Your Worry Is Chasing Something Temporary

What if you knew then what you know now? Well, when is then? Whenever the wisdom you've acquired today would have really come in handy back then. Like parents, would you maybe parent a little bit differently, like a little bit less stress, a little bit more fun? Young adults, would you maybe put a little less pressure on yourself to like know what you're gonna do for the rest of your life and just try some stuff and learn more about yourself? I wonder if, I don't know, have you ever looked back at your choice of hairstyles 25 years ago? And you think like what on earth was I thinking? When I was a senior in high school, here was the look. Like a military buzz cut on the top with a mullet down the back, wait, wait, wait, that my mother would perm every other month. That was the look. God forgive me. I wonder if we would maybe go back and spend a little less energy and internal conversations on the stuff that you fast forward to today that's created the most anxious generation in human history. I think Jesus calls us to a life of order and kingdom priority. And in fact, I would argue that one of the reasons that humanity is so anxious today is this. It's because we are consumed by the temporary rather than fixed on what is eternal.

I believe it with my whole heart. Jesus addressed this in the gospel of Matthew chapter six. He's speaking to those of us who are operating under a sense of scarcity, fear, anxiety, worried about, am I gonna have enough? And he says this, but seek first. Everybody say first. But seek first, his kingdom and his righteousness and all these things will be given to you as well. We're starting a series today called First Things First. Before I forget, next week, the incredible torn wells is gonna be where this is bringing God's word. So you will want to be here for that. I think we have to ask ourselves, what does he mean by the kingdom? Seek first the kingdom. 126 times in just the four gospels, Jesus addresses the kingdom, the kingdom of heaven, the kingdom of God. Do you think it's important that we try to understand what he's trying to tell us? The moment you decide to become a disciple of the way, a follower of Jesus, you now come under a king and his kingdom. The reason he has to be so redundant about what that means is because the way the kingdom operates is directly opposed to the patterns, the values, and the practices of the world in which we live. And today, we're gonna look at a story

in the New Testament, a parable, in fact, that Jesus told to help us understand how the kingdom works and how he has called us to operate within it. Because here's the thing, if you follow Jesus, we have to bring our relationships, our disciplines, our habits, our marriage, our ambition, our money under a king. Now, the story is super long, and we would literally be here the whole time if I just read it. So if you'll indulge me, I'm gonna paraphrase the parable of the town, so then we're gonna come back and we're gonna pick apart several of these passages and try to understand what is Jesus trying to tell us. So here's the story. A master is gonna go on a journey, and so he calls three of his servants together, and he entrusted them what belongs to the master. To one, he gives five talents. Now, what is a talent? A talent is a measurement of weight. This time, it was used to measure precious metal like gold and silver. One talent was worth three, four, five years' wages. He is entrusting to them a small fortune. So to one, he gives five talents. To another, he gives two. And to the third, he gives one. And then he goes on his journey. So he calls him together, and to the one he gave five, this fellow put it to work.

He multiplied it. He knew that he could make a difference with it. He said, "Master, I've doubled it. Here's five more." The master was overjoyed, celebrated, says, "Well done, my good and faithful servant." So the one who he gave two, the same story, multiplied it, doubled it, gave it to the master. Master's overjoyed. But there was one who he gave one operating out of this sense of fear and scarcity. He didn't want to lose it, and so he buried it. Just so that when the master came back, at least he wouldn't have misplaced it. In the words that Jesus described, that the master addressed the servant who was given the one, or a pretty harsh, if I'm honest, "You wicked and lazy servant." But the thing that is so incredible about this story is not even the story itself. It is the reason why Jesus told the story. So in the Gospel of Matthew 25 verse 1, Scripture says this, "Then the kingdom of heaven will be like dot, dot, dot, and then he tells the parable of the talents." This story is one of 126 ways that Jesus is trying to educate us how to build our lives according to a kingdom. There's so many things that we can pull out of the story we're going to look at to today. In the kingdom of heaven, the first principle that we have to understand is this, and the kingdom of heaven God owns everything. The culture that you live in doesn't believe that. I've earned this, I've worked hard for this. I believe the way our culture, the theology, our culture teaches, feels more like this. Everything that I have is from me, and it is for me. Culture of this world, kingdom of God. Everything that I have God owns. Verse 14, "For it will be like a man going on a journey who called his servants and entrusted to them whose property, his property.

