WEBVTT 00:00:02.399 --> 00:00:03.680 All right, good morning. 00:00:04.000 --> 00:00:05.679 So glad y'all are here this morning. 00:00:06.240 --> 00:00:08.800 I don't sound quite as sophisticated as that. 00:00:08.960 --> 00:00:10.160 I love that accent. 00:00:10.240 --> 00:00:11.279 That was great. 00:00:12.000 --> 00:00:15.599 But my name is Brian Robinson, and I'm an elder here at the church. 00:00:15.759 --> 00:00:24.079 And the reason I'm up here teaching is because we believe that the Bible says in Timothy and in Titus that one of the roles of an elder is to teach. 00:00:24.239 --> 00:00:25.519 So that's why I'm here. 00:00:25.920 --> 00:00:35.280 I think a side benefit of that is it gives Russ a chance to kind of rest from preparing, which can be exhausting, as I've found. 00:00:35.840 --> 00:00:42.560 And also I think it's healthy for our church to not be focused on one person, kind of like a cult of personality type thing. 00:00:42.960 --> 00:00:44.719 So that's that's why I'm here. 00:00:45.039 --> 00:00:47.600 Before I start, let's pray. 00:00:47.840 --> 00:00:50.880 Heavenly Father, um, I just thank you for this church. 00:00:51.039 --> 00:00:54.399 I thank you for specific people that you have brought here today. 00:00:54.640 --> 00:00:58.079 Don't think that it's coincidence that anyone is here. 00:00:58.240 --> 00:01:00.799 Um pray that you would speak through me. 00:01:00.880 --> 00:01:08.239 That's my only hope, and um that you would just help us know you more in our hearts, and uh that you would draw us in closer to you. 00:01:08.400 --> 00:01:09.680 In Jesus' name I pray. 00:01:10.000 --> 00:01:10.640 Amen. 00:01:11.519 --> 00:01:13.280 So I'm an Atlanta guy. 00:01:13.359 --> 00:01:21.519 I grew up in Decatur, went to high school in Atlanta, went to college in Atlanta, and the only time I've lived outside the city of Atlanta was four years. 00:01:21.680 --> 00:01:25.680 I went to dental school in Birmingham, got married, and we moved to Birmingham. 00:01:25.760 --> 00:01:31.439 And when we moved there, we lived in a few different apartments, um, which was which was great. 00:01:31.519 --> 00:01:40.000 Um, in between my third and fourth year, we lived in this, uh we rented a condominium in a place called Crestline, Crestline Village. 00:01:40.079 --> 00:01:44.239 And if you've ever been to Birmingham, this is like just a Norman Rockwell kind of place to live. 00:01:44.319 --> 00:01:45.680 I loved living there. 00:01:45.760 --> 00:01:50.239 Um there were sidewalks on both sides of the street, um, cute houses. 00:01:50.400 --> 00:02:01.200 There was a little village where you could go and eat, and um actually my dad actually grew up about half a mile away from where we lived, so I think I had a lot of nostalgia about living there. 00:02:01.280 --> 00:02:06.799 Um as a kid, I would ride my bike from there from my grandparents' house and go get baseball cards at the pharmacy. 00:02:06.879 --> 00:02:09.520 And um anyway, we just loved living there. 00:02:09.680 --> 00:02:18.080 And so one day, well, we dreamed of kind of like, as most young couples, I was like 25, 26, we dreamed of kind of having a house there. 00:02:18.400 --> 00:02:22.400 Um before I hadn't decided that we were gonna come back to Atlanta. 00:02:22.560 --> 00:02:27.759 I knew that I was gonna be in school for another year, and I was thinking about doing a residency in Birmingham. 00:02:28.000 --> 00:02:30.400 So this house came up for sale on Euclid Avenue. 00:02:30.479 --> 00:02:32.159 We saw it for sale by owner. 00:02:32.319 --> 00:02:39.599 And um Manny called about it, and uh it was a two-bedroom, one-bathrouse, and she asked the owner how much it was gonna cost. 00:02:39.680 --> 00:02:42.000 And the owner says$133,000. 