On Sabbath, January 7, 2012, Pastor Kelly began a series entitled “Life And Debt.” The Genesis sermon of this series was entitled “LOST!” Below you will find some notes. Please have your bible ready! J Visit our website at www.rubitv.tv in order to view this sermon! Be blessed and a blessing…. Here we go! J
We began reading from Matthew:
Text: Matthew 6:19-21 “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; 20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
Confession and Story
Pastor began by stating his confession. There has been a stigma when it comes to a man being a REAL MAN. There is something about a man who knows how to take good directions and doesn’t get lost easily. Pastor Kelly told us about a story which occurred some years ago. There were two couples in the car. Pastor Kelly and his friend were in the front (his friend was driving), the two young ladies were in the back seat. Five minutes into their drive, they found themselves extremely lost. Needless to day, the driver finally got them back to the proper place… of course the driver’s girlfriend looked at him differently the rest of the night. Pastor Kelly shared that he always got a DIFFERENT look from his girlfriend since he never knew where he was going. His complex has always been “getting lost easily!”
Many of us loose wallets, car keys, and if you are anything like our pastor, you sometimes loose your car! Pastor Kelly shared that every time he goes to the mall he swears someone steals his car because he can never remember where he parked. He shared that his new thing is popping the trunk and waiting for someone to scream believing that someone is getting out of the trunk and about to hurt them. That’s how he finds his car sometimes! (hahahah).
Being Lost Vs. Getting Lost
- Being lost is different than getting lost. Generally, we don’t know when we are getting lost, we only find out we are lost after we find out we are lost. On the way, you think you are heading in the right direction.
- It always begins with two things: Strong assurance that we know where we are going and confidence that we will get there.
The following things contribute to being lost:
- Bad direction
- Some of us make the wrong turn
- Being on the phone or texting
- Being distracted by the accident on the other side of the freeway (pet peeve!)
- We have ALL been lost at one point in time. A lot of us are lost morally. We approached the concept of sex confidently but somewhere a long the line you followed bad directions from friends and you are in something you never intended on being in…. your morals are now out of whack.
- Some of us are lost professionally, relationally, academically, spiritually. We can be lost in all different areas of life; we can also be lost financially.
Can you answer yes to any of these questions? If so, you are financially lost!
- Spend more than you make in a year?
- If you don’t know whether you are spending more than you are making; you are financially lost.
- If you are constantly owing more on your car than what its worth… or don’t know how much you owe or don’t care… you are financially lost.
- Paying the minimum on your credit card is a way of life? If you think paying the minimum is good financial planning…. You are financially lost.
- If you aren’t sure if you are saving enough…. You are financially lost.
- If you don’t know exactly how much you owe…. You are financially lost.
- Have no method of tracking where your money goes… You are financially lost!
- If you make over $75,000 a year and feel financial pressure… Financially lost!
- If you are making financial decisions you hope your spouse never discovers, you may be lost financially.
- If you have made decisions you hope the IRS never discovers….. you are definitely financially lost!
Why are we lost?
- Some of us are lost financially because we’ve had wrong directions. Grew up in a home where credit card and debt were a way of life. Grew up in a home where money grew on trees but for some reason the trees stopped growing. This concept carries over into your teenage years, college life and now into your married life…. Now you find yourself giving the same directions to your children.
- Some of us make bad turns: You can make ONE bad decision and that can affect you for the rest of your life. PK told the story of still having to pay a mortgage in Colorado even when him and his family moved to California. It was one financial decision that followed him. Sometimes folks have ideas and it’s a one time thing, but sometimes that ONE decision can affect your life. Just because someone in the church offers you a good financial idea don’t just jump at it.
- Some of us are distracted from keeping the main thing the main thing. We try to keep up with a lot of things, and phones, etc. The tv will always be bigger, the car will always go faster…. These things are not the main thing.
- Pastor made a point by stating that whenever he is lost, he has no problem asking anyone for directions. If we are lost in our marriage, we will ask for directions by marital counseling. If we are lost spiritually we get bible study. However, when we are lost financially we try to figure things out on our own? Why are we afraid to seek directions when it comes to our finances.
