,

309
00:14:56,762 --> 00:14:58,747
and then he takes a quarter
and he polishes

310
00:14:58,747 --> 00:15:01,600
it really shiny,
and he puts it in a hole in the log,

311
00:15:01,600 --> 00:15:04,987
and he tells his grandson,
he says raccoons are terribly curious.

312
00:15:05,037 --> 00:15:08,107
A raccoon is going to walk through, he's
going to see the quarter sparkle

313
00:15:08,107 --> 00:15:09,108
and he's going to want it.

314
00:15:09,108 --> 00:15:13,596
And I drilled that hole just big enough
that if a raccoon flattens his hand,

315
00:15:13,629 --> 00:15:15,798
he can get down in there
and grab the quarter.

316
00:15:15,798 --> 00:15:20,519
But I drilled it just small enough
that the raccoon can't get his hand out.

317
00:15:20,519 --> 00:15:23,522
If unless he lets go of the quarter
and the grandfather says to

318
00:15:23,522 --> 00:15:27,042
the grandson that raccoon will stay there
all night, he won't leave.

319
00:15:27,076 --> 00:15:29,361
He'll hold on to the coin
and we'll get him in the morning.

320
00:15:29,361 --> 00:15:31,230
And sure enough, that's what happens.

321
00:15:31,230 --> 00:15:33,148
Like the grandfather
shows up the next morning.

322
00:15:33,148 --> 00:15:36,835
There's a raccoon there hissing at him,
but he refuses to let go.

323
00:15:36,869 --> 00:15:39,872
The grandfather walks up
with a baseball bat and kills him.

324
00:15:40,439 --> 00:15:41,357
It was a different time.

325
00:15:41,357 --> 00:15:42,675
We read these kinds of books in school.

326
00:15:42,675 --> 00:15:44,476
I don't know what to tell you.

327
00:15:44,476 --> 00:15:48,197
And I remember even as a kid
reading that thinking, this is crazy.

328
00:15:48,197 --> 00:15:49,598
It's crazy for two reasons.

329
00:15:49,598 --> 00:15:53,752
Number one, what is a raccoon
going to do with a quarter?

330
00:15:54,586 --> 00:15:54,870
Like?

331
00:15:54,870 --> 00:15:56,522
Is that raccoon
going to get the quarter out,

332
00:15:56,522 --> 00:16:00,192
go to a convenience store, flip it on
the counter and be like, gum, please.

333
00:16:00,242 --> 00:16:01,593
And I got news for him.

334
00:16:01,593 --> 00:16:02,561
Inflation gums.

335
00:16:02,561 --> 00:16:04,713
Not a quarter anymore anyways, right?

336
00:16:04,713 --> 00:16:06,598
So a raccoon can't use a quarter.

337
00:16:06,598 --> 00:16:08,667
Even as a kid. I'm like,
what a dumb raccoon.

338
00:16:08,667 --> 00:16:10,552
What's he going to do?
But here's the second thing.

339
00:16:10,552 --> 00:16:14,707
The only thing that trapped
the raccoon was the raccoon.

340
00:16:18,277 --> 00:16:20,479
All he's got to do is let go.

341
00:16:20,479 --> 00:16:22,598
He's literally not in a trap.

342
00:16:22,598 --> 00:16:27,069
He's in a trap of his own making,
and he can hiss all he wants

343
00:16:27,069 --> 00:16:29,922
and get mad all he wants, all the way
until the baseball

344
00:16:29,922 --> 00:16:31,840
bat connecting with his forehead.

345
00:16:31,840 --> 00:16:35,310
But he's the problem, friends,
this is what the writer is saying.

346
00:16:36,028 --> 00:16:39,031
And you already know
what I'm going to say.

347
00:16:39,348 --> 00:16:42,351
We are the raccoon.

348
00:16:43,202 --> 00:16:46,188
We want the quarter.

349
00:16:46,522 --> 00:16:49,508
We put our hand in the trap

350
00:16:49,591 --> 00:16:52,394
and we can hiss and we can moan

351
00:16:52,394 --> 00:16:55,397
and we can complain

352
00:16:55,481 --> 00:16:58,233
all the way until it kills us.

