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. >> Thank you for joining us today. We want to let you know about a few items of interest. First, go to our website, firstcolonychurch.org, and go there often. You'll find links to our worship services, Bible study options, online giving, and our podcast "Anchor Point." You can also download our church app. Just search for First Colony Church of Christ in the app store or on Google Play. The app is a great resource where you can stay connected to First Colony Church. Thank you for joining us today. we are glad you're here. [???] >> Kyle: Well, good morning. Welcome home, family. I'm so glad that you are here with us to worship and praise the Lord Jesus. Welcome to those of you at home. I'm so glad you've joined us online. This is a great day to worship the Lord. Wherever you are in the house or in your house, let's stand together and let's worship king Jesus. >> We want to teach you a new song this morning called "house of the Lord" because we are in the house of the Lord. The Bible said we are glad to go to the house of the Lord. How many of you are glad to be in the house of the Lord this morning? [???] ? House of the Lord ? >> Yes, there's joy in the house of the Lord, amen! [Applause]. >> So before we go to this next one, I want to give you an opportunity to take an opportunity to applaud this young man. He's played with us. He's leaving us and moving to Dallas. Ojalan has been one of the pillars. Over the last year and a half, he has played every Sunday, whether guitar or base. [Applause] >> I want to make sure we appreciate you. We also have some coming up guitarists and bassists, you need to come and join this team. Some see me. We need you. We're losing a good one. We need some folks to attempt to fill his shoes. ? One Thing Remains ? >> The love of God never fails us, amen. You may be seated. [???] >> Joel: Well, good morning, everyone. It is so good to see you out there. If you're watching us online, good to see you online as well. As you can see, I have on a supercool shirt letting us know that VBS starts this next week and it's going to be good. This is one of the first big events we're having in coming back, so I am very excited. But we recognize that we couldn't do it without people giving of their time, of their talents, of their resources. And so I would like for us to give everyone a hand who is part of VBS. Could we do that? [Applause >> Joel: Thank you very much. That brings us to our lesson today. It is about storing up treasures in heaven. I have brought my son Zane here. Thank you, sir, for coming. He was volun-told. He was good so I'm grateful. Let's pretend that we live in a world where the commodity is corners. Everybody wants corners. We want to retain corners and have as many corners as possible. As you can see, Zane has a massive sheet of paper with four huge corners on each end. Now, let's suppose that God says to Zane, can I have one of your corners? He's going to lose it. Now look at this, a corner doesn't have to be 90 degrees. Now you have five. You gave one and now have five. Can we have another corner? >> Okay. >> Joel: Zane listened to the sermon on being a cheerful giver. Now how many do we have? >> Six. >> Joel: We'll do one more to get the point, no pun intended. How many do we have now? >> Seven. >> Joel: You went from four to seven. We live in God's kingdom and God's kingdom doesn't necessarily make sense to our mind. We say, I want to hold on to these things. God is saying invest them in me and you will be rewarded in heaven, but what can your resources do today and on earth. How can you make a difference today, tomorrow, and for eternity. My prayer for you is whether it's your time, talents, resources, that you would invest them in God's kingdom and see mighty fruit. Thank you very much. [A [Applause] >> Kyle: This is a time where we celebrate the death and the burial and the resurrection of Jesus together and proclaim our hope in Him until he comes and I'm excited we're doing this together. Go ahead. >> Jose: Good morning, church, my name. Is Jose and this is my wife Maria. Let's pray. Heavenly Father in the book of 1 John this is the message we heard and declared to you. God is light. In Him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with Him but walk in darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth. But if we walk in the light, as is the light, we have fellowship with one another and the blood of Jesus, His son, purrfies us from sin. If we claim to be without sin we forsake ourselves. He is faithful and just and we will have our sins forgiven. If we claim to have not sin, we make Him out to be a liar and His word is not in us. My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ, the righteous one is the sacrifice for our sins and not only for ours, but also for the sins of the whole world. Heavenly Father, we remember with grateful hearts your son's sacrifice for us on the cross. We also rejoice in the fact that he is alive and seated at your right hand in the heavenly worlds. Father, we love you and thank you. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. >> Maria: Good morning, church. We will be reading from Ephesians 3:16-19 I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord's holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. ? Reckless Love ? >> Why don't we all stand and worship the Lord together this morning. [???] >> Thank you for your worship. You may be seated. >> Kyle: Thanks, worship team. We are now going to collect our offering. I invite my friend Scott Wolf to the stage who will give us instructions. >> Scott: Online giving is safe and simple and this morning in the chat box, there will be a place to click. If you're with us this morning, there are collection boxes at the exit. Church, I want to say what a huge blessing it is to be in partnership with you as we make an impact not only to our community but to our global mission around the world. We thank you for your stewardship and your faithfulness, not only of our finances, but as Joel mentioned, your time and your talents. The Lord can use those. If you will pray with me. Father God, we thank you for your love and for your generous, generous gifts that you give to us. Lord, I pray this morning that you help us take those gifts, offer freely and with a glad heart so you can multiply them in your kingdom and in your work. In the precious name of your son, Jesus, amen. >> Kyle: Good morning again, everybody. There we are. It's so good to see you. I love when the lights come on. We are entering into our fellowship greeting. You can see the QR codes. You can scan those with your camera app on your phone. If you need information or if we need to know about you, go ahead and fill that out. If you are a guest, you can take a trip to our new here start room across the lobby. Our team will welcome you and give you something. We're about to kis miss in a minute for the kiddos to Joel for main street live. Parents, if you have not checked in, you may need to do that. This is our fellowship greeting. Stand and say hello to someone around you. If you're online, we're so glad you're here, go ahead and log in on the chat box and say hello. [Indistinct chatter] ? Glorious Day ? >> Yes, thank you for worshiping with us today. You may be seated. >> Ronnie: Richard and team, thank you so very much. And Odilan, we are going to miss you, our friend. What a great man, very talented. He loves the Lord and loves the church. We wish them God speed in their move to Dallas. To those of you in the room, so very good to see you. To those of you watching online, we welcome you as well. I do want to say a happy anniversary to a couple who have been watching us this morning. Dick and Joan Anderson are celebrating their 70th wedding anniversary. They are fantastic people. They are dog lovers. I've been in their homes several times. Their dogs lead wonderful lives. You should be so fortunate. Joan Anderson gave one of the all-time great lines in a Sunday school class on marriage. The teacher said, let's share advice one to another on ways we can invest in our marriage. And Joan Anderson said my advice to every wife here is that you should treat your husband like a dog. And people said, excuse me? She said, I'm serious. Treat him like a dog. Here's what you do. You affirm him. You need to give him some treats. When he does something good, you say in a real nice, you pat him on the head and say, good boy. And her husband, Dick, Ph.D., Dick Anderson, he's smiling and agreeing that this is good counsel right here. Dick and Joan Anderson happy 70th wedding anniversary. They can see you, they can hear you. Let's applaud and celebrate that. That's fantastic. [Applause] >> Ronnie: A brief series called kind and different. As followers of Jesus, we are kind and different. A title of today's message is a different view of wealth. This past week we had a chick -Fil-A sandwich. I pulled in and got the sandwich and I was reminded that this is really, really good. And I thought again of the founder and long-time CEO of the chick fill A owner. He built a good life for himself and his family and children and a good company, but he was known for his generosity, his character, his Christian faith. And he refused to develop an unhealthy love just for his possessions. He was defined more by his generosity. Here is something you may not know. He taught Sunday school, I don't mean once a year, most every Sunday he taught Sunday school for over 50 years at the first Baptist church in Joansberg Georgia. He taught 13-year-old boys, eighth graders. He didn't stay at the 30,000-foot level, he lands his plane and taught those boys. At his funeral, one of those boys who grew up now an adult said he loved us, he was passionate, you didn't want to miss his class because he would call you. He talked to us about not letting this world shape you into its mold. And, young men, you guard your heart and you prepare yourself for the woman you will marry. This is true. Even after earning fame and fortune, he kept God first, but that is a hard line to walk, but he did. Everyone in this room, we have wealth. I may not have as much as them but I have wealth. For years Christians ask the question how should a believer and a follower of Jesus Christ view our possessions, our money, our resources? Some people say everyone should take of poverty. I don't believe that. The Bible doesn't teach that. The person who takes the vow of poverty needs someone not in poverty, not taking that vow to subsidize them. There are others who say -- who embrace what is called the prosperity gospel. If you are a