1 00:00:21,066 --> 00:01:34,266 He. Yeah. 2 00:01:34,266 --> 00:01:37,433 I'll go ahead and add my Father's Day to those happy Father's Day to those 3 00:01:37,433 --> 00:01:38,566 that have already been extended. 4 00:01:38,566 --> 00:01:39,933 Hey, if you're a dad here. 5 00:01:39,933 --> 00:01:42,666 Heather kind of alluded to this at the top of announcements. 6 00:01:42,666 --> 00:01:46,633 If you're a dad here today, I just want to say good for you. 7 00:01:47,133 --> 00:01:48,766 That is a good, good thing. 8 00:01:48,766 --> 00:01:51,900 If you're a dad that's here with your family, double good on you. 9 00:01:52,466 --> 00:01:56,633 Leading your family in a spiritual way is probably the gateway 10 00:01:56,633 --> 00:02:00,800 to leading anybody, especially your family, in so many other ways. 11 00:02:00,800 --> 00:02:04,733 So if you're a dad here today in church with your family, good for you. 12 00:02:04,733 --> 00:02:05,766 Don't want to call attention to that, 13 00:02:05,766 --> 00:02:09,433 because I think a lot of times it gets overlooked the impact of that. 14 00:02:09,433 --> 00:02:11,100 So happy Father's Day to you guys. 15 00:02:12,500 --> 00:02:14,033 As I was reflecting on not 16 00:02:14,033 --> 00:02:17,033 just getting ready for today, but actually reflecting on Father's Day, 17 00:02:18,000 --> 00:02:20,700 my attention or my mind started to drift back 18 00:02:20,700 --> 00:02:23,700 to a time about 7 or 8 years ago. 19 00:02:23,933 --> 00:02:26,933 Life around my house was much different back then. 20 00:02:27,766 --> 00:02:28,800 We were a full house. 21 00:02:28,800 --> 00:02:31,800 We don't have a very big house, and man, we were packed because, 22 00:02:31,933 --> 00:02:34,933 my oldest two daughters still lived under under my roof. 23 00:02:35,400 --> 00:02:36,600 They have since moved out. 24 00:02:36,600 --> 00:02:40,333 One of them's married now, but at that point, about 7 or 8 years ago, 25 00:02:40,800 --> 00:02:43,033 we were all still packed in there like sardines. 26 00:02:43,033 --> 00:02:45,400 And I just remember, if you're part of the big. 27 00:02:45,400 --> 00:02:48,400 If you come from a big family, you're currently part of a big family. 28 00:02:48,866 --> 00:02:51,966 You know that trying to get anything done when there's that number of people 29 00:02:51,966 --> 00:02:53,433 is next to impossible. 30 00:02:53,433 --> 00:02:54,766 It's just such a challenge 31 00:02:54,766 --> 00:02:58,033 to, to, to to go anywhere, to do anything, to plan anything. 32 00:02:58,566 --> 00:03:02,366 And so, it was one afternoon, maybe it was a morning. 33 00:03:02,666 --> 00:03:04,433 We're trying to get out of the house doing something. 34 00:03:05,633 --> 00:03:06,000 And I was 35 00:03:06,000 --> 00:03:09,666 standing in sort of the kitchen living room area, 36 00:03:10,000 --> 00:03:13,466 and I was probably tapping my watch or tapping my foot or tapping both, 37 00:03:13,466 --> 00:03:16,466 or just wanting to get the show on the road. 38 00:03:17,000 --> 00:03:20,000 And my oldest daughter comes down the hallway and she goes, dad, 39 00:03:20,733 --> 00:03:23,700 I figured out what your problem is. 40 00:03:23,700 --> 00:03:27,200 Now, any time that issue or that or that statement comes up, 41 00:03:27,200 --> 00:03:30,500 you're not really eager to engage that conversation, right? 42 00:03:30,733 --> 00:03:33,433 You're not really. Especially when it's coming from a 17 year old girl. 43 00:03:33,433 --> 00:03:36,333 You're not like, great, tell me what my problem is. 44 00:03:36,333 --> 00:03:37,800 Please. 45 00:03:37,800 --> 00:03:42,866 Because you've got such fount of wisdom in all of your 17 years figured out. 46 00:03:42,866 --> 00:03:43,466 Tell me what? 47 00:03:43,466 --> 00:03:46,366 But I thought, I thought I'll play along. Yeah. 48 00:03:46,366 --> 00:03:47,000 What's my problem? 49 00:03:48,433 --> 00:03:51,433 She says you're addicted to productivity. 50 00:03:52,033 --> 00:03:53,566 So what? 51 00:03:53,566 --> 00:03:53,900 She goes. 52 00:03:53,900 --> 00:03:55,500 You are addicted to productivity. 53 00:03:55,500 --> 00:03:57,466 You cannot relax you. 54 00:03:57,466 --> 00:03:58,700 You can't sit down. 55 00:03:58,700 --> 00:03:59,866 You can't take a break. 56 00:03:59,866 --> 00:04:03,033 You've always got some task or some job you're working on. 57 00:04:03,266 --> 00:04:05,933 You're just even when you do sit down, 58 00:04:05,933 --> 00:04:09,733 the looking on your face is like you're 3 or 4 steps ahead. 59 00:04:09,733 --> 00:04:12,866 And I said, that's ridiculous, but addicted to productivity. 60 00:04:13,633 --> 00:04:15,300 Everybody else in the room was silent. 61 00:04:15,300 --> 00:04:18,300 I, I kind of looked over at my wife and she looked like this. 62 00:04:18,433 --> 00:04:22,200 And I said, well, you think she goes, I'm not getting involved. 63 00:04:23,266 --> 00:04:24,500 And my middle daughter spoke up. 64 00:04:24,500 --> 00:04:27,500 She goes, well, dad, she's not wrong. 65 00:04:28,000 --> 00:04:29,333 And I said, you guys are. 66 00:04:29,333 --> 00:04:31,966 This is this is a dumb, ridiculous argument. 67 00:04:31,966 --> 00:04:33,600 You guys are you guys are way off base. 68 00:04:33,600 --> 00:04:34,866 I'm not addicted to productivity, 69 00:04:34,866 --> 00:04:38,766 but I can tell you we've wasted 5.5 minutes on this stupid conversation. 70 00:04:38,766 --> 00:04:41,266 So everybody get up. We got to get things going on. 71 00:04:43,333 --> 00:04:45,100 Oh, man. 72 00:04:45,100 --> 00:04:47,733 Hey, if we have not met before, my name is Jeff. 73 00:04:47,733 --> 00:04:49,666 I'm on staff here at flip side. 74 00:04:49,666 --> 00:04:51,433 It's been a while since we've gotten to do this. 75 00:04:51,433 --> 00:04:55,233 I can't remember the last time, we got to share a message together. 76 00:04:55,633 --> 00:04:58,266 Pastor Carl is on, a much needed 77 00:04:58,266 --> 00:05:01,466 break in Idaho with family, so he'll be back next week. 78 00:05:01,633 --> 00:05:04,500 Be praying for him for safe travels in a restful time. 79 00:05:04,500 --> 00:05:06,933 But in the meantime, we get to share a message together. 80 00:05:06,933 --> 00:05:08,833 And I am really, really excited. 