SPEAKER_00: Hello and welcome to the FBC El Doredo Sermon Podcast.
SPEAKER_00: My name is Taylor Gare, and I have the privilege of being the pastor here at First Baptist, and I want to thank you for listening into our sermon this week.
SPEAKER_00: And I want to tell you this if you're in our area and you don't have a church home, we would love to see you any Sunday morning at First Baptist El Doredo.
SPEAKER_00: Would you join me now in listening to our sermon from this week?
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: Well, open with me to Luke chapter 12.
SPEAKER_00: Luke chapter 12.
SPEAKER_00: We'll be in Luke 12, verses 13 through 21 today.
SPEAKER_00: Luke 12, 13 through 21.
SPEAKER_00: And allow me to pray for us as we begin.
SPEAKER_00: Lord Jesus, thank you so much for your word.
SPEAKER_00: Lord, you teach us through your word, you transform us through your word.
SPEAKER_00: And so, Lord, we ask now that once again your Spirit would uh uh give us uh a special word this morning.
SPEAKER_00: As as your uh God-breathed word is heard in this room as we see it on the pages of Scripture, Lord, would it teach us in a new way and touch us in a new way?
SPEAKER_00: And Lord, only your spirit is able to do that in our lives.
SPEAKER_00: So we asked for your spirit to have his way this morning through the reading and the hearing of your word in Christ's name.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: Dale Ralph Davis and uh his commentary on Luke uh tells a great story that I hadn't heard before, but I just absolutely love.
SPEAKER_00: In World War II, uh the Germans had built really a decoy airfield, a complete decoy airfield, and what they did was they built all of these wooden planes.
SPEAKER_00: They put these wooden planes out along this airstrip and this airfield, and their desire would be that the British troops would come and bomb this decoy airfield.
SPEAKER_00: And one, if you're bombing here, you're not bombing our troops there, and two, if you're bombing here, you're wasting your own bombs.
SPEAKER_00: And so they set up this decoy airfield, and it looked like it was going to work because one day they heard the British planes heading their way, and the British planes began dropping their bombs, but when they hit the ground, there was no boom because of the fact the British had dropped wooden bombs.
SPEAKER_00: And it was their way of looking at these uh German troops and saying, You're not fooling us.
SPEAKER_00: We're smarter than you think we are.
SPEAKER_00: The parables of Jesus, as we see them throughout the book of Luke, are really Jesus' way of looking at all of us right in the eyes and saying, You're not fooling me.
SPEAKER_00: That maybe you think you have life figured out, maybe you think uh you have the kingdom of God figured out, maybe uh you think you know how this whole thing is gonna go and you are wise in your own eyes, but Jesus wants to tell us again and again, and certainly he'll do it this morning, that that we're not fooling him in this moment.
SPEAKER_00: That there's more to life than maybe we realize.
SPEAKER_00: I want you to look with me at Luke chapter 12.
SPEAKER_00: I I see quickly in verse 1 at the very beginning, it says, in the meantime, when so many thousands of the people had gathered together that they were trampling one another, he began uh to speak to his disciples.
SPEAKER_00: Notice that thousands of people have now gathered to hear from Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: This is a popular figure, and they want to hear his teaching, and he teaches them.
SPEAKER_00: He teaches them about having uh no fear uh in your life, uh, about acknowledging Christ, even when it's very hard.
SPEAKER_00: And Jesus, being the keynote speaker in this moment, is giving this teaching to these thousands of people, and then verse 13 someone in the crowd said to him, Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.
SPEAKER_00: So don't miss what is happening.
SPEAKER_00: Thousands are gathered, Jesus is teaching, and someone interrupts with a completely personal issue.
SPEAKER_00: A completely personal scenario that he demands Jesus deal with.
SPEAKER_00: He doesn't say, Jesus, would you uh mind kind of kind of working in the midst of this and telling us what we should do?
SPEAKER_00: He demands that Jesus meet his needs according to uh his desires.
SPEAKER_00: Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.
SPEAKER_00: And by the way, this is uh just a side note today.
SPEAKER_00: I believe we do that with Jesus sometimes, don't we?
SPEAKER_00: That instead of bringing our uh request to him, it just in the sense of, Jesus, here's what's happening in my life, and and Lord, I need you to move how you see best.
SPEAKER_00: We come to Jesus and we say, Jesus, I know exactly how I need you to move, exactly how I want it in my timing.
SPEAKER_00: We can be guilty of that sometimes.
SPEAKER_00: This man comes, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.
SPEAKER_00: Verse 14, but he said to him, Man, who made me a judge or arbitrator over you?