353
00:16:58,233 --> 00:17:00,235
But American Express is not the problem.

354
00:17:00,235 --> 00:17:02,354
Visa is not the problem.
Chase is not the problem.

355
00:17:02,354 --> 00:17:04,239
All of them,
you name them, they're not the problem.

356
00:17:05,190 --> 00:17:06,642
I'm the problem.

357
00:17:06,642 --> 00:17:09,628
All they do is polish the quarter.

358
00:17:12,147 --> 00:17:15,150
So are you trapped?

359
00:17:15,234 --> 00:17:16,952
Are you leaking?

360
00:17:16,952 --> 00:17:19,071
Here's my third question.

361
00:17:19,071 --> 00:17:21,907
Are you ready to get out?

362
00:17:21,907 --> 00:17:24,159
Are you ready to get out?

363
00:17:24,159 --> 00:17:26,161
Does it say, well, how do I get out?

364
00:17:26,161 --> 00:17:28,430
Well, how's the raccoon? Get out.

365
00:17:28,430 --> 00:17:30,349
I guess it starts like this.

366
00:17:30,349 --> 00:17:33,268
This is just a quarter.

367
00:17:33,268 --> 00:17:34,603
This is just a quarter.

368
00:17:34,603 --> 00:17:36,872
You know, I was walking around my house
the other day.

369
00:17:36,872 --> 00:17:41,360
In my house is a monument to all
the things my kids said they wanted.

370
00:17:41,794 --> 00:17:43,095
Like, I'm walking through my basement.

371
00:17:43,095 --> 00:17:46,432
There's a bat cave down there
and all these Batman action figures.

372
00:17:46,432 --> 00:17:49,234
And so I say to my nine year old son,
Graham, do you still play with Batman?

373
00:17:49,234 --> 00:17:51,520
He's like, dad, please.

374
00:17:52,638 --> 00:17:53,072
Right?

375
00:17:53,072 --> 00:17:55,641
And I'm like, man, I remember.
I remember how much that cost.

376
00:17:55,641 --> 00:17:57,076
I remember giving it to you on Christmas.

377
00:17:57,076 --> 00:17:58,794
I remember being the coolest dad ever.

378
00:17:58,794 --> 00:18:00,712
And you don't care about it anymore.

379
00:18:00,712 --> 00:18:03,715
And what Graham now knows that
as a nine year old that he didn't know

380
00:18:03,715 --> 00:18:06,718
as a six year old
is that's just a quarter.

381
00:18:07,636 --> 00:18:10,239
But we're not any different.

382
00:18:10,239 --> 00:18:13,242
Instead of bat caves, we get cars,

383
00:18:13,909 --> 00:18:16,912
set of Barbies, we buy clothes,

384
00:18:17,629 --> 00:18:18,347
still lay, goes.

385
00:18:18,347 --> 00:18:21,800
We go on vacations that we can't afford.

386
00:18:22,601 --> 00:18:25,587
That in the end, don't really matter.

387
00:18:26,155 --> 00:18:28,590
So the raccoons got to realize it's
just a court.

388
00:18:28,590 --> 00:18:31,593
Our friends, you and I have got to realize

389
00:18:31,627 --> 00:18:34,196
our lives are full of backs.

390
00:18:34,196 --> 00:18:35,914
So what?

391
00:18:35,914 --> 00:18:38,517
The second thing
the raccoon has got to realize, you know,

392
00:18:38,517 --> 00:18:41,954
this is a
quarter is not worth his freedom.

393
00:18:42,988 --> 00:18:45,991
Even if you love
your car, even if you love your clothes,

394
00:18:45,991 --> 00:18:48,994
is it worth
not being able to sleep at night?

395
00:18:49,761 --> 00:18:52,197
Is it worth losing your temper over
your kids?

396
00:18:52,197 --> 00:18:54,149
Is it worth eating away at your marriage?

397
00:18:54,149 --> 00:18:58,120
Is it worth going to a job
every day that you hate?