Before he gave it to the servants, it belonged to the master. When it was in the servants' hands, who did it belong to, the master? Everything we have belongs to God. He created us to be generous with what is his. But if you claim Jesus, but live according to the value principles of this world, your life is a tug of war, and it doesn't make any sense." And I believe this is one of the reasons many of us are spiritually stuck. It is very hard to let go of what you think you own, because if you let go of it, how will you know if there's any more where that came from? But how easy is it to live open-handed with what never belonged to you in the first place? Crazy, easy. And I got to tell you, this is why I passionately believe God authored the principle of the tithe. What is the tithe? It is not just a tenth of the income or our increase, but it is the first tenth of our income and our increase. Leviticus 27. One tenth of the produce of the land where the grain from the field or fruit from the trees belongs to who belongs to the Lord and must be set apart to him as holy. I believe that the tithe is a declaration of God's ownership. Every time we get paid, we have the opportunity to remind ourselves who our provider is. If you live according to the belief patterns of this world, this idea of giving the first ten percent of your income is stupid and utterly irrational. I admit it, if you live according to the kingdom, nothing makes more sense. The first of the week is the Sabbath. It is holy and set apart belongs. The first of the day, what did Jesus often do? He would get up and go to lonely places to pray. The first of the day belongs to the Lord. Many of us start every year with a fast to say, God, as I begin this year, I'm declaring

that you are first and the first of my income is not mine. It belongs to the Lord. Money is a tough thing, because I know as I am speaking this, there are so many of you overwhelmed by the cost of life right now. I can see it in your eyes, and I get it. The economy of heaven is not this economy, though. I have struggled with this a lot of my life. I think there are spinners and savers. Let's group participation. Where are the spinners in all of our campuses? Raise your hand. You know, you're making apologies to the UPS guy all the time, because it's coming to your house way too often. You know who you are. What about the savers? Where are the savers, everybody? So all of those things are totally fine to a point. But for some of us, the spending can get to the point where really what we're doing is we're medicating our emptiness with the new purchase. And that's when it's not OK. Or saving all through the Proverbs, it's wisdom until you are so fixed on building a pile big enough that you have created a life where God is unnecessary. Every one of these struggles has a line that we can cross, and it goes from something that's fine to something that's an idol, right? And it was causing havoc in the early years of my marriage to Cindy.

I would buy things on a credit card without telling her, and it would create really awesome conversations in those early days. And then my parents really did not plan for retirement or their older years at all. And so the pendulum for me of obsession, am I going to have enough? And so I'm one of the lucky ones that I love both. I love building a pile and spinning often. I struggle with both. And so Cindy and I, I don't know, five, six years in our marriage, we were like, this is not working. There is so much conflict about money. Can we just pray and ask God to give us a different vision for our family? Just this belief system is not working. So we prayed, God, did you give us a vision, even a mission for what it means to be a beal. Give us a verse out of your word, and he did. In Matthew, I'm sorry, in Romans 11, 36, here's our family verse, for from him and through him and for him are all things. To him be the glory forever, amen. As a beal, everything that we have came from God, everything we do, we do through his power. And the whole byproduct of our existence is to give glory to God. Like there's a painting over our fireplace. Our boys know it, they're teaching their kids, our grandkids, this is what it means to be a beal.

And that value was put to the test about four years after we set this as our family verse. In the middle of the night, our house caught fire. It started in the attic, so the smoke detectors were not going off, and we were all sleeping. And I'll just tell you, I'm not gonna get to all the details, but the Holy Spirit woke Cindy Bealup. She got out of bed, looked out the window, and there's flames shooting from our attic out of the events. She comes over to me, fast asleep, shakes me violently. Babe, our house is on fire, I'm gonna get our sons, you're on your own, and she leaves. (congregation laughing) Exact words, true story, they're our priorities. Fortunately, I didn't go back to sleep, I got out of bed, we got the kids out, it's probably two in the morning, and we're standing on the street, in fact, this is a picture of my youngest son at the time, Seth, standing in front of our house as it burned to the ground. I had a pair of shorts, I had flip flops on for those of you outside of America like sandals that most mid shouldn't wear. I had my wallet, I had my car keys, and I had my phone, and that is all I owned. We spent the night at the neighbor's house, and one of the most emotional moments My automatrist, Jay Sparks, Jay, if you're listening to this, I love ya. Jay saw that our house burned on Facebook