00:02:42.560 --> 00:02:58.159 And so Manny and I sat down and I was, you know, we looked at our budget and I thought, you know, if I lowball these people like$100,000, I offer them like$100,000, and if we penny pinch everything we have, if we stop going to Chili's on Friday night, that was like our big splurge on the chilies. 00:02:58.479 --> 00:03:02.719 No more chilies, but we can get in this house for$100,000. 00:03:02.960 --> 00:03:05.199 Let's let's call them and see if they'll talk to us. 00:03:05.360 --> 00:03:11.599 And so I call my dad and asked him, What do you what do you ask when you go meet with the homeowner to talk to him about a house? 00:03:11.759 --> 00:03:12.319 I need to know. 00:03:12.400 --> 00:03:13.759 I've never done this before. 00:03:14.000 --> 00:03:18.560 And so we met the homeowner there, and we're walking through this house, and it's a terrible house. 00:03:18.719 --> 00:03:22.879 There's nothing nice about this house except for the location of the house. 00:03:23.039 --> 00:03:45.520 Uh and so we're walking kind of through, and I'm I'm kind of asking very sophisticated questions like how's the roof, all these questions that I was told I needed to ask to sound like a very wise, sophisticated future home buyer, which I was not, um, kind of getting ready for this negotiation that I was about to endure, because I'm not good at that. 00:03:45.680 --> 00:03:55.199 Um so we were in the uh second bedroom slash laundry room slash kitchen of this house, and I decided it was time. 00:03:55.439 --> 00:04:02.639 Now I'm gonna make my move and I'm gonna I'm gonna ask a guy, so how did you get to your price of$133,000? 00:04:03.360 --> 00:04:04.560 And it got really quiet. 00:04:04.719 --> 00:04:11.280 I felt like the record kind of scratched, and uh he said, the price of the home is$233,000. 00:04:12.639 --> 00:04:17.600 And uh I felt the poorest I've ever felt in my life right after that. 00:04:17.839 --> 00:04:26.000 And I I think I continued the charade of this conversation for another five minutes, but we both knew like it was time, it was time for us to leave. 00:04:26.079 --> 00:04:28.720 Like we're clearly wasting your time here. 00:04:29.120 --> 00:04:31.439 So um I felt very poor. 00:04:31.600 --> 00:04:33.199 I felt poor. 00:04:33.600 --> 00:04:35.199 I was not poor. 00:04:35.519 --> 00:04:51.920 Um statistically, in in the world, like globally, not United States, but globally, if you have a car and a house, you are in the top 5% of income earners in the world. 00:04:52.240 --> 00:04:54.160 This next one is crazy to me. 00:04:54.399 --> 00:04:58.160 If you have a household income, well let me ask y'all. 00:04:58.399 --> 00:05:00.480 I want I want to see who who can get this right. 00:05:00.800 --> 00:05:04.959 Top 1% of earners in the world, what do you think they make? 00:05:05.199 --> 00:05:05.600 1%. 00:05:06.160 --> 00:05:08.959 Will anyone be so bold as to guess what it is? 00:05:09.279 --> 00:05:10.000 30,000. 00:05:10.240 --> 00:05:11.519 30,000? 00:05:12.000 --> 00:05:12.319 No. 00:05:12.800 --> 00:05:13.120 50. 00:05:13.680 --> 00:05:14.319 50. 00:05:14.560 --> 00:05:15.439 Keith, wow. 00:05:15.519 --> 00:05:15.839 Good job. 00:05:15.920 --> 00:05:16.639 I don't have a prize. 00:05:16.720 --> 00:05:17.439 $50,000. 00:05:17.839 --> 00:05:20.959 If you make more than$50,000, you're a 1%er. 00:05:21.120 --> 00:05:22.399 You are up there. 00:05:22.720 --> 00:05:23.040 Okay? 00:05:24.000 --> 00:05:30.639 So um in America, we're we're not used to saying that we are wealthy if we make more than$50,000. 00:05:31.040 --> 00:05:32.720 But the truth of it is we are. 00:05:32.879 --> 00:05:34.959 We have houses for our cars. 00:05:35.120 --> 00:05:36.480 We call them garages. 