DISCLAIMER: This text is not a verbatim transcript. Communication Access Real Time Translation (CART) is provided in order to facilitate communication credibility and may not be a totally verbatim record of the proceedings. >> Shane: Hello and welcome to the live worship services at First Colony Church of Christ. Whether you are here or online, we are glad to be together in the name of Jesus, amen. He is with us. Let's invite Him to come and let's speak His praises. Let's all rise as we sing this first song together. >> God is good! >> Here we go. \M "Almighty God" \M >> Shane: Yes, our God is faithful. Amen. Amazing God. \M "Raise A Hallelujah" \M >> You may be seated. >> Joel: Good morning be everyone. It is so good to be with you all, whether you're checking us out online or those of you in the audience. Good to see you. As you know, we are talking about major sin that we want to avoid. We are continuing with the vices. Today it is greed. So I want to talk about generosity. I always like to start with a verse. My verse comes to us from Luke 6:38. Give and it will be given to you. Then there is good measure, press down, running over will be put in your lap. It's going to come back in a big way. For the measure that you use, it will be measured back to you. I have a little illustration. This is the kids' spot so we like to create something visual. This is based on factual events. It's been tweaked. I'm going to tell you about a little boy named Billy. Billy comes to church and sits with you all. Billy is excited because Billy heard that a famous YouTuber had subsidized remote control cars over at 5 and Blow and for $5 you could get a cool car. He's excited. He saved up his money. He's good to go. As he was sitting there, the peacher talked about tithes. He's like, really, I'm supposed to give the first fruits? He thought back and thought, man, I haven't done that in a long time. If I give away, I won't be able to get my car. The whole time he's thinking, okay, God, I'm going to give you, $3. He was disappointed because he couldn't get his car. But as he was looking at his money, he had $6. That's weird. The service got over and he went back in the back and as kids live these days, his parents started talking. You want to go home and to 5 and Below and get your toy and they're talking. They're talking about Hope for Haiti's children and how we haven't had Bible class for kids and no opportunity for an offering. Because there was no offering, we don't have the money for the kids that we support. He thought to himself, wait a minute, I can make a difference. So he said, hey, here you go. I'm going to give you $3. So he gave it away. What's interesting is as they went to the car, his money didn't feel like it had changed anything. He had $6. That's weird. His mom said, we have to go over to Kroeger really quick. We're going to pick up something. So they go over to Kroeger and as they're walking in the store, he sees there is a man out front who looks like he can use a drink of water. The man is sitting there and Billy knows this guy needs help. Unfortunately water bottles aren't a dollar anymore. He asked the man if he needed a drink of water and the guy said, yes, I do. He said, mom, is it okay if I give him some money? He reached over and gave the man $3. The man was like, wow, thank you. Billy reached down and he counted his money, $6. That's really weird. So they go to Wendy's. They're eating their food and all they can think about is the toy. There was a guy at the counter who forgot his credit card. His bill is $20 and he has $17. He asked, mom, is it okay if I give him $3? She says, sure. He goes to give him $3. I can help you with your need. He finishes his meal and he double-checks again. $6, pretty good. They go to 5 and Below. They're standing in line. There was one remote-controlled car left. He's excited. He has it. His sister is with him and she sees the unicorn puffy buffy blanket which is on sale for $3. And she's like, Billy, can I get the blanket? He's like, no, you need to save your money like I did. Please, Billy. Okay, sister, and he reaches down into his wallet and he's like, oh man, I am almost totally out. $6. He still had his $6 original. The message is, don't store up for yourselves treasuries here on the earth where moss and rust can destroy. Invest in eternity in the lives of others. Have a wonderful rest of your morning. >> Shane: Joel, can I borrow that basket? Oh, wow. This is Troy and Rachel Matthys. Gather your communion supplies. When we're done if you would put the cups in the plastic bags and put them in the baskets at the end of the aisle. Let's focus on what the lord has done for us. You guys lead us. >> Troy: I'm Troy Matthys and this is my wife Rachel. We're grateful to be with our extended family here and watching at home. We're looking forward to taking communion with you. If you would pray with us. Father, this morning we are grateful for this time of Thanksgiving and reflection on the cross. As we take the bread which represent's Christ's broken body and the cup representing his shed blood, he recall His words to his disciples, that This was his His. We have a peace that passes understanding. Let us always remember to feed on your word and our hearts and walk worthy of your high calling. In Christ Jesus' name, amen. >> Rachel: I'll be reading from Mark 8:34-38 Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, But whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it. What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul? If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, The Son of Man will be ashamed of them when he comes in his Father’s glory with the holy angels. \M "O Come To The Altar" \M >> Shane: Amen. He is lord of all and he has risen. Matt Davis, one of our elders, will lead us in our prayer. >> Matt: As we get ready to take our offering, you can give online or in the normal ways. This year I turned 60 and I had a lot of time to think about what God has done for me and the blessings that I've received. In this time of COVID, we're all scattered. I would just recommend that you spend some time just thinking about what He's done. For me, my wife and I have been here for 35 years, since the very beginning. I think of all the good in our lives, the constant, the one thing that we have is Jesus Christ. Secondly, this church has been a great place to raise my family and be a part of. I've been blessed in so many ways. The example that Joel just gave, I've seen it in my life over and over when it comes to giving. God has a way of multiplying in his mathematics and His ways are different than ours. When you feel that your faith is not there, just give. Step out and allow God to give over your life. Holy Father, we give thanks for all that you've done and the many gifts you've given us. We look at our lives and know that You are in control of everything. We give blessing and thanks for all that You do. It's oftentimes feels like it's insignificant as we give bad. God, we just give and lay these gifts before you. We ask you to bless them. As we think about what you've done for us and we think about the next few weeks coming up with the mission Sunday and things that we can do, just help us to remember all the ways that you have blessed us individually and how you've used the funds that we have been given to bless the world. We thank you for all that You do. Amen. >> Shane: I have an announcement to read about new elders. I would like you to listen to this. Some time ago we asked for your input about the elders. We have three men ready to step into the role of elder. Your input is appreciated and great weight has been given to the qualifications of an elder, the need of our church family, the desire of each candidate, and their availability. These are the men we feel are ready to serve. These men and their wives are known as the highest character. They are lovers of god and servants of God's church. We present them for their prayer and feedback and we will appoint them to the eldership in November. Please stand and have a fellowship greeting time. [\M\M\M] \M "Lay Me Down" \M >> Thank you so much for your worship. You may be seated. >> Ronnie: Fantastic. Thank you so much to our worship team. Let's express to this wonderful team of leadership. Glad to see you in the room and those of you watching online. We love to hear from you. Fill out one of the church connection cards on your church app or on your computer screen. It would be our joy online to pray with you today and there are folks who are eager and ready to do so. You'll see the contact information there on your screen. We've got a new member to welcome who's online, Bill Wynne. You see a photo of Bill. He can hear us, celebrate and applaud him. There you go. Very nice. Over the next couple of weeks now we're going to be paying special attention to our missions works here. Grant Rider will be speaking next Sunday and you heard Matt talk about us receiving a mission offering. We are going to emphasize and spotlight what you make possible in five specific international locations. Okay. Today we continue with the message series called vice grip. The title of today's message is mine field. We've been walking what's been called the seven deadly sins, seven vices. A difference between a vice and a sin. A sin is a one-time periodic occurrence, but a vice is sort of a routine, a habit, a groove, a rut. Wise believers of old have identified seven particular tendencies that, if we're not careful, can really open a doorway to a life you just don't want. You may say paying attention to these seven deadly sins and capital vices, a negative downer. To the contrary. This is a list provided as a roadmap for self examination and improving and growth. What God wants for you is a good life. It says through the scriptures that she or he that would love life and see good days, God wants shalom for you. A sense of peace. A sense of I am where I need to be. I'm not perfect, but I'm in the Lord. I'm growing and making progress. Anyway, this is, I think, a pretty healthy picture. Let's put the list of vices up on the screen. Envy vain August glory, sloth, not so much about secular laziness, but about relational lazy. How many times have we said about a relationship that that's a lot of work or that's tiring. When we get relationally tired or in a situation and we have to persevere, and it would be easier to quit and bail, that's what sloth does. That was last week. Today we're talking about avarice or greed. This is a photo of Millard Fuller. You may or may not know who he was. He was a self-made millionaire by the time he was 29 years old. An amazing success story, except he really wasn't. His wife came to him and said, I'm done, I'm gone. It was a wake-up call for him. Here's what he said afterwards. He said that his desire to acquire had just been excessive. His view of people had been shaped by money. His ethics had been compromised by out-of-bounds getting and hoarding. His wife sort of gave him a wake-up call. What he did? He actually came to the Lord. He engaged in a healthy, strong church, and he made several major decisions in his life. He said, I woke up to the power of greed and I found freedom. Freedom. By the way, you may have heard of also a little non-profit that he started out of all of this called Habitat for Humanity. They've built a few hundred thousand houses around the world. Listen, every healthy person