WEBVTT 00:00:00.239 --> 00:00:00.880 Amen. 00:00:01.679 --> 00:00:08.320 Well, if uh if it's your first time or or maybe your first time in a while, we started a series a few weeks back called By Faith. 00:00:08.560 --> 00:00:12.880 2 Corinthians 5 17 says, We live by faith and not by sight. 00:00:12.960 --> 00:00:15.759 And faith and sight are often in conflict with one another. 00:00:15.919 --> 00:00:20.559 It's a conflict that the Bible calls the battle between our spirit and our flesh. 00:00:20.800 --> 00:00:25.519 I believe her name was Courtney that got baptized earlier, and I think she described it so beautifully. 00:00:25.760 --> 00:00:32.960 Our spirit is that that deep part of our soul that wakes up whenever God comes into our life. 00:00:33.280 --> 00:00:39.840 The Bible actually says that when we put our trust in Jesus, that the Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit, joins with our spirit. 00:00:40.000 --> 00:00:44.159 There's a union that happens, and he begins to make us a new creation. 00:00:45.039 --> 00:00:50.000 He begins to reshape us from the inside out into the person we were created to be. 00:00:50.240 --> 00:00:51.600 That's our spirit. 00:00:51.840 --> 00:00:53.520 But then we have our flesh. 00:00:53.759 --> 00:00:59.600 And our flesh is anything that causes us to be afraid, to worry, to have anxiety, to be selfish. 00:00:59.679 --> 00:01:04.400 It's those things that hold us back from being the people that God created us to be. 00:01:04.640 --> 00:01:07.920 Our flesh and our spirit are in conflict with one another. 00:01:08.239 --> 00:01:11.120 And our spirit must prevail. 00:01:11.519 --> 00:01:17.200 And so we're going to be people that live by our spirit, that live by faith and not by sight. 00:01:17.359 --> 00:01:25.120 Each week we're going through Hebrews chapter 11, which is a chapter in the Bible all about faith, and it gives us example after example to follow. 00:01:25.359 --> 00:01:30.000 Example after example of how we can be people that live by faith. 00:01:30.319 --> 00:01:37.200 Last week we talked about Hebrews 11:3, which says that by faith we understand God created this universe by command. 00:01:37.359 --> 00:01:40.159 In other words, God spoke and stuff happened. 00:01:40.959 --> 00:01:43.040 And that's a pretty crazy concept to think about. 00:01:43.120 --> 00:01:46.400 We may ask ourselves, how is that relevant to my life today? 00:01:46.640 --> 00:01:50.159 But it absolutely is because that same God is still speaking. 00:01:50.319 --> 00:01:52.400 And he wants you to hear his voice. 00:01:52.879 --> 00:01:55.439 We have a God that wants to speak to us. 00:01:55.680 --> 00:01:58.319 And his voice is so powerful it can create a universe. 00:01:58.400 --> 00:02:04.480 And when his voice speaks into our lives and into our hearts, it creates something within us as well. 00:02:04.640 --> 00:02:06.480 We want to hear God speak. 00:02:06.959 --> 00:02:11.439 And so if you were here last week, or maybe you're here today and you go, I've never heard God speak, but I want to. 00:02:11.599 --> 00:02:23.039 If you desire that, if you listen to him, if you if you study his word so you can learn to discern his voice from all the other voices that are vying for our attention, you will hear the voice of God in your life. 00:02:23.199 --> 00:02:25.759 You were created to hear him speak. 00:02:26.000 --> 00:02:27.360 So desire that. 00:02:27.680 --> 00:02:30.240 Today we're going to move on to Hebrews chapter 11, verse 4. 00:02:30.319 --> 00:02:33.919 But before we actually go through that, I want to ask a really obvious question. 00:02:34.080 --> 00:02:36.719 Obvious questions are the best because they're just a formality. 00:02:36.800 --> 00:02:38.000 We already know the answer. 00:02:38.240 --> 00:02:40.400 Anyone dealing with some stress today? 00:02:40.719 --> 00:02:43.280 Just like a little bit of stress this last week. 00:02:43.599 --> 00:02:44.639 Right, obvious question. 00:02:44.800 --> 00:02:46.319 You don't have you raise your hand, that's awesome. 00:02:46.400 --> 00:02:47.120 I am too. 00:02:47.199 --> 00:02:49.199 In fact, my wife is definitely dealing with more. 00:02:49.280 --> 00:02:56.159 Uh I said yesterday I was sick, and and I wasn't like violently ill, but I was just feeling a little off and my stomach was feeling weird. 00:02:56.240 --> 00:02:59.840 And when I'm sick, you know that stereotype of men being babies when they're sick? 00:03:00.159 --> 00:03:01.039 That's me. 00:03:01.360 --> 00:03:02.719 That's me, I'll admit it. 00:03:02.800 --> 00:03:05.439 And that's hard for my wife because we have two babies that live at home. 00:03:05.520 --> 00:03:10.479 We have a four-year-old and a one-year-old, and so when I'm sick and I'm acting like a baby, that's three babies and one adult. 