NATIONAL TREASURE
A STUDY ON THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT: PART XXI (WEALTH)
INTRO: This woman definitely has a master, you decide.
Rah, Rah, Rah, Robbery
Cops: Teen cheerleader stole $187 from wheelchair-bound Georgia boy
JULY 8--A teenage cheerleader stole $187 from a wheelchair-bound boy who had earned the money selling t-shirts for a charity, police charge. Chelsea Steele, 17, was arrested last Friday, a few hours after she allegedly robbed Joseph Green at a Marietta, Georgia community pool house where Green was "selling t-shirts and hats...for charity," according to a criminal warrant. Steele, who attends Sprayberry High School, is listed as a member of the school’s varsity cheerleading squad in a roster available for downloading from the school’s web site (though it appears that her name was scrubbed elsewhere from the site following her July 3 bust). Steele, pictured below in a Cobb County Sheriff’s Office mug shot, is facing a felony robbery count (she was also hit with an underage alcohol possession rap). Police are investigating whether Steele had accomplices, since she was spotted fleeing the pool house in the company of a friend, with whom she departed the area in a Ford Taurus.
TRANSITION: Some people will do anything for money. But why? Today, we continue our lesson on the Sermon on the Mount, or in this week’s case, the Sermon on the Amount.
BIBLE VERSE: Matthew 6:19-24
6:19 “Do not accumulate for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal. 6:20 But accumulate for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal. 6:21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
6:22 “The eye is the lamp of the body. If then your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light. 6:23 But if your eye is diseased, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!
6:24 “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.
TRANSITION II: Yes, today we are talking about money. And don’t churches get a hard time talking about money. But do you know who talked about money a lot? Jesus did (my Bible has a list of Jesus parables, if a list can be attained, show it, I think most people would be surprised to find out that roughly 40% of Jesus’ recorded parables talk about money).
1. ACCUMULATION (OF WEALTH)
State of Famine: When it comes to an accumulation of wealth, it is important to save, to conserve. There are a lot of Proverbs written about saving up for the day of famine, etc (and if you didn’t know, our country is in a state of famine). 9.5% unemployment and rising. Many families were prepared, many are not. And some who are prepared are stuck because of so many others that did not.
Waiting Room Principle: I’ve heard wealth put this way, we are all living in a waiting room—its just most of us think we are living in heaven. Seriously, people buy all sorts of extravagant items, hot cars, fancy paintings, bling bling (think of some funny youth trends here if it pops in your head), but it is really foolish. This world is a doctor’s waiting room, and we spend all our lives decorating it. Sadly, some never even get to go in and meet the good doctor.
All Goes Back into the Box: Let me put it to you one more way. Life is a board game (maybe even have a board game on hand for this), and the game is fun to play. Even Monopoly that goes on and on and on. But when life is over, it all goes back into the box. Some people have a whole lot of things that go back into the box. What concerns me…is what souls go to heaven! Does that concern you? Look at this next verse.
BIBLE VERSE: Philippians 3:7-8
3:7 But these assets I have come to regard as liabilities because of Christ. 3:8 More than that, I now regard all things as liabilities compared to the far greater value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things – indeed, I regard them as dung! – that I may gain Christ,
2. TREASURE
What is Treasure? Of course, treasure does include money, gold, jewelry, etc. That is true. But treasure also refers to our personal beliefs, our friends, our family—anything with value to us. That is real treasure.
THE 3 D’s:
A. Durability: When deciding on a major purchase, one must ask this question: How Long Will It Last?
Let’s think about this here. As students, we spend our money on some things that are just meaningless.
Some in No Apparent Order:
1. Food: $25 for a meal? How long does that last (a couple of hours I suppose).
2. Music: Now I know you love, love, love music. How much do you need? How much have you paid for it?
3. Car: Just do the math online on how much a car may cost a person (I will have an illustration that follows with the general math included).
New Car Purchase: $10,000
5 Year Interest at about 9% another $7,000 or so
TOTAL $17,000
But what is the $10K car worth in 5 years: less than $5,000
Alternative plan: would be to put $5,000 away in savings, then buy the car with cash. Then either put other money a way and save up for new car, OR save it up for something else (college?).
QUESTION: WHAT IS THE CHEAPEST CAR TO BUY? THE ONE YOU ALREADY OWN
B. Disappearance (Keyword: Dig): Back then, banks were not really good places to store money, there just wasn’t anything like that (good thing we have high quality banks today, lol). So how would people store their belongings? They would go out to a remote place, peer around when nobody was looking, and bury it. Then thieves, because of who they were, would actually go around and attempt to dig up people’s belongings, dig up their items to steal it.
C. Decay (Keyword: Clothes): In ancient times, wealth was not caught up in your car or your house (that is pretty much what it seems to be now, but of course, if you’re a youth, cell phone is also one). Not back then, everyone kind of lived in the same size home, and transportation was about the same for all.
What stood out were their Clothes! Garments were a considerable investment. The most expensive clothes were made of wool, and of course that brought on moths. Valuable tools were attacked by rust. So what was important to people the most: things that weren’t any good in a very short period of time.
It’s a good thing our nation is past that right? Or are we?
BIBLE VERSE: Luke 12:34
12:34 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
*By the way, that is why it is so easy for youth to use work as a reason to NOT worship the Lord.