believer, you should actually -- wealth is a sign of God's blessing. I don't believe that's accurate either. What does the Bible have to say -- what is our perspective on our resources? I do believe that our approach to wealth, the wise use of our resources is actually part of your spiritual formation, managing your money is in essence a spiritual discipline just like worship, prayer, et cetera. I have four simple points. The first one is quick. Wealth does not determine your true worth. It just doesn't. Wealth does not determine anyone's true worth. That's why the Bible regularly says do not show favoritism or prejudice towards someone who may not be as affluent as are you. Your worth -- listen carefully. Your worth is determined by who created you, and you were created in the image of God and your worth is determined by the price paid to redeem you. You have been redeemed by the precious blood of Jesus Christ. That is true for every person on this planet. Grace cannot be purchased. What does the Bible say? It is a free gift of God. Praise be. Point number two, the pursuit of wealth can be hazardous to your health. It doesn't have to be, but it can be hazardous to your health. Have you seen these fake gifts, these prank gifts, you can get them on Amazon. Don't be looking them up now, but little gifts -- we gave one away a few years ago. It shows a small child and the title of the gift is my first fire. Explore the wonders of fire lighting. And they have a little toddler there with a furnace, a small furnace. And you look at that and you go, this can't be true. No -- and on the box it says ages 2 and up. And so you look at this and you give it to -- you give the fake gift and the mom is going, what is this? It's funny because everybody knows you don't let a 2-year-old play with fire. This is dangerous and hazardous. By the way, they also have another little prank gift called your child's first deep fryer, let them enjoy deep fried food in the privacy of their own bedroom. You look at this and say this is absurd. This is dangerous, hazardous. This is why we do drivers ed because cars are so useful, but you've got to handle with care and with wisdom. Many of us need to start wearing hard hats and safety goggles when we start thinking about money because we're not aware of how hazardous and dangerous money is to our own souls. 1 Timothy 6:6-10 But godliness with contentment is great gain. You know what contentment is. It's not laziness, contentment is not some lasse faire attitude. This is that I can cope as of today. It may not be my favorite, but I can handle it as of today. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. Listen to this, 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. Just stop there for a moment. Just think of all the sideline issues and problems that can come about from a love of money that we may not really pay attention to. How much envy is created and therefore relational tension. And when you envy someone, what happens? You're offended by anything. They can do the most innocuous thing and you're offended by it. Why? Because you've created an us versus them scenario. What happens when we love money, it is making everything a competition. You've got to handle this with care. This is flammable, this is hazardous. Verse 10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. Do you have one of those features where if you get a voicemail, you don't have to listen, you can read it. Do you have one of those features on your phone? I like it, but it's not 100 percent accurate. I will read the voicemail and say I don't think that's what they really meant to say. This little statement, let's put that statement up here, verse 10. If you're just reading voicemail on your phone and it might kind of misread this and say money is the root of all evil. That's not what it's saying. For the love of money is a root -- it's one way -- that evil can come about and it can really sabotage a marriage, a relationship, et cetera, et cetera, and some people who are just eager for money have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. God doesn't want that happening to you. He doesn't. The only worthy item of worship is the Lord himself. No rivals. No equals. You know, last week I talked about marriage and everyone in the room knows one of the challenges and most common sources of conflict in a marriage has to do with money how will it be earned, managed, distributed. I think couples overestimate the good that money can do in a marriage and they tend to underestimate the damage it can cause. Listen carefully. Money issues do not have to damage your marriage. Here is the key. When both of you are involved in Christian ministry, when both of you have a heart for the Lord, both of you are on target and on mission and the Lord is at the center of your pursuit, then money can become a tool in your marriage. Someone has well said money can only add meaning to your life when money is not the ultimate meaning of your life. Many of you know who John Wesley was, founder of the Methodist church. A powerful leader. He watched the Methodist church developed. I'm not picking on the Methodist church. Wesley said as he watched the churches develop in his lifetime he watched them become increasingly affluent. He said, our affluence generally speaking has impacted us in five