SPEAKER_00: Now it's not unheard of for someone to come to a rabbi with issues of the division of an inheritance.
SPEAKER_00: But this isn't any rabbi, this is Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: His plan on earth, his goal for being here is to redeem mankind, not just to get people's property uh back to others, not just to build earthly wealth.
SPEAKER_00: Who made me a judge or arbitrator over you?
SPEAKER_00: And then he continues, verse 15, and Jesus said to them, to the group now, take care and be on your guard.
SPEAKER_00: Now, take care and be on your guard against what?
SPEAKER_00: Against all covetousness, for one's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.
SPEAKER_00: Again, take care and be on your guard.
SPEAKER_00: There is a seriousness here as Jesus thinks about covetousness, of this, we'll call it greed, of coveting what my neighbor has.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus takes this seriously.
SPEAKER_00: Be on guard.
SPEAKER_00: Watch out for this.
SPEAKER_00: Put guardrails in place in your life.
SPEAKER_00: And my question is, do you and I think that way?
SPEAKER_00: Because I would imagine this morning, if we needed to chart out some of the sins that we really need to put guardrails up to make sure we are careful around or safe from, we could probably bring a list together.
SPEAKER_00: Uh I need to be careful, Lord, maybe we might say of rising anger, maybe, maybe anger in my life.
SPEAKER_00: I need to be careful, we might say, of the lust of the flesh, and uh I need to be careful of this, that we might come up with a list, but we it might take a long time down that list till we get to greed.
SPEAKER_00: The sin of covetousness.
SPEAKER_00: And yet, in God's initial list, the Ten Commandments, along with uh adultery and murder and put no idols before you, what does he say?
SPEAKER_00: Do not covet.
SPEAKER_00: It's in those ten.
SPEAKER_00: What is it about this greed, about coveting that is so dangerous?
SPEAKER_00: And why Jesus says, take care, be on your guard against it.
SPEAKER_00: I believe it's this because my greed and my coveting is just my desire of saying, hey, something else will satisfy me.
SPEAKER_00: There is something out there that I need, and until I get that thing, I cannot be satisfied or I will not be satisfied.
SPEAKER_00: It's just a way to do this: to put another God on the throne of our lives, to remove the Lord God off of the throne and just put some lowercase G God on it, that my wealth can be what finally uh brings me peace and contentment and happiness.
SPEAKER_00: It's so interesting as we think about wealth.
SPEAKER_00: I've been to many funerals.
SPEAKER_00: I've preached many funerals, I have attended and preached at multiple funerals of people that in the world's eyes were extremely wealthy, had great wealth.
SPEAKER_00: And whether I'm attending it or preaching at it, do you know what never really gets brought up at the funeral of someone that has great wealth?
SPEAKER_00: I'll tell you what it is, their great wealth.
SPEAKER_00: It really doesn't come up unless the time it does come up is when we might say something like, they were a person of great wealth, and you ought to see just how generous they were throughout their lives.
SPEAKER_00: That's when it comes up.
SPEAKER_00: When you're talking about just their generosity, how they used what God has given them.
SPEAKER_00: But but uh just coming up as they were a person of great wealth, end of story, that doesn't come up at funerals.
SPEAKER_00: Not many I've been to.
SPEAKER_00: If you go out to the cemetery today and you look at the headstone, imagine walking by and seeing a headstone and someone's name, and then below the name it says, you know, uh, he was the top salesman in the Southeast region three years running.
SPEAKER_00: That'd make you sad, wouldn't it?
SPEAKER_00: That he got to the end of his days, and that was what he wanted on the headstone.
SPEAKER_00: That's what he put at the top of his list of accomplishments.
SPEAKER_00: Life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.
SPEAKER_00: Guard against greed, guard against coveting.
SPEAKER_00: Now, Jesus is not done because verse 16.
SPEAKER_00: And he told them a parable.
SPEAKER_00: Now we talked about this last week.
SPEAKER_00: I'll say it again.
SPEAKER_00: If you're having a conversation with Jesus and he talk starts telling a story, it's over for you.
SPEAKER_00: He told them a parable saying, The land of a rich man produced plentifully.
SPEAKER_00: So now Jesus is setting the scene for the story, and he starts here.
SPEAKER_00: The land of a rich man produced plentifully.
SPEAKER_00: So we have this rich man, and clearly he has a very good harvest on this particular year.
SPEAKER_00: Now, it's fascinating how Jesus frames this story.