00:05:36.560 --> 00:05:37.360 That's what we call it. 00:05:37.439 --> 00:05:41.839 Some of you have, I don't want to have one, but some of y'all have seen you have houses for your cars. 00:05:42.079 --> 00:05:44.560 Um and I think we deny this. 00:05:44.720 --> 00:05:46.959 It's very uncomfortable to talk about this. 00:05:47.040 --> 00:05:51.519 Um, and we deny this by this whole idea of comparison. 00:05:51.839 --> 00:05:54.800 Um, there's always somebody next to you that has more. 00:05:54.879 --> 00:05:57.920 We're always seeing people that have more than us. 00:05:58.079 --> 00:06:00.800 And I think Satan does that to distract us. 00:06:00.959 --> 00:06:10.800 We can get on this chase of having more and more and more, and it takes our eyes off of God because there is always someone with more. 00:06:11.360 --> 00:06:13.439 Um let me read these verses. 00:06:13.519 --> 00:06:18.800 Um, I'm gonna start again with 10 through 12, and this is a little bit more rednecked than the last person that read this. 00:06:18.879 --> 00:06:25.600 Uh, he who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor he who loves wealth with his income. 00:06:25.839 --> 00:06:27.360 This is also vanity. 00:06:27.519 --> 00:06:33.519 When goods increase, they increase to eat them, and what advantage has their owner but to see them with his eyes? 00:06:33.759 --> 00:06:41.279 Sweet is the sleep of a laborer, whether he eats little or much, but the full stomach of the rich will not let him sleep. 00:06:41.759 --> 00:06:56.399 So I have a friend who does not go to church here, and he is about 45 years old, and when he was in his late 20s, he came up with a number, a financial number of when I have X amount of money, I don't have to work anymore. 00:06:56.480 --> 00:06:58.160 I'll be financially free. 00:06:58.240 --> 00:06:59.759 I'm done working. 00:07:00.000 --> 00:07:05.680 Um when he was 41, which is my age, he he attained that number. 00:07:05.920 --> 00:07:06.879 He got there. 00:07:07.120 --> 00:07:09.279 Um and he stopped working. 00:07:09.439 --> 00:07:15.199 And I've known him for about 15 years, and I've I've gotten close to him and talked to him a lot in the last three years about that. 00:07:15.439 --> 00:07:17.040 He grew up in a middle class family. 00:07:17.120 --> 00:07:19.120 It was never his goal to be rich. 00:07:19.279 --> 00:07:24.399 I would say he said, really, my goal was I just didn't want anybody telling me what to do. 00:07:24.560 --> 00:07:26.879 I didn't want to go to work at a job that I didn't like. 00:07:27.120 --> 00:07:30.959 And uh there were a lot of people in his high school that told him he wouldn't amount to anything. 00:07:31.120 --> 00:07:34.319 Um, and so I think he wanted to prove those people wrong. 00:07:34.560 --> 00:07:45.040 Um but anyway, it's interesting because knowing him now, since he obtained that number, uh, some interesting things have happened in his life. 00:07:45.360 --> 00:07:50.480 He spends a lot of time kind of maintaining his stuff. 00:07:50.639 --> 00:07:55.839 His pile has gotten bigger, and he has to spend this energy maintaining that stuff. 00:07:56.000 --> 00:08:00.319 Like he has a few different houses that he has to always maintain. 00:08:00.399 --> 00:08:02.240 And that's what verse 11 is talking about. 00:08:02.399 --> 00:08:05.279 When goods increase, they increase who eat them. 00:08:05.519 --> 00:08:16.079 Another thing that's happened that I've seen with my friend is he wakes up in the morning, doesn't go to work, so he starts drinking at 11 o'clock, and he eats too much. 00:08:16.160 --> 00:08:19.439 And he just doesn't have something to like go and do. 00:08:19.839 --> 00:08:22.000 And um, it concerns him. 00:08:22.079 --> 00:08:24.319 Um, and that's what verse 12 is talking about. 00:08:24.480 --> 00:08:31.279 Sweet is the sleep of a laborer, whether he eats little or much, but the full stomach of the rich will not let him sleep. 