You Can't Serve Both God And Money

Good morning, friends. Excited to have with us today our friend Greg Hubbard. Greg is no stranger to Greenwood Christian because he grew up here. But for a number of years now, Greg has worked with an organization called the Orchard Group that has been one of our strategic ministry partners. And we're really excited to have Greg here with us.

Would you welcome him with me?

Absolutely. Yeah. Greg, we would love for you just to fill us in on, like, what's happening with the Orchard Group these days and how are you, our partnership dollars making an impact with the work that you guys are doing. Yeah. Thanks, Matt.

And thanks everyone for giving me a minute to share some of that. I'm just thinking about this. When I was a teenager coming to this church, you know, a few years ago, I got to go on these three short term mission trips. Twice we went to Haiti, once we went to Honduras. And every time I came back from those trips, I was like something was stirring in my soul, something I'm supposed to do out there on mission.

But I was confused by it because the missionaries we would visit were. I'm not nearly as brave as those people who could go to these impoverished countries and take whatever they had and turn it into something. And I thought maybe I was supposed to become a church pastor. But all the church pastors I knew were just these huge, big hearted people who loved people. And a few, those who know me a little know that that doesn't come natural for me either sometimes.

So I didn't know what I was supposed to do with all of this and ended up by the providence of God, I think finding out about this idea of starting new churches in cities, in particular in places where there's not a church like this where we can come and celebrate and find God the way we have here. So somehow I ended up doing that with most of my adult life and have lived out in the east coast between New York City and Philadelphia and have had the privilege of helping start these churches. I just want to thank Greenwood Christian today because your partnership has made this possible throughout most of my adult life. And I want to tell you a story of one of the things you've helped happen recently. But I have to go back to 30 some years ago when I felt I was supposed to do this.

And I reached out to this church, my home church, and I asked for missions money to go do this back then. And I had no idea what I was doing. And you said yes. And it has led to amazing things for me. But more importantly for a lot of people who we will all meet someday so let me just tell you one quick story from recent days, and that is the story of Manny and Marlene Dominguez, who are also teenagers finding Jesus not that long ago.

But they live in Washington Heights. It's a neighborhood in New York City. Some of you might have seen the movie a few years ago that was the musical the Heights. It was based on this neighborhood where they live and work now. And this neighborhood is sometimes called Little Dominican Republic because so many people from the Dr. Have moved and relocated there for generations and made this their home.

Manny and Marlene grew up there. Their parents had come and they found Jesus when they were teenagers and they were just inspired to do something with that. And long story short, they ended up at a big church in Texas that probably looks a lot like what we're doing here today. And Manny became the student ministries pastor of this big church in Texas and was leading a great youth group, helping a lot of teens have a great experience like I did here years ago, and find Jesus. But something was stirring in his heart to go back to the Heights.

And the church that he was at is a church that helps Orchard group that we work with to start churches. They fund a lot of church plants like you do. And through that we got to know Manny and his wife Marlene, and we got to hear their heart and their vision to go back to New York City, to go back to the Heights, this neighborhood they grew up in, to reach people that they felt a longing for, for them to experience what they had experienced. So last January, after they had lived there for over a year and re established relationships, and I had helped them do many of the background things you have to do to get a new church started. Last January, they launched Brave Church and they meet each Sunday.

If you went there this week, if you were there right now, you would go to a charter school. They have to go in every Sunday morning with a crew and turn the charter school into a church building. I guess you would say if you went there this morning, they would be worshiping between 250 and 300 people would be there in this brand new church, still not a year old, and you would see vibrancy, you would see life. You would see the people of the neighborhood of many generations and many backgrounds coming together to celebrate Jesus just, just like we have here today. I'm really excited to announce that they just reported to us last month that They've already seen 12 baptisms celebrated in this brand new church that wasn't there a year ago.

