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SERIES BUILDER12 Things You Need to Know About MoneyHere are biblical principles you can bank on.Mike Woodruff
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Series Subject: What the Bible teaches Christians about money
Series Purpose: To provide the listener with 12 financial principles rooted in God's Word.
If you are focused either primarily or exclusively on this life, the Bible's view of money will make no sense.
Series Relevance: Because we handle and deal with money every day of our lives, we tend to think of it in a strictly practical light. But, at their core, money matters are profoundly spiritual. In fact, for many Christians, understanding and applying God's principles of money—submitting their checkbook to the Lord—is the next step in their spiritual growth. And that, despite what they may think right now, is one of the most liberating things they could ever do.
Series Big Idea: There are twelve principles that will help every believer improve as a steward of the resources God has given.
Sermon One
Title: The First 6 Things You Need to Know About Money
Subtitle: Exploring important biblical principles that you can bank on as a follower of Christ
Text: Matthew 6:24
Subject: What the Bible teaches Christians about money
Purpose: To provide the listener with six financial principles rooted in God's Word
Relevance: Because we handle and deal with money every day of our lives, we tend to think of it in a strictly practical light. But, at their core, money matters are profoundly spiritual. In fact, for many Christians, understanding and applying God's principles of money—submitting their checkbook to the Lord—is the next step in their spiritual growth. And that, despite what they may think right now, is one of the most liberating things they could ever do.
Big Idea: God wants us to grow as stewards of the resources he has given us.
Sermon Strategy
Introduction
• We need to think biblically about money, because money matters are profoundly spiritual at their core.
• Along with sex and power, money is one of the big three character assassins that many of us will struggle with our whole lives.
Transition: This morning we will look at The First 6 Things You Need to Know About Money.
Number one: It's not yours.
• God doesn't just own the cattle on a thousand hills; he owns the thousand hills.
• We are temporary stewards of someone else's property.
- Genesis 1; John 1:1–5
• And, for the record, God claims all rights to that property.
- Psalm 24:1
- Illustration: According to Abraham Kuyper, "There is not one square-inch of this universe about which Jesus Christ does not say, 'Mine, mine, mine.'"
Number two: This life is Act I of a three-act play.
• It will be followed by judgment (Act II) and then eternity (Act III).
• The author of the play does not feel any obligation to work everything out in Act I.
• If you are focused either primarily or exclusively on this life, then the Bible will confuse you, and its view of money will make no sense.
• This doesn't mean that money is bad, but we can't afford to forget that we are accountable for all that we have.
- Matthew 19:29; Luke 12:33
• One of the first things we have to understand about money is that Jesus is telling us how to handle it in light of the fact that we are going to live forever.
Number three: Money is more than paper.
• Money is not a neutral object; it is a force.
- Matthew 6:24
• Money is a good thing that can become a bad thing—that can become a character assassin—if we let it.
Number four: Money cannot buy happiness.
• Luke 12:15
• Many believe that their life would be substantially better with more money; for those who make over $20,000 a year, that is not the case.
• In light of history and world economics, we are at the top of the food chain—we already have more money.
- Illustration: Americans Running Out of Room for Possessions [see Illustrations and Quotations below]
• If money could make you happy then you would already be happy.
- Illustration: Jim Carrey: Money and Fame Are Not the Answer [see Illustrations and Quotations below]
• Being content is a spiritual issue, an issue of the heart.
- Philippians 4:12–13
Number five: There are no simple formulas that guarantee a certain financial result.
• If there were such a formula, then these Scriptures would not make sense: Matthew 8:20; 2 Corinthians 6:10.
• When it comes to giving, there are things that are generally true: live below your means, give generously, and be content.
• But when it comes to giving, there is no magic number. The tithe (which we'll discuss next week) is just a starting place.
• As a rule, if we follow God's laws of money (live below your means, give generously, and be content), we will be better off in this life.
• But there will always be tensions.
- Illustration: John Wesley said: "Whenever riches have increased, the essence of religion, the mind that was in Christ, has decreased in the same proportion. Therefore I do not see how it is possible, in the nature of things, for any revival of true religion to continue for long. For religion must necessarily produce both industry and frugality; and these cannot but produce riches. But as riches increase, so will pride, anger, and love of the world in all its branches."
Number six: There is enough money to make this world a better place.
• We often wonder how God can allow the world's suffering to go on, but we have the ability already to make this world a much better place.
• Illustration: Tithing Christians Would Meet Global Need [see Illustrations and Quotations below]
• 2 Corinthians 8:13–15
• Tensions will always exist, but God has given us everything we need to eradicate severe poverty and be his witnesses in the world.
Illustrations and Quotations
Americans Running Out of Room for Possessions
According to the Self Storage Association, a trade group charged with monitoring such things, the country now possesses about 1.9 billion square feet of personal storage space outside of the home. All this space is contained in nearly 40,000 facilities owned and operated by more than 2,000 entrepreneurs, including a handful of publicly traded giants like Public Storage, Storage USA, and Shurgard.
According to a recent survey, the owners of 1 out of every 11 homes also own a self-storage space. This represents an increase of 75 percent since 1995. Most operators of self-storage facilities report 90 percent occupancy, with average stints among renters of 15 months. Last year alone saw a 24 percent spike in the number of self-storage units on the market.
But, amazingly, as the amount of storage space required by homeowners has grown, so has the average size of the American house. In fact, the National Association of Homebuilders reports that the average American house grew from 1,660 square feet in 1973 to 2,400 square feet in 2004.
So let's get this straight—houses got bigger, average family sizes got smaller, and yet we still need to tack on almost two billion square feet of extra space to store our stuff?
Gino Grunberg, Gig Harbor, Washington; source: Tom Vanderbilt, "Americans Are Storing More Stuff than Ever," Slate.com (7-18-05)
Jim Carrey: Money and Fame Are Not the Answer
I think everybody should get rich and famous and do everything they ever dreamed of so they can see that it's not the answer.
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