81 00:05:08,833 --> 00:05:13,200 And, I'm encouraged and eager to to kind of 82 00:05:13,233 --> 00:05:16,233 to kind of unpack this with you guys. 83 00:05:17,733 --> 00:05:21,000 Raise your hand if you're currently working on a towards a goal. 84 00:05:21,266 --> 00:05:24,333 You're not not a someday I'm gone or one day I hope to kind of go, 85 00:05:24,333 --> 00:05:27,633 but you've got like dates on calendars and you're meeting with people. 86 00:05:27,633 --> 00:05:29,400 Raise your hand if you've got a goal like that right now. 87 00:05:30,400 --> 00:05:30,900 A lot 88 00:05:30,900 --> 00:05:35,433 of us, my guess is most of us, if I gave if you if you didn't raise your hand, 89 00:05:35,533 --> 00:05:37,466 if I gave you a few minutes, you probably able 90 00:05:37,466 --> 00:05:39,300 to be able to call something to mind where you're like, 91 00:05:39,300 --> 00:05:42,833 oh yeah, that's, that's that's something that I'm really looking forward to. 92 00:05:42,833 --> 00:05:46,666 Our I'm really kind of, you know, I've got some plans in the, in the works, 93 00:05:47,066 --> 00:05:49,800 something that maybe if it didn't pan out at all, or maybe it 94 00:05:49,800 --> 00:05:52,833 didn't pan out the way you wanted it to, you'd be a little upset. 95 00:05:53,200 --> 00:05:55,400 It'd be a throw you a little off kilter. 96 00:05:55,400 --> 00:05:59,266 Most of us have those desires or those goals or those things 97 00:05:59,266 --> 00:06:02,266 we're working towards. 98 00:06:03,866 --> 00:06:07,033 So that's kind of where I want to go today. 99 00:06:07,033 --> 00:06:09,000 How, those pursuits, 100 00:06:09,000 --> 00:06:12,600 those goals, those desires can sometimes become a real problem in our lives. 101 00:06:12,600 --> 00:06:17,700 And it happens in a very slow sometimes and definitely subtle sort of way. 102 00:06:18,000 --> 00:06:21,600 And and if we can get a handle on this now, it can be a game changer. 103 00:06:21,600 --> 00:06:24,166 If you're a young person in here and you can get a handle on this 104 00:06:24,166 --> 00:06:27,833 right now, you can save yourself a lot of time and a lot of heartache. 105 00:06:29,400 --> 00:06:30,833 So we've been in this series. 106 00:06:30,833 --> 00:06:32,166 We're actually wrapping it up today. 107 00:06:32,166 --> 00:06:37,133 We're in chapter six of the first letter of Paul to Timothy. 108 00:06:38,266 --> 00:06:40,300 Timothy is this young pastor. 109 00:06:40,300 --> 00:06:43,500 He's been called a pastor, a church plant in a place called Ephesus. 110 00:06:44,000 --> 00:06:47,700 And Timothy is really kind of trying to build the plane while it's in the air. 111 00:06:48,000 --> 00:06:51,833 He's kind of trying to figure this out for himself as he goes along. 112 00:06:51,966 --> 00:06:52,566 And he's young. 113 00:06:52,566 --> 00:06:55,033 He's got a kind of lot of strikes in his disfavor. 114 00:06:55,033 --> 00:06:55,500 He's kind of 115 00:06:55,500 --> 00:06:59,500 got some things where he's he's been set up to to face some challenges. 116 00:06:59,500 --> 00:07:03,466 And so Paul writes him this letter to address 117 00:07:03,466 --> 00:07:06,766 some of the things that he's dealing with and encourage him at the same time. 118 00:07:09,433 --> 00:07:10,666 We've been talking a lot 119 00:07:10,666 --> 00:07:15,300 about Paul's angle that he approaches us with is from is from two. 120 00:07:15,333 --> 00:07:16,933 It's actually two angles. 121 00:07:16,933 --> 00:07:20,233 It's one is to guard sound 122 00:07:20,233 --> 00:07:23,233 doctrine, guard good teaching, 123 00:07:23,566 --> 00:07:27,000 healthy teaching that goes along with Jesus. 124 00:07:27,000 --> 00:07:30,066 The teachings of Jesus to guard that, 125 00:07:30,633 --> 00:07:33,633 because there's going to be people who come along that want to attack it, 126 00:07:33,900 --> 00:07:35,200 that want to kind of pervert it, 127 00:07:35,200 --> 00:07:39,100 that kind of want to get it to be where it's not really that. 128 00:07:41,700 --> 00:07:42,133 And then the 129 00:07:42,133 --> 00:07:45,133 second angle that Paul is taking is he wants Timothy 130 00:07:46,200 --> 00:07:48,800 to guide people in it, to guide himself in it, 131 00:07:48,800 --> 00:07:52,166 to guide others, and to cut it to be an ongoing thing. 132 00:07:52,166 --> 00:07:56,100 Hey, you're going to spin this up, but you're going to continue to guide yourself 133 00:07:56,233 --> 00:08:00,866 and guide people into this, into this way of living out life, 134 00:08:00,966 --> 00:08:03,966 following Jesus. 135 00:08:04,000 --> 00:08:06,366 So if you brought your Bibles with you were in chapter 136 00:08:06,366 --> 00:08:09,966 six of Timothy, first letter to Timothy. 137 00:08:09,966 --> 00:08:12,966 Carl made it to, I think verse two last week. 138 00:08:15,266 --> 00:08:17,500 So we're going to pick it up at verse three. 139 00:08:17,500 --> 00:08:20,500 And Paul says, if anyone teaches otherwise 140 00:08:20,833 --> 00:08:24,233 and does not agree to the sound instruction of our Lord Jesus Christ 141 00:08:24,600 --> 00:08:29,300 and to godly teaching, they are conceited and they understand nothing. 142 00:08:30,300 --> 00:08:31,933 So Paul is calling out and 143 00:08:31,933 --> 00:08:35,366 calling attention to these false teachers that are in the church. 144 00:08:35,366 --> 00:08:39,466 They're not like the outside, you know, pagan, heathen, whatever. 145 00:08:40,100 --> 00:08:41,933 These are teachers in the church. 146 00:08:41,933 --> 00:08:45,366 And Paul is calling them out, and he's calling attention to the fact 147 00:08:45,366 --> 00:08:49,600 that they're misleading people instead of giving healthy instruction. 148 00:08:49,600 --> 00:08:52,600 That goes along with the teaching in the following of Jesus, 149 00:08:53,000 --> 00:08:54,966 they're picking up at verse four. 150 00:08:54,966 --> 00:08:55,533 They're doing this. 151 00:08:55,533 --> 00:09:00,166 They have an unhealthy interest in controversies and quarrels about words 152 00:09:00,166 --> 00:09:06,500 that result in envy, strife, malicious talk, evil suspicion, and constant 153 00:09:06,500 --> 00:09:10,766 friction between people of corrupt minds who have been robbed of the truth 154 00:09:10,933 --> 00:09:14,400 and who think that godliness is a means to financial gain. 155 00:09:16,133 --> 00:09:18,600 Whenever I read that, that verse or that passage 156 00:09:18,600 --> 00:09:21,800 that my mind goes back to about five years, maybe six years ago, 157 00:09:22,000 --> 00:09:24,766 there were two years back to back where I was the youth pastor. 