That you have, and everything that I have is God's. Everything that we hold in our hand, uh everything that's in your your purse or your bill fold, and all the paperwork attending to that that's it that's in your safe at home or in a safe deposit box down the road, or anything that has your name on it, it's really God's. And it's on loan to you from God. So that's my first presupposition. So that's where I start today, and that's where I want to ask you to uh to start with me and uh stay with me as long as you can. And as I look at uh 1 Timothy chapter 6 and some other passages, uh I'd like to talk to you about something that I believe is very, very important for the body of Christ to have a handle on and to understand and to appreciate, and yea, even to celebrate, and that is Christian stewardship. And that is how we as managers of God's stuff and God's things are to do things. And the Bible's very clear on this. Um I read somewhere that about 15% of everything that Jesus said, that is all the red letter things in the Bible, everything that Jesus taught about, 15% about that is about possessions, about money or handling money or dealing with uh possessions and material things. And so uh the apostle Paul talked a little bit about that too, and he had a mindset. Paul's mindset was uh we have these material goods in our hands for a while, and then they're not in our hands because they're passed on. We either give them away, they're taken away, or we die and we we can't hold them anymore. And so Paul's mindset was really about that based on what Jesus had taught. So I'm at first uh Timothy chapter six, and I'll be at some other passages which I'll cite uh along the way. But I'd like for you to uh look in your Bibles or on your tablet or on your phone, however you however you read the scripture these days, and uh find uh 1 Timothy 6, uh beginning in verse 6. It says, But and I read it from the New International Version of Scripture, but godliness with contentment is great gain. 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. 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. Then he says in 1 Timothy 6 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. Paul goes on and closes out the first letter to Timothy. This is an older pastor, an experienced pastor, missionary, uh, talking to a younger pastor, saying, in verse 17, 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. 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 for themselves treasure as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life. This is God's word. So, what you think and what you feel about money and about possessions and about things can either bring you the greatest gain or the greatest loss. God commands that we flee from the destruction of and pursuit of money-bought pleasures and pursue lasting pleasure. So Paul's implication here is in part that evils come to us. Evils come not because of our longing for happiness are too strong, but because we we settle for the fleeting money-bought pleasures of our world and fail to seek lasting pleasures that God gives. Paul goes on to say and hint at the root of all evil, that is, that we settle for the love of money instead of the love of God. The call is this in this day is that as we look at these uh passages of Scripture today, that maybe they will help uh each of us in our in our journey, in our discipleship, in our growth as Christ followers in this house and uh around us in our families. Three reasons, first of all, in these first, in these uh verses seven through ten, three reasons to not seek wealth or to drive toward wealth. Verse seven says, We brought nothing into the world and we can take nothing out of it. We all came in our birthday suit, and uh we'll all go out in basically a borrowed one or the last one that'll cover us for uh our last day on this side of the soil. There there are um uh there's a reality that I've experienced as a pastor. I've done hundreds of funerals. I've ridden in a lot of hearses uh with uh with the funeral directors and so forth. And you know, I've never seen a Reese hitch on the back of a hearse that pulls a U-Haul trailer. Not once have I seen a U-Haul behind the trailer. You just we go out just like we came in. If a hundred souls uh stand before God at eternity's gate by some disaster, those 100 souls, no matter where they came from, no matter what they did or what they looked like, whether they were politicians or playboys or playgirls, or whether they were missionaries or Sunday school teachers, no matter what they did, whether whatever they had in their purses, a visa or MasterCard, or whether they had checkbooks or designer clothes, no matter what, they all go out empty-handed, and their hands are relaxed and empty. Not only with what is in our hearts, is the only thing that they go out with, whether it's money or God. I read somewhere that King Tut, when he he was buried in his tomb and his uh tomb was discovered, it was replete with gold and jewels and silvery stuff. Where was King Tut? In a probably godless, empty, cold, difficult, dead-like place. Those who have