SPEAKER_01: Uh, if you don't know me, my name is Andy Schmeck.
SPEAKER_01: I'm one of the pastors here at Fierce.
SPEAKER_01: Welcome, welcome.
SPEAKER_01: Um, we're talking about money this morning, and so I'm just gonna start off by saying uh we didn't invite a bunch of families for to try to like get giving from you.
SPEAKER_01: I'm not gonna ask you to give this morning uh to this church, but we're gonna talk about money because money is personal and sensitive and delicate, and uh we have to talk about it.
SPEAKER_01: We have to talk about it.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus says if you uh find your treasure, that's where your heart will be also.
SPEAKER_01: And if we claim to love people, we have to talk about how that gets expressed in our finances.
SPEAKER_01: That's sensitive.
SPEAKER_01: And so I'll start with a story.
SPEAKER_01: In my day job, I work in identity theft prevention.
SPEAKER_01: There are folks, bad actors out there who will buy your information off the dark web and fill out tax returns on your behalf and try to steal money.
SPEAKER_01: One such individual scammed uh you and the government out of$1.8 million.
SPEAKER_01: And he boasted about it on Instagram.
SPEAKER_01: He had fast boats and fast women and uh and a fast lifestyle.
SPEAKER_01: And uh and we extradited that guy and he's serving in federal prison.
SPEAKER_01: Yay, judgment.
SPEAKER_01: No, that's fine.
SPEAKER_01: So, so something that we should be able to agree on is that money is for good.
SPEAKER_01: We're supposed to do good things with money, and yet that doesn't always happen.
SPEAKER_01: God says this explicitly in a classic passage, Micah 8, 6, uh, it goes like this.
SPEAKER_01: He's shown you, oh mortal, what you so you know it's serious.
SPEAKER_01: He's shown you, oh mortal, what is good, and what does the Lord require of you to act justly, to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.
SPEAKER_01: And wouldn't it be nice if that was the case for everyone's beliefs?
SPEAKER_01: If everybody believed that they should act justly with money.
SPEAKER_01: But that's not always the case, right?
SPEAKER_01: In fact, because there's so much fraud and waste and abuse, we get nervous about giving.
SPEAKER_01: We get nervous about how we should be giving.
SPEAKER_01: But I want to give you a very uh non-Christian argument up front about why giving is important, charitable giving is in particular.
SPEAKER_01: All right, so if you didn't know, charitable giving has accomplished some massive wins for humanity.
SPEAKER_01: Uh poverty reduction, environmental protections, education across the world, disease eradication.
SPEAKER_01: The last one in 1977, the smallpox vaccine was released.
SPEAKER_01: And we don't think about smallpox anymore because it is eradicated.
SPEAKER_01: That's it's gone.
SPEAKER_01: But it used to kill millions every year.
SPEAKER_01: Millions.
SPEAKER_01: 300 million people died in the 1900s because of the disease.
SPEAKER_01: If it was not eradicated, five million people every year would die from this thing.
SPEAKER_01: It's like that's like the city, the greater Phoenix area gone every year.
SPEAKER_01: So this is like low-hanging fruit.
SPEAKER_01: If you can stop a disease that kills a bunch of people, that's a really, really great return on investment.
SPEAKER_01: And I think we can all agree on this.
SPEAKER_01: Money used for good can save people's lives and improve.
SPEAKER_01: Uh, a rising tide raises all boats in this way.
SPEAKER_01: And this is a wonderful, wonderful thing.
SPEAKER_01: But God says to us individually, act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly.
SPEAKER_01: And so it's not enough for us to just say, like, oh, that that would be nice.
SPEAKER_01: That would be nice.
SPEAKER_01: We ourselves have to wrestle with how can I do the most good with what I have now?
SPEAKER_01: How can I do the most good with what I have now?
SPEAKER_01: This is the first turn and talk point.
SPEAKER_01: So you have discussion leaders at your table, and there's two questions behind me.