00:03:10.560 --> 00:03:14.319 And Megan has to deal with all of that, and I love her for it. 00:03:14.800 --> 00:03:16.879 This last week was just a little stressful for us. 00:03:16.960 --> 00:03:21.120 The whole environment in our home was kind of stressful because we have this beautiful one-year-old girl. 00:03:21.280 --> 00:03:22.080 Her name is Lily. 00:03:22.319 --> 00:03:24.000 She has no hair, but she has my heart. 00:03:24.159 --> 00:03:25.199 I love her so much. 00:03:25.439 --> 00:03:25.759 Okay? 00:03:26.240 --> 00:03:29.360 And and Lily is going through this thing called attachment phase. 00:03:29.439 --> 00:03:32.319 Now, those of you who are parents, you may be familiar with this. 00:03:32.560 --> 00:03:37.039 There are scientists, neurologists who have studied the brains and the development of children. 00:03:37.199 --> 00:03:41.840 And they found that children up to about a year old do not have a concept of self. 00:03:42.000 --> 00:03:47.520 The part of their brain that realizes that they're a unique person has not been turned on yet. 00:03:47.680 --> 00:03:49.919 They actually see themselves as part of their mother. 00:03:50.000 --> 00:03:54.159 And that makes sense, I guess, because we begin as part of our mother's body. 00:03:54.400 --> 00:03:58.800 But at about one year, they start to realize that their mother is a different person than them. 00:03:58.879 --> 00:04:03.919 And it's not this freeing experience, it's not that they start to go, I'm me, this is wonderful. 00:04:04.159 --> 00:04:05.360 They freak out. 00:04:05.759 --> 00:04:09.360 They freak out because they realize their mother can go away. 00:04:09.599 --> 00:04:12.000 And so and so they they just have a hard time dealing with that. 00:04:12.159 --> 00:04:15.840 Liam dealt with that a little bit, but Lily, oh my goodness. 00:04:16.160 --> 00:04:22.079 If Megan so much as puts Lily down for a second, it is it is screaming nonstop. 00:04:22.240 --> 00:04:26.879 And and I don't understand how so much air can fit inside such a small package. 00:04:27.040 --> 00:04:33.120 Because she can scream at a volume, okay, and at a at a level that does not make any sense. 00:04:33.279 --> 00:04:41.360 If she can keep this up for the rest of her life and hit the notes that she can hit now as an adult, we're looking at a very lucrative record deal in our future. 00:04:41.439 --> 00:04:47.120 So that's that's good, I guess, but she can just scream and scream, and that's how the last week has been. 00:04:48.000 --> 00:04:51.120 Megan has basically carried her every second of every day. 00:04:51.199 --> 00:04:54.639 And if she she puts her down to get ready in the morning, it's just screaming. 00:04:54.720 --> 00:04:56.399 I can pick her up, but it helps none. 00:04:56.720 --> 00:05:00.079 It actually makes it worse because she doesn't want me, she wants Megan. 00:05:00.319 --> 00:05:05.120 And there are just some times when you cannot physically hold your baby, like when you drive. 00:05:05.360 --> 00:05:09.279 Now, driving can be a relaxing experience, can be enjoyable. 00:05:09.519 --> 00:05:20.639 You can go for a drive, but if you have a baby in the back seat screaming, mama, mama, mama, mama, at the top of our lungs for an hour, it's not so relaxing. 00:05:20.959 --> 00:05:22.720 And that's how this last week has been. 00:05:22.800 --> 00:05:24.959 It's just been a little bit stressful. 00:05:25.279 --> 00:05:29.439 All of us deal with stress, all of us deal with some level of anxiety. 00:05:29.519 --> 00:05:33.759 That's something that Elon talked about a few weeks ago, anxiety and how we deal with that. 00:05:34.000 --> 00:05:40.639 This morning, we're gonna talk about the number one stressor in the lives of Americans. 00:05:40.959 --> 00:05:42.720 Anyone have a clue what it is? 00:05:42.959 --> 00:05:44.319 You can shout it out if you do. 00:05:44.480 --> 00:05:44.800 Anyone? 00:05:45.439 --> 00:05:45.759 Money. 00:05:45.920 --> 00:05:47.120 Wow, you guys are good. 00:05:47.279 --> 00:05:48.560 Okay, so that you're right. 00:05:48.720 --> 00:05:52.000 Money is the number one stressor in the lives of Americans. 00:05:52.079 --> 00:05:54.959 In fact, ABC News released a report this last week. 00:05:55.120 --> 00:06:03.920 And it said that for the eighth year in a row, money has beaten out family relationships, work, and health concerns in terms of stress. 00:06:04.160 --> 00:06:09.040 There are more people in America today worried about money than there are people worried about dying. 00:06:09.199 --> 00:06:10.319 Think about that. 00:06:10.959 --> 00:06:12.399 It's the number one stressor. 00:06:12.560 --> 00:06:21.360 Utah State University did a study that found that money fights, fighting about money is the biggest indicator of divorce in America. 00:06:21.600 --> 00:06:28.720 There are more divorces that happen as a result or greatly aided by fights over money than any other factor. 00:06:28.879 --> 00:06:32.079 Money is a major, major stressor. 