and he showed up at our neighbor's house where we spent the night with my prescription of contact lenses. I mean, just the thoughtfulness and a toothbrush and a pair of underwear. So thank you so much for that, Jay. But here's my point. I kept waiting for the devastation to set in that everything we have accumulated over a lifetime was gone and that day never came. Because we have a family verse that everything we have is from God. And I'm telling you, you don't sweat it because it wasn't ours to begin with. I wanna ask you an honest question. How would your life change if you lived like everything belongs to God? In this parable, Jesus is describing the kingdom of heaven. Teaching us that first, God owns everything. And second, you will give an account. For what? For what you did with what God gave you. Let's look at verse 19, the gospel Matthew. Now, after a long time, the master of the servants came and did what? He settled accounts with them. What did you do with what I gave you? Now, some of you theological alarm bells are going off in your head right now 'cause this does not feel consistent

with the gospel that you know. Pastor Chris, doesn't scripture say that I am saved by grace through faith and not a result of works so that I couldn't boast. You are absolutely right, it does. Doesn't God's words say that the judgment and our shame was placed on Jesus on our behalf? It absolutely does. And yet, you will give an account. There are two judgments talked about in scripture. The first, we call it the great white throne judgment. And this is where the Father, where every person will stand before the Father and he will separate those of us that put our faith in Jesus and chose to live our lives following him. And then he separates those who didn't put their faith in Jesus and chose to live their lives rejecting him. This is not that judgment. This judgment, the Greek word in fact, is called the Bema Seat of Christ. And the Apostle Paul describes it in Romans chapter 14. He says, remember, we will all stand before the judgment seat of God. For the scripture say, I surely as I live says the Lord, every knee will bend to me, every tongue will declare allegiance to God. Yes, each will give a personal account to God. We have to reconcile why this stirs up resistance at this idea.

And I believe one of the reasons why is when you hear you will stand before the judgment seat of God, most likely this is the image that comes to mind. Right, right? An angry judge throwing a gavel of condemnation at you because your life just didn't measure up. This is not biblical. This is not that judgment. I think a better illustration of the Bema Seat of Christ looks more like this. [ Pause ] Look at their faces. [ Pause ] This is the Bema Seat of Christ. [ Pause ] That young girl was born with a physical disability in her foot. Her name is Kaleo. And all the challenges of having to navigate surgeries and doctors visits and compensating for her body, not working the way most of ours does. The debt keeper from living life completely full, finding ways to make the most of her existence absolutely not. Somehow she found herself on the U.S. Paralympics team that placed sitting volleyball. And they beat China for the gold in both Rio and Tokyo. But the look on her face, that is the Bema Seat of Christ. Your Father is cheering you on. Not condemnation. You've got this. I've given you so much. I can't wait to see what you do with it. He is sitting at the edge of his throne, planning and preparing

