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Morning. I uh wanted to just start this morning by uh saying a couple things on the on the front end. Uh first off, welcome. Glad you're here. My name's Nick, and I'm one of the pastors here at Point, and uh really thankful for the opportunity to preach uh God's Word this morning. Um we try to really have a very honest, open, uh, real environment here because you you don't need um performances, you don't need facades, you need like honesty, you need like realness, you need like how does God actually uh work in our lives? Um you know, you don't need just slick teaching and and and uh good productions. You need the Spirit of God to change you. You know, I I need the Spirit of God to change me. And and we truly pray that this this space, this this community of people called Point Community Church, this family of believers, like we we don't have to, you know, put on any fronts for each other other, we don't have to wear masks. And so I just want to tell you that as you guys kind of are along for the journey uh with us as leaders, um, you get to see the ups and the downs and the and the the ins and the outs of life that we're going through. And and so I want to be fully disclosed this morning that I come with a little bit of a heavy heart this morning. Um I won't get into specifics of why, other than just simply to say that I really have over over through the night last night really felt the weight of the sin and the world in which we live. And sometimes that just is very heavy. Like it almost overwhelms me. It's not that um it's not that I believe that the enemy's gonna win, because I've read the end of the story, okay? I I know Jesus is gonna win. I know that one day heaven is coming, and I know that he's gonna fix all the brokenness. But right now we live in this place, in this time, in this season uh uh of life and creation where sin is still rampant and it's destroying people's lives. And and I see that and I feel that. And I speak that to you this morning just to simply say, my heart, uh, you know, whether I feel uh excited or passionate or whether I feel uh kind of struggling with that, I still get to preach. I still still preaching. Uh but I want you to know, like, um I don't want to have any kind of plastic front, like that I'm not impacted or affected by the life that's around me. Like, I I have struggles in my daily life with my own depravity and with the depravity of others, and I just feel the weight of sin in our world today. And so I guess what I'm trying to communicate in that is that uh I want to be fully disclosed in that, and I'm really asking you to pray for me that I would just speak clearly from God's word, despite how I feel right now in my heart about just the emotions of sin and struggle. And for some of you, maybe you're like you don't even get that. Maybe that's not even like something you're thinking through or processing, but it's just where I am this morning, honestly. Um and so I would ask you to pray for me as I as I preach God's word and ask that we would hear from him. Um on a lighter note, last night I was in this room and uh we had a quinceera, um, and it was the first time I've ever been in one. Uh so I'm a little sleepy. Um let me just say uh I found out when my mom and dad were here uh about a week and a half ago, two weeks ago, that uh that I have Mexican in my background and that I'm a Mexican, part Mexican. And so I guess I was getting in touch with that last night. And let me just tell you, Mexicans know how to party. Um But uh this room looked a little different than it does right now. Uh but I I I've been thankful that we are we're in this room today and we are celebrating Christ, and and uh despite the tiredness and despite the heaviness of heart I have about sin right now, I'm really grateful for the opportunity to be with you. And so I just want to pause and ask God to speak to us during this time. Let's do that. Father, I thank you so much for your grace and your mercy and your kindness, and I thank you that you're not overwhelmed by sin uh because you, uh Jesus, went to the cross to pay the price for that sin, and that you ultimately defeated sin and death through your death and your resurrection. And so we just proclaim that this morning. We find hope in that this morning. We rest in that this morning. We find health and healing and wholeness in the person and work of Jesus. And so I just thank you for that. And I pray that you would speak to us this morning during our conversation as we look at your word and we ask you to teach us and we ask you to grow us up in you. We pray it's all in your strong and holy and powerful name. Amen. Um, we have been teaching through the book of 1 Corinthians, and uh I mentioned when we started the book of 1 Corinthians that we actually made that decision uh about a year ago, but we're always very open-handed, and I say we, as in the elders and pastors, we're always very open uh to God and what he might want us to teach. Even if we have a plan, we realize that you know God directs our steps and he sometimes leads us a little bit different way, and and so we always want to be open-handed as we pray through uh what God wants us to do, to lead the church, because our job as spiritual leaders, as church leaders, is to disciple the people that come and call Point Community Church their home. I mean, we're responsible. I'm gonna stand before God one day and say, God's gonna say, What'd you do with the church that I entrusted you with? And I and I want to be a faithful steward of that, okay? Um and so as we've been praying for for you as a church family, as we've been talking through some of that, uh, we really felt this sense that we needed to address the issue of stewardship. And and and part of that came uh when we were back on our retreat in January. We were looking at uh some of the survey that we took, and and and we asked you guys some questions, kind of