00:06:32.639 --> 00:06:36.480 We're gonna talk about that today, about our relationship with our finances. 00:06:36.639 --> 00:06:39.519 Now, let me just say this: this is a disclaimer. 00:06:40.000 --> 00:06:45.439 This is a topic that has been absolutely butchered in church culture for a long, long time. 00:06:45.600 --> 00:06:56.879 People have used verses out of context to get people and manipulate people to give, to abuse money, to spend lavishly on things that aren't really needed. 00:06:57.040 --> 00:06:58.879 Today is not about you giving to his hands. 00:06:58.959 --> 00:07:00.000 That is not what we're talking about. 00:07:00.160 --> 00:07:03.279 We are not announcing a pledge drive, there's no capital campaign. 00:07:03.519 --> 00:07:06.800 If you're new here, we don't even pass a plate, we don't believe in peer pressure. 00:07:07.040 --> 00:07:08.240 That's not what today's about. 00:07:08.319 --> 00:07:10.879 Now, to those of you that do give, I want to thank you. 00:07:11.199 --> 00:07:19.120 I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart and from the bottom of a lot of people's hearts because your generosity is what keeps this place going. 00:07:19.439 --> 00:07:28.639 Your generosity is what allows God to work in the lives of so many people here, these people that got baptized, the thousand people that have been baptized since this church opened. 00:07:29.519 --> 00:07:32.720 It's so much because of your generosity and your giving. 00:07:32.959 --> 00:07:34.319 My wife and I give. 00:07:34.560 --> 00:07:40.639 There's a lot of causes we give to, but I believe that the cause of reaching this world for Jesus is a cause that deserves to be well funded. 00:07:40.720 --> 00:07:46.240 So thank you for giving, and I'd encourage anyone to give, to experience the blessings that come from that. 00:07:46.319 --> 00:07:49.439 But today is not about you giving to this church. 00:07:49.600 --> 00:07:54.959 Today is about us having a right relationship with our finances. 00:07:55.120 --> 00:08:01.439 Today is about us being free from the stress and the worry that comes from money. 00:08:01.759 --> 00:08:09.120 We'll kind of get to this later on, but I want you to know that you were not created to be stressed out about your resources. 00:08:09.920 --> 00:08:17.439 You were not created by God to live in constant worry and anxiety about money. 00:08:18.480 --> 00:08:20.800 God created you for so much more. 00:08:22.000 --> 00:08:32.879 And in Hebrews chapter 11, we get an example of how we can think about money the right way and use it in the right way to please God and to be free from the stress that so often comes with it. 00:08:33.039 --> 00:08:39.919 Hebrews 11:4 says this it was by faith that Abel brought a more acceptable offering to God than Cain. 00:08:40.159 --> 00:08:45.039 Abel's offering gave evidence that he was a righteous man, and God showed his approval of his gifts. 00:08:45.200 --> 00:08:49.440 Although Abel is long dead, he still speaks to us by his example of faith. 00:08:49.519 --> 00:08:55.120 So it was by faith that Abel brought an offering to God that was acceptable. 00:08:55.919 --> 00:09:00.159 If you know this story, the story of Cain and Abel, it's one of the oldest stories in the Bible. 00:09:00.399 --> 00:09:01.120 They're brothers. 00:09:01.279 --> 00:09:07.679 Cain is the older brother, Abel is the little brother, and Abel gives a gift to God that God is pleased with. 00:09:07.840 --> 00:09:11.200 Cain gives a gift to God that God doesn't care for so much. 00:09:11.279 --> 00:09:16.960 And if you've ever been a big brother, you know how hard it is for a little brother to surpass you in any way. 00:09:17.120 --> 00:09:19.200 That is a humbling experience. 00:09:19.679 --> 00:09:25.679 I grew up as both a little brother, I have a brother that's eight years older than me, and a big brother. 00:09:25.840 --> 00:09:28.080 I have a brother that's six years younger. 00:09:28.480 --> 00:09:32.879 And growing up, there was a lot of sibling rivalry, especially with my little brother, because we lived in the same home. 00:09:33.039 --> 00:09:36.480 My older brother didn't really live with us from the time that I was a kid. 00:09:36.720 --> 00:09:42.159 And so uh so my little brother and I would have some intense, intense battles, especially in our driveway. 00:09:42.240 --> 00:09:43.600 We both play basketball. 00:09:43.840 --> 00:09:46.159 And so we'd we'd play one-on-one all the time. 00:09:46.320 --> 00:09:53.600 And uh, and because I'm six years older, whenever I left for college, I think he was in the sixth grade, he didn't do so well in most of those early matchups. 00:09:53.759 --> 00:09:55.679 And some of you might be saying, Oh, are you serious? 00:09:55.759 --> 00:09:58.480 You mean you never let your little brother win? 00:09:58.639 --> 00:10:04.080 And if that's your your question, I just have to say to you clearly, you have not been an older brother. 