So we can connect with that, right? We celebrated baptisms today in our context, they're celebrating baptisms in their context. And again, I really share this. Really not so much to share what I'm up to, because I have the great privilege of being part of doing this, but to share what we together are up to, because you have supported this for so many years that you've allowed I could tell so many stories. This one seemed like the most fun one to share today.

And finally, I just want to thank you for being part of this for so long, because it's allowed us to learn over the years what really works in different places. And starting new churches. Mandy and Marlene can walk the streets of the Heights and invite people to church and have them come and welcome them. And those people trust them because they're from there. They understand the little cultural cues that I don't.

And I do spend some time in New York City, and I spend some time in Philadelphia and other places in the Northeast. But when I meet someone, it doesn't take them long to figure out that I'm not from there. There's some pretty big giveaways that come pretty early on, but when someone like Mandy and Marlene, when we're able to help them go into their neighborhood and start a church, those barriers are dropped, and we see God up to good things. So thank you so much for this ongoing partnership, and we're excited to see what comes next. Greg, we're grateful for you.

We want to pray for Greg and for the ministry of Orchard Group. So wherever you're seated, would you just extend a hand toward Greg? Let's. Let's lift up their ministry together. Heavenly Father, we're grateful for your kingdom that is so much bigger than this place.

We're grateful for stories of life, change and transformation, salvation that are taking place in other parts of our country. Father, we know that's happening around the world and that you're using your church to do that. So, God, we thank you for the privilege of being a part of that. We want to ask for your continued blessing and empowerment of the work that Brave church and that the Orchard Group and other churches that they are affiliated with are doing, especially in the northeastern part of the US and we ask God that you would continue not only to provide the funding that's necessary to get that work started, but that you would continue to raise up indigenous leaders, Father, people who know the culture and who love Jesus and who are sold out for the cause of helping other people come to know Him. We pray that you would continue, Father, to reach more and more lives there in Washington Heights and other parts of the world through the work that's happening.

And we're grateful God for Greg. We just pray your blessing on his life and ministry and we ask these things in Jesus name. Amen. Appreciate you, brother.

It's really providential that Greg is here today. You know, we planned this message series about a year ago. We learned less than a month ago that Greg was going to be in town and able to be with us. But really, providential connection, I think you'll see the connection here in just a minute. Let me ask you, what is the best money you've ever spent?

Now, you might have an easier time thinking of purchases you've made in the past where you look back and think, that wasn't such a great idea. I have a reminder of those on a regular basis because in our living room I have this big bookcase that I built that is full of a movie lovers collection of DVDs that now collect dust while we stream everything. I don't know if you have that experience or not. Maybe you went to a carnival or a fair and you bought one of those giant foam rubber cowboy hats. That was a great idea.

For about 12 minutes, maybe. Any Colts quarterback jersey since Andrew Luck hangs in your closet and you just wonder, why did I buy that? But then there are expenses we look back on and we think, I'm glad I invested in that. I feel that way every time I eat a cheeseburger. I don't know about you, but I do.

You know, we're golden retriever people. I feel that way about our golden retrievers. We love our dogs. I'm grateful for our home. We love living there.

We love sharing it with people. And I've mentioned we love movies. So we have a home theater system in our living room. And whether we're streaming or we're watching an old school dvd, we love being able to have that experience. Adopting our daughter was a big investment and it was more than worth every dollar.

And I'll just tell you that for Allison and me, giving to our church is a budget priority. And we are thankful for all the things that our church is able to do because we, and many of you give today. I want us to look together at what Jesus said about the best investment we can ever make. Now, if you've read through the gospels much, you know that Jesus often told stories. They're called parables.

And in these parables, Jesus would take a very familiar everyday scenario and he would lay it alongside a spiritual truth. Some of these stories were really clear and obvious and straightforward, and some of them were harder to understand. But whichever kind of story Jesus was telling, he always told his parables with the idea of conveying a really specific spiritual truth. Now, occasionally he would hit the pause button and he would take his disciples aside and he would explain to them all the ins and outs of the parable so that they would get it. But more often than not, he didn't do that because Jesus wanted people to wrestle with the implications of his stories.