tell us a little bit about where you are spiritually and and in terms of uh your personal walk with God. Um and we noticed some different things like in the area of people serving or in the area of people giving financially that uh that we've got some growing to do, just to be real honest. We've got some growing to do. Um and that culturally we've we live in a world where um there's a number of things going on when it comes to this issue of stewardship, and one in particular with money, is that uh we live in a world where we're very materialistic and and we uh we have a lot of signs of struggle with this, like a lot of debt. Uh you guys probably are aware of that. Maybe you are feeling that even this morning, this debt that's weighing on you, uh, this drive, this overworking, so that we can attain uh a particular level of income because we feel like if we could get to a certain level, then we would be happy, we'd be filled with peace. And so we would like literally we'll uh rob God. I know that sounds strong language, but that's what the Bible would say, is that we literally would rob God of what he deserves because we're really trying to find our worth, our identity, our happiness in stuff. And so we we aren't good stewards of it. We cling to it, we hold on to it, and we're gonna talk about that a little bit today. But I want you to know that um when we talk about stewardship, we aren't talking about money and stewardship so that uh we can get your money. Okay? I just want to go ahead and say that on the front end. Um in fact, I I would go so far as to say, we've said this before in this room, uh, God doesn't want your money or need your money. Um He's He owns everything, right? And so He doesn't want or need that. What He wants is our hearts, He wants our worship because that's what we were created for. And so uh even as I say money or I say, you know, in church, as soon as I say that, uh, there's some people that just tighten up. Oh no, came on the wrong Sunday. Um and so I I'm just gonna be honest about that, right? Like it just is there's a tension that's there. And part of that, I I want to be honest with you guys too, in this. I I realize some of you have grown up in church settings or have been in church settings where you saw misuse and abuse of money. Uh you saw people try to manipulate to get your money, uh, to control using money. They would say spiritual things, but like try to like jab you to say like to guilt you into giving so that that church or that ministry could go forward. And and that's just wrong. I mean, it's ungodly, it's unbiblical. And and even the Apostle Paul, who really um had strong words about money, he always appealed to the grace of God, to the gospel uh message to be this the motivation for giving. Okay? And so that's our approach, is that um I want you to know that just on the front end, uh, we've had the best giving in the history of Point Community Church over the last four weeks. The best financial giving in the last four weeks we've ever had in the history of the church. So this is a perfect time to talk about stewardship because we're not standing up here saying, oh, we're gonna shut the door, we're gonna close off the lights, we don't have any bills. Like, God is providing. But this is actually a discipleship issue. I don't know if you guys realize this or not, but in the Bible, there's around 2,000 verses that have something to do with money. Any idea how many have to do with prayer? About 500. Any idea about faith? A little less than 500. Now, I'm not saying that prayer is not important, okay? What I'm telling you though is that there's an interesting indicator in scripture that money's talked about a lot, and it's for a reason. Why? Because I would say, as I've heard multiple times, that money is the chief competitor for our hearts worship. With God. It's the chief competitor with God for our hearts' worship, okay? And so I think money is a big deal. And I'm actually not going to talk a whole lot about money today. I want to frame up the next couple weeks and talk about stewardship as a whole because it's a lot bigger than money. It's actually about a view of life and how we are stewards of something much greater than just the money that happens to be in our bank account or will be in our bank account in the coming days. So I want to start us off by saying that we really want to see every person in this room become a mature believer in Christ, a fully devoted follower of Jesus Christ. And all of us are at different places, and that's okay. Because some of you are farther along the path of obedience and trust in God with different areas of your life. And some of you, you know, you you just started this thing, and so you're like brand new to it, and you're figuring it out. Okay. So don't check out if you feel like it's hard. Don't feel don't check out if you feel like we're saying things that you're like, I can't do that. Just say, God, what's my next step? What do you want me to do? How do you want me to obey you in the next step? And we're going to come back to that later on. I think a great verse, that's really a great uh thought on this idea of stewardship comes from 1 Peter chapter 4, verse 10. And here's what it says in 1 Peter 4 10. It says, based on the gift each one has received, use it to serve others as good managers of the varied grace of God. Okay, let me read that one more time. Based on the gift each one has received, use it to serve others as good managers of the varied grace of God. Now, I'll be honest, I've never heard this particular verse used to be to teach on money or stewardship of money. But I think it's appropriate because he talks about based on the gift each one was received, and there's a lot of gifts we've received. And we're going to talk about some of those. But notice that last phrase. That we would be good managers of the varied grace of God. We'd be good managers of that. Now, have any of you guys ever been in