for how to bless your faithfulness. Jesus' words in Revelation 22, "Look, I am coming soon, and my reward is with me, and I will give to each person according to what they have done." Church, when we realize that everything we have belongs to God, and that we will give an account to him for what we did with it, and that that reward lasts forever, it becomes pretty obvious that in the kingdom, we have to start thinking of ourselves more like investors and less like spenders. Just think about the word or the definition of spending. What is that? You're trading one thing for another. I'm trading this money for this thing, or I'm trading this time for this experience, but there's no net ad. But those of us think like investors, this is more of, I am devoting this with an expectation for an exponential return. How does that work practically? You could spend your time binging on a show on Netflix. Nothing wrong with it. You could open up your Bible out with that same amount of time and spend time falling in love with Jesus. You're spending time here, you're investing time here. Why? Because the Word of God never returns void. You could spend your time stressing out about your kids or the choices that they're making, and I get it, we've been there, or you can invest that same amount of time on your knees praying heaven down that God would encounter them in such a way. One thing is the spending of time, the other is an investment, because the prayer of the righteous avails much. We have got to start thinking of ourselves as kingdom investors. Jesus' words, do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and thieves break in and steal, but store for yourselves or invest all that God's given you to build treasure in heaven, where neither moth or rest destroy, where thieves don't break in and steal, for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. If you are not a giver and you're waiting for a day to emotionally be compelled to be a giver or a tithe of that day is not coming, for where you invest, there your heart follows. If you want to feel the joy of being a giver, you have to give. It's not going to just come and bid you give, we just choose to become kingdom investors. Every second of every day, we have a choice to either spend the time, the resource, the money, or invest it in things that matter to the heart of God. And I just want to get practical. I want to just tell you some stories of people that are dear to me and how the way they think about kingdom investment, it just inspires me and makes me want to be better as a giver. And the first honestly is Pastor Craig and Amy. As he mentioned, we've been friends for 25 years now, gotten to partner in ministry for 23. And every year on January the 1st, around 5 in the morning,

Pastor Craig gives his largest offering of the year. Many of us give at the end of the year, get a tax deduction for that, which is perfectly fine. Craig just does it differently. The first day of the year, before the sun even comes up, God gets my best. That inspires me. My oldest and youngest son, they own an electrical services company together and they're killing it so proud of them. and they decided that 10% of business is set aside to meet the needs of the poor and to resource the church. That inspires me. Brian and Carrie from Wellington. They could have retired years ago. Carrie volunteers as the global ambassador for you version for the nation of Italy. She hosts events in Rome every single year to get church leaders and content partners engaged in God's word in their churches. Brian is a serial entrepreneur. In the last 12 months, Brian started two new companies. You might ask, how many companies does he have, more than two? And he started these companies with no other purpose, but to fund God's word getting into every heart language on planet Earth. They are kingdom investors and it inspires me. Lainey, from the Oklahoma City campus. Lainey is a hairdresser. She gives to our church five to six times a day, five days a week. She got saved in this house. Struggling in life and decided I'm just going to become a tither because this other life is not working.

And God just showed up in our life and blessed her financially, yes, but in so many other ways. And so she's decided in between every haircut or color that I do between clients, I'm going to tithe on what this person just paid me to declare in this moment, God is my provider. Lainey inspires me. Tanner in LaNexa. Tanner and his wife have decided that if they're ever going to think about buying a luxury splurge, like something for their house or an expensive trip, they will not do that unless they first give the same amount of money to serve the poor and to resource the church. Tanner inspires me, but probably my favorite is Diane. Diana Tins are still water campus. And she, sweet lady, living on a fixed income, she loves to give and wishes she could give more. And she asked the Lord, God, I want to give offerings, but I don't know how or how much or to what. And she felt like God gave her this really cool idea that any time she sees a coin on the ground, she's going to set the equivalent in dollars aside until the end of the year. So she finds a quarter, she puts $25 in a jar. Finds a penny, puts a dollar in the jar. And at the end of the year, she gathers it up and brings her offering to the Lord.

Diane inspires me. "When you become a kingdom investor, "it will impact eternity, but it will change you. "It will absolutely change your heart. "I want to close with this story. "Many years ago, we took our boys, "the first time we took them out of the country, "we took them to Mexico to a beach for five days. "And I heard them talking on the plane "about how excited they were "about exchanging their American dollars "for pesos." And I said, "Hey, please don't." Everywhere we're going, you can use American dollars. And we got to the airport in Mexico, and did they listen to Dad? Nope. They go straight to the money exchange, the currency exchange, and change all of their American dollars for pesos. So, I don't know, 8,700 pesos I think they had. And we go to the resort, and how much did they spend? Zero. We had a great week. We came back home. And for the next 10 years or so, until we moved out of that house, my three sons had a stack of pesos sitting in their nightstands

that were worth something at this place they went to for a brief moment, but are of no value at the country of origin. How many of us, when we stand before God in heaven, will have to reconcile that we obsessed over gathering and collecting things that had some value there where we spent a whisper of our existence that is worth nothing here? You are a ten-talent person. And I know some of you are struggling. If you have food in your fridge and a roof over your head tonight, you are blessed as am I. God planted you in each other than any generation that has preceded us. God has planted you in a 10 talent church. We literally have a workable, actionable plan to eradicate Bible poverty in our lifetime to see 99% of every spoken and written language having God's word in their heart language. It is happening. Last weekend, we opened Life Church Parker, where 48 people who walked in the doors who were lost and far from God left saved their names written in the Lamb's Book of Life. This earthly existence is a vapor. It is so short. And what you do with your vapor lasts forever. The only reasonable response is to hold nothing back.