398
00:18:59,671 --> 00:19:02,157
No, no it's not.

399
00:19:02,157 --> 00:19:05,961
And the third thing the raccoon has to
decide is he'd rather live.

400
00:19:06,829 --> 00:19:09,832
He'd rather
live you to run into the woods.

401
00:19:11,150 --> 00:19:13,869
So you see, until you and I own the fact

402
00:19:13,869 --> 00:19:18,590
that we're in a trap of our own making,
that the things we want are just quarters.

403
00:19:18,957 --> 00:19:21,109
That quarters are not as good as freedom.

404
00:19:21,109 --> 00:19:22,277
We can't be set free.

405
00:19:22,277 --> 00:19:25,030
But the minute
we begin to think that way, we can be.

406
00:19:25,030 --> 00:19:26,832
Of course.
Then that begs the question. Okay.

407
00:19:26,832 --> 00:19:28,116
All right, I'm there.

408
00:19:28,116 --> 00:19:32,271
Now what will the answer is
you need someone to lead you to freedom.

409
00:19:33,755 --> 00:19:36,758
And that's someone is Jesus.

410
00:19:37,359 --> 00:19:40,078
Do you know Jesus understands you in a way
you couldn't

411
00:19:40,078 --> 00:19:41,547
possibly understand yourself?

412
00:19:41,547 --> 00:19:44,082
Of course he made you.
That's an advantage.

413
00:19:44,082 --> 00:19:48,670
2000 years ago, before there was
an America, before there was a visa.

414
00:19:48,720 --> 00:19:51,757
Before there was an American Express,
before you own the car,

415
00:19:51,874 --> 00:19:54,443
wore the clothes, went on the trip
before any of that.

416
00:19:54,443 --> 00:19:57,429
Jesus saw into your heart.

417
00:19:57,563 --> 00:20:02,317
In Matthew chapter six,
I want you to see how he understands us.

418
00:20:02,317 --> 00:20:03,669
I'm just going to read it to you, Lacy.

419
00:20:03,669 --> 00:20:06,672
First, here's what he says
about all the quarters that we buy.

420
00:20:06,722 --> 00:20:10,309
Here's what he says in Matthew chapter
six, verses 19 through 21.

421
00:20:10,309 --> 00:20:14,112
He said to be on the screen, he says,
do not lay up for yourselves treasures

422
00:20:14,112 --> 00:20:14,913
on earth,

423
00:20:16,348 --> 00:20:18,834
where
moth and rust destroy and we're thieves.

424
00:20:18,834 --> 00:20:21,270
Break in and steal,
but lay up for yourselves.

425
00:20:21,270 --> 00:20:24,039
Treasures in heaven
were neither moth nor rust destroys.

426
00:20:24,039 --> 00:20:26,041
And where thieves do not break in
and steal.

427
00:20:26,041 --> 00:20:28,961
Listen for where your treasure is,
there will be your heart also.

428
00:20:28,961 --> 00:20:31,997
You know what Jesus is saying
is, don't give your life to bat caves.

429
00:20:34,483 --> 00:20:36,919
Because the car is awesome
the first day you buy it,

430
00:20:36,919 --> 00:20:39,922
and then the kids fill it with French
fries.

431
00:20:40,389 --> 00:20:42,107
Don't do it. You'll regret it.

432
00:20:42,107 --> 00:20:44,243
That's what he's saying. Don't
you see how he sees us?

433
00:20:44,243 --> 00:20:46,395
He's going to listen to the clothes.
The Carthage's back caves.

434
00:20:46,395 --> 00:20:48,397
They're just quarters.
They won't make you happy.

435
00:20:48,397 --> 00:20:51,033
You'll fill your heart with those things.
And then what do you end up with?

436
00:20:51,033 --> 00:20:52,517
A heart full of rust.

437
00:20:54,236 --> 00:20:57,239
A heart full of disillusionment.

438
00:20:57,439 --> 00:20:59,758
A heart full of disappointment.

439
00:20:59,758 --> 00:21:02,394
Jesus says the next consequence of that is
you'll be anxious.