SPEAKER_01: The first one is just like, what did you like about that?
SPEAKER_01: But the second one is, can you name influential voices today that promote the idea that money should be used more for personal gain than for goodness?
SPEAKER_01: Money is also a test.
SPEAKER_01: This is a this is a very Christian argument that I'm about to make now.
SPEAKER_01: So if you're a believer, uh, this will apply to you.
SPEAKER_01: Um in the story of God saving his people, uh, the Bible, uh, towards the very end, uh, well, God had made a contract with his folks, and his people uh disobeyed, so they got punished for it.
SPEAKER_01: But uh, God brought them back into the land and allowed them to uh defend the city and to build the temple again, but they're still struggling with like spiritual faithfulness.
SPEAKER_01: And this is the last book in the Bible before Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: It's uh Malachi 3.
SPEAKER_01: Uh, this is what God says again.
SPEAKER_01: Uh, will a mere mortal rob God?
SPEAKER_01: Mere mortal, because they're serious.
SPEAKER_01: Uh, will a mere mortal rob God?
SPEAKER_01: Yet you rob me.
SPEAKER_01: But you ask, How are we robbing you in tithes and offerings?
SPEAKER_01: You're under a curse, your whole nation, because you are robbing me.
SPEAKER_01: Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse that there may be food in my house.
SPEAKER_01: Test me in this, says the Lord Almighty, and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it.
SPEAKER_01: To note, God doesn't need our tithes and offerings, He has the storehouse of heaven.
SPEAKER_01: Okay?
SPEAKER_01: Uh, at Fierce we say, uh, you can't outgive God, and that's literal.
SPEAKER_01: That's very that's very true.
SPEAKER_01: God has the storehouses of heaven.
SPEAKER_01: Notice also that God is willing to give from this abundance, but it's contingent on giving.
SPEAKER_01: And that seems weird.
SPEAKER_01: Why would God make a law about giving?
SPEAKER_01: I think it's because giving is not so much about you losing money, rather, it's about surrendering control.
SPEAKER_01: Imagine, if you will, a uh young boy and a dad uh walking uh the street, and the young boy sees a store and it's full of shiny goodness, and he says, Can I borrow some money, dad?
SPEAKER_01: And the dad gives him a dollar, and in the store, he out, he walks with the uh, you know, uh some tinfoil or like a pack of gum or something, and gives it back to the dad and says, Dad, I bought you a gift.
SPEAKER_01: Very sweet.
SPEAKER_01: The dad is a dollar none the richer, right?
SPEAKER_01: Was his was his dollar to start with.
SPEAKER_01: And that's a lot like our relationship with God.
SPEAKER_01: We believe that all good things come from the Lord, they are his, and we are but stewards.
SPEAKER_01: You may say, ah, you're just a pastor asking for money.
SPEAKER_01: This is your the incentives are aligned.
SPEAKER_01: And I would say, this isn't my day job.
SPEAKER_01: I don't I don't need it, but God is still asking you about your control over your finances, he's still asking you about whether you trust that God is the giver of all good things and that he works all things for the good of those who love him.
SPEAKER_01: Do you trust that?
SPEAKER_01: It's a test.
SPEAKER_01: Another counter that you might make.
SPEAKER_01: But 10% is a lot.
SPEAKER_01: And it is.
SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna say two two different things to two different populations.
SPEAKER_01: The first, to the average, the average person in this area.
SPEAKER_01: I looked up right before service.
SPEAKER_01: Uh, the household income, the median household income in Grays Lake is$113,000.
SPEAKER_01: So if you lined up everybody in Grays Lake and you, I don't know which way, and you walk to the middle and you ask them how much do you make?
SPEAKER_01: They would say$113,000.
SPEAKER_01: Okay, that's median household income.
SPEAKER_01: I want you now to go back in time and let's ask the original hearers of this text, mostly subsistence farmers, hey, do you think$113,000 is too much or too little to give 10% of their income?