158 00:09:24,766 --> 00:09:27,700 I was the junior high pastor and the and the high school pastor. 159 00:09:27,700 --> 00:09:31,533 And so on Mondays we would do junior high, and on Wednesdays we do high school. 160 00:09:32,800 --> 00:09:33,166 And I 161 00:09:33,166 --> 00:09:36,966 forget why we were reading this passage, but I read that. 162 00:09:36,966 --> 00:09:39,433 So we had a little, little more background here. 163 00:09:39,433 --> 00:09:40,266 We had, 164 00:09:40,266 --> 00:09:43,000 torn the room apart with one of the games that we were playing on, on nights 165 00:09:43,000 --> 00:09:46,066 when we would do that, you know, there was just everything was just everywhere. 166 00:09:46,533 --> 00:09:49,666 And, the students, they kind of congeal in their own 167 00:09:49,666 --> 00:09:52,666 little groups, whereas no real seating chart or anything on those nights. 168 00:09:53,033 --> 00:09:56,000 And so we had like the freshman boys up here and the senior girls back there, 169 00:09:56,000 --> 00:09:59,400 and right around this area, there was a group of sophomore girls, 170 00:10:01,266 --> 00:10:03,866 and they were a handful the entire year. 171 00:10:03,866 --> 00:10:06,466 They were a handful were a lot of them. 172 00:10:06,466 --> 00:10:10,100 And they were continually getting off the rails. 173 00:10:10,366 --> 00:10:14,200 And I read that laundry list envy, strife, malicious 174 00:10:14,200 --> 00:10:17,333 talk, evil suspicion, and constant friction between people. 175 00:10:17,333 --> 00:10:21,300 And when I read that, one of the girls goes, oh, it's that. 176 00:10:21,833 --> 00:10:25,333 And I actually stopped and I was like, did you want to say something? 177 00:10:25,433 --> 00:10:26,466 And she didn't look at me. 178 00:10:26,466 --> 00:10:27,533 She looked at her friend. 179 00:10:27,533 --> 00:10:30,066 She goes, that's us, you guys. 180 00:10:30,066 --> 00:10:30,900 That's us. 181 00:10:30,900 --> 00:10:33,266 Constant friction. That's us. 182 00:10:33,266 --> 00:10:36,266 And I thought, oh my gosh, that she hit the nail on the head. 183 00:10:36,766 --> 00:10:38,933 I didn't even have to say it. She said it. 184 00:10:38,933 --> 00:10:41,400 She said whatever. Everybody in the room was thinking. 185 00:10:43,533 --> 00:10:46,000 While we laugh at that because it is so indicative 186 00:10:46,000 --> 00:10:49,200 of what it means to be a sophomore girl, I think we could all agree 187 00:10:49,200 --> 00:10:53,233 that constant friction that kind of bleeds its way into our lives as well. 188 00:10:53,233 --> 00:10:56,100 It's like this friction got this friction. 189 00:10:56,100 --> 00:10:57,833 I went to work and there's friction. 190 00:10:57,833 --> 00:11:00,833 Maybe in my house there's friction, maybe with my family, there's friction. 191 00:11:02,700 --> 00:11:06,333 Paul, though, in this specific situation, in this specific instance, 192 00:11:06,566 --> 00:11:07,466 he's talking 193 00:11:07,466 --> 00:11:11,033 about all these negative connotations and how they relate to the area of finances. 194 00:11:11,166 --> 00:11:14,166 I think we'd all agree that that is true as well. 195 00:11:15,466 --> 00:11:18,466 Impure, unhealthy motives in the area of money 196 00:11:19,166 --> 00:11:22,200 do lead to all the things we just talked about, no doubt. 197 00:11:22,433 --> 00:11:26,566 But it actually points to something that goes a little bit deeper than that. 198 00:11:26,566 --> 00:11:30,566 It actually points to something that's a little more overarching than just that. 199 00:11:30,900 --> 00:11:34,500 And that's what I want to kind of try to get into and address today. 200 00:11:36,033 --> 00:11:38,300 But for the sake of the sake of sticking 201 00:11:38,300 --> 00:11:41,566 with this specific example, I want us to jump down to verse nine, 202 00:11:44,433 --> 00:11:47,066 because Paul really kind of spells out how bad it can get. 203 00:11:47,066 --> 00:11:48,900 He kind of spells it out in some pretty 204 00:11:48,900 --> 00:11:52,366 some pretty, detailed, some pretty gory details there. 205 00:11:52,500 --> 00:11:57,900 Plus this is one of the most misused, misunderstood, misquoted 206 00:11:57,900 --> 00:12:02,600 verses of Scripture in all the Bible to is right in the middle of this passage. 207 00:12:02,600 --> 00:12:05,700 It says in starting in verse nine, for those 208 00:12:05,700 --> 00:12:09,900 who want to get rich, fall into into temptation and a trap, 209 00:12:10,100 --> 00:12:14,100 and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin 210 00:12:14,500 --> 00:12:18,633 and destruction, for the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. 211 00:12:19,066 --> 00:12:20,533 Some people, eager for money, 212 00:12:20,533 --> 00:12:24,900 have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. 213 00:12:26,133 --> 00:12:28,533 So Paul kind of spells it out. 214 00:12:28,533 --> 00:12:32,266 He lays it all out and tells Timothy, here's what, Tim, you got a problem? 215 00:12:32,900 --> 00:12:33,966 You got a problem. 216 00:12:33,966 --> 00:12:36,933 Here's what's going on. 217 00:12:36,933 --> 00:12:39,566 And he lays it all out. 218 00:12:39,566 --> 00:12:42,566 It would have been really difficult for me to get this letter 219 00:12:42,733 --> 00:12:46,366 because I'm someone who, if you know, if you've ever, 220 00:12:47,033 --> 00:12:48,533 if you know anything about a primal question, 221 00:12:48,533 --> 00:12:49,500 there's a book written 222 00:12:49,500 --> 00:12:52,500 by a guy named Mike foster called The Seven Primal Questions. 223 00:12:52,500 --> 00:12:54,633 And the premise is that everybody has a primal question. 224 00:12:54,633 --> 00:12:57,133 Well, my primal question is, am I good enough? 225 00:12:57,133 --> 00:12:59,866 And so it would have been really difficult for me to get this letter, 226 00:12:59,866 --> 00:13:01,033 because it would have been Paul 227 00:13:01,033 --> 00:13:04,666 spelling out all the stuff that I probably was beating myself up about already. 228 00:13:05,500 --> 00:13:07,266 And Paul says, hey, you got a problem? 229 00:13:07,266 --> 00:13:10,366 I'd be like, I know, I know, this constant friction. 