6: Well, let's pretend for a minute, uh,
that you went to the doctor for an annual checkup and, uh,
maybe there was some things that were concerning you.
Maybe you're experiencing a little bit more anxiety. Uh,
maybe you are getting tired a bit more quickly than you used to.
Maybe you don't have the drive that you used to have.
And so you ask the doctor about it, and some of you're like,
are you following me to my doctor's appointments right now? Uh,
but the doctor tells you, listen, uh, none of us are getting any younger. Okay?
We know how that works, but there are some things that I'm concerned about. Um,
your blood pressure's a bit higher than it needs to be. Uh,
that weight on the scale seems like year after year,
it keeps ticking higher and higher and higher.
And then your blood work has actually got some markers that we're not excited
about. Now, if you had a good doctor,
he would not just give you medication for the symptoms that you have,
but he would let you know, listen,
there are probably some things that are going on in your life within your
lifestyle that if you don't address,
you're gonna continue to head in the wrong direction.
And you can end up in a place that you don't wanna be.
And maybe we're looking at a place where we're talking about heart disease,
but if you really cared about what the doctor said, if you were motivated,
then you would start to learn some new ways to actually approach your life.
You talk about,
you think about how do I live a healthier lifestyle or the different foods that
I need to eat, uh, what shouldn't I eat? Uh,
what does it look like to start working out?
What does it look like to reduce some of the stressors that I have in my life?
And then if you were really serious,
you would take what you learned and then you put a plan in place.
But what you need to do is you need to learn a completely new paradigm,
and then you need to act on it. And that's what we're talking about this week.
We're in a series that we're calling Heart Check. And I told you last week,
we're not just checking in on our cardiovascular system,
but we're actually talking about our soul. Like,
are we living a life of peace or are we living a life of anxiety?
And we saw last week that one of the largest contributing factors to where we
land on that scale like peace or anxiety, uh,
is something that all of us have a love, love-hate relationship with.
And it's called money.
And I know we get nervous when we start to talk about money in church, uh, but,
but there's, there's a couple reasons why we gotta talk about it. We said one,
because you care about it. Like it stresses us out, it makes us anxious. Uh,
all of us know the economy might be in place where we don't want it to be right
now, uh,
psychological studies have shown that 75% of us across all age groups,
uh,
despite any type of economic background that we are carrying stress about our
money. And then secondly, Jesus cares about it. And he talks about it a lot.
And what we see and scripture is he cares about it because he knows that it can
stress us out.
And Jesus doesn't want us to go through life stressed and anxious.
And so if you miss last week's message, I would tell you, you need to go back.
Give it a listen.
But what you'll hear is some very pastoral and gentle words from Jesus about
how he doesn't need your wallet, but he cares about your heart.
And he tells us that, man, we've got a guard against this,
this greed and this covetousness that will chase after us in our lives.
And it'll promise fulfillment in things that will never provide it for us,
and it's gonna leave us in a place of emptiness.
And where we left off last week,
Jesus was telling us that the way that we combat this life of being continually
unfulfilled is to realize that you have a God that loves you,
that he's provided for you,
so much so that he's given you his first and his best and his only son in Jesus.
And so if he's done that, he's clearly gonna continue to provide for us.
And if we believe that in our life, we will find rest, we will find peace.
And Jesus tells us that the way that we find that rest,
the way that we find that peace is to rebel against the way of the world and
to live a life of radical generosity. Uh, we culminated in Luke chapter 12,
verse 34, Jesus is talking to a crowd of people and he says,
for where your treasure is there, your heart will be also.
And last week was all about the heart. And, and to be honest with you,
this week's all about the head. So kind of a completely different approach.
But if we're gonna get this right, just like we did when we go to the doctor,
right, we need a different paradigm. We need a plan.
But to build a heart healthy plan,
you need to have what I would refer to and what we're gonna refer to this week
is a proper theology of stewardship. Now, I know when you woke up this morning,
, you didn't think, you know,
I really need to experience more peace and more joy in my life is a good strong
biblical theology of stewardship. Uh, and it can sound intimidating. Uh,
a big word like theology. All theology means is the study of God.
And so what we're talking about here is we need to understand God's design and
intentions as it relates to the resources that we've been given in our lives.
And again, if you remember last week, Proverbs 1412, it says,
there's a way that seems right to man, but its end is the way to death.