SPEAKER_01: And they would say, they might ask questions like, do they have clothing?
SPEAKER_01: Do they have shelter?
SPEAKER_01: Do they have food?
SPEAKER_01: Oh, yeah, 10%.
SPEAKER_01: We're barely scraping by, and God is asking us for 10%.
SPEAKER_01: This is the wealthiest time we have ever existed as humans.
SPEAKER_01: Now to now to a person who is living paycheck to paycheck.
SPEAKER_01: If you feel like literally can't, I will like you can't put food on the table if you give.
SPEAKER_01: Right?
SPEAKER_01: God isn't asking for permission, not for for perfection.
SPEAKER_01: God isn't asking for perfection, that you have to reach a certain percentage.
SPEAKER_01: God is asking for trust.
SPEAKER_01: He is inviting you to trust him.
SPEAKER_01: I think I think scripture is very clear that God has a huge heart for the poor and the oppressed.
SPEAKER_01: And if you think that as the church today, we're saying we're we're just gonna break the backs of the poor in order that you follow the law, that ain't the that ain't it.
SPEAKER_01: That ain't the gospel.
SPEAKER_01: God is inviting you to trust him.
SPEAKER_01: And that may be very, very small at the beginning.
SPEAKER_01: That may be you're just your time or anything that you can anything that you could give, but God is inviting you towards faith.
SPEAKER_01: Because God has the storehouses of heaven at his disposal.
SPEAKER_01: Uh turn and talk next section section two.
SPEAKER_01: Uh uh, what did you like about that?
SPEAKER_01: Or the the long question?
SPEAKER_01: Can you tell the group about a season in life where it was probably good for you to have fewer resources?
SPEAKER_01: Uh it's God tests us whether we're gonna use it for good.
SPEAKER_01: And uh to land this plane, the the there's a pun here at the end.
SPEAKER_01: Money is a trust.
SPEAKER_01: Um, it's not just faith and a relationship that we're called to, but it's an investment into our future.
SPEAKER_01: There's a weird parable called the Shrewd Manager in Luke 16.
SPEAKER_01: I will paraphrase it rather quickly.
SPEAKER_01: Uh, this guy learned, he worked for a really wealthy guy, and he learned that his boss was gonna fire him.
SPEAKER_01: And so he uh that same day started making deals.
SPEAKER_01: He went to all these business partners and was like, hey, 50% off.
SPEAKER_01: Hey, VIP treatment.
SPEAKER_01: Hey, if by chance I got fired, would you hire me?
SPEAKER_01: Likely because I just did you a huge favor.
SPEAKER_01: So he's wheeling and dealing to make sure that he has a security going forward.
SPEAKER_01: And his boss commends him for it.
SPEAKER_01: Boss says, Man, you're so savvy, you're so shrewd, I'm actually gonna keep you on, maybe because I don't trust what you're gonna do if you're not working for me.
SPEAKER_01: Whatever.
SPEAKER_01: So it's kind of weird that Jesus is like, hey, this is an example that I want you to follow, but I'll we'll go through his response.
SPEAKER_01: So Jesus says in verse 9, yeah.
SPEAKER_01: Here's the lesson: use your worldly resources to benefit others and make friends.
SPEAKER_01: Then, when your possessions are gone, they will welcome you to an eternal home.
SPEAKER_01: If you are faithful in the little things, you will be faithful in larger ones.
SPEAKER_01: But if you are dishonest in little things, you will be honest with greater responsibilities.
SPEAKER_01: And if you are untrustworthy about worldly wealth, who will trust you with the true riches of heaven?
SPEAKER_01: G I I hope it's clear.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus isn't applauding the deception, but rather the foresight.
SPEAKER_01: He used his limited time and made something happen, and the world is shrewd with money, more shrewd than the children of light, Jesus says right before this passage.
SPEAKER_01: But we're to use our worldly resources to benefit others and make friends.
SPEAKER_01: And that's kind of a that's kind of a weird thing.