has a drive to succeed. Hopefully you have a little ambition to you. It's what makes the world better. We're created to do that, to aim for excellence and development. The problem comes, and I think the teachings of Jesus would say, the problem is not your drive to succeed, we're created to do that. The problem comes when you measure success only in financial terms. When the financial report card is the only report card that matters, that's when things go askew. In our culture we say, ho is a success? Show me the money. Jesus says measure success wisely. What does it profit a person if they actually gained the whole world, but lose their soul? So what about greed? I mean, could you be susceptible to the vice of greed? Could I? Here's the definition of greed. Greed values money and what it brings, power, clout, being envied, greed values money and what it brings more than God. Now, I value money. You do too. Greed values money and what it brings more than God. Let me ask you some diagnostic questions here, if I may. Have you allowed greed to corrode the virtue of generosity in your life? When I say generosity, it's not the kind of generosity, we give our kids everything they want. That's not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about the kind of generosity that's appropriate and proportional to you. Here is another diagnostic question. Have you compromised your ethics in your pursuit of wealth? Here's another one. Do you evaluate a person's worth and value by their net worth? You know like the story in the book of James, the case of the snobby, snooty usher, where James pictures a wealthy person coming into a worship service and you make a big to do over them and someone who is not very well to do, you say, here, why don't you sit under my feet. Have you allowed the flow of wealth to distance you from Jesus Christ and distance you from His church? Have the blessings of God come to you in such a way that they've actually created disengagement with Jesus and His people? I've got one more question. Are you quick to assume that the person who obviously has deeper pockets than you, are you quick to assume the worst about that person? Greed values money and what it brings more than God. You know, the Bible is full of positive examples of people who were -- had resources and who were very generous and some who didn't have much and were generous. The classic example would be the widow who gave her two lepton, two pennies. She could have said, what does it matter? She's giving an act of worship. Jesus says a small amount still counts and that's terrific. But then you have people with deep pockets, very wealthy people, who gave generously. Jesus was buried in a tomb that belonged to whom? Joseph of Arimathea. A wealthy man provided it. The early church, you remember Joseph given the name of Barnabus, which means mystery in church. He sold some real estate holdings, took the entire proceeds and brought them to, as the Bible would say, to the apostles' feet and said, here. Use this to advance the work here. You just take it and use it. Now, he didn't do it to be applauded, but it encouraged incredibly the entire church. They all knew about it. They appreciated him and loved him. They gave him the nickname Mr. Encouragement. Then the Bible also gives us some examples of greed. Do you know your Old Testament, and I know you do. Ahab and his wife jezebel. No one names their daughter that. And they had a neighbor and they wanted the vineyard and they were willing to kill him for it. You say, I'd never kill anybody for anything. Would you lie about them? Would you cheat? Then of course there's Judas who sold Jesus for 30 pieces of silver. Sometimes people want to come up with other reasons that might have motivated Judas, political reasons. I think Judas was motivated by money and 30 pieces is nothing to sneeze at. By the way, any time anyone says, it's not about the money, here is what you can know, it's about the money. Here's something greed will say, greed always says "mine." Minefield. I've heard people say that greed is about always wanting more and more. I disagree with that. Granted, you can have this mindset that's never grateful, but let's say you own a lumberyard and your business is doing great and you're not mistreating people, you're ethical, you pay your employees fairly, and your business keeps growing and growing. There's nothing wrong with that. That's good. The Bible says when a righteous person gets blessed, everybody around them gets better, everybody around them gets blessed. Greed is not about saying more, it's about saying "mine." Well, what feeds greed? Let me put some things up here on the screen. First of all, sweat feeds greed. Sweat. You worked for it, you earned it, and there's something about it's yours. You worked for it. Now, let it go. You know, I grew up going to church. Now, my parents did not grow up going to church, but they started at various points in their life, my mom in her late teens and my father in his 20s. My parents would give me money to put in the collection basket, it started out a nickel, dime, quarter. Then it grew to a buck. Let me tell you, I was more than happy to do it. You know why? It wasn't my money. People are always happy to spend other people's money and they're always happy to advise what somebody else should do with their money. But then I got to be a teenager and I got my own job. My mom and dad said, we're not going to give you a buck or five bucks to put in the collection basket. You've got your own job. Why don't you take a percentage of your own money and give it? Now all of a sudden it hurt a little bit and I had to think about it. What feeds greed, sweat. We worked for this, earned it, we