00:08:31.680 --> 00:08:34.000 Um he also worries about his kids. 00:08:34.159 --> 00:08:40.480 He he's raising kids in this very affluent, comfortable lifestyle, but he doesn't go to work. 00:08:40.559 --> 00:08:44.399 And he's asking them, hey, you need to work hard at school, but he's not. 00:08:44.559 --> 00:08:48.960 So he kind of worries, what kind of example am I to my kids? 00:08:49.120 --> 00:08:57.519 And this is all like I know this to be true, that money is not going to make us happy, but as I know him, it's almost like a surprise to me. 00:08:57.679 --> 00:08:59.679 Like, wow, he's not happy at all. 00:08:59.840 --> 00:09:10.159 I think he's less happy that he's making all this money, that he has made all this money past tense, and he still struggles, I would say, even more. 00:09:10.320 --> 00:09:21.279 He says the time in his life that he was the happiest was he got laid off from a job in his mid-twenties before he had set that number, and he told me his prayers were more heartfelt. 00:09:21.440 --> 00:09:23.200 He was more dependent on God. 00:09:23.519 --> 00:09:27.200 Uh, he was closest to his family, and he was more content. 00:09:28.080 --> 00:09:36.320 And I believe what God speaks to us in these verses in Ecclesiastes are what my friend knows to be true. 00:09:36.879 --> 00:09:39.200 This presents us with a dilemma. 00:09:39.519 --> 00:09:46.879 In Marietta, Georgia, in 2017, money gives us the illusion that we are in control. 00:09:48.080 --> 00:09:56.399 When we reach that number, my friend's number, and whatever that number is for you, we cannot, it will not be enough. 00:09:56.559 --> 00:09:57.919 It won't make us happy. 00:09:58.080 --> 00:10:01.600 We cannot be the source of our own freedom. 00:10:02.559 --> 00:10:06.480 When we focus on ourselves, we cannot be content. 00:10:06.639 --> 00:10:07.840 It's not possible. 00:10:08.159 --> 00:10:10.639 So, how do we find contentment? 00:10:10.879 --> 00:10:14.799 And that's spoken about in verses 18 through 20. 00:10:14.960 --> 00:10:16.480 I'm gonna read those as well. 00:10:16.720 --> 00:10:28.960 Behold, what I have seen to be good and fitting is to eat and drink and find enjoyment, and all the toil with which one toils under the sun, the few days of his life that God has given him, for this is his lot. 00:10:29.200 --> 00:10:36.960 Every one to whom God has given wealth and possessions and power to enjoy them, and to accept his lot, and to rejoice in his toil. 00:10:37.200 --> 00:10:38.799 This is the gift of God. 00:10:39.039 --> 00:10:44.879 And he closes the chapter with verse twenty, which I think is the linchpin or the key verse. 00:10:45.200 --> 00:10:53.200 For he will not much remember the days of his life, because God keeps him occupied with the joy in his heart. 00:10:53.519 --> 00:10:59.360 So the focus here is not on us and the days in our lives. 00:10:59.679 --> 00:11:03.919 God keeps us focused on the joy in our heart. 00:11:04.159 --> 00:11:08.799 And that joy for us today in our heart as believers is Jesus. 00:11:08.960 --> 00:11:11.279 We believe that Jesus lives in us. 00:11:11.519 --> 00:11:21.679 And we receive, um, when we set our hope on him, I think it's possible to receive one of his greatest gifts, which is that of self-forgetfulness. 00:11:22.320 --> 00:11:29.279 Um the the verse, the next verse I'm going to read is 1 Timothy 6, 17, which is also in the bulletin. 00:11:29.440 --> 00:11:33.679 Paul talks about this idea of blessed self-forgetfulness. 00:11:34.320 --> 00:11:50.559 Um it says, As for the rich in this present age, which is, I believe, probably all of us, 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. 00:11:50.799 --> 00:12:08.080 They are 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 for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life. 00:12:09.120 --> 00:12:11.200 So we are not central. 