SPEAKER_01: If you've ever been to my house and you've seen me with my kids or with my cat, uh anytime I let them out the door, I say, go make friends.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus isn't just talking about uh a relationship, though, uh a worldly relationship.
SPEAKER_01: He's talking about an eternal one.
SPEAKER_01: Okay, so to make to put these together, the good that we're supposed to do is going to be evidence to the folks that we're serving that God loves them and that we love them, and that they might become our friends or literally brothers and sisters in Christ.
SPEAKER_01: And some of these folks will die before us, and when we go to heaven, they will welcome us a rich reward.
SPEAKER_01: Using our resources to win some for Christ, to serve the needs of others, means that this life's money is not the reward, but is rather training for our ultimate reward.
SPEAKER_01: These riches are practice for the true riches of heaven.
SPEAKER_01: Okay, so if I were to summarize the talk, it would be that money is a test.
SPEAKER_01: We're supposed to use it for good, but it's also that good is an investment into a future of riches.
SPEAKER_01: Okay, but before that is a God who lovingly created us and gives us all good things.
SPEAKER_01: In it is a God who died for us, regardless of the investments that you make, even before you woke up this morning, before you did anything, before you performed a single task in your life.
SPEAKER_01: God died for you, and now He is making a home for those who align with His love.
SPEAKER_01: And money is this thread in the in-between.
SPEAKER_01: Money is a worldly resource that is a test that we're supposed to use for good so that the eternal life is better than this one, and that's promised by God.
SPEAKER_01: Okay, if you feel at all guilty or embarrassed by how you've handled finances today, maybe someone shared an awesome story of faithfulness, and you're like, Oh, that's not me.
SPEAKER_01: I've fallen short.
SPEAKER_01: I have great news for you.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus didn't just give 10% for you, Jesus gave everything for you.
SPEAKER_01: He died the death that we deserved, and he's already paid that punishment.
SPEAKER_01: Generosity in this way doesn't start with a percentage, but it starts with a person.
SPEAKER_01: The person of Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_01: Let me give you one more analogy, and we're gonna and then we're gonna end with Jesus again.
SPEAKER_01: Okay, here's the analogy.
SPEAKER_01: I was once, uh, I'll make this, this isn't my story, uh, but I will give credit to uh my mother.
SPEAKER_01: Uh she's the she's gonna play grandma in this story.
SPEAKER_01: We're playing Monopoly, and um and I am in the game.
SPEAKER_01: I am uh I've turned into a ruthless capitalist, and I am trying to destroy my children.
SPEAKER_01: But my mom is wheeling and dealing, she's given favors here, bank discounts, and oh, oh, there's an extra 10 or whatever.
SPEAKER_01: Oh my goodness.
SPEAKER_01: Oh, yeah, I'll take Baltic and trade you for boardwalk, that's fine.
SPEAKER_01: Uh um, and she's making terrible financial mistakes, and she uh loses the game, right?
SPEAKER_01: But afterwards, my kids are like offering back massages to my mom, they're helping her in the kitchen, they're singing her praises, and I was like, Well, you know, I I won though if this life is only training for our future eternity, how much more should we be focused on the outside of the game than winning in this one?
SPEAKER_01: So, so we don't give to earn God's favor because Christ has already provided everything that you need.
SPEAKER_01: Okay, so this morning, if you hear anything from me, it's a challenge to trust God with your finances.
SPEAKER_01: There is a test before you to give up control in your life and to and to trust God now and going forward, now and forevermore, that he is good, that every good thing that we have is his, and that he is trustworthy with what we give back to him.
SPEAKER_01: Last turn and talk.
SPEAKER_01: What did you like about that?
SPEAKER_01: The softball question.
SPEAKER_01: And to the greet to the to the degree that you're willing, would you share with the group about a time in your life when it has been difficult to trust God to meet your needs?
SPEAKER_01: Turn and talk.
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SPEAKER_00: And whatever else you do, make sure that you believe God for something big today.