ways. Here's what he had to say. He said, first of all, I see that our affluence has impacted our own personal hunger for holiness. Secondly, I believe it's increased our pride. He said this. He said, you've become much more confident now in your own opinions and less willing to hear reproof. You have a much better opinion now of your own judgment and you're more firmly attached to your own will. Thirdly he says, you've become less meek and open. He says, how quickly now you're ruffled. How quickly now you're offended. He said a fourth indication, how influenza has impacted them, he said, even though we have more, there's less willingness to help the poor and almost an increased looking down upon the poor. He made this statement. He said, do you fear spoiling your own silken coat? Last of all he said, I fear we have lost a passion for personal evangelism, where once we were so eager to speak to people about their souls, maybe now not so much. There was a word that Wesley absolutely hated, he called it idol, nonsensical, "afford." I should spend and buy just because I can afford it. Just because it's possible for me to finance the kingdom of Ronnie. Sometimes people say there is a difference between needs and wants. I think that's too binary and too simplistic. There are needs and wants. Friends, listen to me. There are so many wants that are good to have, wonderful to have. The Bible tells us, we will read this passage in just a moment. The Lord gives us so many good things to enjoy. You don't have to eat cabbage every day. Take a vacation and enjoy. There are needs and wants and then there is just raw consumerism. Because I can afford it. I spend and spend and spend with little thought of generosity and little thought of partnering with God in his mission in an increased way. Thirdly, wealth is hazardous and yet it is very useful to God's work. It is incredibly useful to God's work. In the last year there have been so many acts of generosity that have gone on. Reader's Digest captured many stories that were inspiring. I'm going to share them with you, but first I'm going to read from 1 Timothy 6:17-19 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. It's okay to enjoy some good gifts. Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. 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. Gang, the antidote to materialism is generosity and God wants you to partner and join with him through profound generosity. How giving should I be? There is no verse in the New Testament that will tell you what car to buy, orange juice. In the old testament it was 10 percent. In the New Testament we are taught to give joyfully, as we are blessed, to grow in the grace of giving over time and to think about it first. Not as a leftover. There are things you have to do first. Put your socks on before your shoes. That's important. Put the toothpaste on your toothbrush before you brush your teeth. That's important. Certain things you do first. Now, sometimes our generosity is simple. Here is the Readers Digest story. It is a story about Greg Daily. He had a paper route. One of the customers had trouble getting out in the pandemic year. He wondered if he could throw her paper closer to her door to minimize her walk. She has difficulty walking. He was happy to do so. He thought if this lady is struggling to get her paper, I'm wondering about some of her needs and furthermore, I wonder about some of my other customers on my route, what kinds of needs they have. Greg Daily attached a simple note to everyone's paper and in it he shared that he was the paper delivery guy and that if any of them needed him to run any basic errands, pick up groceries, pick up your medicine, I am happy to do it. You don't need to give me a tip. I'm happy to do it. At the time of the writing of the article, it was said that he made over 100 deliveries mainly to elderly people on his route who took him up on the offer. Simple generosity. And we all do it in various ways from time to time. There are other ways, though, where generosity takes on -- it's more complex. It's more congregational and more collective and more co-operative. It's not as simple as handing on her a bag of coins. You read the book of Acts and see how the church develops and grows and you have the daily distribution of food to the widows not every one, but the widows. That involves orchestration and administration. That is right. You have a businessman by the name of Barnabas who decides to sell a piece of property. He put the funds at the apostles' feet meaning a legal transfer of assets. Here is what you see in the church, a collective, co-operative, Jen ros community coming together not just as individual givers, but coming together as able partners able to do together far more than we could ever do on our own. All right. Here is the last point I want to underscore today. Generosity simply acknowledges the actual touch of God in our lives. That when we're Jen ros, we're saying, God, you have been so kind and good to me, I want to redistribute your goodness to me. That means that sometimes, instead of four corners, you may grow to five or six or seven corners. Sometimes, though, God just might make your four corners last longer in some way. Here's what I know. Generosity is a virtue with a guaranteed blessing. You may not see it, you may