- Your finances are one of the spiritual things you can ever involve yourself in. the reason we can talk about it in church is because Jesus talked about finances more than he did Heaven or Hell. He understood that when we are out of whack financially we are also out of whack spiritually. If you are having trouble financially you are probably also having trouble spiritually. It doesn’t mean you are not making enough; it’s what you are doing with what you have! Jesus didn’t spend a lot of time asking for money, people did that. His biggest issue was “how do you MANAGE what I’ve given you?!” He understood that ‘when you are mismanaging that, I can start pointing to other areas of your life that are the same way.’
- GPS:
Pastor shared that one of the things that helps him out is that he has a GPS. If he is trying to impress Tia he puts a mute on it, and simply looks at the directions when she isn’t looking (hahahaha). He explained that his GPS says “please proceed to the highlighted route” and when he gets on it, then it starts giving very specific directions. It’s like stating “Before I can tell you what street to turn on, I need you to get on the highlighted route. Once you get there, NOW you have a base on which I can give you some direction.’ Let’s get on the highlighted route now.
For it is just like a man about to go on a journey, who called his own slaves and entrusted his possessions to them. 15 To one he gave five talents, to another, two, and to another, one, each according to his own ability; and he went on his journey.
Highlighted route has two principles.
- Psalm 24: 1-2 “The earth is the LORD’S, and all it contains, The world, and those who dwell in it. 2 For He has founded it upon the seas And established it upon the rivers.” (NASB)
- Everything on this earth belongs to God. Our bodies are not even our own. God has given us this earth but we are stewards of it but not owners of it. We are not owners of anything! We don’t even own our own children. Your job is “Take care of what doesn’t belong to you.” Nothing on this earth belongs to us, it all belongs to God, God needs us to watch out for the things He’s given us, even our bodies. One day God will ask what I did with his stuff!Matthew 25: 14-15, 27-30 “For it is just like a man about to go on a journey, who called his own slaves and entrusted his possessions to them. 15 To one he gave five talents, to another, two, and to another, one, each according to his own ability; and he went on his journey.” (Read Verses 27-30)
We will have to give an account of what we did with the things God entrusted us with. “Our time, abilities and money aren’t ours in the first place… we are caretakers, not owners.” Are you honoring my name in your spending?!PRINCIPLE #1: nothing that you have belongs to you, everything belongs to God. Life, body, mind, house… it all belongs to God and one day he will ask how his name was glorified by what He gave you.
- Keep track of how you spend money. Matthew 6:19 (NASB) “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.” Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also…. “In order to get to your heart, I have to get to your treasure.” We can tell where our heart is, by looking where our money is going. If we look at it, we can tell we don’t have a heart for God, if we did, our finances would reflect that. Our savings, our management, our ability to get out of debt would reflect that.
Closing:
Pastor passed out LOST LEDGER sheets for everyone. For the next week, we ought to Track every dollar that’s spent and see where it is going. There will be more accountability in your home this way. He specified that we should NOT try to become righteous this week, just be yourself and continue business as usual in order to figure out where you are! He made a joke that many of the husbands will end up discovering how much hair products really are (hahah), almost like having “a hair ministry!” (LOL).
All in all, be responsible with what God has blessed you with. The fact that you have SOMETHING, says that God trusts you. You may not have more because you don’t even track the little that you now have. He wants us to understand that God does not have a problem with us having things, he just wants to make sure your stuff doesn’t have you!”
Prayer:
Thank you for letting us borrow this life, money, time, because everything that we have belongs to you. We will be good stewards of what is yours. We will learn how to be good stewards of your finances, we want to spend, plan, and save well because we want to glorify your name.
We pray that you were blessed by part 1 of this series! Join us on this coming Wednesday, January 11, 2011, at 7:15pm PST at www.rubitv.tv (you can also tune in on your phones!!!). If you are local, visit us at 5320 Victoria Ave., Riverside, CA (Victoria and Central Ave.)
Let’s get it together NOW and break the cycle of bad financial directions we were given! Your life depends on it.
Be blessed, and a blessing,
Xoxo
S.S with Views from the Pews