served Christ, those who have worked for God, those who have served God, the scriptures tell us over and over and over again there is hope because of Jesus Christ. And um we have to decide which one's more important. In verse 8, the other thing that we can uh can see as a as a reason to not seek uh money-bought pleasures, he says, if we had food and clothing, he says, we will be content with that. Paul talks a lot about contentment. He speaks often about how what it means to follow Christ includes contentment, peace of heart, relaxation, calm, wonder. Christians can be satisfied with the necessities, the necessities that take care of us, that take care of our children and our families, because we know that God is near and on our side, and the extras cannot fulfill our lives. There's a passage in Hebrews that the Hebrew writer says, Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, Never will I leave you, never will I forsake you. For we say with confidence, he says, The Lord is my helper, and I will not be afraid. What can mere mortals do to me? The the perfect uh picture here from the writer of Hebrews is that no matter what, whether the Fed chair is happy these days, or whether whether the Fed chairman is unhappy these days, no matter what the economy of our nation of our or of our community, no matter what, through thick or thin, no matter whether things are somber or whether things are jolly, we put God's gold on the gold standard of God. Verses 9 and 10 of this passage uh reminds you, he says, For 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. The love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. The pursuit of gold brings the destruction of joy, it sometimes brings the destruction of life, and God's money in our hands is to be invested in the kingdom of God for the care of our families and for our needs. Another passage which may sound even more familiar to you is from the Gospel of Luke, chapter 12, verses 31 and 34. It'll sound familiar because you'll also find it in Matthew 6 in the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus said, But seek God's kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well. Do not be afraid, little flock, for your father has been pleased to give you the kingdom. He said, Sell your possessions and give to the poor, provide purses for yourself that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will never fail, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. And then verse 34 of Luke chapter 12 says, and you probably know this one well, where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. This whole whole uh series of of thinking and way of thinking is that we store heavenly treasure by spreading earthly treasures for heavenly purposes in Christ's name. We send it on ahead, if you will. Our goal is to is to take what of what God's stuff has been put in our hands and use God's stuff for God's glory and for the blessing of God's creation. We send it on ahead as a goal, but also we might believe that, and preachers might say it, and good uh folks in church may nod their heads and say, Yep, uh, where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. And yes, I understand and agree with with the psalmist in Psalm 24 that everything is uh the Lord's and everything in the world has has its life in God, and all those things we agree, but the evidence is that many professing Christians, many church folk along the way, have been deceived by the Western commercialism and materialism that pervades our world. Now, once in a while, Susie and I watch TV because we're well, we have a little bit more time than we used to. And and when we watch TV, we'll watch a half-hour show. And and Susie will tell you, it just drives me nuts for all the commercials that that interrupt my life while I'm watching my show. And and so for a half-hour show, you uh those of us who maybe a little more gray-headed may remember a 30-minute show. There might have been a couple of commercials in there, but now you watch a 30-minute show and you get about 20 minutes of show, and and it seems like about at least about eight or 10 minutes of commercial. Why is that? Because people want to sell us stuff and they want to tell us how badly we need this, that, or the other thing, and that that bit and bob and those other things that uh that that are just so vital to our happiness and our well-being. If we don't have it and if we don't get it, what will we do? There is that sense that as we have been inundated with that kind of information, we Christ followers may sometimes be buying into that. I'm a uh Baptist Christian, Christ follower, and um I'm also an American Baptist, and I know about us, I know about my Baptist family and my corner of the Baptist world. And what I know about us, we did a study of ourselves about 10 years ago, and I was at a preacher meeting, and they told us, well, we American Baptists, we talk about tithing, we talk about the sacred tenth, we talk about giving 10% of our of our wealth uh to to ministry and to mission, and uh because God sets it up that way in the scriptures and the