Your Worry Is Chasing Something Temporary

0:42 So I want to start with a question today. What if you knew then what you know now? Well, when is then? Whenever the wisdom you've acquired today would have really come in handy back then. Like, like parents, would you maybe, maybe parent a little bit differently, like a little bit less stress, a little bit more fun. Young adults, would you maybe put a little less pressure on yourself to like know what you're going to do for the rest of your life and just, just try some stuff and learn more about yourself. I wonder if, I don't know, have you ever looked back at your choice of hairstyles 25 years ago? And you think like, what on earth was I thinking? When I was a senior in high school, here was the look. Like a military buzz cut on the top with a mullet down the back. Wait, wait, wait, that my mother would perm every other month. That was the look. God forgive me.

1:53 I wonder if we would maybe go back and spend a little less energy and internal conversations on the stuff that you fast forward to the day that's created the most anxious generation in human history.

2:16 I think Jesus calls us to a life of order and kingdom priority. And in fact, I would argue that one of the reasons that humanity is so anxious today is this. It's because we are consumed by the temporary rather than fixed on what is eternal. I believe it with my whole heart. this in the gospel of Matthew chapter six. He's speaking to those of us who are operating under a sense of scarcity, fear, anxiety, worried about, am I going to have enough? And he says this, but seek first. Everybody say first. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. We're starting a series today called First Things First. Before I forget, next week, the incredible Torin Wells is going to be with us, bringing God's word.

3:14 So you will want to be here for that. I think we have to ask ourselves, what does he mean by the kingdom? Seek first the kingdom. 126 times in just the four gospels, Jesus addresses the kingdom, the kingdom of heaven, the kingdom of God. Do you think it's important that we try to understand what he's trying to tell us?

3:40 moment you decide to become a disciple of the way, a follower of Jesus, you now come under a king and his kingdom. And the reason he has to be so redundant about what that means is because the way the kingdom operates is directly opposed to the patterns, the values, and the practices of the world in which we live. And today we're going to look at a story in the New Testament, a parable, in fact, that Jesus told to help us understand how the kingdom works and how he has called us to operate within it. Because here's the thing, if you follow Jesus, we have to bring our relationships, our disciplines, our habits, our marriage, our ambition, our money under a king.

4:38 Now, this story is super long. And we would literally be here the whole time if I just read it. So if you'll indulge me, I'm going to paraphrase the parable of talents. Then we're going to come back and we're going to pick apart several of these passages and try to understand what is Jesus trying to tell us. So here's the story. A master is going to go on a journey. And so he calls three of his servants together. and he entrusted them what belongs to the master. To one, he gives five talents. Now, what is a talent? A talent is a measurement of weight. At this time, it was used to measure precious metal like gold and silver. One talent was worth three, four, five years wages. He is entrusting to them a small fortune.

5:33 five talents. To another, he gives two. And to the third, he gives one. And then he goes on his journey. And after a while, he returns home to settle accounts with his servants. So he calls them together. And to the one he gave five, this fellow put it to work. He multiplied it. He knew that he could make a difference with it. He said, master, I've doubled it. Here's five more. The master was overjoyed, celebrated, says, well done, my good and faithful servant. To the one who he gave to, the same story, multiplied it, doubled it, gave it to the master. master's overjoyed. But there was one who he gave one operating out of this sense of fear and scarcity. He didn't want to lose it. And so he buried it just so that when the master came back, at least he wouldn't have misplaced it. And the words that Jesus described that the master addressed the servant who was given the one are pretty harsh, if I'm honest. You wicked and lazy servant. But the thing that is so incredible about this story is not even the story itself.

6:56 It is the reason why Jesus told the story. So in the gospel of Matthew 25 verse one, scripture says this, then the kingdom of heaven will be like dot, dot, dot. And then he tells the parable of the talents. This story is one of 126 ways that Jesus is trying to educate us how to build our lives according to a kingdom. There's so many things that we can pull out of the story. We're going to look at two today. In the kingdom of heaven, the first principle that we have to understand is this. In the kingdom of heaven, God owns everything.