230 00:13:11,933 --> 00:13:14,933 I get it. 231 00:13:16,266 --> 00:13:17,233 But Paul actually 232 00:13:17,233 --> 00:13:21,000 turns his attention to Timothy and he says, Timothy, let's talk about it. 233 00:13:22,666 --> 00:13:25,466 Starting in verse 11. 234 00:13:25,466 --> 00:13:29,400 He says, but you, Timothy, you men of God, flee from all of this 235 00:13:29,400 --> 00:13:32,500 and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, 236 00:13:32,500 --> 00:13:35,500 love, endurance, and gentleness. 237 00:13:35,966 --> 00:13:37,633 Fight the good fight of faith. 238 00:13:37,633 --> 00:13:40,466 Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called, 239 00:13:40,466 --> 00:13:45,100 when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses. 240 00:13:45,933 --> 00:13:47,766 So Paul tells Timothy the same thing. 241 00:13:47,766 --> 00:13:50,366 He's told them in a few spots of some other letters. 242 00:13:50,366 --> 00:13:51,000 What's the word? 243 00:13:51,000 --> 00:13:52,200 What's what is his time to do? 244 00:13:52,200 --> 00:13:54,133 What's the word he uses? 245 00:13:54,133 --> 00:13:57,133 If you remember, top of verse 11. 246 00:13:57,866 --> 00:14:00,800 Flee, flee. 247 00:14:00,800 --> 00:14:01,333 It was funny. 248 00:14:01,333 --> 00:14:04,800 That same youth group that I talked about, we did a lesson where, 249 00:14:05,100 --> 00:14:08,733 Paul tells Timothy, flee six, flee sexual immorality. 250 00:14:09,766 --> 00:14:10,800 And I ask you something. 251 00:14:10,800 --> 00:14:11,900 What does it mean to flee? 252 00:14:11,900 --> 00:14:15,700 Like, oh, well, you kind of you turn the other way. 253 00:14:16,000 --> 00:14:17,733 You want to run? 254 00:14:17,733 --> 00:14:19,033 I said, here's what it means to flee. 255 00:14:19,033 --> 00:14:23,866 And I knocked over the the music stand I had, and I jumped over the whole 256 00:14:23,866 --> 00:14:26,866 first row of tables, and I ran out the door. 257 00:14:27,933 --> 00:14:30,066 Stayed down, stayed, gone for like, five minutes. 258 00:14:30,066 --> 00:14:32,133 I came back and I said, that's what it means to flee. 259 00:14:32,133 --> 00:14:33,500 You get out, you run. 260 00:14:33,500 --> 00:14:37,166 Paul is telling Timothy, Timothy, turn, exit quickly. 261 00:14:37,166 --> 00:14:41,566 Move yourself in a hasty fashion away from all of those things. 262 00:14:41,566 --> 00:14:43,100 Get out. Don't mess with it. 263 00:14:43,100 --> 00:14:45,733 Don't entertain it. Don't ask for permission. 264 00:14:45,733 --> 00:14:48,733 Go! Get away from it. 265 00:14:48,933 --> 00:14:50,266 And then he does an interesting thing. 266 00:14:50,266 --> 00:14:54,366 He reminds Timothy of when he made his confession of faith, calls Timothy's 267 00:14:54,366 --> 00:14:57,600 mind back to maybe something he hadn't thought of in quite some time. 268 00:14:57,600 --> 00:15:01,600 This is a really good encouragement tool if you're not using this, 269 00:15:01,600 --> 00:15:04,200 I want to encourage you to do something like this. 270 00:15:05,866 --> 00:15:08,533 Ministry can get tough. 271 00:15:08,533 --> 00:15:11,766 Ministry can get tough in ways that that that gets weird. 272 00:15:12,300 --> 00:15:15,300 And so one of the things I started doing about 273 00:15:15,800 --> 00:15:18,600 eight, nine years ago and a lot of people on 274 00:15:18,600 --> 00:15:21,600 staff here at flipside do it as well as we keep an encouragement file. 275 00:15:21,866 --> 00:15:24,433 And there's this, the craziest stuff in there that I have 276 00:15:24,433 --> 00:15:25,400 in my encouragement file. 277 00:15:25,400 --> 00:15:28,500 Some of it's like a table napkin with, hey, 278 00:15:28,500 --> 00:15:30,633 I just want to tell you how much I appreciate. 279 00:15:30,633 --> 00:15:33,100 And I and I keep these things. 280 00:15:33,100 --> 00:15:36,266 If you're not doing an encouragement file, do an encouragement file. 281 00:15:36,300 --> 00:15:39,300 Because can we all agree that life sucks sometimes? 282 00:15:39,600 --> 00:15:40,233 Yeah. 283 00:15:40,233 --> 00:15:43,066 And when it does go back to that encouragement file 284 00:15:43,066 --> 00:15:44,666 because the winds are there. 285 00:15:44,666 --> 00:15:48,066 A lot of times when life sucks, you don't see them, you don't remember them. 286 00:15:50,400 --> 00:15:53,133 Paul goes, Timothy, go back to your encouragement file. 287 00:15:53,133 --> 00:15:54,200 Go back and look. 288 00:15:54,200 --> 00:15:55,733 Go back and celebrate the wins. 289 00:15:55,733 --> 00:15:58,733 Go back and remember the things that brought you 290 00:15:58,733 --> 00:16:01,733 to where you are, that are really positive things, 291 00:16:02,833 --> 00:16:03,266 he says. 292 00:16:03,266 --> 00:16:06,000 Fight the good. Fight. 293 00:16:06,000 --> 00:16:08,533 Take hold of the eternal life that you were called to 294 00:16:08,533 --> 00:16:11,700 when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses. 295 00:16:12,100 --> 00:16:15,100 How many of you guys have ever been to a baptism at Carl's house? 296 00:16:15,833 --> 00:16:17,733 That's what a that's what the baptism is. 297 00:16:17,733 --> 00:16:19,466 It's it's the it's the profession. 298 00:16:19,466 --> 00:16:21,300 It's the it's the hey, I'm on the team. 299 00:16:21,300 --> 00:16:24,300 I'm putting the jersey on now. 300 00:16:24,433 --> 00:16:28,500 Paul tells Timothy, I know things are rough right now, but take heart. 301 00:16:28,500 --> 00:16:30,933 Remember? Remember what brought you here. 302 00:16:32,633 --> 00:16:34,566 And then it's interesting, Paul, kind of like, 303 00:16:34,566 --> 00:16:35,466 I would imagine, kind of like, 304 00:16:35,466 --> 00:16:38,866 turns his face to the window and he starts reflecting on his own walk with God. 305 00:16:39,300 --> 00:16:40,166 In verse 13. 306 00:16:40,166 --> 00:16:43,800 He says in the sight of God who gives life to everything, 307 00:16:43,966 --> 00:16:47,333 and of Christ Jesus, who, while testifying before Pontius Pilate, 308 00:16:47,366 --> 00:16:51,333 made his good confession, the good confession I charge you. 309 00:16:51,333 --> 00:16:54,133 Keep this command 310 00:16:54,133 --> 00:16:56,900 without spot or blame, until the appearing of our Lord 311 00:16:56,900 --> 00:17:00,233 Jesus Christ, which God will bring about in his own time. 312 00:17:00,233 --> 00:17:03,233 And then Paul kind of turns off into kind of like a worship song 313 00:17:03,700 --> 00:17:07,600 says God the blessed and only ruler, the King of kings and Lord of lords, 314 00:17:07,600 --> 00:17:11,500 who alone is immortal and who lives in unapproachable light, whom 315 00:17:11,500 --> 00:17:16,500 no one has ever seen or can see to him be honor and might forever. 