SPEAKER_00: I can't get over how Jesus uh introduces the story and frames the story because you have this rich man that his land produces greatly, and I am certain this man uh worked wisely and worked hard.
SPEAKER_00: I'm certain for this man there were uh maybe some early mornings and late nights, and I'm sure he uh he he threw out the seed and and he prepared the ground well and he did what it took to see that this this harvest comes.
SPEAKER_00: But it's interesting how Jesus frames it, and he begins with this the land of a rich man produced a great crop.
SPEAKER_00: From the start, Jesus is reminding us in this story that at the end of the day, it was the land that produced the crop.
SPEAKER_00: At the end of the day, let's look at the source behind the land.
SPEAKER_00: It was really God that brought the growth.
SPEAKER_00: This man can work as hard as he wants to, but but but but he can't he can't do the miraculous.
SPEAKER_00: The land did the work.
SPEAKER_00: Back in 1921, when the first person around here found oil, they started coming this way by the train load day by day, and you couldn't find, overnight, you couldn't find a rental property, you couldn't find a hotel room.
SPEAKER_00: There were people sleeping in cots on the side of the road in this town because they had found oil.
SPEAKER_00: And there were a lot of people who came this way, and it's interesting, they worked hard.
SPEAKER_00: I can't imagine how hard they worked.
SPEAKER_00: They they built great wealth for themselves.
SPEAKER_00: I'm thankful for that.
SPEAKER_00: I look around this town, I look around this building, and I'm thankful for a lot that happened in the 1920s.
SPEAKER_00: But but I think about these people and the hard work and the just the the the go go-getter attitude they had, and they got to this place and they worked so hard.
SPEAKER_00: But at the end of the day, why were they successful?
SPEAKER_00: It's because when God was creating this planet, there was this pocket of oil under the feet that one day would be El Dorado, Arkansas.
SPEAKER_00: That's why they were successful.
SPEAKER_00: Because the oil was here.
SPEAKER_00: They didn't dream it up, they didn't put the oil there.
SPEAKER_00: That's what Jesus is saying about this.
SPEAKER_00: The land produced the crop.
SPEAKER_00: Be careful of thinking that you are a self-made man or self-made woman.
SPEAKER_00: There's no such thing.
SPEAKER_00: I'm not saying we don't work hard.
SPEAKER_00: I know you work hard.
SPEAKER_00: Keep working hard.
SPEAKER_00: But God is behind all this.
SPEAKER_00: God is behind the growth in this moment.
SPEAKER_00: So, verse 16, the land of a rich man produced plentifully.
SPEAKER_00: Now, from the start, verse 16, that's good news so far.
SPEAKER_00: That's a good thing.
SPEAKER_00: This man can do a lot with this.
SPEAKER_00: Verse 17.
SPEAKER_00: And he thought to himself, what shall I do?
SPEAKER_00: For I have nowhere to store my crops.
SPEAKER_00: What shall I do?
SPEAKER_00: I I've got this plentiful harvest, but I I've run out of place to store my crops.
SPEAKER_00: Now, this by itself is not a bad question.
SPEAKER_00: In fact, this could be a great question.
SPEAKER_00: And there are great answers to this, even biblical answers.
SPEAKER_00: Go back to Deuteronomy 24.
SPEAKER_00: What should you do with a great uh harvest?
SPEAKER_00: Number one, bring your first fruits to the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: Number two, uh, let those who are less fortunate, the the traveler, the sojourner, let them glean on the edges of that harvest.
SPEAKER_00: That's what it talks about in Deuteronomy 24, what the law tells you to do with that.
SPEAKER_00: So there is a commandment telling this man what to do.
SPEAKER_00: Think of the story of Ruth.
SPEAKER_00: That's how she comes and meets Boaz in the book of Ruth, the gleaning on the edges of the harvest.
SPEAKER_00: There's much he could have done.
SPEAKER_00: But again, he says, What shall I do?
SPEAKER_00: For I have nowhere to store my crops.
SPEAKER_00: In verse 18, see this.
SPEAKER_00: He said, I will do this.
SPEAKER_00: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones.
SPEAKER_00: And there I will store all my grain and my goods.
SPEAKER_00: Again, here's the solution.
SPEAKER_00: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones.
SPEAKER_00: And there I will store all my grain and my goods.
SPEAKER_00: Here's this man's solution.
SPEAKER_00: And and even if if we wanted to be really generous this morning, we could give him the benefit of the doubt and say, hey, you haven't fallen off the cliff yet.
SPEAKER_00: Let's let's make this good.