00:10:04.320 --> 00:10:06.559 Because that is not how things work. 00:10:06.799 --> 00:10:07.039 Right? 00:10:07.200 --> 00:10:09.679 You do not let your little brother win. 00:10:09.759 --> 00:10:18.559 Now, now, yes, you might let them win every once in a while, but you make it perfectly clear that they understand that you let them win. 00:10:19.200 --> 00:10:22.960 But you do not get beaten by your little brother. 00:10:23.519 --> 00:10:26.639 Little brothers, though, have this weird tendency to get bigger. 00:10:26.960 --> 00:10:35.919 And I remember that whenever I left for college and and I stopped playing basketball quite as much, I got married, I got a job, I gained a little bit of weight, and I would come back and I would visit and we would play again. 00:10:36.000 --> 00:10:42.480 And he was older, he was in high school, he was playing all the time, he was in the best shape of his life, our games got much more competitive. 00:10:42.720 --> 00:10:45.039 I'll never forget the first time that he beat me. 00:10:45.200 --> 00:10:46.159 And I mean he won. 00:10:46.320 --> 00:10:49.679 He didn't win because I let him win, he didn't win because I had an off day. 00:10:49.759 --> 00:10:53.919 I played my best, he played his best, and his best was better. 00:10:54.159 --> 00:10:57.360 And that was a jarring moment in my life. 00:10:57.679 --> 00:11:07.679 It went from the little brother doing everything he could to surpass the big brother to the big brother doing everything he could to hold on to the power that was rightfully his. 00:11:08.639 --> 00:11:09.919 Because I was born first. 00:11:10.159 --> 00:11:16.320 But see, that one loss turned into two and then three, and and now if we play one another, I'm happy if two things happen. 00:11:16.480 --> 00:11:17.679 Number one, we split. 00:11:17.919 --> 00:11:19.519 He wins one, I win one, or whatever. 00:11:19.679 --> 00:11:21.519 Number two, I don't get injured. 00:11:21.759 --> 00:11:25.279 If I walk away and I can still walk away, I'm a happy man. 00:11:25.440 --> 00:11:30.960 In fact, now I actually position myself as the underdog if we ever play, because I'm in my 30s and he's in his mid-20s. 00:11:31.120 --> 00:11:32.799 Remember your mid-20s? 00:11:33.039 --> 00:11:34.480 Wasn't that amazing? 00:11:34.799 --> 00:11:36.639 How you'd wake up in the morning and nothing hurt. 00:11:36.720 --> 00:11:37.679 Wasn't that cool, right? 00:11:37.759 --> 00:11:43.440 So he's in his mid-20s, so now if I beat him, I'm like, oh my goodness, you got beat by an old man, right? 00:11:43.679 --> 00:11:47.200 I'm in my 30s, my knee hurts, I had ankle surgery two years ago. 00:11:47.279 --> 00:11:50.240 I cannot believe you got beat by someone as ancient as me. 00:11:50.320 --> 00:11:58.240 And obviously that's a big stretch, but I'll do anything I can to continue having the upper hand when it comes to my little brother. 00:11:58.399 --> 00:12:00.720 I love him, but he's the little brother. 00:12:00.960 --> 00:12:05.200 That is a dynamic that has existed for thousands of years, since the beginning of time. 00:12:05.279 --> 00:12:07.600 It's a dynamic that existed with Cain and Abel. 00:12:07.679 --> 00:12:14.720 And when Abel, the younger brother, surpasses his older brother when it comes to this offering, Cain does not take it very well. 00:12:14.960 --> 00:12:22.559 He is not just humbled, he's not inspired, he's not motivated, he's enraged, he's full of jealousy. 00:12:22.799 --> 00:12:27.840 And if you know the story, it leads him to actually murder his younger brother, Abel. 00:12:28.000 --> 00:12:31.360 And all of it, all of it centers around an offering. 00:12:32.000 --> 00:12:42.320 All of it centers around their understanding of money, of their possessions, of what they had, how they thought about it, how they used it. 00:12:43.120 --> 00:12:45.600 The Bible tells us that Abel was a shepherd. 00:12:45.840 --> 00:12:48.639 So Abel, the younger brother, he raised, he raised livestock. 00:12:48.720 --> 00:12:50.320 Cain, the older brother, was a farmer. 00:12:50.399 --> 00:12:52.000 He cultivated the ground. 00:12:52.320 --> 00:12:58.720 And so Abel brought his version of money, which in that time was not coins, it wasn't paper money, they didn't have that yet. 00:12:58.879 --> 00:13:00.480 It was whatever your possessions were. 00:13:00.559 --> 00:13:03.840 He brought an offering to God, he brought an animal to God. 00:13:05.120 --> 00:13:06.639 And God liked it. 00:13:07.120 --> 00:13:08.960 Cain brought his crops. 00:13:09.200 --> 00:13:14.399 God wasn't such a fan, and you might think, okay, is this like a classic meat versus vegetables kind of ordeal? 00:13:14.639 --> 00:13:17.600 And let's just be honest, if you throw a party, I want to I want to know the truth. 00:13:17.759 --> 00:13:21.039 If you throw a party and people come, who do you like better? 