00:12:12.000 --> 00:12:15.279 And what that's what Paul is telling us here. 00:12:15.600 --> 00:12:19.840 Um there's two common ways that we view ourselves. 00:12:20.000 --> 00:12:24.720 One is we have a very high view of ourselves, and I do both of these things every day. 00:12:24.879 --> 00:12:31.679 Um, and high view of ourselves is called hubris or pride, where we can kind of perform our way into acceptance. 00:12:31.840 --> 00:12:33.440 And we do all kinds of things. 00:12:33.600 --> 00:12:35.840 We use all kinds of things to get this. 00:12:36.159 --> 00:12:45.200 Um ask my middle schooler what kind of things she thought she uses and grades, whether a boy likes her or not, um, acceptance. 00:12:45.360 --> 00:12:46.960 Just adults do the same thing. 00:12:47.120 --> 00:12:55.679 My job, how my kids are performing, um, you know, how much money I'm making, what club I'm in, what car I drive, all those things. 00:12:55.840 --> 00:13:00.000 Um we're trying to perform our way into acceptance. 00:13:00.159 --> 00:13:05.200 The other way to view ourselves is a low view of ourselves, which is we'll never be worthy of acceptance. 00:13:05.279 --> 00:13:12.399 Kind of this whole self-pity, which turns into a cycle of just focus on yourself and it's an inward circle. 00:13:12.639 --> 00:13:20.399 Um, there's an entirely different way to view ourselves, and that's what Paul's talking about, self-forgetfulness. 00:13:21.120 --> 00:13:31.519 We believe, as Christians, that God created us and he sent his son, who was tried and convicted, found guilty for our sins, and now as believers, we have him. 00:13:31.759 --> 00:13:33.360 Jesus lives in us. 00:13:33.600 --> 00:13:37.679 And I think it's important to say this was God's plan from the beginning. 00:13:37.759 --> 00:13:42.159 It wasn't like we started sinning and then God was like, oh no, I've got to send Jesus. 00:13:42.320 --> 00:13:45.919 Like, his plan was to do this from the beginning of time. 00:13:46.159 --> 00:13:49.759 He wasn't surprised at us that we sinned. 00:13:49.919 --> 00:13:57.360 Um now we believe, as believers, that when God looks at us, he sees Jesus, he sees perfection. 00:13:57.679 --> 00:14:04.480 So now we can act and perform out of our verdict instead of to get our verdict. 00:14:04.720 --> 00:14:09.519 We are now free from focusing on what other people think about us. 00:14:10.000 --> 00:14:16.159 Um in fact, more importantly, we're free from focusing on what we think of ourselves. 00:14:16.720 --> 00:14:20.320 So this all sounds good, but how how do we actually do this? 00:14:20.480 --> 00:14:23.120 How do we stop thinking about ourselves? 00:14:23.360 --> 00:14:28.720 Um, we all have things that we have given our hearts to, different things in our lives. 00:14:28.879 --> 00:14:29.440 I have some. 00:14:29.600 --> 00:14:30.879 I call those addictions. 00:14:31.039 --> 00:14:36.399 And I think left to our own devices, we don't really get rid of an addiction. 00:14:36.480 --> 00:14:38.799 We kind of just trade it out for something else. 00:14:39.039 --> 00:14:47.919 And we see that one clear example of that I've seen is people that are alcoholics or substance abuse, a lot of times they'll start doing ultramarathons. 00:14:48.080 --> 00:14:54.480 They'll be free of uh alcohol or whatever substance, whatever drug it is, but now they're kind of addicted to exercise. 00:14:54.639 --> 00:14:57.440 And there's a lot of different ways that we do that. 00:14:57.840 --> 00:15:01.120 So, how is this cycle of addiction, how does that get broken? 00:15:01.360 --> 00:15:12.720 And I think one of the best things I've read about this is um Thomas Chalmers, who's a um Scottish preacher in the 1700s, wrote a little paper called The Expulsive Power of a New Affection. 