440
00:21:02,394 --> 00:21:03,428
Listen to what he says again.

441
00:21:03,428 --> 00:21:08,800
2000 years ago, he says this Matthew 625
and then 34 he says, therefore I tell you,

442
00:21:08,834 --> 00:21:12,154
do not be anxious about your life,
what you'll eat, or what you will drink,

443
00:21:12,187 --> 00:21:13,121
or about your body.

444
00:21:13,121 --> 00:21:17,075
What you'll put on is not life more
than food and the body more than clothing?

445
00:21:17,309 --> 00:21:18,477
Verse 34 therefore

446
00:21:18,477 --> 00:21:21,830
do not be anxious about tomorrow, for
tomorrow will be anxious for itself.

447
00:21:21,830 --> 00:21:24,800
Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.
You see what he's saying?

448
00:21:24,800 --> 00:21:28,203
He's saying, listen, if you
if you go down the road of materialism,

449
00:21:28,203 --> 00:21:32,991
you will cram into today not just today's
problems, but tomorrow's problems too.

450
00:21:34,710 --> 00:21:35,310
That's how many of

451
00:21:35,310 --> 00:21:39,147
us are living today's problems
and the fifteenths problems,

452
00:21:39,514 --> 00:21:42,434
today's problems, and the 30th
or the first of the month.

453
00:21:42,434 --> 00:21:47,839
Their problems, today's problems,
and next year's debt coming due problems.

454
00:21:48,073 --> 00:21:49,908
And finally, Jesus told us the way out.

455
00:21:49,908 --> 00:21:51,760
Matthew 633. This is what he says.

456
00:21:51,760 --> 00:21:54,629
But seek first the kingdom of God

457
00:21:54,629 --> 00:21:58,150
and his righteousness,
and all these things will be out of you.

458
00:21:58,150 --> 00:22:01,153
Jesus says, would you just trust me?

459
00:22:02,321 --> 00:22:04,923
Follow me, listen to me,

460
00:22:04,923 --> 00:22:07,476
would you let me tell you
what's really valuable?

461
00:22:07,476 --> 00:22:12,080
Would you let me tell you
how to handle your money in a wise way?

462
00:22:12,230 --> 00:22:16,068
Will you set your goals in alignment
with my kingdom?

463
00:22:16,068 --> 00:22:18,670
Will you build your budget in alignment
with your kingdom?

464
00:22:18,670 --> 00:22:19,554
He says, if you will.

465
00:22:19,554 --> 00:22:22,107
This is what he says, a promise,
if you will.

466
00:22:22,107 --> 00:22:23,358
I'll take care of you.

467
00:22:24,359 --> 00:22:26,962
I'll take care of you.

468
00:22:26,962 --> 00:22:30,282
Friends, I understand
we watched our parents live this way.

469
00:22:30,999 --> 00:22:32,434
That doesn't mean we have to.

470
00:22:32,434 --> 00:22:37,439
And I got to tell you, it definitely means
we do not have to teach our children

471
00:22:37,472 --> 00:22:39,391
to live this way.

472
00:22:39,391 --> 00:22:42,394
You were not built for slavery.

473
00:22:42,828 --> 00:22:45,831
You were built for more life.

474
00:22:46,148 --> 00:22:47,149
Let me pray for you.

475
00:22:47,149 --> 00:22:48,150
Father God,

476
00:22:48,150 --> 00:22:52,387
thank you so much for this passage for
speaking about issues like money and debt.

477
00:22:52,437 --> 00:22:55,357
They're painful, but it's where we live.

478
00:22:55,357 --> 00:22:57,843
Thank you for seeing us and knowing us.

479
00:22:57,843 --> 00:23:01,680
I pray that you would begin
for many of us, to sparkle

480
00:23:01,713 --> 00:23:05,000
a little more than the quarter
that we've been chasing,

481
00:23:05,951 --> 00:23:10,238
that we might let go of it and chase
after you to freedom.

482
00:23:10,555 --> 00:23:13,358
The Jesus name we pray. Amen.