management? Anybody ever manage something? Uh, a manager, a definition just for you, for a working definition over the next few weeks, is this a manager is someone entrusted with responsibility for something that belongs to someone else. Okay? A manager is someone entrusted with responsibility for something that belongs to someone else. Um, go back to elementary school. Uh everybody had the desired position that when the teacher had to go down to the workroom for a second to grab something, they wanted to be the kid that got to be the teacher for the moment and got to write the names on the board. So they were the manager of that authority in that moment. Anybody did that? And some of you guys were like, just listen, everybody in your class, you know, you're gonna get them all in trouble, right? You just were the revel, you love that position of authority. You're managing that authority. Um, in our lives, there's there's opportunities we have to manage. And if you've ever been a part of any organization, um you've probably either been managed or you've managed people, right? And it's and so you managed uh uh a role and a responsibility, you managed the task that had to be done. Uh that's part of uh of being in that that role and being in an organization that's functioning well is good management, uh good stewardship, if you will. And so uh there's some of you in this room who've had that personal experience, but all of us at some level have been entrusted with responsibility of something that belongs to someone else. And we're gonna make that case that even if it's not in a business setting or uh maybe in the traditional kind of thought of management, that's how God sees us. In fact, did you notice the word that Peter used? He used this word manager. Uh, another word that's used a lot in church is steward. You're a steward of that. But you're managing God's household to administrate what has been given to you, what's been entrusted to you. But what are we managing? Well, we're managing God's grace. And just so that we're all on the same page here, what do we mean by God's grace? Okay? Uh a traditional definition that's from the theological world is this unmerited favor. I want to use a little bit different twist to that and just say unearned blessing. Okay? We're saying basically the same thing, but just a fresh language on it, that God's grace is unearned blessing. Because the truth of the matter is, is that our whole faith as Christians is based on grace. It's based around God giving us something we don't deserve, that we couldn't earn. Uh, there are people, maybe even you in this room, feel like at times, that uh you have an expectation that if you do these things for God, then God owes you something. Now that that gets in can get into entitlement, but it's this idea that somehow we can earn God's favor, we can earn God's blessing. So people say things like, well, you know, if I put money in an offering plate, then God's gonna fill my bank account. Okay? That's not biblical, all right? Uh if I if I am faithful to do this, God, then you have to do this. And so we put these conditions on it, but we think somehow we can earn God's favor, we can earn God's, and for some, even it goes to the degree we can earn salvation. That if I'm good enough, if I, you know, am I a good dad, if I'm a good husband, if I'm a good worker, then man, surely I deserve to go to heaven when I die. But the problem, of course, with that is that's not what the Bible teaches, first off, and and that all of us have offended God in sin, and one sin is reason enough for God to say no. Because it costs Jesus Christ his very life to pay for the penalty of that sin, right? It's offensive to God, and that's a whole another piece of this puzzle that we'll talk about in just a minute. But God's grace is this unearned blessing. And I hope you know this, but God is a God of blessing. God is a God who loves, loves, loves, loves to bless people. I mean, some of you, your picture of God is not that. Some of you, your picture of God is that God is angry at you, that he is just mad, and then he's up there waiting for you to screw up and blow it so he can smash you with a hammer, right? Some of you have that picture of God. Maybe that's what you were taught when you were growing up. That God is just waiting for you to blow it so he can say, forget it, you aren't saved now. You're not going to heaven now. Uh, some of you have that picture of God, but the picture the Bible gives us is a God of grace, a God of redemption, a God who is merciful. He is slow to anger, abounding in love, rich in compassion. Like that's God. He's a God of blessing. And he wants to give us us blessings. Now, God is also a God of discipline, though. So he's not a God who's just up there, you know, as this big uh, you know, uh genie in the sky who says, just get throw throw your wishes up and I'll grant them, right? Or he's not Santa Claus saying, hey, just tell me what you want for Christmas and I'll deliver. That's not God either. But he is a God who wants to bless his children. And the cool thing is, is he actually knows what will ultimately bless us, what's actually good for us. And so God has gifted us with so many things out of this. Uh, what is the the question is, what is God gifted us with? I want to move relatively quick through this, but as I said, this is framing up the next couple of weeks together. But think about this. What have we been gifted with? What are the grace gifts that God has entrusted to us? Well, let's look at Genesis 1.26, the very first chapter of the Bible, all the way back in Genesis. God, it's the it's the story of creation. God is creating. And it says this in verse 26 of Genesis 1. Then God said, Let us make man in our image. Now, just a word here. Notice he says, Let us make man in our image. Is God got multiple personality disorder? No. This is God the Trinity. Okay? Father, Son, Holy Spirit, here in creation. If you want