not feel it, but it is therethere. I say that on the basis of the promises of God. Trust is God's love language and he asks that we trust him in this. All right. I want to close with a prayer. Not my prayer. In just a moment Scott is going to lead us in prayer. I'm going to read a prayer from David from the book of 1 Chronicles 29 It's not a long prayer, but it's the longest prayer in the book of Chronicles. Here is the setting. David is standing before the people and they have responded in generosity because they are partnering with God in his mission and they are going to build a temple and the people have given willfully, joyfully, and David prays, and I want you to listen to his prayer. David praised the Lord in the presence of the whole assembly, saying, "Praise be to you, Lord, the God of our father Israel, from everlasting to everlasting. Yours, Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty and the splendor,for everything in heaven and earth is yours. Yours, Lord, is the kingdom; you are exalted as head over all. Wealth and honor come from you; you are the ruler of all things. In your hands are strength and power to exalt and give strength to all. Now, our God, we give you thanks, and praise your glorious name. "But who am I, and who are my people, that we should be able to give as generously as this? Everything comes from you, and we have given you only what comes from your hand. You know, a lot of people in this world don't acknowledge that, but you're kind and different. You do. You have a stewardship mindset, a stewardship mindset says God owns it all. I am a trustee and a manager. Stewardship is how I manage my resources after I say I believe, after I say I'm a follower of Jesus Christ. And then he says: Lord, our God, all of this abundance that we have provided for building you a temple for your Holy Name comes from your hand, and all of it belongs to you. I know, my God, that you test the heart and are pleased with integrity. All these things I have given willingly and with honest intent. And now I have seen with joy how willingly your people who are here have given to you. You know, that's inspiring to see. It's inspiring to hear. I've been around so many joyful givers in my lifetime. If you are miserly and bitter, I'm going to ask you to step across the line. Test the Lord and grow in the grace of giving. Start where you are and move ahead. And why do we do this? We belong to God. That's why. Why do we do this? Why do we embrace generosity because we have received so much spiritually and materially. Hear this statement. Question are blessed to be a blessing. And why do we pursue generosity? Because money matters. When his people together, not one person doing it all, but when we come together, money matters and it can make a big difference to the work of God and his mission in this world. God bless you as you grow in the grace of generosity and wherever you are today, let me remind you, no one loves you more than Jesus. No one will give you more than Jesus Christ. No one will continue to do more for you than the Lord Jesus Christ. He is incredibly good and gracious to us. He so loved the world, that he gave his only son who shall not perish but have ever lasting knife. Scott will you lead us in prayer. >> Scott: Heavenly father, we thank you for the way that you love us, for the gift of yourson, the end less grace and mercy day after day. Father, we continue to pray for unity. I pray that we are united in spirit in all that we do and that you help and strengthen us to live a life that is overflowing with love in all that we say and do. May our words that we speak to each other, may those words with seasoned with grace and love that you showed us. Father, have mercy on us as sinners. We repent of our sins and we return to you to ask to make our hearteds clean. We confess to you. Would you rid us of pride, arrogance, and evil speech. Would you grow us in counsel, wisdom, strength, leadership, love, and righteousness. It is only by your work that we can do thisthis. We surrender our lives to you. We yield to your perfect will and way. Father, you are a joy and thank you for being a king. We pray this. >> Kyle: Thanks to all of you for joining us today. The gears are spinning. This year we're going to have food trucks in our courtyard. We're going to have barbecue on the 4th of July. If you're here in town, come to worship at 10:00 a.m. and stick around for a great lunch. We are so thankful that you joined us today. It has been a good day together in the house of the Lord. We want you to have a great week. Let's stand together and end in worship. Thank you for joining us. >> Richard: It's been a great day. ? Glorious Day ? >> Amen. Thank you for coming to the house of the Lord today and worshiping with us. You are dismissed. [???] >> Thank you for joining us today. We want to let you know about a few items of interest. First, go to our website, firstcolonychurch.org, and go there often. You'll find links to our worship services, Bible study options, online giving, and our podcast "Anchor Point." You can also download our church app. Just search for First Colony Church of Christ in the app store or on Google Play. The app is a great resource where you can stay connected to First Colony Church. Thank you for joining us today. we are glad you're here.