And so God, like he created us to experience his love, his peace,
his rest, but the way of the world is leading us away from that.
And it's why the Apostle Paul wrote to the Church of Rome, Romans chapter 12,
verse two, he says, do not be conformed to the world.
The world is the way that seems right to man. He says,
don't be conformed to that, but be transformed by the renewal of our minds,
that by the testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good,
acceptable, and perfect. So last week we needed to do a heart check.
But part of our transformation, if we're gonna live into this new paradigm,
it happens when we engage God's word and our minds are renewed.
And so we need to have a right view of God and his plans and intentions for the
resources that he's given to us in our lives. We need a new paradigm.
And so here, here's kinda the big idea of this week, but to,
to live a life of radical generosity, we need a right theology of stewardship.
And so here's what I'm gonna do, uh, in our time together,
I wanna make this as simple as I can.
And so I'm gonna give us five easy principles for a biblical theology of
stewardship. And so I'm telling you,
I've worked hard to make this as simple for us as I possibly can.
And so I do encourage you, though, to write these down as we go.
And then I'm just gonna give us some practical steps that we can take to
actually live this out as a church family together. And so here we go,
right outta the gate, I'm gonna give you the five,
and then we'll talk about 'em one by one. Uh, number one,
everything belongs to God. Number two,
we were created with purpose. Uh,
the world tells us that we've gotta seek to find our own purpose that we've
gotta do ourselves. That's not how it works. Three,
that we're managers and not owners of the resources and the blessings that God's
given to us in our lives. Four,
God's generosity should fuel our generosity. And then lastly,
our generosity is an eternal investment. You know, in a days,
in a day and age where, uh,
so many of us are so tempted to chase after instant gratification,
Instagram reels Five seconds, five seconds, five seconds. Dopamine, dopamine,
dopamine. No, no, no.
God plants seeds in his kingdom and it takes time for them to grow.
So let's jump in. Uh, first principle here, everything belongs to God.
We go to the very beginning, Genesis chapter one, verse one.
The Bible clearly tells us in the beginning,
God created the heavens and the the earth. So everything that we know,
everything that we've seen in the world was set in motion by God, the sun,
the moon, the stars, the seasons, plants and animals.
And then what the Bible highlights is his prized creation, male and female,
you and me. And the Bible says that he created these things by simply speaking,
and it's this beautiful picture of speaking into darkness and into a void,
and then out of nowhere, order and life just begin. And so God creates,
he's a sustainer of life. And,
and if you have that type of power and glory and might, which he does,
our God is holy. He's set apart. It should be easy to understand.
Everything is His. And this principle, it carries on into the New Testament. In,
in my wife's, uh, one of my wife's favorite, uh, chapters in all of scripture.
Colossians chapter one. Uh, it says this, for in him all things were created,
things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible.
Whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities,
all things have been created through him. And watch this for him.
Uh, we had a young man on our staff, uh, for years. Uh,
he's now a professor over at, uh, DTS Dallas Theological Seminary. Uh,
his name is Andrew Yates. And to know Andrew was to love Andrew,
but he was a little bit, um, quirky. Uh, but Andrew,
like he had this thing about him.
If you ever asked him to borrow anything of his, it could be simple as, Hey,
Andrew, can I borrow your pen? Uh, he would say, oh, you mean this pen? Uh,
this is the Lord's pen. He's just entrusted it to me. And, uh,
if you want to use it, far be it from me to stand in your way. And,
and I'll tell you, uh, at times it was a little annoying, ,
but it was just a great reminder.
Like he was committed to constantly reminding himself and other people,
everything that I have in my life, it's not mine, it belongs to God.
He's just entrusted it to me. So everything belongs to God. Second principle,
we were created with purpose. And you gotta believe this,
you move just a little bit further in Genesis chapter one, verse 26, it says,
then God said,
let us make man and our image after our likeness,
and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the
heavens, and over the livestock, and over all the earth,
and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth. Uh,
this phrase here, dominion over it comes from a Hebrew word,
radah, which means to rule, uh, to have authority over or to govern. Alright?
So we were created with a purpose, and it's to rule over the rest of the earth.
But you gotta be careful here, uh, biblical dominion, uh,
it's not about domination, okay? It's, it's not about exploitation.