SPEAKER_00: I I want to uh what what if he says, Lord, I want to build bigger barns because then I can be a bigger ministry center.
SPEAKER_00: With these bigger barns, we can store more crops and and and I can do more for those around me with what I have.
SPEAKER_00: But then 19, we see very quickly that that is not what this man has in mind.
SPEAKER_00: Verse 19, and I will say to my soul, he is talking to the peace and contentment of his soul that he is looking for.
SPEAKER_00: I will say to my soul, soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years.
SPEAKER_00: Now look at this attitude.
SPEAKER_00: Relax, eat, drink, and be merry.
SPEAKER_00: H.B.
SPEAKER_00: Charles calls this a bad solution to a good problem.
SPEAKER_00: I will build bigger barns and I will say to my soul, soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years.
SPEAKER_00: Relax, eat, drink, and be merry.
SPEAKER_00: It is at this point in verse 19 that everything goes wrong with this man's attitude because we see now the motivation behind this man's attitude to simply take his harvest, his crops, uh tear down his old barns, and build bigger ones.
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: So that everything can stay with me, so that I have more place to store all of my stuff, all my wealth, all my riches.
SPEAKER_00: And guess what?
SPEAKER_00: Once I have the place to store everything that is mine, then I will finally be able to be at peace.
SPEAKER_00: And for the rest of my days, I can just relax because I have found what I've been looking for.
SPEAKER_00: I have found my contentment, and all is well with my soul.
SPEAKER_00: That's this guy's attitude.
SPEAKER_00: There is a selfishness behind this guy's attitude.
SPEAKER_00: If you don't believe me, I want to read verse 17 through 19 again.
SPEAKER_00: And here's what I want you to do.
SPEAKER_00: Notice every moment, I'll emphasize them when I say the word I or my.
SPEAKER_00: Listen to this guy now, verse 17.
SPEAKER_00: What shall I do?
SPEAKER_00: For I have nowhere to store my crops.
SPEAKER_00: 18.
SPEAKER_00: I will do this, I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grains and my goods, and I will say to my soul, so you have ample goods laid up for many years.
SPEAKER_00: Relax, eat, drink, and be merry.
SPEAKER_00: Do you hear this guy's attitude?
SPEAKER_00: He is worshiping the God that sits on the throne of his life.
SPEAKER_00: And sadly, the God on the throne of his life has nothing to do with the God who's about to find him in verse 20.
SPEAKER_00: It has everything to do with his wealth that has finally given him peace.
SPEAKER_00: My stuff has brought me peace, and guys, this is the danger with the idol of wealth.
SPEAKER_00: The idol of money, the idol of riches, is because it can literally, in our minds, in the worldly minds, it can literally buy us peace and contentment.
SPEAKER_00: That we say, because we have it, because we have great gain, I now have everything I need.
SPEAKER_00: The truth about our wealth is this it makes a really good servant, but it makes a terrible master.
SPEAKER_00: That your wealth makes a really good servant, but a terrible master.
SPEAKER_00: Think about your wealth as your servant.
SPEAKER_00: When you tell it what to do, when you tell it how to serve and who to serve and when to serve, and what can be done with it.
SPEAKER_00: It is a beautiful servant.
SPEAKER_00: There's nothing with this passage that says uh wealth, money, finances in and of themselves are evil.
SPEAKER_00: This guy was okay until verse 18 and 19.
SPEAKER_00: Then we saw the motivation.
SPEAKER_00: It's not the wealth itself, it's it's what is your mindset behind it?
SPEAKER_00: What do you do with it?
SPEAKER_00: What place does it have on the throne of your life?
SPEAKER_00: It makes a good servant, it makes a terrible master.
SPEAKER_00: When we say to ourselves, not my my money serves me, but but I serve it.
SPEAKER_00: And let me just stop for a second.
SPEAKER_00: You you may be in the room and you say, Well, Pastor, I I can check out of this sermon because this isn't my issue, because I don't have a lot of wealth.
SPEAKER_00: I don't have to worry about this one today.
SPEAKER_00: Let me tell you, uh, if you don't have wealth in this room, uh I gotta tell you, wealth can still be your idol.
SPEAKER_00: Because those that have what we might call in the world's eyes great wealth, their idol says, I want to keep what I have and build upon what I have.
SPEAKER_00: And those who in the world's eyes may not have great wealth, they still have the idol of wealth.
SPEAKER_00: They can just say, once I finally get to this point, that will be living, that will be satisfaction.
SPEAKER_00: If I can just get to this level.
SPEAKER_00: Compared to, we might say 99% of the world, you have unbelievable wealth.