00:13:21.279 --> 00:13:24.399 The person that brings the vegetable tray or the person that brings barbecue? 00:13:24.559 --> 00:13:26.080 Let's just be serious. 00:13:26.879 --> 00:13:29.600 I mean, we don't mind the person that brings the vegetable tray. 00:13:29.679 --> 00:13:32.879 We say, thank you for reminding me at my party how I need to eat better. 00:13:32.960 --> 00:13:34.639 I appreciate that very much. 00:13:34.960 --> 00:13:38.399 But if someone shows up with smoked meat, that's your best friend, right? 00:13:38.720 --> 00:13:39.840 That's your best friend. 00:13:39.919 --> 00:13:43.440 And there are some of us in the room going, no, I actually prefer the vegetable tray. 00:13:43.519 --> 00:13:45.600 And I want to ask you, do you really? 00:13:46.159 --> 00:13:47.679 I mean, honestly. 00:13:49.759 --> 00:13:53.279 It comes with ranch dressing for a reason, okay? 00:13:53.519 --> 00:14:02.080 If you take a piece of cauliflower and you absolutely submerge it in ranch dressing, yes, I guess technically it tastes pretty good, right? 00:14:02.159 --> 00:14:04.399 But you don't need to do that with meat. 00:14:05.440 --> 00:14:14.720 The Bible often says that a good offering to God is a pleasing aroma to God, and I just want to point out that for most of history, that pleasing aroma was the smell of burning meat. 00:14:14.879 --> 00:14:16.720 All right, God seems to like that. 00:14:17.039 --> 00:14:20.000 Maybe that's why, maybe that's why he liked Abel's offering over canes. 00:14:20.320 --> 00:14:23.840 He's a carnivore or something like that, but that doesn't really hold water. 00:14:24.080 --> 00:14:27.120 Okay, first of all, God created everything in Genesis chapter 1. 00:14:27.200 --> 00:14:28.480 He said everything was good. 00:14:28.639 --> 00:14:31.919 The vegetation was good, the meat was good, everything was good, the animals, all of that. 00:14:32.080 --> 00:14:34.159 He doesn't seem to prefer one over the other. 00:14:34.240 --> 00:14:35.919 So what's really going on here? 00:14:37.039 --> 00:14:40.799 We get a picture if we actually go back to Genesis 4, verses 2 through 4. 00:14:40.879 --> 00:14:45.039 It says, When they grew up, Abel became a shepherd while Cain cultivated the ground. 00:14:45.120 --> 00:14:50.000 And when it was time for the harvest, Cain presented some of his crops as a gift to the Lord. 00:14:50.240 --> 00:14:55.039 Abel also brought a gift, the best portions of the firstborn lambs from his flock. 00:14:55.279 --> 00:14:59.759 The Lord accepted Abel and his gift, but he did not accept Cain and his gift. 00:14:59.919 --> 00:15:03.679 And this made Cain very angry and he looked dejected. 00:15:04.240 --> 00:15:08.960 Now we start to get a little bit clearer of a picture of what's really happening. 00:15:09.120 --> 00:15:11.519 We have to read between the lines, but not so much. 00:15:12.559 --> 00:15:16.000 It says that Cain brought some of his crops. 00:15:16.159 --> 00:15:17.840 It doesn't say he brought the worst. 00:15:18.080 --> 00:15:19.840 It doesn't say he brought what he didn't want. 00:15:19.919 --> 00:15:21.120 It just says he brought some. 00:15:21.279 --> 00:15:24.159 He brought a representative sample of what he had. 00:15:24.399 --> 00:15:26.480 But Abel, Abel brought the best. 00:15:27.279 --> 00:15:31.600 He brought the best portions from his firstborn. 00:15:31.840 --> 00:15:37.679 It was the best of the best, and that is what Abel brought and laid at the feet of God. 00:15:39.919 --> 00:15:45.200 Ever had a relationship that you've been in for a while that you just don't appreciate as much as you used to? 00:15:45.440 --> 00:15:49.519 You sometimes take it for granted, and when that happens, you begin to go through the motions a little bit. 00:15:50.879 --> 00:15:53.679 You start to do things in a routine way. 00:15:54.080 --> 00:15:56.879 We had Valentine's Day, just about a week ago. 00:15:57.120 --> 00:15:57.519 Right? 00:15:57.679 --> 00:15:59.919 The very first Valentine's Day I ever had with my wife. 00:16:00.080 --> 00:16:02.559 We were in high school, we weren't even officially dating yet. 00:16:02.720 --> 00:16:06.320 We'd been on one date, but I really liked her and I wanted to seal the deal. 00:16:06.399 --> 00:16:07.360 I wanted to make it official. 00:16:07.440 --> 00:16:11.679 So I wanted to do something on Valentine's Day to make it clear to her how I felt. 00:16:11.919 --> 00:16:15.200 So I got her sister to give me the key to her car. 00:16:15.919 --> 00:16:21.440 And I skipped my first period class and I opened her car and I filled it with roses. 00:16:21.679 --> 00:16:25.360 I wrote a card and then I filled it from floor to ceiling with balloons. 00:16:25.600 --> 00:16:32.240 Red, pink balloons, which in retrospect is not a very good gift because I made a huge mess that she then had to deal with later. 