316 00:17:16,500 --> 00:17:17,333 And the church said, 317 00:17:18,300 --> 00:17:20,666 Amen. 318 00:17:20,666 --> 00:17:24,133 Paul is really using some intense inflection here 319 00:17:24,200 --> 00:17:27,200 to to to speak to Timothy. 320 00:17:28,733 --> 00:17:29,666 I think it's lost 321 00:17:29,666 --> 00:17:32,666 that the urgency is lost a little bit if we let it go. 322 00:17:32,800 --> 00:17:35,533 He's saying, God, Timothy, I command you. 323 00:17:35,533 --> 00:17:37,066 I'm charging you. 324 00:17:37,066 --> 00:17:40,200 Do these things, remember these things, 325 00:17:42,033 --> 00:17:45,033 put it into action. 326 00:17:46,900 --> 00:17:49,633 And then he says, Amen. 327 00:17:49,633 --> 00:17:51,000 And we think we're done. 328 00:17:51,000 --> 00:17:54,000 But then Paul has one of those moments like, oh, wait, what was that show? 329 00:17:54,600 --> 00:17:57,933 Columbo was a Columbo where he said, wait a minute, one more thing, one more thing. 330 00:17:58,366 --> 00:18:00,800 So Paul says, one more thing. 331 00:18:00,800 --> 00:18:03,300 It's almost like he's like, speaking of commands, 332 00:18:03,300 --> 00:18:05,633 I want to come back to this issue of finances. 333 00:18:05,633 --> 00:18:07,933 I want to address the other side. 334 00:18:07,933 --> 00:18:11,266 He says, command those who are rich in this present world, 335 00:18:11,266 --> 00:18:14,333 starting in verse 17 is where I'm at command. 336 00:18:14,333 --> 00:18:17,333 Those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant, 337 00:18:17,433 --> 00:18:21,366 nor to put their hope and wealth which is so uncertain, but to put their 338 00:18:21,366 --> 00:18:25,300 hope in God who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. 339 00:18:26,166 --> 00:18:29,100 Again, the way he started out, verse 17 is the way he starts out. 340 00:18:29,100 --> 00:18:32,100 Verse 18 command them to do good, 341 00:18:32,200 --> 00:18:36,000 to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. 342 00:18:36,433 --> 00:18:40,333 In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation 343 00:18:40,800 --> 00:18:45,666 for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life. 344 00:18:49,166 --> 00:18:52,166 So Paul unpacks the problem, 345 00:18:52,366 --> 00:18:56,233 and then he tells Timothy to do these things command you a charge. 346 00:18:56,233 --> 00:18:58,100 You do it in your own life. 347 00:18:58,100 --> 00:19:01,100 Encourage others to do it. 348 00:19:01,166 --> 00:19:04,300 Instead of falling into these traps and these temptations. 349 00:19:04,466 --> 00:19:08,066 All this infighting and backbiting, acting like these sophomore 350 00:19:08,066 --> 00:19:09,800 girls don't do that. 351 00:19:09,800 --> 00:19:13,033 You do it for yourself and command others to get this stuff, to get it right 352 00:19:13,300 --> 00:19:16,300 and to get it straight. 353 00:19:16,500 --> 00:19:19,500 Now, I didn't know Timothy. 354 00:19:21,566 --> 00:19:24,566 He didn't know me. 355 00:19:25,400 --> 00:19:28,400 Maybe Timothy was like, fantastic, Paul. 356 00:19:29,033 --> 00:19:31,300 That's just the pep talk I needed. 357 00:19:31,300 --> 00:19:34,366 I've been kind of a been kind of, you know, dragging my feet here. 358 00:19:34,366 --> 00:19:37,000 But man, now that your letter has come, I'm ready to rock and roll. 359 00:19:37,000 --> 00:19:39,133 Let's let's do it. I'm ready to get it done. 360 00:19:39,133 --> 00:19:40,066 Maybe that was Timothy. 361 00:19:43,100 --> 00:19:44,266 Or maybe Timothy at this 362 00:19:44,266 --> 00:19:47,466 point was a little like me, where I'm left with a question. 363 00:19:48,133 --> 00:19:50,466 And I think a lot of us are left with the same question 364 00:19:50,466 --> 00:19:53,733 when there's this problem that's been spelled out in all its gory details. 365 00:19:53,933 --> 00:19:57,133 And then there's this charge to action, this command. 366 00:19:57,266 --> 00:19:58,733 Let's get it done. 367 00:19:58,733 --> 00:20:00,966 In the middle of those two things, there rests 368 00:20:00,966 --> 00:20:04,633 a great big old fat question that a lot of times I'm left with. 369 00:20:04,733 --> 00:20:07,733 And I'd be willing to bet you're left with two. 370 00:20:08,766 --> 00:20:11,766 That question is this. 371 00:20:11,866 --> 00:20:14,866 How how 372 00:20:15,400 --> 00:20:17,633 great. Paul. Wonderful. 373 00:20:17,633 --> 00:20:20,633 Fight the good fight. Commend myself. 374 00:20:20,900 --> 00:20:22,933 Pull my self up by the bootstraps. 375 00:20:22,933 --> 00:20:24,700 Command others to do it. Great. 376 00:20:24,700 --> 00:20:26,766 This actually gets people in a lot of hot water 377 00:20:26,766 --> 00:20:29,166 when they get the problem spelled out, and they get the charge, 378 00:20:29,166 --> 00:20:31,866 or they get the command and they go out and they haven't answered this question. 379 00:20:32,833 --> 00:20:35,100 You get in some really hot water. 380 00:20:35,100 --> 00:20:38,100 How how do you want me to do this? 381 00:20:39,833 --> 00:20:42,333 I'm new at this. 382 00:20:42,333 --> 00:20:44,266 I got people breathing down my neck. 383 00:20:44,266 --> 00:20:48,333 I go into meetings and I'm like, hey, everybody, let's do this. 384 00:20:48,333 --> 00:20:49,833 And I in the back of my mind, I'm like, 385 00:20:49,833 --> 00:20:52,833 I really don't even know how it's going to pan out myself. 386 00:20:53,966 --> 00:20:55,000 Timothy could very well 387 00:20:55,000 --> 00:20:58,966 have been asking this question, Paul, how I acknowledge there's a problem. 388 00:20:58,966 --> 00:21:03,133 It's bad enough for you to have written a letter to me that made it into the Bible. 389 00:21:05,466 --> 00:21:08,233 I want to put this stuff into practice in my own life. 390 00:21:08,233 --> 00:21:11,900 I want to command and charge and encourage others to do the same. 391 00:21:11,900 --> 00:21:14,900 But how? 392 00:21:15,000 --> 00:21:16,566 Thank God he gives us the answer. 