to know where we get this idea of Trinity, it starts all the way back in the very beginning of the Bible. And God says, Let us make man in our image. So, Father, Son, Holy Spirit there, making man in our image, according to our likeness. That's huge, guys. That's huge. That he would say he wants to make man to be like him. And not to be God, but to have an image that is like God's. And again, there's more than we can possibly unpack in that this morning. They will rule the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, the livestock, all the earth, and the creatures that crawl on the earth. So God created man in his own image. He said, Let's do it, and so he did it, right? He created him in the image of God. He created them male and female, distinction between male and female, right? That was God's thing. God created people that way. God blessed them, and God said to them, Be fruitful and multiply. I think my wife and I are doing a good job on that one. Fill the earth. If you don't know, we have six kiddos, and man, anyway, it's awesome. And so, fill the earth and subdue it. Rule the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, and every creature that crawls on the earth. Did you hear that? So, first thing you notice, and it says this again in the Genesis 2 account, is that the first gift that we are entrusted with is life itself. The fact that we are sitting here today, breathing air, that our hearts are beating, is a grace gift from God. Do you know how many times I just take that for granted? I'm guessing if you're like me, you do that as well. The fact that we actually are alive is a gift from our Creator. That He chose, when it says in that text in Genesis 2, that He formed this dust together and He breathed life into the nostrils of that man. That was a grace gift. He even established humanity and gave us the opportunity to be alive. Now, I'll be honest, there's days, and I and I said I came in this morning with a heavy heart, there's days where I'm like, okay, God, you knew we were gonna be like this. You knew we were gonna sin, you knew we were gonna rebel, you knew we were gonna reject you, you knew it was gonna be painful, and yet you still chose to make us. And not because you were needy, not because you were like lonely, but just because you wanted objects to love. And there's a mystery in all that that we don't even know fully what God was thinking when he created mankind, but we do know that we were created for his glory, and we know that he created us out of his grace. So the fact that you're even sitting here today with a heartbeat, a pulse, and that you're able to breathe air and you're able to see what's going around, and you're able to participate in this worship gathering, you're able to learn, and then use that brain, and all these that that life is a grace gift from the creator God. And if we don't start there, everything else is out of whack. In fact, I would argue that the most important words in all of Scripture, this is gonna sound really weird crazy, that in the beginning with God. That it starts with God, that the whole Bible, that the whole faith is about God, and we happen to be along for the ride, and that God has gifted us in his graciousness, in his greatness, in his awesomeness, this life so that we might know him and worship him. Now, when you you don't believe that, the the fallout from that is is limitless in terms of what sin will do. And and I want to move on because of that, because we're gonna get to the point where we see not only did God give us life, but he also gave us creation. He gave us creation. Um I I kind of like the Genesis 2 account uh because it's funny, but we just read it from Genesis 1, it's pretty succinct here, where he notices that man is alone, and then he creates animals for them, for him. I should say Adam, Adam first man. So he starts creating animals and giving them an opportunity to name them. So, women, uh, it's an interesting thought, but whenever Adam first was alone, he gets some animals to play with. And he's like, Nope, not gonna do it, you know? It's still feeling it. So God then creates Eve, and again, God's wise and he knows what he's doing, obviously. He knew he was gonna do this, but he creates Eve and he gives him a helpmate, but God gives man rule and reign over creation. And by the way, this is for all people. Any person who is a human being, we've been given life, and we've been given the opportunity to uh rule and reign over creation. And that means that we're stewards of it. That means that we are managers of creation. Did you notice what he said? He says, God bless them, and he says, Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, and subdue it. Rule the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, and every creature that crawls on the earth. Take care of it, nurture it. Create a space where this is this beautiful garden I put you in. Uh just just nurture that garden, right? Enjoy what I've given you. You're in charge of it. A responsibility. You've got a role. You're manager of what I ultimately created and owned. And so we've been given creation and all the things that come with that, right? All the things that are produced as a result of creation. We've been given as a management. And we would say that if you go on in life and you think about it, that now all the things that we have, all the things that we have in terms of material possessions, and all those things kind of fall under the fact that those came as a gift under the creation and what's been developed, what's been cultivated by humanity from what God gave us. And so now we've got all these things that we get to steward that are grace gifts from God. And so God's entrusted us with these things. Now, those two things, every person, whether you're a Christian or not a Christian, that's called common grace, right? You've been entrusted with those things. However, if you are a believer in Christ, and I realize