7:38 the culture that you live in doesn't believe that i've earned this i've worked hard for this i believe the way our culture the theology our culture teaches feels more like this everything that i have is from me and it is for me

8:01 culture of this world, kingdom of God. Everything that I have, God owns. Verse 14. For it will be like a man going on a journey who called his servants and entrusted to them whose property? His property. Before he gave it to the servants, it belonged to the master. When it was in the servant's hands, who did it belong to? The master.

8:31 Everything we have belongs to God. He created us to be generous with what is his. But if you claim Jesus, but live according to the value principles of this world, your life is a tug of war and it doesn't make any sense.

9:02 and I believe this is one of the reasons many of us are spiritually stuck. It is very hard to let go of what you think you own, because if you let go of it, how will you know if there's any more where that came from? But how easy is it to live open-handed with what never belonged to you in the first place? Crazy easy. and I gotta tell you, this is why I passionately believe God authored the principle of the tithe. What is the tithe? It is not just a tenth of the income or our increase, but it is the first tenth of our income and our increase. Leviticus 27, one-tenth of the produce of the land, whether grain from the field or fruit from the trees, belongs to who? Belongs to the Lord. and must be set apart to him as holy. I believe that the tithe is a declaration of God's ownership.

10:06 Every time we get paid, we have the opportunity to remind ourselves who our provider is. If you live according to the belief patterns of this world, this idea of giving the first 10% of your income is stupid and utterly irrational. I admit it. If you live according to the kingdom, nothing makes more sense. Yeah. The first of the week is the Sabbath. It is holy and set apart, belongs to the Lord. The first of the day, what did Jesus often do? He would get up and go to lonely places to pray. The first of the day belongs to the Lord. Many of us start every year with a fast to say, God, as I begin this year, I'm declaring that you are first and the first of my income is not mine.

11:05 It belongs to the Lord. Money is, it's a tough thing because I know as I am speaking this, there are so many of you overwhelmed by the cost of life right now. I can see it in your eyes and I get it. The economy of heaven is not this economy though.

11:33 I have struggled with this a lot of my life. I think there are spenders and savers. Let's group participation. Where are the spenders in all of our campuses? Just raise your hand. You know, you're making apologies to the UPS guy all the time because he's coming to your house way too often. You know who you are. What about the savers? Where are the savers? Everybody, you know, you. all of those things are totally fine to a point. But for some of us, the spending can get to the point where really what we're doing is we're medicating our emptiness with the new purchase. And that's when it's not okay. Or saving all through the Proverbs. It's wisdom until you are so fixed on building a pile big enough that you have created a life where God is unnecessary. Every one of these struggles has a line that we can cross and it goes from something that's fine to something that's an idol, right? And it was causing havoc in the early years of my marriage to Cindy. I would buy things on a credit card without telling her and really awesome conversations in those early days. And then my parents really did not plan for retirement or their older years at all. And so the pendulum for me of obsession, am I going to have enough? And so I'm one of the lucky ones that I love both. I love building a pile and spinning often. I struggle with both. And so Cindy and I, I don't know, five, six years in our marriage, we were like, this is not working. There is so much conflict about money. Can we just pray and ask God to give us a different vision for our family? Just this belief system is not working.

13:30 So we prayed. God, did you give us a vision, even a mission for what it means to be a Beal? Give us a verse out of your word. And he did. In Matthew, I'm sorry, in Romans 1136, here's our For from him and through him and for him are all things. To him be the glory forever, amen. As a Beal, everything that we have came from God. Everything we do, we do through his power. And the whole by-product of our existence is to give glory to God. Like there's a painting over our fireplace. Our boys know it, they're teaching their kids, our grandkids, this is what it means to be a Beal. And that value was put to the test about four years after we set this as our family verse. In the middle of the night, our house caught fire.