393 00:21:18,100 --> 00:21:20,900 You remember those verses I skipped over? 394 00:21:20,900 --> 00:21:23,166 We started in verse six. Let's go back up. 395 00:21:23,166 --> 00:21:23,766 If you if you. 396 00:21:23,766 --> 00:21:25,033 I don't know how your Bible is structured, 397 00:21:25,033 --> 00:21:28,033 but you might have to go to the left and back or both. 398 00:21:28,700 --> 00:21:31,566 Verse six Paul gives us 399 00:21:31,566 --> 00:21:34,566 the answer to that question. 400 00:21:36,600 --> 00:21:38,166 But godliness with what 401 00:21:38,166 --> 00:21:43,033 church and godliness with contentment is great gain, 402 00:21:43,400 --> 00:21:46,800 for we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. 403 00:21:47,833 --> 00:21:51,466 But if we have food and clothing, we will be what 404 00:21:52,600 --> 00:21:55,600 we'll be content with that. 405 00:21:56,066 --> 00:21:59,400 The answer to that question, the bridges. 406 00:21:59,400 --> 00:22:02,700 That gap, is one word content. 407 00:22:05,000 --> 00:22:08,000 Be content. 408 00:22:08,200 --> 00:22:10,333 One of the things about contentment 409 00:22:10,333 --> 00:22:13,933 that is so interesting and that I love about contentment, 410 00:22:15,166 --> 00:22:17,433 is that none of us are born with it. 411 00:22:18,866 --> 00:22:19,733 It's not like, oh, I'm 412 00:22:19,733 --> 00:22:22,966 sorry, you're just not a content person. 413 00:22:22,966 --> 00:22:23,833 Good luck. 414 00:22:23,833 --> 00:22:26,833 You know, wander the earth like Cain or whatever. 415 00:22:27,300 --> 00:22:29,933 It's an actual learned thing. 416 00:22:29,933 --> 00:22:33,766 And that's good news for us today because that means we're it's within our grasp. 417 00:22:34,033 --> 00:22:37,566 We can actually learn to be content. 418 00:22:40,366 --> 00:22:43,366 There, I say contentment can be the answer 419 00:22:43,666 --> 00:22:46,500 to most of the problems in the challenges that we face in life. 420 00:22:46,500 --> 00:22:49,500 If we can get a handle on this idea of being content. 421 00:22:50,166 --> 00:22:53,133 Man, what an awesome thing. 422 00:22:53,133 --> 00:22:56,266 Contentment may be the single most important thing 423 00:22:56,266 --> 00:23:00,833 that we learn, that we learn in our lifetime. 424 00:23:02,133 --> 00:23:05,133 It's one of those things that transcend space and time. 425 00:23:05,766 --> 00:23:09,400 I, Timothy, was dealing with a lot of the same types of stuff 426 00:23:09,400 --> 00:23:10,233 we're dealing with now. 427 00:23:10,233 --> 00:23:13,233 I would even venture to say the challenge to contentment 428 00:23:13,500 --> 00:23:16,400 in 2025 is probably worse than it's ever been. 429 00:23:16,400 --> 00:23:18,700 In the history of human existence. 430 00:23:18,700 --> 00:23:22,033 There are entire sections of marketing industry that are set up 431 00:23:22,166 --> 00:23:27,600 to make me and to make you as discontent as we possibly can, so that we will 432 00:23:27,600 --> 00:23:28,800 buy their stuff. 433 00:23:31,366 --> 00:23:33,133 A whole industry set up with 434 00:23:33,133 --> 00:23:36,133 the aim of making people discontent. 435 00:23:37,400 --> 00:23:38,366 Things like media, 436 00:23:38,366 --> 00:23:41,366 technology, all of that stuff is set up 437 00:23:41,700 --> 00:23:44,600 to encourage discontentment. 438 00:23:44,600 --> 00:23:47,600 The thing about discontentment, 439 00:23:47,633 --> 00:23:50,900 there's there's there's actually three aspects to discontentment. 440 00:23:50,933 --> 00:23:51,966 Biblically speaking. 441 00:23:51,966 --> 00:23:54,000 This is not like, you know, some Ted talk. 442 00:23:54,000 --> 00:23:58,433 This is biblically speaking, there's three aspects to discontent. 443 00:23:58,466 --> 00:24:00,533 Number one, 444 00:24:00,533 --> 00:24:03,533 discontentment distorts the past. 445 00:24:04,066 --> 00:24:04,833 It plays. 446 00:24:04,833 --> 00:24:07,200 It wreaks havoc with your past. 447 00:24:07,200 --> 00:24:09,900 Because a lot of times we fall into the trap of the good old days. 448 00:24:09,900 --> 00:24:11,066 Everything's the good old days. 449 00:24:11,066 --> 00:24:13,266 Back when I was single, back before I had kids. 450 00:24:13,266 --> 00:24:15,133 Back before I had this stupid job. 451 00:24:15,133 --> 00:24:16,833 Back before when I was still in school. 452 00:24:16,833 --> 00:24:18,500 It distorts the past. 453 00:24:18,500 --> 00:24:20,966 You're fooled into thinking, man, that was fantastic. 454 00:24:20,966 --> 00:24:22,700 Oh, do you remember that? 455 00:24:23,900 --> 00:24:25,500 But you're so discontent here. 456 00:24:25,500 --> 00:24:27,000 That looks real good. 457 00:24:27,000 --> 00:24:29,966 There's a wonderful story in a book in the book of Exodus, 458 00:24:29,966 --> 00:24:34,200 second book in the Bible, and it chronicles the the people of God, 459 00:24:34,200 --> 00:24:37,433 the Israelites, and their journey out of slavery in Egypt. 460 00:24:37,966 --> 00:24:40,966 They've been freed from slavery. 461 00:24:42,666 --> 00:24:45,866 And they get into the desert and they get discontent. 462 00:24:46,800 --> 00:24:51,700 And the first thing they do is they go, oh, if we could just go back to Egypt. 463 00:24:51,933 --> 00:24:52,966 Are you kidding me? 464 00:24:52,966 --> 00:24:55,966 You are a slave in Egypt. 465 00:24:55,966 --> 00:24:58,966 But the past is distorted, so man, that looks really good. 466 00:24:59,000 --> 00:25:00,700 The food was good back there. 467 00:25:00,700 --> 00:25:04,066 The bed was soft, fluffy pillows, but that didn't exist. 468 00:25:04,366 --> 00:25:07,366 But man, the past is distorted. 469 00:25:07,500 --> 00:25:10,500 Discontentment distorts the past. 470 00:25:10,666 --> 00:25:13,900 Number two, discontentment ruins the present. 471 00:25:15,666 --> 00:25:17,900 They were walked into a room and there's something going on there. 472 00:25:17,900 --> 00:25:20,733 Boy, that's sure ruin the mood. 473 00:25:20,733 --> 00:25:23,733 This contentment ruins the here and now. 474 00:25:24,133 --> 00:25:27,133 We're never able to enjoy it because it's never good enough. 475 00:25:28,766 --> 00:25:31,200 This contentment ruins the present. 476 00:25:31,200 --> 00:25:34,200 Always looking for the next thing. 477 00:25:35,233 --> 00:25:37,000 The last thing discontentment does is it 478 00:25:37,000 --> 00:25:41,100 robs the future, robs it, steals from the future. 