probably not every person in this room is, but if you're if you're a believer in Jesus Christ and you've accepted Christ and you're a child of God, there's some other things that you get to manage. There's some other grace gifts that you've received that you are now a steward of. The first one, not surprised here, is not only that we've been given life, but we've been given new life, right? We've been given salvation. So in 1 Corinthians 4, last week we read through 1 Corinthians 4, but we skipped over this section of it, it's in the very first of it. And Paul is talking to them, and he says this. He says, A person should consider us in this way, as servants of Christ and what? Managers of God's mysteries. What's God's mysteries? God's mysteries are that before the foundation of the world was laid, he had a plan in motion to redeem mankind, to redeem humanity, to save us. This mystery that God would send his son to take on flesh, to live a sinless life, and to die a suffering, horrific death on the cross to save humanity, and to come out of the grave, resurrected, and to live and to reign and to one day call us to reign with him, to come back and restore all that is broken. So what am I saying? I'm saying that Paul is acknowledging the fact that he's a manager of this mystery, a manager of this salvation that he's received. And you and I are as well. If you're a Christ's follower, if you're a believer, you are a manager of the salvation that we have received in Christ. But what's cool is that our salvation is not just for us, it's also so that we might take this salvation, this gift of salvation, and we might distribute it to others. So we've also been given, and Paul's alluding to it here, the management of God's mission. Remember what he said way back in Genesis? Be fruitful and multiply. Jesus said, go and make disciples, multiply disciples. So now we're managers of God's mission. We're managers of this work of helping other people know the grace and the mercy and the awesomeness of Christ. And some of you are like, man, I don't really feel like that's a gift. I feel like that's a, oh, I get nervous. I get, I don't know if I want to be a part of that. No, it is a gift. It is a privilege to declare the goodness of Christ, the redemption of Christ, the redeeming work that He's done on our behalf. It is a gift for us. And so we have been given a life. We have been given creation as human beings. But as a Christfaller, we've been given salvation and we've been given a mission, a task, which means that our hobbies and our work and our relationships and everything that we do is now filled up with a bigger meaning and a bigger purpose than just simply our own satisfaction, our own good, our own glory. It's been filled up with God's glory and God's purpose and God's agenda. Now, before we move on, um, last night we were at our house and uh I thought it's always funny how God gives me these little pictures, literally the week that I'm you know preaching, and probably because I'm thinking about it. But we were at the house and uh we were about to put the kids to bed, and I did the dad thing because the kids are about to go to bed. I think they've all gone in there and they've gone to bed, and I'd bust out some uh some snack bars at our house. And my wife, she's always like, Let the kids get down for bed before you bust out the snack bars, because then they all are like, oh, snack bars, yeah, yeah, yeah. We're gonna have a big party, right? Everybody's snack bar party. Um, so my daughter walks in and she's like, What are you doing, Dad? And I'm like, I'm I'm having a snack bar. She's like, Those are ours. And I, man, it was like, who bought these? Well, mama got them for us for school. Who bought these? And I'm like, I paid that for those things, and I'm gonna eat them because I'm the dad. That's what dads do. We wait for you to go to bed and then we eat the good stuff. This is how it works. And she's like, Well, those are ours. I said, Well, you can go to bed. Now, I tell you that because here's the deal. We live so much of our lives like that, right? We look at God and we say, It's ours. God's like, Yeah, where'd you get that? You know, it's it's a simple picture, but it's so true. And I want to take the edge off in the moment because this is an intense reality that we live as if we are in charge, as if we're the owners, as if somehow we originated all the blessings that we have, as if somehow it's all been us. But here's the question: even if you've been making a lot of money and you have a nice house and you have nice cars and you have food, who gave you your breath? Who put that heart in your chest? Did you choose to be born? Did I choose to be born into a place where I can see the beauty and the awesomeness of God and the cultivation of humanity produce all these great things? I would argue that many times it's the very gifts of God that we again turn into idols that become the distraction from us worshiping Him holy, fully. And so when it comes to stewardship, we think it's mine. God, this is mine. Don't mess with my stuff. And God says to us, I want to bless you. But you gotta remember whose it really is and what it's really for. Remember what 1 Peter 4.10 said based on the gift each one has received, use it to what? Serve others as good managers of the varied grace of God. Now, one one note here. I want you to understand, God, God is not trying to say that every Christian needs to be poor and broke and not have anything. That's that's called a poverty gospel. That that's a backwards way of thinking. And there are some people who literally would preach, you know, that if you have money or if you have stuff that you are not godly. I know some really wealthy people who are very godly and they're committed to the kingdom of God, okay? So it's not about how much the money you have. The question is, how much does your money have you? The question is, how much does your stuff own your heart? What