3. IN HEAVEN
How Do I Get Treasure in Heaven? The answer is surprisingly clear.
BIBLE VERSE: Luke 6:35-36
6:35 But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because he is kind to ungrateful and evil people. 6:36 Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.
How do you store up treasure in heaven?
Do good to all people and expect nothing back.
Explanation of “Sons of the Most High”
In the ancient world, sons of the King had great privileges. In this passage, Jesus clearly tells the disciples that they have these special privileges, since they are sons of the King. This would have felt amazing to men who were in their past life only fishermen apprentices. But, aren’t we all only fisherman apprentices anyway if we don’t know Jesus?
4. THE EYE
Let’s move now from heartsight to eyesight (since storing up treasures is a case for the heart).
It all starts with the eye.
Pastor Matt Rogers transitions this well:
The reasoning goes like this: Just as our physical eye affects our whole body, so our ambition (where we set our eyes and heart) – our focus – affects our whole life. Our minds determine the direction of our lives. Whatever we focus on, we prioritize.
If I’m focused on money, I’ll find more ways to make it, invest it and spend it. If I’m focused on being an athlete I’ll train, practice and live my sport.
If I’m focused on gardening, fitness, cars, antiques, or electronic gadgets – each will affect my life and what I do, because whatever I focus on, I will begin to prioritize.
Example: Church of God Grill
“Charles Paul Conn writes about an actual experience one man had in the Deep South. He says, “When I lived in Atlanta several years ago, I noticed in the Yellow Pages, in the listing of restaurants, and entry for a place called the The Church of God Grill. The peculiar name aroused my curiosity and I dialed the number. A man answered with a cheery, ‘Hello! Church of God Grill!’ I asked how his restaurant had been given such and unusual name, and he told me: ‘Well, we had a little mission down here, and we started selling chicken dinners after church on Sunday to help pay the bills. Well, people liked the chicken, and we did such a good business, that eventually we cut back on the church service. After awhile we just closed down the church altogether and kept on serving chicken dinners. We kept the name we started with, and that’s Church of God Grill.’” (From Swindoll’s Tale of the Tardy Oxcart, p. 214)”
Take a look at our verse again…
BIBLE VERSE: Matthew 6:22-23
6:22 “The eye is the lamp of the body. If then your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light. 6:23 But if your eye is diseased, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!
Men Talk Here: Men, we have to talk about something I have observed. I am 36 years old, been a youth pastor now for 8 years, and a Christian for 19 years. I can professionally tell you scientifically that,
“men are awful with their eyes.”
Quik Trip Example: I just walked into Quik Trip not long ago, 49 cent soft drinks as many of you know. Blue collar grubby worker walks in for a refill, young professionally dressed woman walks past, maybe even an older HS girl. He stares at her the whole time. He was actually getting his drink and his head was turned around like a lizard staring at her. He actually went to the glass to stare outside as she gets into her car before even paying.
We need to control our eyes. Not just for our wants, but for everything. We need to take Job 31:1 seriously and make that covenant, it is probably our only serious chance.
CLOSE: NATIONAL TREASURE There is a famous series of movies out there called National Treasure. In the movies, Benjamin Franklin Gates is on some type of mission, whether it is all the riches of the Masons, in the 2nd movie he attempts to save his family name, I suppose there is a 3rd one coming out too. There are cool things in the movie like “The President’s Book of Secrets,” or a 360 Ferrari Spyder, whatever.
Here’s the point: he had a clear focus on making a discovery. Then another, then another, and nothing would get in his way. I find that very admirable. I believe we should be the same way towards Jesus.
Sources:
Bible.org. Luke 6:35, hyphenated point #114.
Bill, Brian. Mastering Your Money. Pontiac Bible Church, Illinois, September 2001.
Narido, Efren. Divine Treasure. God Fascinates Church, March 2007.
Rogers, Matt. Spiritual Eyesight. Christian Church of Clarendon Hills, Illinois. July 2001
Swindoll, Charles. Tale of the Tardy Oxcart, 214.
Thesmokinggun.com. Rah Rah Rah Robbery. July 8.
NAME: ______________________________
NATIONAL TREASURE
A STUDY ON THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT: PART XXI (WEALTH)
INTRO: Rah Rah Rah Robbery
BIBLE VERSE: Matthew 6:19-24
1. _________________________ (OF WEALTH)
State of Famine: ___________________________________________________________
Waiting Room: ___________________________________________________________
It All Goes Back in the Box: ___________________________________________________________
BIBLE VERSE: Philippians 3:7-8
3:7 But these assets I have come to regard as liabilities because of Christ. 3:8 More than that, I now regard all things as liabilities compared to the far greater value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things – indeed, I regard them as ___________________! – that I may gain Christ,
2. ________________________
THE 3 D’s:
A. ____________________________
Key Question: ______________________________________________
The list of Teen Money Loss:
I. ___________________________________
II. __________________________________
III. __________________________________
B. ____________________________
C. ____________________________
3. IN ___________________________________________
BIBLE VERSE: Luke 6:35-36
6:35 But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, ________________________ ___________________ ___________________. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because he is kind to ungrateful and evil people. 6:36 Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.
How do you store up treasure in heaven? ____________________________________________________
4. _______________________________
Church of God Grill: ___________________________________________________________________
BIBLE VERSE: Matthew 6:22-23
National Treasure: _____________________________________________________________________