00:16:32.320 --> 00:16:38.399 But but I filled it with balloons, and then I got someone to go tell her teacher that she left her lights on, so her teacher let her out of her class. 00:16:38.639 --> 00:16:42.240 If you can't tell, I had a great appreciation for being in class when I was in school. 00:16:42.480 --> 00:16:44.879 And so she came out of class. 00:16:45.039 --> 00:16:47.200 I'm hiding, I'm somewhere where she can't see me. 00:16:47.279 --> 00:16:54.799 I see her look at her car and she laughs and she runs over to it, she opens it, balloons come out, they're everywhere, she's digging through it, she finds the roses, she finds the card. 00:16:54.879 --> 00:16:57.039 I jump out, I'm like, happy Valentine's Day. 00:16:57.200 --> 00:17:01.519 And uh, and even if it wasn't that great of a gift, it showed some effort, right? 00:17:01.600 --> 00:17:04.240 I had some gumption and she appreciated that. 00:17:04.960 --> 00:17:06.960 This year for Valentine's Day? 00:17:08.240 --> 00:17:12.960 10 years into our marriage, 13 years after that first Valentine's Day, this is what I did. 00:17:13.119 --> 00:17:18.640 A few days before Valentine's Day, I said, Hey, are we doing anything for Valentine's Day? 00:17:19.920 --> 00:17:22.240 You wanna you wanna do anything? 00:17:22.720 --> 00:17:25.680 And she said, No, it's let's just let's just relax. 00:17:25.759 --> 00:17:27.599 And I was like, deal. 00:17:28.319 --> 00:17:30.559 That's that's Valentine's Day. 00:17:30.799 --> 00:17:32.240 Just become a little bit more routine. 00:17:32.319 --> 00:17:36.079 Now, I know when I when I say that I look like the most unromantic man on earth. 00:17:36.319 --> 00:17:38.960 And and I will let you know we did something for Valentine's Day. 00:17:39.039 --> 00:17:49.519 We went to a restaurant with our children and we ruined the meal for everyone else in the restaurant because Lily screamed the entire time, but we've just learned to tune it out. 00:17:49.680 --> 00:17:50.160 All right? 00:17:50.400 --> 00:17:53.680 I'll also say this there's a reason that I'm not teaching the marriage series. 00:17:53.759 --> 00:17:54.480 It's Ken, right? 00:17:54.559 --> 00:17:56.559 So I'm I need to take notes too. 00:17:56.640 --> 00:17:59.359 Uh next year, Megan, I will not go through the motions. 00:17:59.440 --> 00:18:02.240 I'll I'll be that same man I was 13 years ago. 00:18:02.319 --> 00:18:04.000 Uh, I just won't make a big mess in your car. 00:18:04.240 --> 00:18:09.359 So sometimes when we've when we've been in a relationship for a long time, it's just it becomes routine. 00:18:09.440 --> 00:18:10.559 The same passion isn't there. 00:18:10.640 --> 00:18:12.960 And you sort of see that with Cain and Abel. 00:18:13.200 --> 00:18:17.200 I mean, Cain's bringing an offering to God, and he's just sort of going through the motions. 00:18:17.359 --> 00:18:19.599 He's he's giving some to God. 00:18:19.920 --> 00:18:25.599 Abel, though, you see this passion, this excitement to give the best of what he has. 00:18:25.839 --> 00:18:34.960 And in this instance, it's not it's not the actual gifts that are given that God is evaluating, it's their heart. 00:18:36.240 --> 00:18:43.119 Jesus said in in Matthew chapter 6 that wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be. 00:18:43.279 --> 00:18:52.960 Our heart and our soul is so closely tied to how we view and how we use the resources that God has given us. 00:18:53.119 --> 00:19:03.839 Our relationship with money is a massive factor in our relationship with God and our relationship with life. 00:19:04.640 --> 00:19:16.240 And so, how do we have a relationship with our money that pleases God and frees us from the stress and the worry and the fear of not having enough? 00:19:17.359 --> 00:19:19.440 The opposite of faith is fear. 00:19:19.759 --> 00:19:23.759 And so often we live by fear when it comes to money. 00:19:23.839 --> 00:19:25.680 We're afraid that we do not have enough. 00:19:25.839 --> 00:19:37.440 We won't have enough to provide, we won't have enough to be comfortable, we won't have enough to have the lifestyle that we want, we won't have enough to retire one day, we won't have enough to enjoy, we won't have enough to leave to our children so they can waste it. 00:19:37.519 --> 00:19:39.359 We we have all those fears, right? 00:19:39.680 --> 00:19:43.599 We want to have enough, and money is something that we tend to live in with fear. 00:19:43.759 --> 00:19:48.480 We live by fear and not by faith, and so we are overwhelmed with stress. 00:19:50.160 --> 00:19:51.599 How do we be free of that? 00:19:51.759 --> 00:19:54.880 How do we get a relationship with money that works? 00:19:55.519 --> 00:20:01.119 We don't often think about money in terms of relationships, but we do have a relationship with our possessions. 