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Commercials:
What’s In Your Wallet?
Series
– 1 of 4
Pastor
Kris Vos
Well, Welcome to the
New Year at our church!
I am so glad that your
very first move in the
New Year was to come to
church and see what God
wanted for you first and
foremost. It has been a
great year here! We have
gone through some
incredible changes. But
t the most significant
changes are ones that
most of you don’t see
right away there are
those who have come to
this place and
discovered that God
created them for a
purpose. They have
discovered that their
lives have meaning. Life
is more than just
surviving. I am so
thankful that God has
seen fit to keep me
around to see another
year. To serve you and
to serve Him as a leader
in this church. I love
it.
I want to encourage
you as you begin this
year. You bop in and out
throughout the year. You
catch bits and pieces of
a series. We plan out
the year to cover key
parts of Scripture;
crucial challenges that
we face in our culture;
and vital tools that we
need to grow in our
relationship with God.
Take it all in!
For the next few
weeks our themes is
COMMERCIALS. We’ll
take a fun look at
commercials and the
messages they send. This
is particularly relevant
for lots of folks coming
out of the Christmas
Season when finances can
tend to get a little
tight! Let’s take a
look at just how
challenging it can be….
Focus: Finances
occupy a great deal of
our energy and efforts.
This is a challenge for
lots of marriages. It is
an area of life that
should never be
designated to one either
the husband or the wife
alone. Financial
decisions are to be made
together. In most cases
God has given you a
partner that will help
balance your perspective
on finances.
It is essential that
you make financial
decisions together
because VISION is tied
to FINANCES. We went
through various
transitions as a church
when it came to how we
dealt with finances.
When we were small in
the early years I did a
lot with the finances.
Other folks stepped up
who were more
experienced in the
details to take over
some of those things.
But I am still involved
in the process of making
the decisions about how
the money is spent. If I
wasn’t I would no
longer be a leader in
this church. Leaders
make financial decisions
because God has
entrusted the VISION to
the leaders therefore
the leaders make
financial decisions. We
cannot separate our
Priorities from our
Money.
We will spend our
money on what is
important to us. If we
do not reflect on what
is important for us we
drift into this idea
that money is what is
important.
You as a husband and
wife make financial
decisions together
because God has given
you both the
responsibility to set
the course for the
future of your family.
Listen to what
happens when we let
financial success become
the guiding factor in
our lives. We lose sight
of what it is truly
important and we fall
into
Special: Cat’s in
the Cradle
That is a sad song. A
song of regret. Do you
have some regrets?
Intro:
I. WHAT IS THE TRUTH?
1 Corinthians 14:8
Again, if the trumpet
does not sound a clear
call, who will get ready
for battle?
Throughout this
series we are going to
speak clearly and openly
about the truth of how
God wants you to be
proactive with your
life.
Here in Corinthians
Paul is telling the
church not to be clear
about the message.
Prophecy and tongues
have their place but
there comes a time when
we have to just tell it
like it is and speak
truth clearly or no one
will answer the call!
We want to be clear
about God’s TRUTH.
Clip of the
Barbarians – What’s
in Your Wallet
Let’s think about
that ad for a moment.
Why are all those
pillagers out of work?
They represent high
interest rates and
service fees on other
cards. People’s
lifestyles have
changed so much that
they are no longer
paying high interest
rates.
I’d like to raise
the bar a little. I’d
like to say that the
pillagers represent
debt. Debt is a portal
through which
barbarian pillagers
run roughshod through
our lives. They tear
apart our
relationships, they
shackle us with bonds
we can’t begin to
overcome because we
spend so much money.
Through this series
– we have the power
to put the barbarian
hordes out of work!
They have a death grip
– that is what
mortgage means did you
know that? Mort –
death gage – grip.
We can change that.
But we must begin by
changing our posture.