14:24 It started in the attic. So the smoke detectors were not going off and we were all sleeping. And I'll just tell you, I'm not going to get into all the details, but the Holy Spirit woke Cindy Beale up. She got out of bed, looked out the window, and there's flames shooting from our attic out of the eve vents. she comes over to me fast asleep shakes me violently babe our house is on fire I'm gonna get our sons you're on your own and she leaves

14:56 exact words true story they're our priorities fortunately I didn't go back to sleep I got out of bed we got the kids out it's probably two in the morning and we're standing on the street in fact, this is a picture of my youngest son at the time, Seth, standing in front of our house as it burned to the ground. I had a pair of shorts. I had flip-flops on. For those of you outside of America, they're like sandals that most men shouldn't wear. I had my wallet. I had my car keys and I had my phone and that is all I owned.

15:38 we spent the night at the neighbor's house. And one of the most emotional moments for me happened about 730 the next morning. My autometrist, Jay Sparks, Jay, if you're listening to this, I love you. Jay saw that our house burned on Facebook and he showed up at our neighbor's house where we spent the night with my prescription of contact lenses. I mean, just the thoughtfulness and a toothbrush and a pair of underwear. So thank you so much for that, Jay. But here's my point. I kept waiting for the devastation to set in that everything we have accumulated over a lifetime was gone and that day never came. Because we have a family verse that everything we have is from God. And I'm telling you, you don't sweat it because it wasn't ours to begin with.

16:32 I wanna ask you an honest question. How would your life change if you lived like everything belongs to God? In this parable, Jesus is describing the kingdom of heaven, teaching us that first, God owns everything. And second, you will give an account. For what?

16:58 for what you did with what God gave you. Let's look at verse 19 in the Gospel of Matthew. Now, after a long time, the master of those servants came and did what? He settled accounts with them. What did you do with what I gave you? Now, some of you theological alarm bells are going off in your head right now because this does not feel consistent with the gospel that you know. doesn't scripture say that I am saved by grace through faith and not a result of works so that I couldn't boast? You are absolutely right. It does. Doesn't God's word say that the judgment and our shame was placed on Jesus on our behalf? It absolutely does. And yet you will give an account. There are two judgments talked about in scripture. The first, we call it the great white throne judgment. And this is where the father, where every person will stand before the father and he will separate those of us that put our faith in Jesus and chose to live our lives following him. And then he separates those who didn't put their faith in Jesus and chose to live their lives rejecting him. This is not that judgment. This judgment, the Greek word, in fact, is called the bama seat of Christ. And the apostle Paul describes it in Romans chapter 14. He says, remember, we will all stand before the judgment seat of God. For the scriptures say, as surely as I live, says the Lord, every knee will bend to me. Every tongue will declare allegiance to God.

18:47 Each will give a personal account to God. we have to reconcile why this stirs up resistance at this idea. And I believe one of the reasons why is when you hear you will stand before the judgment seat of God, most likely this is the image that comes to mind. Right? Right? An angry judge throwing a gavel of condemnation at you because your life just didn't measure up. This is not biblical. This is not that judgment. I think a better illustration of the Bema Seat of Christ looks more like this.

19:42 Look at their faces. This is the Bema Seat of Christ. That young girl was born with a physical disability in her foot.

20:03 Her name is Kaleo. and all the challenges of having to navigate surgeries and doctor's visits and compensating for her body not working the way most of ours does. Did that keep her from living life completely full of finding ways to make the most of her existence? Absolutely not. Somehow she found herself on the U.S. Paralympics team that plays sitting volleyball, and they beat China for the gold in both Rio and Tokyo and Paris. And I know this because she's on the Life.Church staff, and she's one of our friends. But the look on her face, that is the Bama seat of Christ.

20:58 Your father is cheering you on. Not condemnation. You've got this. I've given you so much. I can't wait to see what you do with it. He is sitting at the edge of his throne, planning and preparing for how to bless your faithfulness. Jesus's words in Revelation 22. Look, I am coming soon is with me and I will give to each person according to what they have done.