SPEAKER_00: And all of it can be an idol.
SPEAKER_00: All of it can be used for God's glory, but all of it can be an idol if we're not careful.
SPEAKER_00: And now, this is where we stop because you might also say this, Pastor, let me guess this morning.
SPEAKER_00: Uh, our wealth is bad, and you know the perfect place to store it, and it's the general budget of First Baptist Church of El Dorado.
SPEAKER_00: First of all, absolutely.
SPEAKER_00: Uh, you're welcome to uh make that point this morning, but but really I want you to know this.
SPEAKER_00: I I want to get you to a point where you say, I don't, I have my possessions, my possessions don't have me.
SPEAKER_00: I have my money, my money doesn't have me.
SPEAKER_00: Because look at the Lord's response in this moment.
SPEAKER_00: Verse 20 But God, God enters the scene in this story, but God said to him, Fool.
SPEAKER_00: Let's stop there for a second.
SPEAKER_00: This is God talking, and already that does that sound godly?
SPEAKER_00: It is in this moment, but.
SPEAKER_00: Fool.
SPEAKER_00: This man's probably never been called a fool.
SPEAKER_00: I mean, he is a very rich man.
SPEAKER_00: He's done something well with his life.
SPEAKER_00: He's made a lot of money along the way.
SPEAKER_00: And yet God says to him, fool.
SPEAKER_00: I want you to know that word fool has has nothing to do with your GPA.
SPEAKER_00: It has nothing to do with your ACT score.
SPEAKER_00: It has nothing to do with how smart you are.
SPEAKER_00: There are people who have great intellect and are foolish.
SPEAKER_00: And there are people with a fifth grade education that have great wisdom.
SPEAKER_00: What is the beginning of wisdom?
SPEAKER_00: The fear of the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: This man has no fear of the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: He has no idea of who the Lord is.
SPEAKER_00: God says, fool, and here it is, this night your soul is required of you.
SPEAKER_00: And the things that you have prepared, whose will they be?
SPEAKER_00: This night your life is required.
SPEAKER_00: The things you have prepared, whose will they be?
SPEAKER_00: Verse 19, he has his plan charted out.
SPEAKER_00: His life is charted out.
SPEAKER_00: He's got every every vacation, every home renovation, everything in his future.
SPEAKER_00: He's got it and he is banking on it.
SPEAKER_00: And verse 20, he had no idea that instead of worrying about the size of the barns, he should have been worried about the days on his calendar because that night his life was taken from him.
SPEAKER_00: What he thought was his entire life plan comes to nothing in a moment.
SPEAKER_00: And what happens next, everything you've prepared, whose will they be?
SPEAKER_00: They'll be divided out and given.
SPEAKER_00: But they won't belong to you.
SPEAKER_00: And I want to make a side note real quick.
SPEAKER_00: This is not a passage that is Jesus is here against uh you know uh storing wealth in the sense of passing on a legacy to your children and grandchildren.
SPEAKER_00: That's not what we're getting at here.
SPEAKER_00: That's not what Jesus is talking about.
SPEAKER_00: I believe that's wise stewardship on your part.
SPEAKER_00: It is about when that wealth becomes my God.
SPEAKER_00: For this man, that's who it is.
SPEAKER_00: And it's it's interesting in some parables.
SPEAKER_00: You think of the rich man and Lazarus.
SPEAKER_00: The rich man finds himself in hell, looking up at Lazarus, who's in heaven.
SPEAKER_00: In this parable, the the life is required of this man, but hell is not mentioned.
SPEAKER_00: I'm so curious if his wealth being divided and him having nothing to do with it is honestly his idea of hell.
SPEAKER_00: That everything I worked for, everything I gained, everything that was mine is now being divided.
SPEAKER_00: Uh uh guy I went to seminary with, Blake Jenkins, is a preacher in Georgia, and um the Lord just did a work because I think he was preaching this passage last week, and a clip came up on Instagram, and it was so powerful.
SPEAKER_00: He talked about the days of you know going to the arcade, and uh here at Excalibur in town, they give you the debit card nowadays.
SPEAKER_00: You swipe the debit card, but used to you got the coins.
SPEAKER_00: You remember the coins?
SPEAKER_00: And you go to Chuck E.
SPEAKER_00: Cheese, or me and my brother were fancy, we we call him his real name, Charles Entertainment Cheese.
SPEAKER_00: You can look it up, that's real.
SPEAKER_00: You go to Charles' place and you get all these gold coins, and for that night, for that evening, as long as you were in Chuck E.