do you worship? Are you using what you have for the kingdom of God to serve others, or have you hoarded it and you're controlling it and you're saying it's mine? But we are managers of these great, great gifts. So the question is, is how did we move to that point? How did it go from Adam and Eve in the garden, given this beautiful place to live, this paradise, to going now all of a sudden, uh, no, it's ours, God. Get back. Like my kids with their French fries that I buy them. Well, let's read from Genesis chapter 3. Here's what it says in Genesis chapter 3. Verse 1. Now the serpent was most cunning of all the wild animals that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, Did God really say you can't eat from any tree in the garden? Liar, right? Deceiver. The woman said to the serpent, We may eat the fruit from the trees in the garden, but about the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden, God said, You must not eat it or touch it, or you will die. Again, she's added to what God said, but No, you will not die, the serpent said to the woman. In fact, God knows that when you eat it, your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil. Half truth. Then the woman saw that the tree was good for food and delightful to look at, and that it was desirable for obtaining wisdom. So that she took some of its fruit and ate it. She also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate it, because he wasn't leading, he was sitting there passively by as she stepped out and did that. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew they were naked, so they sewed fig leaves together and made loincloths for themselves. Now, again, it's too way too much in that passage to unpack together this morning, but simply I would say that Adam and Eve were deceived into thinking that they needed more than what God had already given them. That they needed more than what God had already given them. God had given them so many blessings, and one small rule. Don't eat from one tree. And the serpent comes in and deceives them, and they are in this position now of rebellion to God. And of course, the moment they eat, what happens? Shame, guilt, fear. They run and hide, they put it on fig leaves, and we've been doing the same thing ever since hiding from God, trying to find ways to feel better about our sin or to not really let him see what's going on. But it's silly because he can totally see it, right? And so, how did they move away from that? Well, they just stopped remembering that God had already blessed them with everything that they needed. They didn't need anything else. And they started to say, well, oh, well, that would be nice to add. Yeah, I can I need that too. And they bought the lie, and ever since humanity has been doing the same thing. You and I have been doing the same thing. In our world today, we we say, you know, I want you, Jesus, but I also want that. And I just need that, and I need that, and I need that. And so we pretty soon are no longer thanking God and being good stewards with what he's given us so that other people can know his grace, but we're we're hoarding and we're consuming, and we're we're we're so convinced that we're gonna find life in this stuff. And God's gifts, God's grace gifts, become idols to our lives. So, how do we actually get back to a true understanding of being managers of God's gifts? How do we actually get back to a true understanding? Um, this is a big question, but I'm gonna try to keep it really simple. Can we do that? It's really simple. And and the first one makes me really uncomfortable. The first one is this invite God to show us where we really are with stuff. Like, where is our heart really? Um David prays a prayer in the Psalms, and it's a scary prayer. Uh, it's actually a very challenging prayer. He says this, he says, Search me, O God, and know my heart. Test me and know my thoughts. Um, when he prays that prayer, I think David is very genuine in that moment saying, God, I want to know if there's any area where my heart does not align with your heart, my thinking does not align with your thinking. God, would you expose that? Have you ever prayed that prayer, guys? You've got to fasten your seatbelt. Because God loves us enough that He will show us what we worship. And I've already said this, but I hope you know this. Um, money, how you spend your money, is one of the best indicators of what you actually worship. Time, money, two big indicators. When I was growing up, they always said your calendar and your checkbook. I try not to use checks, but your bank account. But you look at that and you say, that's what you really worship with your life. And when you really pull back the curtain of your heart and you say, God, would you show me by your spirit? What do I where am I really on this? Am I really stingy? Am I really um controlling? Am I really saying it's not your stuff, God, it's my stuff. It's not your gift, it's it's my stuff that I'm gonna control and that I'm gonna do with it what I want to do. I'm gonna make myself happy. I'm gonna make myself um content with this stuff, which by the way, you all know that doesn't work, right? Because you always want a little bit more, and a little bit more, and a little bit more. But the bottom line is that when we open our hearts to God, he's gonna point some stuff out, and only you, only you know. I'm not the Holy Spirit, by the way. I hope you all know that. Uh we say it's fairly often that uh there's a Trinity and He's doing really good without us. Okay? Father, Son, Holy Spirit doesn't need us. But the Holy Spirit will reveal to us where our hearts are in this issue. And when he does, the second thing we need to do is humbly acknowledge it. Just say, God, I agree. The first section is conviction, the second section is confession. God, I agree with you. You are right, you are so right that I worship stuff. And that rather than seeing myself as a manager of it, I see