00:20:01.279 --> 00:20:08.960 I'm gonna bet, just as a gambling man, there's at least one guy in this room that refers to a car, a boat, or a motorcycle as she. 00:20:10.240 --> 00:20:11.680 Or a TV or something like that. 00:20:11.759 --> 00:20:15.839 And maybe you say she's a beauty, she's my baby, I love her. 00:20:16.000 --> 00:20:18.559 She doesn't love you, she's a motorcycle, but it's okay. 00:20:18.720 --> 00:20:19.839 Keep keep saying that. 00:20:20.000 --> 00:20:20.640 Keep saying that. 00:20:20.720 --> 00:20:21.359 We think that way. 00:20:21.440 --> 00:20:24.079 That is a way that we actually perceive money. 00:20:24.160 --> 00:20:32.240 We live in a world that tells us all the time, in marketing and in all kinds of different promotions, that money is our friend. 00:20:33.200 --> 00:20:34.640 We just need more money. 00:20:34.880 --> 00:20:36.480 If we have more money, we'll be good. 00:20:36.559 --> 00:20:43.359 In fact, there was a study done of people of different income levels asking them how much more money they needed to be happy. 00:20:43.759 --> 00:20:49.440 And it did not matter how much money someone made, they all had about the same result, the same answer. 00:20:49.519 --> 00:20:52.079 They said, if I made about 10% more, I'd be happy. 00:20:52.240 --> 00:20:56.160 The person that made$30,000 a year said 10% more would make me happy. 00:20:56.319 --> 00:21:00.559 The person that made$300,000 a year said 10% more will make me happy. 00:21:00.640 --> 00:21:02.400 It did not matter what level of income. 00:21:02.640 --> 00:21:06.720 Every single person said, if I had about 10% more, I'd have enough. 00:21:08.559 --> 00:21:12.559 The Bible speaks to this relationship that we tend to have with our finances. 00:21:12.720 --> 00:21:15.680 It speaks to it in 1 Timothy chapter 6. 00:21:16.319 --> 00:21:19.920 Verse 10, it says, For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. 00:21:20.079 --> 00:21:22.160 Now, money is not evil. 00:21:22.880 --> 00:21:26.640 A lot of us are taking Dave Ramsey's FPU, and Dave Ramsey explains it like this. 00:21:26.720 --> 00:21:28.319 He says, Money is amoral. 00:21:28.400 --> 00:21:29.119 It's like a brick. 00:21:29.200 --> 00:21:31.519 You can use it to build a house, you can throw it through a window. 00:21:31.680 --> 00:21:36.640 Money in and of itself is not good or bad, it just depends on who has it and who's using it. 00:21:36.880 --> 00:21:40.960 But the love of money, the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. 00:21:41.039 --> 00:21:47.359 And some people craving money have wandered from the true faith and they've pierced themselves with many sorrows. 00:21:47.440 --> 00:21:50.720 They have hurt themselves because of a love for money. 00:21:50.880 --> 00:21:54.319 In other words, they have a relationship with money, and it's a love relationship. 00:21:54.480 --> 00:21:57.279 They love money, they crave money, and it hurts them. 00:21:58.079 --> 00:21:59.759 Have you ever loved something that did not? 00:22:00.319 --> 00:22:01.279 Love you back. 00:22:01.839 --> 00:22:05.680 You may love your house, but your house does not love you back because it keeps breaking. 00:22:05.839 --> 00:22:07.599 You have to keep fixing things. 00:22:07.920 --> 00:22:11.039 You love it, it doesn't have a reciprocation of your love. 00:22:11.200 --> 00:22:16.480 If you've ever loved a person that didn't love you back, is there anything more devastating than that? 00:22:17.359 --> 00:22:21.200 I'm experiencing that with Lily, my little girl that I talked about earlier. 00:22:21.519 --> 00:22:24.319 See, a few months ago she could not communicate. 00:22:24.640 --> 00:22:28.559 She's learned to communicate, and one of the first things that kids learn to say is, What? 00:22:28.880 --> 00:22:29.200 No. 00:22:29.440 --> 00:22:33.599 Isn't that a great day in the development of your child, the day they say no? 00:22:33.920 --> 00:22:35.920 It's always before the day they say yes. 00:22:36.160 --> 00:22:40.720 And Lily doesn't say the word no, she just nods her head very, very demonstratively. 00:22:41.039 --> 00:22:44.319 See, a few months ago, I'd walk up to her and say, Lily, do you want daddy to pick you up? 00:22:44.400 --> 00:22:48.559 And she would just look at me blankly because she didn't understand what I was saying, and I would pick her up anyway. 00:22:48.640 --> 00:22:50.240 It was a rhetorical question. 00:22:50.480 --> 00:22:54.799 So I would pick her up and I'd kiss her and I'd dance with her and I'd hold her and I'd hug on her. 00:22:55.200 --> 00:22:58.000 Now I'll go to her and say, Lily, you want daddy to pick you up? 00:22:58.079 --> 00:22:58.960 And she'll go. 00:23:00.480 --> 00:23:02.400 And it breaks my heart. 00:23:02.640 --> 00:23:04.799 I pick her up anyway, right? 00:23:05.119 --> 00:23:07.839 And I hold her and I kiss her and she'll push me away sometimes. 00:23:07.920 --> 00:23:09.839 And see, I know what she's doing. 