It's really more about stewardship.
Like it's about caring for and preserving what God created and set in motion.
You go a little bit further in Genesis chapter two, verse 15. It says,
the Lord God took the man and he put him in the garden of Eden to work it
and to keep it. So God created it all. Uh, God owns it all,
but he gave humanity this purpose right? To,
to have dominion over all of his creation for the sake of,
and this is important for the sake of preserving God's original intent.
Now, you don't have to look too far, uh, to recognize this original assignment.
Like it, it hasn't gone great, uh, for most of humanity.
And what happened was, uh,
man continually turned away from God and looked to do what was right in their
own eyes. Remember Proverbs 14, two, uh, there's a way that seems right to man,
and that's what's led to all the brokenness that we see around us in the world.
And so God sent his son Jesus on the greatest rescue mission, uh,
that the world has ever known.
And then he calls men and women into following him.
And then he gives them this charge. In Matthew chapter 28. He says,
go into the world and make disciples of all nations,
baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
And teaching them to them, to teaching them to obey all that I've commanded.
So essentially Jesus tells him, listen,
your newly defined purpose is to go into the world and call people into the life
that I have now made available. And so the purpose hasn't really changed, right?
Like it is been about to live out God's plans and purposes and intentions.
It's always been about the kingdom of God.
It's just now we go about this purpose in light of the gospel calling
people into following Jesus. So we've established everything belongs to God.
And so everything that we have is his.
And we've established that we have a purpose. But every purpose,
every mission requires resources.
And so where do the resources come from to live out this purpose?
The third principle, uh, for a healthy biblical theology of stewardship is this,
we are managers, not owners.
So God promises his people blessing, okay? But to be clear,
that's not always through financial blessings, but it does include,
it does include the financial blessings that we have in our lives.
But God calls us to use the blessings that we have in our lives to bless others,
to, to steward what it is that we have for the purposes that we've been given by
God. Genesis 1 28, it says, and God blessed them, okay?
So God blesses us. And then God said to them,
be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion.
There's that word again,
dominion over the fish in the sea and over the birds in the heavens and over
every living thing that moves on the earth. And then you move forward.
Um, you get to Genesis chapter 12, and then God calls, uh,
this man by the of Abraham, and he, he tells him really the same thing,
but he starts a new covenant with Abraham. Genesis 12, uh, verse two, it says,
and I will make you Abraham a great nation.
I will bless you and make your name great. Why?
Why does God wanna bless Abraham and make his name great?
Why does God wanna bless a people the Israelites? Why does he do that?
So that you will be a blessing? Now,
this promise that God made Abraham, it was for the Israelites,
but we gotta understand through Christ, we as the church,
as the family of God. Now we are carriers of that blessing.
And so our whole lives, everything that we've been given to us,
it is a blessing in our own lives, yes, to enjoy,
but also to use to impact the world around us for his original intent and
purposes. Uh, Jesus. In Luke chapter 12, uh, verse 42,
uh, he tells a parable, and just at the beginning he asks this question,
he says,
who then is the faithful and wise manager who then is the faithful and wise
steward of his master's household? And then he goes through a,
a scenario and he talks specifically about those who are disobedient about his
master's business. Uh,
and he doesn't have some nice things to say about what happens to those people.
You're gonna need to go back and read it. That's not what this message is,
is about. But in chapter 12, verse 48, Jesus concludes us by saying,
everyone to whom much is given of himm, much will be required.
And from him to whom they entrusted much, they will demand more. And basically,
in this parable, Jesus is saying,
if a master goes away and he entrusts his servant to care for his
estate, when he comes back,
he's gonna have the expectation that it was cared well for.
And what Jesus wants to see,
wants us to see in this is we have all been blessed,
but to the extent of which we have been blessed, all the more is expected.
Uh, by the way, uh, my kids are Marvel fans.
I I'm convinced that this is where, uh, uncle Ben, uh,
from Spider-Man gets this famous quote, uh,
with great power comes great responsibility. Uh, and so I just would say,
if you want to be more like Spider-Man,
you can try to be more like Jesus or vice versa. I mean,
you take your pick here, but, but at the end of the day, everyone,
to who much is given much will be required,
or with great power comes great responsibility.