SPEAKER_00: Cheese, that world was your world.
SPEAKER_00: And you put those gold coins in the machine and any game you wanted, you could have.
SPEAKER_00: But here's what's interesting: the second you walk out of Chuck E.
SPEAKER_00: Cheese, if you've got any of those tokens with you, they mean absolutely nothing.
SPEAKER_00: Take a gold coin with Chuck E.
SPEAKER_00: Cheese's face on to Starbucks and ask for a cup of coffee, you won't get it.
SPEAKER_00: Pay rent next month with your Chuck E.
SPEAKER_00: Cheese coins, it won't work.
SPEAKER_00: Because once you leave Chuck E.
SPEAKER_00: Cheese, the tokens mean nothing.
SPEAKER_00: You and I sometimes want to make wealth our God as if we can take it with us, as if it will mean something on the other side of all this, and really we're just like that kid leaving the arcade with his coins.
SPEAKER_00: It doesn't mean much once you've left this earth.
SPEAKER_00: But that's how we make it the God of our lives.
SPEAKER_00: You've heard the the term that the one who dies with the most toys wins.
SPEAKER_00: H.B.
SPEAKER_00: Charles asked the question.
SPEAKER_00: It's a good one.
SPEAKER_00: Wins what?
SPEAKER_00: What do you win?
SPEAKER_00: What do you get?
SPEAKER_00: Verse 21.
SPEAKER_00: So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God?
SPEAKER_00: Here's the teaching of this passage.
SPEAKER_00: It's it's this Are you going to spend your life investing in your kingdom or investing in God's kingdom?
SPEAKER_00: That's it.
SPEAKER_00: We can make it simple.
SPEAKER_00: Will your life be spent investing in your kingdom or investing in God's kingdom?
SPEAKER_00: Those are the options.
SPEAKER_00: I want to revisit something we talked about a moment ago.
SPEAKER_00: 1921, they're coming to El Dorado like crazy.
SPEAKER_00: We found oil.
SPEAKER_00: Uh many people are creating great wealth for themselves.
SPEAKER_00: I mean, that's great.
SPEAKER_00: This town, I mean, it's unbelievable.
SPEAKER_00: You look around today and you can see uh the effects of the 1920s, and that's a great thing.
SPEAKER_00: And in the midst of that, great wealth is being built.
SPEAKER_00: But in the midst of that, something else happened.
SPEAKER_00: There was this wild bunch of people that met every Sunday morning at this church that was right caddy cornered to us in this grass lot out here.
SPEAKER_00: And they many of them received, they were part of this newfound wealth, and they came together, and in one way they said, What if instead of just investing in our kingdom, we invest in God's kingdom a little bit?
SPEAKER_00: And in the midst of that oil boom of 1921, by the year 1922, this building was built.
SPEAKER_00: And what an unbelievable building it is.
SPEAKER_00: But I think about the heart of those.
SPEAKER_00: This amazing moment in their history and their lives, it would have been easy to keep it all for themselves.
SPEAKER_00: And I'm not saying they were doing bad because they built this church.
SPEAKER_00: I think a lot of them were doing just fine even after the church was built.
SPEAKER_00: But they just had this thought of what if we do something for the glory of God with it?
SPEAKER_00: And in 1922, this was built.
SPEAKER_00: And now I want you to think about something.
SPEAKER_00: You talk about a kingdom investment.
SPEAKER_00: There are children who have been baptized right here in 2026.
SPEAKER_00: How does that happen?
SPEAKER_00: Practically speaking, because they have somewhere to be baptized.
SPEAKER_00: It's because they have a building to come to every Sunday morning.
SPEAKER_00: It's that when they walk into their life groups in a room that is situated and prepared for them, there's a life group teacher that points them to Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: That when we assemble in this place, the very place they built over a hundred years ago, we come here to lift up the name of Jesus and worship.
SPEAKER_00: So I look at these people back in 1922 and I realize they made this investment, but it was much more than just an investment for their time.
SPEAKER_00: It was kingdom investment that even today and going forward still makes a massive impact.
SPEAKER_00: And guess what?
SPEAKER_00: We don't remember their names outside of a few pictures.
SPEAKER_00: We don't really remember their faces.
SPEAKER_00: What do we see?
SPEAKER_00: We see the impact of their giving and their faithfulness.
SPEAKER_00: That's part of what it means to be involved in kingdom investment.
SPEAKER_00: Now, I do want to say a couple things.
SPEAKER_00: And I I've I'll say it like this.