479 00:25:41,566 --> 00:25:45,000 At least the abundant life that Jesus talks about just robs 480 00:25:45,000 --> 00:25:48,000 that when we're discontent. 481 00:25:48,933 --> 00:25:51,833 It's the destination that we never get to. 482 00:25:51,833 --> 00:25:55,200 It's a future that we never reach when we're discontent. 483 00:25:55,500 --> 00:25:58,500 There's a book in the Bible called, Ecclesiastes, 484 00:25:58,600 --> 00:26:01,600 and it's written by the smartest, most wealthy, 485 00:26:02,066 --> 00:26:05,233 prosperous, successful guy ever to walk the face of the earth. 486 00:26:05,233 --> 00:26:06,733 His name was King Solomon. 487 00:26:06,733 --> 00:26:10,333 And if you've ever read the book of Ecclesiastes, it chronicles 488 00:26:10,333 --> 00:26:13,700 the life of a discontented guy always looking for the next fix. 489 00:26:14,566 --> 00:26:17,933 That that is the Cliff notes version of the book of Ecclesiastes, 490 00:26:18,300 --> 00:26:20,366 because Solomon is like, you know what? 491 00:26:20,366 --> 00:26:21,233 Pretty smart now. 492 00:26:21,233 --> 00:26:23,333 But I'm going to I'm going to just get so much wisdom. 493 00:26:23,333 --> 00:26:25,133 I'm going to be the smartest guy ever. And then he does it. 494 00:26:25,133 --> 00:26:27,300 He's like, yeah, that wasn't all I thought it was going to be. 495 00:26:27,300 --> 00:26:29,933 What about what about, pleasure. 496 00:26:29,933 --> 00:26:33,900 I'm going to have, you know, 8 million concubines and twice as many wives. 497 00:26:34,000 --> 00:26:35,100 How about that? That's good. 498 00:26:35,100 --> 00:26:37,200 And then that doesn't that doesn't satisfy him. 499 00:26:37,200 --> 00:26:39,600 And so he moves on to success, then to build buildings. 500 00:26:39,600 --> 00:26:42,400 And I'm going to make there all this stuff in that that doesn't satisfy. 501 00:26:42,400 --> 00:26:45,766 And so it's continually robbing his future. 502 00:26:48,166 --> 00:26:50,933 If you've never read the end of the book of Ecclesiastes, do that. 503 00:26:50,933 --> 00:26:53,700 I think there's 11, maybe 12 chapters. 504 00:26:53,700 --> 00:26:56,700 His answer 505 00:26:56,733 --> 00:26:59,733 to this question of discontentment is great. 506 00:27:00,200 --> 00:27:03,200 If you ever had the opportunity to go back and read that. 507 00:27:04,300 --> 00:27:07,300 So it distorts our past, ruins our present. 508 00:27:07,333 --> 00:27:09,933 It robs our future. 509 00:27:09,933 --> 00:27:12,933 So in light of all this, in light of all this stuff, 510 00:27:12,933 --> 00:27:15,933 what can we do here and now today? 511 00:27:16,266 --> 00:27:18,700 Because after all, it's learned, right? 512 00:27:18,700 --> 00:27:20,000 And I just born with it. 513 00:27:20,000 --> 00:27:22,166 Got to learn it. 514 00:27:22,166 --> 00:27:24,433 What does it look like for us tomorrow 515 00:27:24,433 --> 00:27:27,700 and the office on the ball field, maybe even before you hit your car 516 00:27:27,700 --> 00:27:29,400 in the parking lot, scrolling through social media. 517 00:27:29,400 --> 00:27:31,033 What does it look? What does it look like? 518 00:27:32,266 --> 00:27:33,833 The interesting thing about contentment 519 00:27:33,833 --> 00:27:36,833 is for some people, it's eternity that hangs in the balance. 520 00:27:38,633 --> 00:27:40,933 So the first practical 521 00:27:40,933 --> 00:27:44,466 step towards being content, if you're here this morning 522 00:27:44,466 --> 00:27:47,466 and you have never put your faith in Jesus as your personal Savior, 523 00:27:47,666 --> 00:27:51,900 if you've never bowed your heart and said, Jesus, I admit it, I am a sinner. 524 00:27:52,400 --> 00:27:53,900 I need your forgiveness. 525 00:27:53,900 --> 00:27:57,666 I accept your death as payment for my sins, 526 00:27:57,666 --> 00:27:59,400 and I ask you to be my Lord and Savior. 527 00:27:59,400 --> 00:28:03,366 If you've never done that, plug your ears for the rest of the other two 528 00:28:03,400 --> 00:28:07,500 that I'm going to talk about, because that one thing 529 00:28:08,200 --> 00:28:10,733 if you've never done that, you'll never experience 530 00:28:10,733 --> 00:28:13,733 true biblical contentment like we're talking about here today. 531 00:28:14,666 --> 00:28:16,500 That is step one. 532 00:28:16,500 --> 00:28:18,600 If you haven't done that, talk to me after service. 533 00:28:18,600 --> 00:28:20,400 Talk to one of our staff people who are here today. 534 00:28:20,400 --> 00:28:21,866 We'd love to talk to you about that. 535 00:28:23,200 --> 00:28:25,433 If you have put your faith in Jesus. 536 00:28:25,433 --> 00:28:26,833 There are two very, 537 00:28:26,833 --> 00:28:30,600 very practical things you can do to start to learn to be content. 538 00:28:30,600 --> 00:28:33,700 Sort of like the lab work of of contentment. 539 00:28:35,066 --> 00:28:37,700 When you walked in, there were thank you cards on the chairs. 540 00:28:37,700 --> 00:28:40,833 If you sat in chair that didn't have a thank you card, I believe we have extra 541 00:28:41,166 --> 00:28:44,033 as you walk out the back, they're stamped for you. 542 00:28:44,033 --> 00:28:46,233 We've already paid for the stamp for you. 543 00:28:46,233 --> 00:28:47,100 It's your job to. 544 00:28:47,100 --> 00:28:49,033 If you're really young, you'll probably need to Google 545 00:28:49,033 --> 00:28:52,033 how to fill out the the envelope and mail it. 546 00:28:52,333 --> 00:28:54,966 And I want you to write a 547 00:28:54,966 --> 00:28:57,966 thank you card to someone if you still know the person 548 00:28:57,966 --> 00:29:02,000 that is the reason you became a Christian, write them a thank you card today. 549 00:29:05,400 --> 00:29:07,866 The two G's are what I call it giving 550 00:29:07,866 --> 00:29:10,966 and a gratitude and giving in this first very 551 00:29:11,233 --> 00:29:14,233 practical step is just giving thanks. 552 00:29:14,666 --> 00:29:16,533 Just being thankful. 553 00:29:16,533 --> 00:29:21,100 Thankful for where I am right now, thankful for where I what I'm doing. 554 00:29:21,100 --> 00:29:22,166 And I don't want to. 555 00:29:22,166 --> 00:29:25,633 I don't want to make light of some of the sucky things that can be happening, 556 00:29:26,566 --> 00:29:28,566 but contentment will shed a hold. 557 00:29:28,566 --> 00:29:29,433 It's called perspective. 