You can choose which one you wanna go, which road you wanna go down,
but everything belongs to God. We're created with purpose. We're managers,
not owners. The fourth,
the fourth principle is God's generosity should fuel our
generosity. And I'm just telling you, there's a lot to this.
Um, we know that everything on earth is God's. And so everything that we have,
God has blessed us with. But you gotta see, this is so much deeper than that.
Uh, the Apostle Paul, he, he wrote this to the church in Corinth,
two Corinthians chapter eight, verse nine. He says, for you know,
the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich,
yet for your sake, he became poor, so that through his poverty,
you might become rich. And Paul's reminding us that Jesus, the son of God,
he stepped down from his throne in heaven and became poor for our sake.
And he did that while all of humanity,
while you and while me were rebelling against God.
And he did that so that he could pay a penalty that we deserve to pay on a cross
so that we could experience the life that God intended. And not only that,
I'm sure many of us are very familiar with John three 16. It says,
for God so loved the world that he gave,
he gave his only son that whosoever believed in him would not perish,
but would have everlasting life. You understand? God gave, God is generous.
He gave his first, he gave his best, he gave his only for you and for me,
and I don't know if you know this,
but the Bible also says in Romans that the wages of sin is death.
So we deserve death for rebelling against God.
And if you could just for a moment, look around all of our campuses right now,
we're still here.
We are here with access to the throne room and to the blessing of God.
And I heard a pastor say once before,
anything above the grave is the grace and the generosity of our God.
And so our god's been generous to us, and a right theology of stewardship,
it says in response,
we are generous in our lives for the sake of seeing his plans and his purposes
move forward. And
you know, this,
this is one of the principles that there really is a measuring stick too. And I,
I think would be amiss if we don't actually slow down for a minute. Um,
is this is big because if,
if God's love and generosity doesn't fuel your generosity,
you gotta ask yourself the question,
do you really believe that Jesus is who he says he is and did what
he said he did?
And I don't ask that like as a question of judgment, okay?
I I ask that because you have a God that loves you,
more than you can ever understand or comprehend.
So much so that he sent his son to this earth to die on your behalf. And man,
we remember we talked last week, like,
is it possible to be in one of the most critical moments in our lives and
completely miss the point? Like, if we are missing this point,
we need to slow down and go before God and see, God, I, I don't know what it is,
but there's something in my heart that doesn't feel compelled to be generous.
Do I really understand what it is that you've done for me?
And I just tell you as, as a pastor here at hope, I don't want us to miss this.
And so make time. You take the time,
make sure you take the time this week to slow down and really engage your heart
on this. But, but God's generosity should fuel our generosity.
Our last principle is this, our generosity is an,
it's an eternal investment.
And last week when we were looking at Jesus's words, Luke chapter 12,
we saw this in verse 33 through 34, uh, he said,
sell your possessions and give to the needy.
Provide yourselves with money bags that do not grow old with the treasure in the
heavens that does not fail,
where no thief approaches and no moth destroys for where your treasure is
there, your heart will be. Also, remember, Jesus doesn't need your wallet,
but he cares about your heart and he knows how the desire to to want more
and more. It comes after you and it will not satisfy.
But what if we get to a place where we say, Hey, no, no, no, enough is enough.
My needs have been and will continue to be met.
And so what I'm gonna do is I'm going to invest in the mission of God for this
world. And you know what? We're gonna see lives change. And when that happens,
we we get to a place where we realize we are going to celebrate with those
people for all of eternity.
Do you know heaven is gonna be filled with stories where we find out
that we had no idea of the impact that our generosity and stewardship had on the
lives of others? Like I'm, I'm completely convinced that,
um,
many of us are gonna be in heaven one day and we're gonna meet a young man who
is gonna say, you've never met me. Um,
but I grew up in Haiti, and when I was a child,
we didn't really have a lot of food. But through the generosity of your church,
I was able to have food in my belly at least one time a day.
And so as a result of that,
I grew up understanding the grace and the goodness of God. And as I grew up,
I became a leader in this church that you all helped get started.
And I became a leader for the sake of the gospel through Agape Church in Haiti.
I mean, these conversations are gonna happen.