SPEAKER_00: I've been here uh you know two years now, and I I hope in that time you know from the bottom of my heart I love you deeply.
SPEAKER_00: I mean, I'd do anything for you.
SPEAKER_00: Ask me, I'll do it.
SPEAKER_00: And and I just want to say uh a couple things.
SPEAKER_00: If you'll give me one minute of your time, I want to talk about something uh that that that uh can we just call it like we see it for a minute?
SPEAKER_00: Would that be okay?
SPEAKER_00: And let's not call it like I see it, let's call it how the Word of God sees it.
SPEAKER_00: Because I want to talk about our individual and uh collective uh giving towards the kingdom.
SPEAKER_00: And I want to talk about what's possible when we are all in our giving, in stewarding what God has given us.
SPEAKER_00: But but I just want to for us to see for just a moment that if you are a member of First Baptist Church, if you are a member of this church and and you are not part of giving of your tithes and offerings and not consistently giving of your tithes and offerings, then in that area of life, you're currently in disobedience to what God has called you to.
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: Because God has laid out what it looks like to be part of the body of Christ.
SPEAKER_00: You go back to the Old Testament and you have the beautiful picture of breathe bringing in the first fruits offering.
SPEAKER_00: And you say, that's that's Old Testament.
SPEAKER_00: Well, first of all, it's the moral part of the law that does continue, but we go on and see the New Testament, and and Jesus makes it even firmer.
SPEAKER_00: In fact, 10% is the starting point, and Jesus goes even deeper.
SPEAKER_00: You look at Acts chapter 2, and what is the picture of the church?
SPEAKER_00: What does it look like?
SPEAKER_00: It is everybody coming together to give of themselves, by the way, not just of their treasure, but of their time, of their talents, of everything they have, okay?
SPEAKER_00: Not just finances, but finances is a part of it.
SPEAKER_00: They bring it together to bring uh uh uh all of this together to meet the needs of those around them, to meet the needs of the ministry, to send out missionaries, which we desire to do.
SPEAKER_00: This is the work of the church.
SPEAKER_00: And so if you're not a part of that and you're a member here, I just want to call you to something uh bigger and better than where you're at right now.
SPEAKER_00: I want to call you to be a part of that.
SPEAKER_00: And if you're disobedient in that area of your life right now, I'm I'm not I'm not angry at you.
SPEAKER_00: And guess what?
SPEAKER_00: I also won't know it because I never see it.
SPEAKER_00: I never see any names on tithes and offerings.
SPEAKER_00: But I just want to call you up.
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: Because I don't want you to miss the blessing of being a part of it.
SPEAKER_00: That's what I don't want.
SPEAKER_00: I don't want you to miss the blessing of being a part of what God is up to.
SPEAKER_00: I would be sad if you miss out on that blessing in your life.
SPEAKER_00: I'm not talking about prosperity theology blessing that if you start giving towards the church, things are gonna go really well in your life.
SPEAKER_00: No, no, no.
SPEAKER_00: I'm talking about the blessing of being about God's business, the blessing of giving towards sending missionaries out, the blessing of meeting needs in El Doredado and around the world.
SPEAKER_00: That's number one.
SPEAKER_00: Number two is this, and maybe this hits even harder, but let's just say it real quick.
SPEAKER_00: Uh uh if you're also not not being obedient to your calling as a member here to give, I don't want your disobedience to cause the church collective to miss out on God's blessing.
SPEAKER_00: Let me say that again.
SPEAKER_00: I don't want your disobedience to cause the church collective to miss out on God's blessing over this church and what he desires to do in this church.
SPEAKER_00: And you say, Pastor, that sounds a little heavy, and I gotta tell you, it does.
SPEAKER_00: I'm kind of ready for a nap after this because I kind of just I don't like, you know, this is these are hard words.
SPEAKER_00: But I can't help but read Malachi chapter three, and I just want you to hear this real quick.
SPEAKER_00: Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house, and thereby put me to the test, says the Lord of hosts, and see if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need, and I will rebuke the devourer for you, so that it will not destroy the fruits of your soil, and your vine in the field shall not fail to bear, says the Lord of hosts, then all nations will call you blessed, for you will be a land of delight, says the Lord of hosts.
SPEAKER_00: Let me read that first part again.
SPEAKER_00: Bring the full tithe into the storehouse that there may be food in my house.
SPEAKER_00: Put me to the test.
SPEAKER_00: The Lord says, put me to the test and see if I will not open the windows of heaven and pour out such a blessing that there is no need.