00:23:09.920 --> 00:23:12.319 I know it already at this young age. 00:23:12.480 --> 00:23:14.400 She's using that against me. 00:23:14.720 --> 00:23:17.440 And one day she's gonna use it against me, and it's gonna work. 00:23:17.680 --> 00:23:18.559 I know it's gonna work. 00:23:18.640 --> 00:23:21.440 I've I've already admitted defeat in those ways. 00:23:21.759 --> 00:23:23.680 But see, I want her to love me. 00:23:23.920 --> 00:23:27.039 I want her to respond to my affection. 00:23:27.519 --> 00:23:31.279 There is nothing harder than loving something that does not love us back. 00:23:31.359 --> 00:23:40.400 And I do want to say this some of us have experienced that on a deep level with a parent or a spouse or a child or someone that we should never have that experience with. 00:23:40.559 --> 00:23:43.680 You will never have that experience with Jesus. 00:23:44.319 --> 00:23:46.319 Jesus knows what it's like to be rejected. 00:23:46.400 --> 00:23:50.480 He has loved many who will never love him in return because he loves everyone. 00:23:50.640 --> 00:23:52.319 Not everyone loves him back. 00:23:53.119 --> 00:24:00.960 But there has never been a person that has loved Jesus that has not had that love reciprocated and given back to them tenfold. 00:24:01.920 --> 00:24:09.680 So if this whole concept of loving someone that doesn't love you back, if that cuts you a little deep, that is never going to be your relationship with God. 00:24:10.240 --> 00:24:15.359 Even in the story of Cain and Abel, God does not reject Cain. 00:24:16.079 --> 00:24:18.640 Cain makes this mistake and he gets mad about it. 00:24:18.720 --> 00:24:20.880 God actually goes to Cain afterward and gives him advice. 00:24:21.039 --> 00:24:23.200 He says, Cain, this is what's happening in your heart right now. 00:24:23.359 --> 00:24:25.759 You need to be careful, you need to be on the lookout for sin. 00:24:25.839 --> 00:24:27.359 It's crouching at the door. 00:24:27.680 --> 00:24:28.880 He tells Cain what to do. 00:24:29.039 --> 00:24:30.160 Cain ignores his advice. 00:24:30.240 --> 00:24:34.000 And after Cain kills Abel, Cain is afraid that he's gonna be killed. 00:24:34.319 --> 00:24:35.599 But God protects him. 00:24:35.759 --> 00:24:38.880 And God says, I will make sure that no one ever touches you. 00:24:40.640 --> 00:24:46.480 That God does not reject the people that love God, even when they make horrific mistakes. 00:24:46.720 --> 00:24:48.960 You'll never be rejected by God. 00:24:49.200 --> 00:24:52.559 But there are many things in life that we love that do not love us back. 00:24:52.640 --> 00:24:57.119 If we love money, we are in for some hurt because money does not love us back. 00:24:57.279 --> 00:25:02.400 Money is a bad lover, it is unfaithful, it runs off. 00:25:03.599 --> 00:25:08.079 It goes to people and to things that don't care about it half as much as we do. 00:25:08.160 --> 00:25:10.880 We work hard to have it and then it just runs away. 00:25:11.279 --> 00:25:12.480 It's gone. 00:25:13.119 --> 00:25:18.240 And so if we love money, we're gonna experience the exact thing that 1 Timothy 6 says. 00:25:18.319 --> 00:25:22.160 We will experience sorrow because our money will never love us back. 00:25:22.319 --> 00:25:27.839 The relationship that we have with money, it is not meant to be a lover relationship. 00:25:28.960 --> 00:25:32.640 Jesus actually tells us what the relationship is really supposed to be. 00:25:32.960 --> 00:25:34.960 He hints at it in Matthew 6, 24. 00:25:35.119 --> 00:25:41.279 He says, No one can serve two masters, for you will hate one and love the other, you'll be devoted to one and despise the other. 00:25:41.440 --> 00:25:43.599 You cannot serve both God and money. 00:25:43.759 --> 00:25:44.480 So here we go. 00:25:44.640 --> 00:25:46.319 Now we're getting somewhere. 00:25:46.640 --> 00:25:51.359 The relationship that we have with money, it is a servant master relationship. 00:25:51.680 --> 00:25:55.200 The only question is who's the servant and who's the master. 00:25:55.920 --> 00:26:07.279 Either money will be our master, or we will learn to master money and to master what we have and to use it in a way that pleases God and blesses us and blesses other people. 00:26:08.000 --> 00:26:10.799 But it is a servant-master relationship. 00:26:10.880 --> 00:26:14.880 And if we're gonna be honest with ourselves, and as God's people, we've got to be honest with ourselves. 00:26:14.960 --> 00:26:18.079 If we're gonna grow by faith, we have to be honest. 00:26:18.559 --> 00:26:20.559 And I'm speaking to myself. 00:26:21.039 --> 00:26:32.720 If I have fear, worry, and anxiety about money, and if I have that with somewhat frequency, it means that money has at least some degree of mastery over me. 00:26:34.240 --> 00:26:46.640 Whether we like to admit it or not, if we spend time worrying about money, fearful of money, stressing out about money, it means that money has some level of mastery over our hearts. 00:26:47.599 --> 00:26:49.440