You look at what Paul wrote to Timothy, first Timothy chapter six,
verse 17 through 19. And hear me say this like, I don't say this, um,
because this is something I wrote. This is something that Paul made a charge to,
to Timothy, who is a pastor over a church. And so, um,
I believe I received this same charge for Paul,
and I share it with all of us together as a church family. It says of verse 17,
as for the rich in this present age, which by the way, um,
95% of us who can hear my voice right now would fall into this category,
as for the rich in this present age,
charge them not to be haughty nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of
riches, but on God,
who richly provides us with everything to enjoy. So he provides us with every,
like the stuff, the blessings that he's given us in our lives.
They're for us to enjoy, yes, but they're also to do good,
to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share,
thus storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation. Look,
it has eternal value with a good foundation for the future,
so that they may take hold of that which is truly life.
Our generosity is an eternal investment. Now,
I want you to see something here, and we just gotta recognize this. Um,
the world has a different perspective on stewardship.
And so if you were look to say, Hey, what do the masses think about stewardship?
What does the the world think about the possessions that we have in our lives?
They would say this, everything I have is mine. Uh,
I create my own purpose. I use my stuff my way.
I'm generous when I feel like it, and I wanna see results immediately.
You know, I mentioned this earlier. We, we just live in a world, man. It,
it chases after immediate gratification. Like,
does it bring me joy and excitement right now in this moment?
And that's not so within the kingdom of God.
Like the kingdom of God is about planting seeds,
seeds don't bust through the ground the next day.
Seeds don't produce fruit the next month,
Proverbs 1412, there is a way that seems right to man,
but its end is the way of death. Church, family,
we need a new paradigm. Like we need a biblical theology of stewardship.
And so God's word says, no, no, no, that's not the way it works.
The way it works is this, everything belongs to God.
He created everything by him through him. For him it says that we were created,
uh,
with a purpose to actually oversee what it is that God created to live out his
plans and purposes. We're managers, we're stewards,
not owners of the things that we have in our lives.
And God's generosity should fuel our generosity.
We love because he first loved us. And our generosity is an eternal investment,
not just in our lives, but also in the lives of others around us. Jesus,
uh, in Luke chapter 16, he has some really strong words on this.
He says,
no servant can serve two masters for either he will hate one
and love the other,
or he'll be devoted to one and despise the other.
And he wraps it up by saying this, you cannot serve both God and money.
We gotta do a heart check.
And so we hopefully we get to a place where we say, okay, how do I apply this?
Like,
what does it look like to live out of this theology of stewardship in my life?
And it inevitably leads to two questions. One,
where do I express my financial generosity?
If I'm gonna take on this new paradigm, if I'm gonna put a plan in place,
where do I express this generosity? And then secondly, how generous should I be?
What does that look like for me? So when the rubber hits the road,
taking an action step to give is what this is all about.
And it boils down to where do I give and how much? And honestly,
each one of those could have been a message,
could have been a sermon in and of themselves,
but I didn't want us have to sit in five weeks on this topic.
And so I'm gonna jam it in right now for us. Okay? So first question,
where do I express my generosity? In the New Testament, uh,
you see a picture of God's people expressing their generosity in two places in
their everyday lives. And through the local church, um, very clearly,
you see an ax. It says, the believers had all things in common.
They treated their possessions like they understood. Everything I have,
I have in my life, uh, really is God's. Remember Andrew Yates, the pen? Like,
this is the Lord's pen. Uh, this is the Lord's sheep. If you need a sheep,
I'll share my sheep. Um, and so they made sure that everyone was out without,
without need. No idea why I stuttered on the word without,
but secondly, it was through the church.
And this isn't a one or the other. Okay? This is a both end. But understand,
Jesus's primary plan for God's kingdom to move forward was through the church.
And what you see is followers of Jesus giving to the leaders of the church for
the sake of the mission. You might say, whoa, whoa, wait a minute,
giving to the leaders of the church. Uh,
it was the leaders of the church responsibility to make sure that those
resources went to the right areas. And in fact, you see in the New Testament,
uh, you see that the church used these resources as the body of Christ that were
collected by the potty of Christ for three specific areas.
One was to meet the needs of the needy. That's a big deal to us here at hope.
Secondly, it's to build the household of God where and how ministry gets done,
how, where, and how it takes place. And then third,
to support those who give their best hours to lead and shepherd the church.
And so giving to a nonprofit, it's good, um,
meeting the needs of your neighbors and your community that's expected, uh,
your family sponsoring a child or an orphan overseas that is good and right.