00:15:12.960 --> 00:15:16.240 And expulsive just means like to expel, to get out. 00:15:16.399 --> 00:15:19.679 Um, and I'm gonna read this quote, it's in your bulletin as well. 00:15:19.919 --> 00:15:29.360 And Chalmers writes Seldom do any of our habits or flaws disappear by the mere force of mental determination. 00:15:30.080 --> 00:15:32.240 Reason and willpower. 00:16:16.399 --> 00:16:22.960 Seldom do any of our habits or flaws disappear by the mere force of mental determination. 00:16:23.360 --> 00:16:31.120 Reason and willpower are not enough, but when what cannot be destroyed may be removed. 00:16:31.519 --> 00:16:38.480 The only way to rid the heart of an old affection is by the expulsive power of a new one. 00:16:38.720 --> 00:16:50.480 A young man, for example, may not may not idolize pleasure, but it is only because the idol of wealth has become stronger and is enabling him to discipline himself for a prosperous business. 00:16:50.720 --> 00:16:56.879 But there is not one of these identity transformations in which the heart is left without an object. 00:16:57.120 --> 00:17:05.359 Its desire for one particular object may be conquered, but its desire for having some one object of absolute love is unconquerable. 00:17:05.839 --> 00:17:16.960 It is only when we realize that we are God's children through faith that is in Jesus Christ, that the spirit of adoption is poured out upon us. 00:17:17.200 --> 00:17:30.559 It is then that the heart, brought under the mastery of one great and supreme affection, is delivered from the tyranny of its former desires in the only way that deliverance is possible. 00:17:32.480 --> 00:17:37.759 So our hearts long for this affection that Chalmers writes about. 00:17:38.079 --> 00:17:44.319 And we read in Ecclesiastes that we look for that everywhere under the sun in so many different places. 00:17:44.720 --> 00:17:51.119 We look for the creation to give us what only the creator can give us. 00:17:51.519 --> 00:17:56.160 And so I want to close by saying a couple couple of things. 00:17:56.319 --> 00:18:00.799 And sometimes when I'm at church and Russ is preaching, I'll think, what a great church this is. 00:18:00.960 --> 00:18:02.319 I love coming to church here. 00:18:02.400 --> 00:18:03.039 This is so good. 00:18:03.119 --> 00:18:04.640 I'm so glad this person's hearing this. 00:18:04.720 --> 00:18:06.400 I wish this person was here. 00:18:06.640 --> 00:18:16.960 Um but I want you to just think about you, the you that's just sitting here this morning in February. 00:18:17.200 --> 00:18:20.480 Um, and I just want you to think about these things. 00:18:20.559 --> 00:18:22.160 And this is not our theology. 00:18:22.319 --> 00:18:25.519 I mean, this is our theology, but this is more personal, I hope. 00:18:25.759 --> 00:18:29.680 That in Christ, you are forgiven. 00:18:30.799 --> 00:18:33.599 In Christ, you're free. 00:18:34.880 --> 00:18:37.519 In Christ, you're redeemed. 00:18:37.839 --> 00:18:41.599 You don't have to go chasing after these different things. 00:18:42.559 --> 00:18:44.400 In Christ, you're a new creation. 00:18:45.759 --> 00:18:47.279 If you'll bow your heads, I'll pray. 00:18:47.680 --> 00:18:52.880 Heavenly Father, thank you so much for um this church and just the place that it's become. 00:18:53.039 --> 00:18:55.599 Thank you for worship this morning. 00:18:55.920 --> 00:18:59.440 So good to sit and listen to songs about you. 00:18:59.759 --> 00:19:07.359 And uh I just pray that um that you would keep us focused on the joy in our hearts, which we believe is you. 00:19:07.599 --> 00:19:10.319 Um I would ask that you would draw us in closer to you. 00:19:10.480 --> 00:19:16.000 Help us know how you really see us and how you really feel about us, not just in our heads, but in our hearts as well. 00:19:16.160 --> 00:19:17.119 In Jesus' name I pray. 00:19:17.279 --> 00:19:17.599 Amen.