We tend to have a
defensive posture when
it comes to our
finances. I want us to
take an
offensive/proactive
posture when it comes
to our finances. Stop
putting out fires and
start setting goals
for where we want to
be.
Do we have a
defensive posture when
it comes to what life
throws at us? Or do we
have a posture that
takes the bull by the
horns and makes things
happen.
There are times when
you must take a
defensive posture but if
you stay there it will
mean a slow and painful
death. Just ask the
Bears—they cannot
count on only their
defense to win the game
or they will lose. They
must have offense or
they’re going no
where!
“As long as we are
able to do something
meaningful, why would
you
want to go into some
kind of holding pattern?”
- Bob Buford
I thank God that the
leaders of our church
are not folks who fall
into a holding pattern.
We are constantly
asking, “How do we
move forward, what is
our next strategic step
in the journey that God
has us on?”
This church would not
exist if that was how we
thought.
We would not have
gown for the last 10
years.
We would not have two
services
We would not have
brickhouse or children’s
ministry at the level we
do…
We would not be in
this building…
We would not have
started a church in
another area.
This year it is the
YEAR OF GROWING GROUPS.
Here is an example of
what it looks like to
spend your whole life in
a defensive position.
We have to start
where we are, we have to
be realists.
When it comes to
making changes in our
lifestyle we tend to get
in a defensive position.
When it comes to how we
use our money…we can
really get in a
defensive position!
We turn our hearts
toward God.
Progress is never an
accident. People do
not drift into a better
life. People never
drift into an A in
Algebra, you will not
drift into a state
championship in
basketball, no one
drifts into
well-disciplined
children, no one drifts
into intimacy with God!
A defensive passive
posture you will spend
all your time trying to
dodge everything life
throws you.
Life is throwing
stuff at us and if all
we do is try to take a
defensive posture we
will do our best to
survive and hope we die
and get out of the game.
The kingdom of God is
advancing and forceful
men are laying hold of
it.
We are to forcefully
step up and lay hold of
it!
II. WHAT IS OUR
CALLING?
Very few of the
biblical leaders
finished well…the
thing that surfaced over
and over was a failing
to apply Scripture! They
thought that since they
knew it they were living
it. That is simply not
true! Almost none of the
biblical characters had
impact til their 60’s!
Many not until their 90’s!
“(The Bible)
teaches a great deal
and I think it fleshes
it out very
well. But it’s
brutally honest also. A
study at Fuller Seminary
… looked at one
hundred people in the
Bible about whom we have
adequate data to
evaluate how they
finished. The
conclusion? Only about a
third of them finished
well. Most of them
failed in the last half
of their life, which I
think is rather
significant.”
“That’s amazing,”
I said. “Why didn’t
they finish well?”
“The thing that
surfaced over and over,”
he said, “was a
failure, not in their
knowledge of Scripture
but in failing to apply
Scripture in their
lives. It was the
feeling that because
they knew the Word, they
were living it, which
was as untrue for them
as it is for us.”
- Responses of Howard
Hendricks (Author: Living
by the Book, As Iron
Sharpens Iron) to
Bob Buford (Author: Half
Time, Finishing
Well). Don't fool
yourself into thinking
that you are a listener
when you are anything
but, letting the Word go
in one ear and out the
other. Act on what
you hear! James 1:22
(The Message)
I here folks struggle
to figure out what it is
their career should be,
who they should marry,
where they should live.
God doesn’t tell us
those things. He tells
us the important stuff.
We spend our lives
searching for what He
doesn’t tell us.
Meanwhile the stuff that
He does tell us is going
in one ear and out the
other!
Our calling is to do
what this BOOK says:
First believe it, let it
settle into you, LIVE
it!
Take your next step
toward Christ!
We need to forget “motivation”
we need to act on what
we know is right, not
wait until we wait for
the right motivation. We
need to “Just Do It!”
Motivation is the
byproduct of acting on
your convictions to do
what you know is the
right thing to do.
III. HOW CAN WE DO
IT?