But please understand, uh, it is the,
the responsibility of the local church of Jesus Christ. And the New Testament,
uh, that we see charge with carrying forward.
The mission and the purpose is that God is placed on his people.
And so that's where we express our generosity.
How generous should we be? Very ,
God's love and generosity should fuel our generosity.
And a question that always comes up is, should it be a tithe?
Like should it be 10% of my income? And most scholars would tell you, uh,
in the Old Testament, there's really this baseline of a 10% tithe.
So 10% of our first roots, 10% of what comes in,
it goes back to God immediately. Um,
but they also would tell you that there's other offerings like temple taxes,
all kinds of things that really,
that what what they brought forth in tithes and offerings to God could have been
anywhere from 10 to 25, 20 6%. Now,
I'm gonna tell you something that a lot of pastors might not tell you.
Jesus doesn't specifically say that in the New Testament.
It just doesn't. And, uh,
and you should probably be leery of any pastor that tells you it does.
Now if they can show it to me, that's great, I'd love to see it. Um,
but I will tell you this, I can say this confidently,
Jesus never decreases the call on the family of God from the Old
Testament. In fact, he normally ups the ante. Uh,
at one point he specifically says, listen, you,
you've heard it said not to murder, but I say unto you,
any man that has anger in his heart against his brother is subject to judgment.
Again, thi this would require an entire sermon, but,
but it comes down to a theology of stewardship.
We should give out of the generosity that we've experienced from God
to whom much is given, much is required. Um, one portion in scripture,
Jesus scoffs at the Pharisees for boasting about their large offerings because
of their hard hearts. But in the same paragraph,
he turns right around and he praises a widow for giving two copper coins because
that's all she had. It's not about equal gifts,
it's about equal sacrifice.
And we give generously out of the blessing that God has provided for us.
So inside of our church community, there,
there could be a widow that might struggle to give 10%,
and that's okay. I mean, that should be a goal. It's something to work towards.
But there could be someone else who makes $200,000 a year.
And if they're stewarding God's resources, well,
it should be easier for them to give more. But again,
that's not the point of the sermon.
The point of the sermon is we should be moved to action,
like God's generosity in our lives should fuel us to be generous with the world
around us. And so I, I assume this message, um,
it falls on the ears of two different groups of people. Um,
either you're currently giving to support the purposes of God,
most likely through your local church or you're not. Um,
you've heard from Jesus, he cares about your heart. Uh,
you've been given a biblical theology of stewardship.
And so if you're currently giving, uh, here,
here's what I'll encourage you to do.
I'd encourage you to evaluate your generosity based on this theology of
stewardship. Um, I think you should get together as a family. Um,
and you should ask yourself this question,
does our stewardship and generosity with our resources match the generosity that
we have received and been blessed with by God? Ask yourself the question,
and if not, make a change.
Let's guard our hearts against the temptation of this world to pursue more and
more and more, and as a church family, less make a larger,
a larger eternal investment in God's kingdom and in the world around us.
If you're not currently giving, uh, and you've been here more than three months,
okay? If you've been here less than three months, you're kinda off the hook.
I mean, you've seen what the Bible says, all right?
But that's between you and God.
But if you've been here for more than three months and you're benefiting from
this family of God called Hope Community Church,
and you've seen this big biblical picture as God created us to live,
here's what I would say, it's time to jump in the game. I mean,
this is your church family. And this isn't Jason saying,
Jason thinking that you should. This is me elevating, uh,
what God's word says that your resources, uh, are not mine.
You're probably thinking that's really good news. It is good news. Um,
but they're not yours either. They're God's.
And this is not just to take the blessing that I receive with no investment,
like inside the family of God. We all have roles and responsibilities. You know,
who does that? Children do that.
And I I just wanna say this for a moment, so pardon me ladies just for a moment,
but if, if, if you're a man and if you're married and if you have children, um,
you have a very specific calling on your life by God, um,
to set the spiritual climate in your fa,
it's not to set the spiritual climate in your family.
It's not your burden to bear alone by any stretch of the imagination.
But we have a responsibility to make sure that our family is moving towards
spiritual health. And as we've seen by Jesus, man,
if we don't guard against what can happen in our hearts,
we're not gonna end up where we wanna be.