old and the new testaments. And the picture is that we American Baptists give about 2% of our of our um income uh to God's work. I say that to our shame, but I would ask you to do a little math and check that out. You're you're probably taking care of your taxes right now. It'd be pretty easy for you to see how how much God got of what you made last year. Because God prospers his people, and we give um way too little, it seems, as Christ's followers, based on how much we own. So maybe we could think about uh giving it away just a little bit uh a little bit better. Luke 12, 34. Where your heart is, where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. So many Christ's followers, so many Christians and lots of worldlings also around us dread the thought of leaving this world. Why? Because our treasures are here. They are here. Why? Because stored up treasures are here and maybe not in heaven as much as they should be. As each day brings us closer to death, too many get closer to losing their treasures. I read a story about John Wesley, the he and his uh brother, uh Charles Wesley and John, uh great songwriters, and also I think the fathers of Methodism, uh toured a uh a vast estate by a uh owned by a wealthy man uh in many years ago, and they rode a horse all day long looking at this man's plantation. And as they rode over that plantation, they didn't cover all of it, and it took all day just to cover what they did. And at the end of the ride, the man said, So, Mr. Wesley, what do you think? And John Wesley perceptively said, I think you will have a hard time leaving all of this. One's heart always goes where one puts God's money. Based on verse 34, he said, Jesus said, Show me your receipts, show me your checkbook, show me your charge statements, and I'll show you where your heart is and uh where your attention is. If you own stock in General Motors, when you see an article in the paper or you see an article online about General Motors, you read it with interest and fascination. If you have Cummins stock over from over in Columbus, you have you pay attention to how well Cummins Engine Company is doing. You want to know how things are going. Susie and I have dear friends. Uh uh Kyle was a staff member of mine while I served. Uh there were three of us pastors at Plainfield, and and uh Kyle was my one of my associate pastors. And uh when he and Debbie came to our place, they stayed for about five years, and then they went to uh umca down in Lawrence County and served as pastor there for many years, about a decade. And then God called them to mission. And Kyle and Debbie uh right now, at this very hour, well, they're in bed, but right now, but but they're in Thailand. And as I talk to Kyle about once a month on FaceTime, and we we chat back and forth and pray together, and he tells me what's going on. And you know what? I always know what's going on in Thailand. Why? Because someone I love, someone Susie loves, someone we support, and someone we care for live and minister in Thailand. And when something goes awry over there, and it has over the last few years, floods for one thing, and then uh wars and stuff going on with their neighbors in Cambodia, um, we're always praying that we up our praying and our interests and our concern. Why? Because our heart is there. They are they are treasures of our life, and our heart is there too, because we pay attention. If you give demission and you give in ministry and you support ministries and uh persons you appreciate who play on the radio or on television or who minister to you in a podcast for Christ's sake, you love them and you care for them, and you may even send them support uh on top of your ties to the local church. And when you do that, it shows that your heart is for them. Like a compass points to north, our hearts always follow our treasure. You want a heart for mission? Put God's money in missions. You want a heart for ministry? Put God's money in ministry. I watched you today as a kind of an interested bystander, a glad and interested bystander. And I watched you today enjoy the fruit of where your heart had taken you. Did you watch yourselves today? You wrote, you wrote letters. What what are the how expensive are stamps these days? They're not too expensive, but they're awful. But you you you invested stamps, you went out and bought cards, and you went out and bought more stamps, and you went to the trouble to go to the P.O. or go out to the mailbox and deliver those to a family who lives up in the region of Indiana, who you had no idea who they are, and you sent cards and letters and love to them. Why? Because you're you you suddenly treasured them, and your treasure followed where your heart went. And I watched you with delight today, as you got to reap the benefit on this side of your lives, to enjoy what you had done to care. You see, when you give to ministry, when you give of yourself to the master, as the old song says, your delight will follow on that. Don't you think you should care even more about eternal things and about spiritual things? To reallocate more of God's money and God's