21:35 Church, when we realize that everything we have belongs to God and that we will give an account to him for what we did with it and that that reward lasts forever, it becomes pretty obvious that in the kingdom, we have to start thinking of ourselves more like investors and less like spenders. Just think about the word or the definition of spending. What is that? You're trading one thing for another. I'm trading this money for this thing, or I'm trading this time for this experience, but there's no net add. But those of us think like investors, this is more of I am devoting this with an expectation for an exponential return. How does that work practically? You could spend your time binging on a show on Netflix, nothing wrong with it. You could open up your Bible app with that same amount of time and spend time falling in love with Jesus. You're spending time here, you're investing time here.

22:52 word of God never returns void. You could spend your time stressing out about your kids or the choices that they're making. And I get it. We've been there. Or you could invest that same amount of time on your knees, praying heaven down that God would encounter them in such a way. One thing is a spending of time. The other is an investment because the prayer of the righteous avails much. we have got to start thinking of ourselves as kingdom investors jesus's words do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth where moth and rust destroy and thieves break in and steal but store for yourselves or invest all that god's given you to build treasure in heaven where neither moth or rest destroy, where thieves don't break in and steal.

23:46 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. If you are not a giver, and you're waiting for a day to emotionally be compelled to be a giver or a tither, that day is not coming. For where you invest, there your heart follows. If you want to feel the joy of being a giver, you have to give. It's not going to just come and then you give. We just choose to become kingdom investors. Every second of every day, we have a choice to either spend the time, the resource, the money, or invest it in things that matter to the heart of God. And I just want to get practical. I want to just tell you some stories of people that are dear to me and how the way they think about kingdom investment, it just inspires me and makes me as a giver. And the first, honestly, is Pastor Craig and Amy. I, as he mentioned, we've been friends for 25 years now, gotten to partner in ministry for 23. And every year on January the 1st, around five in the morning, Pastor Craig gives his largest offering of the year. Many of us give at the end of the year, get a tax deduction for that, which is perfectly fine. Craig just does it differently. The first day of the year, before the sun even comes up, God gets my best. That inspires me. My oldest and youngest son, they own an electrical services company together, and they're killing it, so proud of them, they decided that 10% of business profit, not just personal income, is set aside to meet the needs of the poor and to resource the church. That inspires me.

25:53 Brian and Carrie from Wellington, they could have retired years ago. Carrie volunteers as the global ambassador for YouVersion for the nation of Italy. She hosts events in Rome every single year to get church leaders and content partners engaged in God's word in their churches. Brian is a serial entrepreneur. In the last 12 months, Brian started two new companies. You might ask, how many companies does he have? More than two. And he started these companies with no other purpose God's word getting into every heart language on planet earth. They are kingdom investors and it inspires me. Lainey from the Oklahoma City campus. Lainey's a hairdresser. She gives to our church five to six times a day, five days a week. She got saved in this house, struggling in life and decided I'm just going to become a tither because this other life is not and God just showed up in her life and blessed her financially, yes, but in so many other ways.

27:09 And so she's decided in between every haircut or color that I do between clients, I'm gonna tithe on what this person just paid me to declare in this moment, God is my provider. Lainey inspires me. Tanner in Lenexa. Tanner and his wife have decided that if they're ever going to think about buying a luxury splurge, like something for their house or an expensive trip, they will not do that unless they first give the same amount of money to serve the poor and to resource the church. Tanner inspires me, but probably my favorite is Diane. Diane attends our Stillwater campus and she, sweet lady, living on a fixed income. she loves to give and wishes she could give more. And she asked the Lord, God, I wanna give offerings, but I don't know how or how much or to what.