Picture of an
iceberg.
20% is above the
water 80% is below the
water…it is what is
beneath the surface that
will carry you. That is
what will eventually
make the difference. We
spend far too much of
our time making the 20%
above the water look
good.
80’s we saw
televangelists fall….
90’s we saw our
president compromise his
integrity…
beginning of the new
century we saw Enron,
Worldcom, and Tyco
business leaders fall…
Character involves:
1. Identity &
2. Emotional Security
3. Self-discipline
4. Core Values
1. Identity &
Emotional Security –
Our identity in Christ
comes from understanding
and knowing who we are
in Him. God in His grace
sent His own Son. Not a
son like we think about
a son—greater love,
greater unity than we
can imagine. He sent
Himself to die on the
Cross. Through Christ’s
work we moved from hapless,
hopeless, helpless
carbon based
homo-sapiens to
being Sons and
Daughters of God.
It is so hard for us
to gain an understanding
of our identity in
Christ.
We must gather people
around us who understand
what it means and they
can teach us what it
means by the constant
reminders we have
through their presence
in our lives.
Our plan at our
church is that we
CONNECT with God &
other People.
2. Self-discipline
– Psychologists use a
lot of different
language to talk about
self-discipline. Quite
often psychologists who
study human behavior
often teach people to
simply give in to their
desires in a way that
preserves their
emotional health. In
other words,
Self-discipline doesn’t
work! Scripture teaches
that our Self-discipline
comes from God.
Self-discipline is
directly proportional to
our relationship with
God. There are actually
disciplines that grow
our relationship with
God.
GROW is our plan to
grow with God through
SMALL GROUP & DAILY
WALK with God.
3. Core Values –
Contribute – God has
shaped you for
significance! Some of
you have never gone
through the process of
developing Core Values.
A key part of successful
core values in your life
is being aware of how
God has shaped you.
Being able to identify
the behaviors that want
to shape your future
must be tied to who you
are: Spiritual Gifts,
Passions, etc. SERVING
& OUTREACH.
Coming up in FEBRUARY
we are going to spend
the whole month learning
what it means to LIVE
BEYOND OURSELVES!
So here's what I
think: The best thing
you can do right now is
to finish what
you started last year
and not let those good
intentions grow stale.
Your heart's been in
the right place all
along. You’ve got what
it takes to finish
it up, so go to it. Once
the commitment is clear,
you do what you can,
not what you can't. The
heart regulates the
hands. 2
Corinthians 8:10 (The
Message)
What we do flows out
of our character!
For where your
treasure is, there your
heart will be also.
Matthew 6:21
Wherever your
treasure is there will
your heart be also.
When I buy Christmas
or birthday gifts for my
wife always tend to
spend more than I
should.
IV. WHAT’S IN YOUR
WALLET?
He replied, "You
give them something to
eat." They
answered, "We have
only five loaves of
bread and two
fish-unless we go and
buy food for this entire
crowd." Luke
9:13
Jesus was one of the
first to say, “What’s
In Your Wallet?” Jesus
taught all day and the
people wanted more! The
disciples got to the
other side and there
were more people
waiting! Jesus asked the
disciples what they had…I
want you to feed them.
With the gift of 5
loaves and 2 fishes…God
fed thousands
If you can’t tithe
here then go somewhere
where you can tithe! If
you can’t tithe
anywhere then the
problem is yours. You
are thumbing your nose
at God you will not
grow.
Ø $36,924
Ø Worked
44 of the average 77
years of life.
Ø Do you
know what you will
bank = 1,664,000
Ø Plus
assets – bank
1,774,000
what’s in your
wallet…?
If the hurt are going
to be healed
If the lost are going
to be found
If Jesus is going to
be lifted up then we
must answer the call.
Will you follow
Christ?
"Come, follow
me," Jesus said.
Mark 1:17
Prayer, Lord we have
nothing to give that you
did not already give to
us!
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