myself as an owner of it, and I've made it all about me. And that's resulting in stress and anxiety and worry and overwork and all these things that are a byproduct of me seeing myself as in the one in charge, in the one in control. And so I say this this morning because God wants you to be free, but you will never get free until you humble yourself and acknowledge and admit this is a problem. And again, some of you may be doing really well at this. Some of you may be going, man, I'm not doing well at this at all. I don't know. But I know that God knows. And I know that God sees and that God wants you to be free. And I said this on the front end, I'll say it again. What's your next step towards freedom and stewardship, in managing what God has given you? The third thing is this. Once you humbly acknowledge it, we need God's help. Ask God for a true understanding of reality, that He is in charge, that He is in control, that it's His stuff. Now, everything that I've said, in particular this last thing, this, you know, understanding a true reality, that He's in charge, He's in control. I mean, that is completely contradictory to the culture around us, right? I mean, that's completely contradictory to the way the world would see things. I mean, we're we're a pull yourself up by your bootstraps, uh, you know, you know, you do it, you earn a lot of money, and then you you reap the benefits of that and you enjoy the rewards of that. And God's not down on us cultivating and making money. I already said that. What he's concerned about is again, what has a hold on our hearts? What do we worship? What are we really committed to? What are we living for? And I don't know about you. I mean, I can look around and we I'm sure a lot of us look very similar in terms of how we do life, and because we're Americans, there's a particular way we live and the way we act, but um, you know, does this have a hold on us? We need God's help. We need God to give us the strength and the capacity to begin to live in light of the real of reality. So maybe you're sitting here as we close out and and you're thinking, that's great and all, Nick, but uh why should I even want to get on God's page on this? I mean, I'm doing okay. Um you know, I don't think I'm too stingy. I I think I give a little bit here and there. Um I don't think my stuff really has a grip on my heart. Uh but why should I why should I even care? Well, first off, I would just say to you, God's way is better. God's way is better. That's just as simple as it gets in one sense that God's way is better. God knows. And he knows that uh when our hearts are attached to stuff and our hearts are bent towards we are not not just stewards, but we're owners, that like it robs us of joy. It robs us of peace. It makes us freaked out, stressed out people. Just look at America. We've got more than anybody on the whole planet, and we're the most stressed-out, anxious, overworked people because we feel like we've got to have more. We're always doing it. Why? Because it's a carrot that's out there, and our hearts will never be satisfied with stuff. We weren't made for this stuff. This stuff is a blessing to be used by God, but it's not gonna, it's not gonna satisfy us. In fact, all idols in our lives, you know this, but will rob us. It will steal from you, it will take from you, and actually, actually, if given long enough, an idol will kill you. That's what it does. And so, what are you worshiping and what is it doing to you? Because God's way is better. He wants you to be free. God wants you to experience fullness of life. John 10 says it this way: the enemy comes to steal, kill, and destroy. But I have come to give you life. God gives us life. And I would say that really is a segue to God's grace is better. God's grace is so much better. God's grace gifts and seeing it is so much better than what we think we can get in this world. Now, I want to be completely honest with you guys. I am not exempt from this struggle. And I even had a conversation with our oldest daughter a couple days ago where uh I was just confessing my own sin. Uh, some of you guys know that we um last summer bought a house and we fixed it up, and uh it's been a cool process, but it's been a very consuming process. And I was just I was convicted by the Spirit of God that I've idolized it in some ways, that I've I've spent time and energy and effort on that that was idolizing it, and that was making it too important, and that it was sacrificing things that were most important for something that was good, and God wants us to have houses, and He wants us to have cute houses, right? Right, okay, right, Mel? All right, so God wants us to have these things uh and bless us, but you know what, God, He wants us to worship Him, and He wants our hearts to be free. But I I just had to confess that sin to my daughter, my oldest daughter, that like I've let this thing be an idol to me at times, and I've worshipped something that's not of God. And listen, there's something freeing in just confessing and getting honest with that and saying, God, you know, like sometimes I just don't steward well, sometimes I don't manage it well, and sometimes I try to be in charge and try to be in control. And God is so gracious, He meets us because God resists the proud, but he gives grace to the humble. And so I want us to experience that, that grace, that mercy is better. But let me give you a scripture that really speaks to this that I think is so powerful. And I want you to hear this. I'm gonna move slowly through it, but I want you to hear this. 1 Peter chapter 1 says this Praise the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, according to his great mercy, he has given us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that is imperishable, uncorrupted, and unfading, kept in heaven for you. You know what really matters? You know what really is gonna satisfy? What God has for us. His inheritance that is