God, everything that I have is yours. And I believe many of you will stand before Him. And what the Master said to the servants, Jesus will say to you, "Well done, my good and faithful servant. You are faithful with the little. Now I put you over much, enter into the joy of your Master." So Father, we hear you loud and clear. I hear you loud and clear. Just in a posture of prayer, how many of you would say when I started this message and I said that the cause of our anxiety is because we are consumed by what is temporary rather than fixed on what is eternal. How many would honestly say, "Unfortunately, that describes much of how I've been living lately." Would you just be honest and raise your hand in all of our locations, hands going up everywhere? Father, we repent. We understand how these pressures are real, but they are just a small part of the big story that you are telling and what you want to do in us. And so we're asking you, God, fix our hearts on what is close to yours, on that which is eternal. As we continue to pray today, there are some of you that have a head knowledge of God, maybe even a belief. And if I could just be very honest with you, that does not save someone. Pastor Craig has said multiple times over the past few weeks, "How can we be saved?" You confess with your mouth. There is a public acknowledgement that Jesus is not just your forgiver, but your Lord. Remember, He's called us to come under a king and live for a kingdom. And you believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead. So what do you do? If you don't know where you stand with God, we acknowledge first that we have sinned and that sin separates us from a holy God.

But we also acknowledge that while we were still sitting, Scripture says, Jesus died for us and that we put our faith in Him. We accept the work of the cross as His payment for a sin we deserved, not Him. In that moment of faith, you will be saved at all of our locations and at church online. If that's you, if you want to pray this prayer and once and for all, make Him your Lord boldly lift your hands right now, just all over this place and all of our locations right up here. I got you. Just keep it up for a minute if you would. Jesus, I'm saying yes to you. I'm giving you everything. I'm making you first in all of our locations. Pray this prayer with us saying yes to the grace of God. Father, I need you. I have sinned. I am asking you to save me. Jesus, I believe you died on a cross you didn't deserve to pay for my sin. I believe you love me. I believe that I am saved. My life is now yours. Use me for your glory. In Jesus' name I pray, God's church said, Amen, let's celebrate all those who said yes to Jesus today. Hey, it's Pastor Craig at Amy Groeschel with Life Church, and if you just made the This is the most important and life-changing decision that you'll ever make. And all of heaven is celebrating right now because of your decision, and we're celebrating with you too. - That's right. And we want you to know that God sees you.

He's with you and he loves you. He has a purpose for your life. And incarceration, it doesn't define you. It doesn't confine you. 'Cause you are free in Christ. You are new in him. Chains have been broken today. And so as a follower of Jesus, God wants us to be on this journey together. And I want you to know you don't have to do this alone. And that's why we as your church family, we're here for you and we want to help you grow in your faith and find your next steps. So first of all, just keep joining us for church every single week and worshiping through the Pando app. We're so thankful that you're here. When we draw close to God, he draws near to us. And so I would also encourage you read God's word if it's available to you. And as you do, just start to pray and invite God into every single aspect of your life. And then if you feel led, you might even share your decision with somebody else. There might be a family member or a friend. And they're gonna wanna hear your story and your spiritual journey. We'd love to hear it as well. And you can send us a letter if you'd like to. The address is on your screen. And our team will write back to you

and help you grow in your faith with Jesus. And so we'd love to mail you some content about who Jesus is and help you grow in your relationship with him now that you've chosen to follow Jesus. - That's right. And God's plan for your life, it's greater than anything that you could ever imagine. In fact, Ephesians 3.20 says God is able to do abundantly more than we could ask or imagine. Trust him with your whole life. You will see him work in ways you have never thought possible. Congratulations on this decision. We are your family and you're part of the family of God. (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) You You