28:04 And she felt like God gave her this really cool idea that anytime she sees a coin on the ground, she's gonna set the equivalent in dollars aside until the end of the year. So she finds a quarter, she puts $25 in a jar, finds a penny, puts a dollar in the jar. And at the end of the year, she gathers it up and brings her offering to the Lord. Diane inspires me.

28:35 When you become a kingdom investor, it will impact eternity, but it will change you. It will absolutely change your heart. I wanna close with this story. Many years ago, we took our boys, the first time we took them out of the country, we took them to Mexico. to a beach for five days. And I heard them talking on the plane about how excited they were about exchanging their American dollars for pesos. And I said, hey, please don't. Everywhere we're going, you can use American dollars. And we got to the airport in Mexico and did they listen to dad? Nope. They go straight to the money exchange, the currency exchange and change all of their American dollars for pesos. So I don't know, 8,700 pesos I think they had. And we go to the resort And how much did they spend?

29:28 Zero. We had a great week. We came back home. And for the next 10 years or so, until we moved out of that house, my three sons had a stack of pesos sitting in their nightstands that were worth something at this place they went to for a brief moment, but are of no value at their country of origin. Thank you.

29:58 how many of us when we stand before God in heaven will have to reconcile that we obsessed over gathering and collecting things that had some value there where we spent a whisper of our existence that is worth nothing here.

30:26 you are a 10 talent person. And I know some of you are struggling. If you have food in your fridge and a roof over your head tonight, you are blessed as am I. God planted you in a 10 talent point in time where we have more opportunity to reach the lost with the gospel than any generation that has preceded us. God has planted you in a 10 talent church. We literally have a workable, actionable plan to eradicate Bible poverty in our lifetime to see 99% of every spoken and written language their heart language. It is happening. Last weekend, we opened Life Church Parker, where 48 people who walked in the doors who were lost and far from God left, saved, their names written in the Lamb's Book of Life.

31:26 This earthly existence is a vapor. It is so short. And what you do with your vapor lasts forever. The only reasonable response is to hold nothing back. God, everything that I have is yours. And I believe many of you will stand before him and what the master said to the servants, Jesus will say to you,

31:58 well done, my good and faithful servant. You are faithful with the little. now I put you over much enter into the joy of your master so father we hear you loud and clear i hear you loud and clear

32:26 just in a posture of prayer how many of you would say when i started this message and i said that the cause of our anxiety is because we are consumed by what is temporary rather than fixed on what is eternal how many say, unfortunately, that describes much of how I've been living lately. Would you just be honest and raise your hand at all of our locations, hands going up everywhere. Father, we repent.

32:57 We understand how these pressures are real, but they are just a small part of the big story that you are telling and what you want to do in us. And so we're asking you, God, fix our hearts on what is close to yours, on that which is eternal.

33:19 As we continue to pray today, there are some of you that have a head knowledge of God, maybe even a belief. But if I could just be very honest with you, that does not save someone. Pastor Craig has said multiple times over the past few weeks, How can we be saved?

33:45 You confess with your mouth. There is a public acknowledgement that Jesus is not just your forgiver, but your Lord. Remember, he's called us to come under a king and live for a kingdom. And you believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead. So what do you do? If you don't know where you stand with God, We acknowledge first that we have sinned and that sin separates us from a holy God. But we also acknowledge that while we were still sinning, scripture says, Jesus died for us and that we put our faith in him. We accept the work of the cross as his payment for a sin we deserved, not him. In that moment of faith, you will be saved. At all of our locations and at church online, pray this prayer and once and for all, make him your Lord. Boldly lift your hands right now, just all over this place at all of our locations, right up here. I got you. Just keep it up for a minute if you would. Jesus, I'm saying yes to you. I'm giving you everything. I'm making you first at all of our locations. Pray this prayer with those saying yes to the grace of God. Father, I need you. I have sinned. I am asking you to save me. Jesus, I believe you died on a cross you didn't deserve to pay for my sin. I believe you love me. I believe that I am saved. My life is now yours. Use me for your glory. In Jesus' name I pray. God's church.