558 00:29:29,433 --> 00:29:32,300 It'll shed a whole new light on those things. 559 00:29:32,300 --> 00:29:35,300 And giving thanks is one of those things that kind of, 560 00:29:36,133 --> 00:29:37,866 it's one of those things that kind of does it. 561 00:29:37,866 --> 00:29:39,800 It's a byproduct. 562 00:29:39,800 --> 00:29:42,566 Contentment is a byproduct of being thankful. 563 00:29:42,566 --> 00:29:45,666 It's almost like it's what you get as a bonus for doing it. 564 00:29:47,433 --> 00:29:48,966 And then the second thing is giving. 565 00:29:50,400 --> 00:29:51,600 If you're not 566 00:29:51,600 --> 00:29:55,433 tithing your income, tithing means a 10th. 567 00:29:56,100 --> 00:29:58,866 If you're not giving a 10th to your local church. 568 00:29:58,866 --> 00:30:01,200 I want to really encourage you here today. 569 00:30:01,200 --> 00:30:04,400 Maybe some of you have heard about what that means or heard about it. 570 00:30:06,200 --> 00:30:08,000 It's a 10th of your income. 571 00:30:08,000 --> 00:30:11,933 Giving is probably the best way I know of 572 00:30:11,933 --> 00:30:15,133 to break a cycle of discontentment. 573 00:30:16,266 --> 00:30:19,500 One of the things my wife and I did a few years back is we, 574 00:30:20,533 --> 00:30:23,366 we we led the class while we were taking class, 575 00:30:23,366 --> 00:30:26,133 Financial Peace University. 576 00:30:26,133 --> 00:30:27,966 And that was so interesting to see how 577 00:30:27,966 --> 00:30:30,966 when we started doing that with our money, 578 00:30:32,000 --> 00:30:34,366 contentment kind of came as a like, 579 00:30:34,366 --> 00:30:37,366 whoa, that is interesting. 580 00:30:37,700 --> 00:30:41,800 There's a certain peace, there's a certain contentment that I'm feeling right now. 581 00:30:43,500 --> 00:30:45,766 When you tell your money what to do instead of your money 582 00:30:45,766 --> 00:30:48,966 telling you what to do, there's this contentment that comes. 583 00:30:49,166 --> 00:30:52,966 And giving tithing is a is a wonderful, 584 00:30:52,966 --> 00:30:55,966 practical step towards 585 00:30:56,100 --> 00:30:57,433 bringing contentment into your life. 586 00:30:57,433 --> 00:31:00,433 In that way. 587 00:31:01,000 --> 00:31:02,100 I want to close today 588 00:31:02,100 --> 00:31:06,100 because we are at the last chapter of Paul's 589 00:31:06,100 --> 00:31:09,166 letter to Timothy, and he closes with some really great words. 590 00:31:09,833 --> 00:31:12,000 Starting in verse 20. 591 00:31:12,000 --> 00:31:16,066 He says, Timothy, guard what has been entrusted to your care. 592 00:31:16,500 --> 00:31:19,500 Turn away from godless chatter 593 00:31:19,500 --> 00:31:22,500 and the opposing ideas of what is falsely called knowledge, 594 00:31:22,533 --> 00:31:26,600 which some have professed, and in doing so have wandered from the faith. 595 00:31:26,933 --> 00:31:29,933 Grace be with you. 596 00:31:30,000 --> 00:31:32,133 Flip side talked a lot 597 00:31:32,133 --> 00:31:35,266 about some really practical ways throughout the series, not just today. 598 00:31:36,000 --> 00:31:38,900 Let's be a church that is full of passion. 599 00:31:39,966 --> 00:31:42,400 Charged charge into it all, 600 00:31:42,400 --> 00:31:46,233 guns blazing, gung ho, get it done, have goals. 601 00:31:46,933 --> 00:31:50,900 You have desires, have pursuits, and go at it with all your might. 602 00:31:50,900 --> 00:31:54,866 But never forget to give thanks and to be content with where you are right now. 603 00:31:54,866 --> 00:31:57,966 It can be the difference maker because like Paul said, the 604 00:31:58,366 --> 00:32:01,933 when we get off on this, on this path of discontentment, it's like wandering. 605 00:32:01,933 --> 00:32:03,166 He used that word twice here. 606 00:32:03,166 --> 00:32:05,933 You wander, you're like you end up somewhere 607 00:32:05,933 --> 00:32:07,766 and you're like, how in the world did I get here? 608 00:32:07,766 --> 00:32:09,300 I've been pissed off for five years. 609 00:32:09,300 --> 00:32:10,333 What's going on? 610 00:32:10,333 --> 00:32:13,333 Well, then, discontent. 611 00:32:13,633 --> 00:32:14,400 Get after it. 612 00:32:14,400 --> 00:32:16,700 Pursue it, command others to do it. 613 00:32:16,700 --> 00:32:19,066 And at the same time, 614 00:32:19,066 --> 00:32:21,400 let's be content 615 00:32:21,400 --> 00:32:22,900 and invite the worship team up right now. 616 00:32:22,900 --> 00:32:24,466 And I'm going to I'm going to pray this out. 617 00:32:25,700 --> 00:32:27,333 God, thank you so much 618 00:32:27,333 --> 00:32:32,000 for your word, for how it encourage us, encourages us. 619 00:32:32,566 --> 00:32:36,000 I pray that as we go back into the places you've called us to be this week, 620 00:32:36,500 --> 00:32:39,300 when we're faced with the inevitable situations 621 00:32:39,300 --> 00:32:41,300 that we know we're going to face this week, that's 622 00:32:41,300 --> 00:32:43,433 that's just going to be such a challenge to throw us off 623 00:32:43,433 --> 00:32:47,133 kilter and make us discontent and help us to help our minds, 624 00:32:47,133 --> 00:32:50,133 to come back to this place where we are right now. 625 00:32:51,600 --> 00:32:53,300 Help us to remember 626 00:32:53,300 --> 00:32:57,233 that you've called us to, to to give thanks to gift, be a people that, 627 00:32:58,000 --> 00:33:00,733 that live outside of ourselves sometimes. 628 00:33:00,733 --> 00:33:04,500 God, it sounds so can it feels and sounds so counterintuitive 629 00:33:04,800 --> 00:33:07,366 that that contentment could come from those things. 630 00:33:07,366 --> 00:33:10,933 But God help us to have the faith that's really what this is all about. 631 00:33:10,933 --> 00:33:13,200 This contentment issues, this reason. 632 00:33:13,200 --> 00:33:14,433 It's so difficult. 633 00:33:14,433 --> 00:33:16,500 It's because it requires faith. 634 00:33:16,500 --> 00:33:19,366 But your word tells us without faith it's impossible to please you. 635 00:33:19,366 --> 00:33:20,700 And we do want to please you. God. 636 00:33:21,666 --> 00:33:25,200 So we ask you to be with us this week 637 00:33:25,566 --> 00:33:29,133 and the weeks after those to put this into practice in our lives. 638 00:33:29,633 --> 00:33:31,000 Jesus, we love you. 639 00:33:31,000 --> 00:33:32,233 Help us to love you more. 640 00:33:32,233 --> 00:33:33,600 In your name we pray. Amen.