SPEAKER_00: The Lord is begging us as a church to put him to the test and just ask him what might happen if every member here is committed to being part of this thing, that we bring our resources together in such a way that God can move in ways that we've never seen before, and that we can give of our tithes and offerings, and the Lord can do ministry in our lives that we couldn't even imagine.
SPEAKER_00: This church can go to new places and see new things and activities and help people in need in ways we never have before.
SPEAKER_00: And I just believe this that if every one of us is about the business of coming together and not holding our wealth to ourselves as our God, but instead saying, Lord, you've given to me.
SPEAKER_00: I want to return this to you, and we're all about this.
SPEAKER_00: I just think this, and I don't think it, I promise it because God's word promises it, that He is ready and willing to pour out the floodgates of heaven and do things in this church that have never been done before.
SPEAKER_00: And I just want you to be a part of it.
SPEAKER_00: I just want you to be a part of what God is up to here.
SPEAKER_00: Because at the end of the day, it's not just that God's up in heaven saying, I want your money.
SPEAKER_00: He owns the cattle on a thousand hills.
SPEAKER_00: God is up in heaven saying, I want your heart.
SPEAKER_00: What are you holding back?
SPEAKER_00: What are you holding on to that has become your idol, become your God, that you're having a hard time giving away?
SPEAKER_00: Here's what I believe is possible as we are a people collectively who say to the Lord that we will give and we will respond.
SPEAKER_00: Here's what I believe will happen: that there will be some child in the year, and this sounds made up, in the year 2126.
SPEAKER_00: That can't be real.
SPEAKER_00: There will be some child a hundred years from now that will walk into this building and hear the story of Jesus Christ, and maybe be baptized in that baptistry right behind us, and he or she will find new life in Christ Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: He or she will be discipled in the faith as they grow here.
SPEAKER_00: And I want you to know something.
SPEAKER_00: That kid, a hundred years from now, will not know your name, will not know your face, but you will have so much to do with what happens in that child's heart.
SPEAKER_00: And that child will see Jesus in part because you were ready and willing to not hold everything back for yourself, but to say, the Lord, what you have given me, uh, I want to return a portion back to you.
SPEAKER_00: That's just what I believe is possible here.
SPEAKER_00: And I just can't help but think that the very Jesus who says these things here is the one who did not hold back himself.
SPEAKER_00: The very one who has given us all things, even to his very life, his death, his resurrection, what he has done for us, how can I not then respond in worship?
SPEAKER_00: By the way, in every area of my life, but certainly with my treasure, certainly with my wealth.
SPEAKER_00: How can I not respond?
SPEAKER_00: And I just beg of you, according to God's word, would you be ready and willing to be a part of this in your own life?
SPEAKER_00: Not talking church related right now, in your own life, if there's any way that your wealth has a hold on you that's dangerous, let go of it today.
SPEAKER_00: Don't trust in it, trust in Christ.
SPEAKER_00: And as a church collectively, if there's any part of you that fears coming together and uh giving of our resources together, if there's any part of you that says, I don't know if that's for me, or if there's any part of you that says, not now, maybe later on, I just beg of you, come be a part of what God's up to.
SPEAKER_00: Put the Lord to the test, his words, not mine, and see if he will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and do something in your life in this time, in this day at this church that we could not have imagined.
SPEAKER_00: We're gonna pray together, and after we do, however, you need to respond, if it's to come be a part of this church, if it's to say I want Jesus in my life, if it's because you need prayer, uh, I'll be down front, ready and willing.
SPEAKER_00: Let's pray together.
SPEAKER_00: Lord Jesus, thank you so much for this morning.
SPEAKER_00: Thank you so much for your word.
SPEAKER_00: Lord, if there is anywhere in my own heart and life where money has become an idol, Lord, would you help rid me of that?
SPEAKER_00: Lord, I'm sorry for the ways that this has been true of me.
SPEAKER_00: But Lord, would I not put trust in it, but I put trust in you, Lord.
SPEAKER_00: And Lord, I pray for anyone in this room who just needs to pray that same kind of prayer, Lord, that you would release the grip of wealth and money as a God in their lives.
SPEAKER_00: That may be one of many lowercase G gods we have in our lives, but certainly it is one of them, Lord.
SPEAKER_00: Release that in us so that we can be freed up to serve you in new ways, to worship you in new ways, to make much of your name.
SPEAKER_00: I thank you for everyone in this room, and I'm excited for what you're up to at this church.
SPEAKER_00: If there's anybody that needs to respond now, would they do so?
SPEAKER_00: I pray all this in Christ's name.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: Would you stand now as we worship and I'll be down front?