want to think about it. Secondly, fear. Fear fuels greed because greed is supported by an endless cast of what ifs. Here's what I do not mean. I believe virtually every Christian believes to some extent that as we give to the Lord, we believe that He will respond in care. I don't say that he can't or won't respond. I don't think any believer thinks that way. More to the point, we're afraid that God will not respond, will not take care of me in the fashion and style and way that I want to be cared for. There's a gap between what I suspect God might be willing to do and my level of expectation. Therefore, there's the source of anxiety. If I'm greedy, I never really possess enough to feel not just secure, but secure in the way that I really want to be secure and maybe secure in the way that I want to provide for my children or grandchildren or great-grandchildren. There's always a what if around the corner that impels and compels them is fear. Then thirdly just do-it-yourself joy. I mean, it feels good to buy something. Nothing wrong with that. You have some resources, you ought to do it. Enjoy. God is not a killjoy. Jesus fasted. Jesus also feasted. The Bible says God gives us all things to enjoy. That's wonderful, fantastic. But you got to remember that the experts who study this kind of stuff say when you buy something you get a 10% jump in happiness. You get a bump, about a 10% bump, it's nice, but then it recedes back to where you were. Frederick Buechner: “The trouble with being rich is that since you can solve with your checkbook virtually all practical problems that bedevil ordinary people, You are left in your leisure with nothing but the great human problems to contend with: How to be happy, how to love and be loved, how to find meaning and purpose in your life. In desperation, the rich are continually tempted to believe that they can solve these problems too with their checkbooks.” Here's another statement on your screen. Your money is a tool, is a test, and it is a testimony. It is a tool that can be used for great good. It's a test where God is probing our heart. It's a testimony. Having resources is a wonderful gift from God, but listen carefully, having resources, that is a responsibility upon us. Have you seen the giving triangle? I'll put it here on the screen. God is at the top of this triangle. What happens? God gives to us. And then our giving flows along horizontally to advance the work of God, to care for hurting people. And then what happens? It flows right back up to God in praise and worship. Now, I've talked about all this to point you to one passage of scripture. I want you to read through this. 1 Timothy 6:9-10 Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Not money, but the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. Just stop for a moment and think about it. Selfishness, cheating, fraud, robbery, envy, quarrelling, hatred, violence, even murder, pornography, drug pushing, the exploitation of friends, the neglect of good causes. The love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, They define success only in terms of money and some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. And then beginning in this same chapter verse 17. Command those who are rich in This present world, I believe that is you and me. How does the Bible define a rich person, someone who has plenty to eat and plenty to wear. I have both those. I put myself in the rich category. Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, Which is so uncertain, But to put their hope in God, Who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. Now, listen to this. Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. Not just share because we hunted you down and twisted your arm. There is this willingness to share and be generous. And In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life. This goes back about 25 years. An American couple, mom, dad, couple of kids, they made a commitment to support five poor orphans in Haiti. They would send, and this again is going back 25 years or so, they would send over $100 a month to this orphanage that would feed, clothe, educate, and teach about Jesus, these five orphans. Now, to keep their commitment, they weren't a particularly wealthy family, they made sacrifices. They made the commitment and kept at it, kept at it for over 10 years. One day the dad comes in and says, I've got to go to Haiti on business and you will come with me and we will meet the five kids. They fly into Port-au-Prince and rent a jeep and drive to where this orphanage is located. They have a wonderful day engaging with and meeting their five Haitian friends who were now teenagers. When the day was over, a lot of hugs and tears. And five gifts those Haitian children had given to this family handmade Christmas ornaments. So this American family, they're driving back now into Port-au-Prince and things are awfully quiet in the back seat. Dad thought the kids are never quiet in the back seat. He turned and he said, what's wrong? His daughter said, dad, absolutely nothing is wrong. We were just sitting here thinking that there's absolutely no way we could have spent that money over the last 10 years that could have made us any happier than we are right now. You don't want greed to gain the advantage in your heart. You want to lean into the joy of generosity. How do we embrace generosity? Just admit the pull of greed. I've got to admit it, you've got to admit it. I'm not immune to this. Admit the pull. Can I ask those diagnostic questions again. Have you allowed greed to corrode the spirit of generosity in your life. You say, I give two mikes. Maybe you're postured to give much more than two mikes. Have you compromised your