We're gonna continually chase after things that aren't gonna bring us the life
that God intended for us. And so here's what I wanna encourage you to do,
evaluate against this, uh, this, um,
theology of stewardship that we've seen through God's word.
And so here's what you do. It's really simple. I wanna call us as a church,
is to making a decision. So it's really easy if,
if God moves in your heart to take a step in this direction, um,
we have a number 7 2 9 8 9 that you can text. You text the word give 7 2, 9, 8,
9. And what happens is, I get your address and I show up at your house, and we,
I'm just kidding you, text the word give to 7 2, 9 8, 9, and you're gonna link,
you're gonna get a link sent directly to your phone,
and you click that link and you let us know what campus that you go to.
And then as a family or as an individual before God,
you make a decision about what taking this step of generosity looks like in your
life. What this really comes down to is two things.
Do you embrace this theology of stewardship that we see in scripture?
And then what type of eternal impact do we wanna make as a church?
There are 300 children in Haiti that our church is responsible,
um, for being a part of feeding once a day.
That's all they eat once a day.
Wouldn't it be incredible if they could eat twice a day? I mean,
50% of the country of Haiti is starving right now.
We have land in Fuquay and we have a campus that is thriving in Fuqua.
Wouldn't it be incredible if we could come together as a church family,
one church of multiple communities,
and come together and actually help them build a community center there that
would give them a better footprint, uh, to,
to help them further bless that community? Uh,
we've got small groups of men and women and students across all the communities
where we have campuses who know a very specific needs of their community.
And there are men and women and students in those communities who need to hear
about the good news of Jesus Christ and the life that he's came to make
available. Church family.
We have an opportunity to make an eternal investment.
And this is my prayer that God would move in our hearts,
um, that we would resist the temptation that the world calls us into to
acquire more and more and more and more. That's not truly gonna satisfy.
And we would live fully into the plans and purposes that God has for us and our
lives that he calls us into as this church.
And that we would see God do immeasurably more than we could ever think to
imagine or ask through the power of His spirit. That's at work.
That's a story that I believe God's calling us into.
That's so much of it hinges on this right here. Father,
thank you for your word. I thank you that we can hear from Jesus
and know that he cares about our hearts. Thank you.
That we can see throughout scripture and experience in our lives,
that you don't leave us to ourselves to pursue our own ways that ultimately lead
to death and to destruction.
And you've allowed us to see that we can,
we can trust that you're gonna continually provide for us because you've already
given us your first and your best and your only son. And so I,
I pray as a family, as Hope Community Church, as a family of families,
that you would move in our hearts to fully embrace what it means to love God,
to follow Jesus,
and to be able to share the hope that we have in him with the world around us.
Or if the Bible's true, and I believe it is,
our financial situation gets such a grip on our hearts and lead us in the wrong
direction. Lord, I pray for freedom. Lord,
I pray that you would move us to being the church that you've called us to be,
and that the world desperately needs. We love you.
And we pray these things in the name of Jesus and amen.
4: Amen and amen. And I know, uh,
we've all been challenged by those words that we heard today and
before we part, I just, I can't believe we're actually one month away.
We're one month away from celebrating the best day in human history,
the resurrection of Jesus to Easter.
Are we excited about the resurrection of Christ coming up in just a few short
weeks that we celebrate and we really want to,
we really wanna encourage you to participate in the Easter season where we live
each and every single day of our life in the reality that Christ is no longer
dead but alive. And so, as we prepare our hearts to celebrate Easter season,
we're, we're gonna dive into something that we're calling the way. Uh,
and in that we're gonna,
we're gonna take a look at Jesus setting his face resolutely to Jerusalem,
where he's betrayed unto the cross, where there is death into victory,
and it's going to challenge us and call us into the way, the way of Christ.
And so we're just so excited to take our church family through this next Easter
season. And today as you make your way out,
you'll actually be giving an an invitation. Listen, this is a great time,
a great moment, an easy way to invite those that are in your life,
where you live, where you work, where you play,
to invite them to join you for Easter.
And you can go to get hope.net/easter to reserve seats just so we know who's
coming so we can make sure that we're ready to share the hope that we have in
Christ with those that we invite.
So make sure as you leave today to grab your invite. We love you,
hope Community Church, and we'll see you next week.