stuff to the lasting things, free from thieves and rust and bugs. God wants your heart. Don't be just a philanthropist, don't be just a donor, but be a disciple with a vision for eternity. Lay up treasures in heaven, daily moving closer and more and more and more toward God. As is published in your bulletin this morning, a missionary Jim Elliott said he is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose. Just this week, uh I I was uh I was Jim's pastor for starting 40 years ago when we moved to Plainfield. And I I did Jim's funeral on Tuesday and buried him down in Bloomington in the in a pouring uh downpour rain. It seems it always rains at cemeteries. And as I as I stood there, I thought about the visit that I'd had with Jim uh about three weeks before. Uh he was uh cancer victim and it was getting him. And uh I went to see him and visit with him for a while and his family. They said, Dad's feeling pretty good today, why don't you come today? And I ran over to Plainfield and visited with Jim and sat with him out in his shop, about a about a hundred by fifty uh-sized uh shop outdoors and about froze to death. But I but I talked with him and visited with him and and he was feeling good that day because he had his kids out outside there with him, and he was telling them what he wanted them to do with his stuff. And as as Jim talked to them, he said, Well, that mower over there, uh that that one's that one just has a dead battery, it'll start, and all you have to do is put a new battery in it, and it'll be fine. And then he was telling me telling the kids about this tractor over here and about this lift over here, and about those that whole vast array of stuff uh stacked up on shelves and shelves and shelves. And you know what? When we got to Bloomington on Tuesday afternoon, and we I looked, I looked at that uh that grave, and none of that stuff was there. See, we invest in the things that last, laying up treasures in heaven for the things that really, really, really matter. Because I uh come to you today with this mindset and this this presupposition that everything that we have is on on loan or kind of for just for a temporary residence in our hands and in our possession. Let's uh let's be careful about giving the things that we cannot keep to make the difference in the kingdom of God. In a way, after watching you today, I feel like I'm preaching to the choir. I understand that. But I want you to be mindful of those things. And maybe younger folks and younger families, uh, maybe you start at 2%. Maybe you can start at 5% of your uh God-given income. Maybe you can um work your way up to the sacred tenth. And um I promise you, Susie and I understand this because we've lived it. You can't you are blessed when you give. Not materially as much as you are, oh boy, it feels good to give. Oh boy, it feels good to to hand somebody something unxpectedly, or or to give that that green bean casserole to someone who is uh doing doing uh difficult days and to share with them and to care for them and to bless them. Oh, it feels good. Uh there's a there's a wise old saying, only one life twill soon be passed. Only what's done for Christ will last. And then you may remember it's it's it's not Christmas time, but you remember the the old the old story by Charles Dickens, a Christmas carol, and Ebenezer Scrooge, and he was a miserly old soul, and grouchy and grumpy and mean and difficult, and and shown unconditional love by Tiny Tim and all. But then he has this dream, and three spirits from the past, present, and future come to visit him. And in those in those spiritual visitations, uh Charles Dickens presents a change in the life of old Ebenezer Scrooge. And when he uh experienced that moment of change, it says that Mr. Scrooge gained an eternal perspective. He jumped for joy as he discovered life, the life-giving antidote to materialism. He learned the joy of giving. It's like Scrooge was, well, like born like he was born again. Jesus came to be God with us. Jesus came to help us, to show us how to gain eternity, an eternity that cannot be lost and that cannot be removed from our hands. He died, he rose again as we celebrate in a few weeks to give us the gift of everlasting life and to give us hope that is beyond this world. Let's pray. So, Lord, I thank you for your blessings. I thank you, God, for your mercies, I thank you, God, for uh giving us a chance to talk about you and about your way of thinking and about your way of doing things. I pray, oh Lord, that you would help each heart in this place to be, well, refreshed by the joy of generosity. I ask you, God, to nurture each one. I pray for each one as they grow in their discipleship, as their and their faithfulness and their maturity toward Christ. I ask God your your direction as we sing together and as we close out this day together. And I thank you, Lord, for this fellowship and their real and genuine generosity and the joy that they've already felt today because of just a little bit of giving away. Now, Lord, as we as we sing together, I ask your mercies as we sing in Jesus' name. Amen. Would you uh