ethics in pursuit of wealth? Do you evaluate a person based on their income level? Have you allowed the flow of wealth to actually distance you from Jesus and His people? Secondly, believe Jesus. Jesus is the smartest person in the room and he has a lot to say about money, all of which you know. You heard Joel up here, just reminding us what Jesus had to say. One is anything you give to the Lord, He pays attention and He will honor it. It's more blessed to give than receive. Where you treasury this and make a financial investment, your heart follows, not vice versa. Where your treasure is, your heart follows. You cannot serve God with money. And I think the strongest thing is be on your guard, watch out, and pay attention. Thirdly, make generosity a generational priority, a generational priority. What I mean by that is you're going to practice it and you're going to pass it along to your children. One of the most financial gifts you give your children is not actual money, although that can be a nice thing to do, but it's teaching them to manage it and teaching them to be appropriately generous. I've quoted Rebecca de Young almost every week. She's written a tremendous book called "Glittering Devices." She is a Ph.D. at Notre Dame university and a professor at Calvin University. She says the best advice in defeating greed is the oldest advice, tithe. Actually give first to God. If you will think not leftovers, if there's anything left over after mine, if you'll just think first, whatever it might be, the Bible says you determine the percentage. Give it with joy, grow in it, but start by saying this is what we do first. And to all of our younger people here who someday will get married, every Christian financial advisor will tell you if you're going to build a marriage, a strong marriage in Christ, money issues can be huge issues. And when that young couple says -- Martha and I have been married 40 years and we started over 40 years ago. Our financial decision is that this part, this percentage goes to the Lord. And at the end of the year we review it and we feel exactly the way those two kids in the back seat felt. Lord, thank you. There is no way we could have spent these resources in a better way and thank you. You know, when our kids were little, we gave them the envelopes. Give, save, spend, loan to dad. All those needed envelopes. But, mom, dad, you pass that along to your children as a huge, huge gift. Last of all, God will redirect your heart if you let him. He will. Because there is no one more generous then our God. In the beginning he created the heavens and the earth out of nothing. Why did He do it? He's so generous. What is the last statement, the grace of the Lord Jesus with all His saints. He gives us life and breath and eternal life in the Holy Spirit and the scriptures and the church and the promises to come. Why? He's incredibly generous. He will help us step into generosity as well. So, gang, beware of greed. It's not going to take you where you want to go. Beware of it. Be generous, be ethical, and treat all people as valuable in God's eyes and never let what money can buy distance you from the Lord. I'm going to end with a story told by Bob McEwan, a former Ohio Congressman who took his little boy to McDonald's for some french fries. They were going to have a father-son moment. He buys the french fries. They sat down and McEwan didn't buy any for himself. He reached over to get a french fry from his son and his son slapped his dad's hand and said, no, dad, these are mine. Bob McEwan said, I got out a napkin and I wrote down a few observations and I realized I needed to teach my son about stewardship. First of all, my son doesn't realize the source of those french fries. I'm the source of those french fries. Secondly, my son doesn't realize if I wanted to, I could take those french fries away or I could smother him and baptize him in french fries if I wanted to. Thirdly, my son doesn't realize I don't need his french fries, I could go get my own. I wanted us to share an experience. But the thing that hurt me the most was my son's unwillingness to share just a little with me of what I had so joyfully given to him in the first place. Then McEwan said, I thought I needed to teach that to my son and then I realized I needed to teach that to myself as well and remind myself that God has been so gracious and generous, I'm not the owner. I'm the steward. I'm the manager. Everybody, thank you so much for being here with us today. To those of you watching online, we appreciate so much your presence. Let me just remind you again, no one loves you liked Lord. No one will ever be more generous to you than the Lord. The Bible says He is rich in mercy, no matter where we've been or what we've done. He has an abundance of grace and mercy. Think about it. To forgive us, to cleanse us, to renew us, to strengthen us, that is the goodness of God. All right. Matt Davis, a long-time friend of our church family, been here since the very beginning, served as a long time as one of our elders, lead us in prayer. >> Matt: Let us pray together. Holy Father, we acknowledge that everything we have has been given by You, such a wonderful gift. Help us to fight the battle of greed, to really, really lean into generosity. God, to acknowledge that to hold our wealth in our hand open, God, so that you can bless it, so that you can direct it where it should be going so that we can benefit others. We thank you for all that you do and we thank you for the way that You have blessed our lives and provided everything we need when we need it. We give thanks for the way that you love us. Help us to love others to show your neighbors we do love. Father, we pray during this time of.