imperishable, it's uncorrupted, it's unfading. We're gonna talk about this next week. Kept in heaven for you. He's protecting it by his own power through faith for a salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. What really should grip our hearts, what really should control our conversations, our relationships, our finances, how we do life should be the grace of God. And I would just call you to consider the beauty of Christ and what he's done. You see, the gospel does not say you guys are really bad stewards, so you need to do it better. Uh, Nick, you really stink at this. Here's another chance. Try again. The gospel doesn't say that. The gospel says that we would never be perfect stewards, but that Jesus Christ was a perfect steward. That Jesus Christ managed the grace that he was given. He managed his life perfectly, and he went to a cross. Even though he didn't deserve it, he went to a cross, he was treated like he managed life like we do, so that we could then have eternal life and we could be clothed in righteousness. We could be made free, we could be made holy, we could be made pure. We could be free to actually manage God's stuff in a way that honors him and blesses him. You guys ever heard of this acronym of grace? It's really helpful to me when I try to think about what is grace. God's riches at Christ's expense. It's a great way to remember what grace is. It's God's riches at Christ's expense. As I said a while ago and earlier in the sermon, we can't earn God's favor or his blessing, but Christ has purchased it for us. He paid a price for us. In fact, the way Corinthians says it, it says that literally, he became poor so that we might become rich. Jesus Christ emptied himself and became nothing, became a slave, became poor so that we might become rich. Not in material possessions, but in what really matters and what really will last. My guess is that some of you today are sitting here, and if you were really honest with yourself, you've had a lot of stress about money. I mean, just I know my own world. Uh conversations about are we gonna have enough? How are we gonna make it? How are we gonna survive? How are we gonna put our kids through college? How are we gonna pay for this house? How are we gonna get a car that works? How are we gonna fix this? How are we gonna fix that? I mean, a lot of conversations about money. And I understand that that's part of life and being in a fallen world where things don't work the way we want them to work and there's there's stresses and strains. But listen, my call to you is to give it to God, to submit it to God, to be honest before God, and to let Him guard your heart and your mind with a peace that passes understanding. My encouragement to you, if you're a believer in Christ, realize that you've already been gifted with the most important thing you could ever be gifted with: your salvation. That's imperishable, uncorrupted, and unfading. Are you with me? You've been given the greatest thing you need, and everything else is icing on the cake. Anything that we have in this life that is good is just icing on the cake because what we really need is an eternal home. This home is short, brief. That home, that's where it's really at. That's where it's all about. And we've been given the thing that we need most riches, not of gold and silver, but riches of grace that He's lavished on us. That satisfies my heart and it helps me to stop chasing after stuff that's not gonna satisfy. So I can actually enjoy things in this life and not worship him. If you're not a believer in Christ, um my encouragement to you is to know that there's a God who wants to richly bless you with salvation. But it requires you to humble yourself and say, I'm gonna stop trying to save myself by my own good works, or I'm gonna stop trying to save myself by self-salvation projects through materialism, through whatever it is that we try to fill that God-shaped hole in our lives with. God offers you life today, and it's in the person of Jesus. In fact, the gospel is this Jesus Christ came and he died on the cross, and he lived a sinless life, he died on the cross, so that when we put our trust in him, he paid for the penalty of our sin, and now we can be forgiven, we can be set free. But he's not gonna force that gift on us. He asks us to come by faith and say, I believe in you, Jesus, and I receive that gift by faith. And I pray that you do that today. Let's pray. Father, thank you so much for each person in this room, and thank you for the gift of life. Thank you for the gift of creation that you've called us to steward. Thank you for the gift of salvation and for the mission that you've called us to live on. There are so many people in this city, right here around us, who do not know the grace of Jesus Christ. They are still thinking that if they get enough stuff, if they build a big enough house, they get a bet a good enough job, then they'll be really happy. But we know that true happiness is only found in you. We know, God, that we are simply stewards, managers of your grace gifts. We don't own it. It's yours. And so help us, God, to see this rightly. We need your help. And if there's any area of our life, God, where there's indicators, things like that stress and anxiety and overwork and fear, those things that indicate that we've worshipped money and that we put our hope in money, God, would you just help us to release that to you this morning, to be set free from that and to come to your throne of grace, receive forgiveness for our sin, and also to receive a hope and in a new sense that we are, thankfully, because we're in Christ, that we are not viewed as these sinful, terrible people, but we are seen as the righteousness of Christ. Thank you for that. Um, God, I pray that you would move in this time. I pray, Holy Spirit, you'd have your way in here. We wouldn't do anything to hinder what you're trying to say to us, and we would obey you. Praise your name. Amen.