Today, we're going to walk together through one of Jesus most bizarre parables. And so I want to invite you to open your Bible or your mobile device, whatever you'd like to follow along. Open up with me to the Gospel of Luke. We're going to go to chapter 16, and we're going to start right at the beginning, right at verse one. Luke, chapter 16, third book in the New Testament.

Chapter 16, verse one says Jesus told his disciples there was a rich man whose manager was accused of wasting his possessions. So he called him in and asked him, what is this I hear about you give an account of your management because you cannot be manager any longer? So the star of this story is a wealth manager, we might think a financial advisor, maybe an operations director. And this guy is suspected of squandering his boss's assets and he's about to get fired. But before he kicks him to the curb, the boss wants this guy to give an accounting to him of all of his resources.

And that leaves this soon to be jobless manager in a pickle. Verse 3. The manager said to himself, what shall I do now? My master is taking away my job. I'm not strong enough to dig and I'm ashamed to beg.

I know what I'll do so that when I lose my job here, people will welcome me into their houses. So his livelihood is about to evaporate, and the manager knows that he needs to act quickly. He didn't have the back for manual labor. He really had no desire to stand at an intersection with a cardboard sign and beg for money. So he hatched an idea that would help him in his mind to avoid both poverty and homelessness.

And we read about that starting in verse five. So he called in each one of his master's debtors. He asked the first, how much do you owe my master? 900 gallons of olive oil, he replied. The manager told him, take your bill, sit down quickly, and make it 450.

Then he asked the second, and how much do you owe? A thousand bushels of wheat, he replied. He told him Take your bill and make it 800. Okay, so the manager calls in people who owe his boss money and he begins discounting their debts. Now, that wasn't his money to give away, correct?

But if you were the person on the receiving end of a debt reduction, would you not be grateful? I mean, if someone owed you a small fortune, wouldn't you feel an inclination in your heart to want to repay them however you could? And this is where we need to remember that when Jesus told a parable, he did it to convey a really specific, a really singular spiritual truth. If we're not careful, if we get too happy trying to attach symbolic significance to every single part of the story, we can often take Jesus stories and stretch them to mean things he never intended. The point of this parable is not to teach business ethics.

That's not what Jesus is talking about here. The point of this parable is not to say it's okay to steal from your employer if it helps you set yourself up for success in the future. That's not what Jesus is saying either. I mean, if I discovered tomorrow morning that my mortgage balance had been cut in half, that'd be really exciting for a moment. I would also know it's a mistake and I would have to call the bank and we would get this straightened out.

See, Jesus began the transition into the main point of this story with this statement, verse 8. He said, the master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly.

Wait, what? Does that seem funny to anybody else? Is that the reaction you would expect if a dishonest worker that you're about to fire decided to ingratiate himself to others by giving away tens of thousands of dollars of your money? Would you congratulate him for being clever and resourceful? I don't think so.

Most people would call the police, maybe take them to court, maybe both. So we have to lean in and listen in. As Jesus continues to clarify the point of his story, he goes on in verse eight to say, for the people of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own kind than are the people of the light. So Jesus sets up a contrast between two groups of people. There are people of this world and people of the light.

And he said that God's people, the people of the light, who have eternal life to look forward to, ought to have a very intentional, very long term perspective. But we're not always wise, we're not always strategic in our thinking. Jesus isn't praising dishonesty here. He's teaching us to invest our wealth in what matters most. And we know that because of how he lands the plain.

In verse nine, he says, I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings. Eternity lasts forever. Money doesn't. So Jesus says, rather than hoard wealth, rather than idolize wealth, we should use it to build friendships that, that help others connect with God. If we will put our temporary wealth to work on eternal priorities, our investment will actually help others to know Jesus and enter his kingdom.

And when we enter heaven ourselves, those very people will welcome us and we will get to enjoy the fruit of those investments forever. The best use of temporary wealth is to build eternal relationships. And we could illustrate that principle in so many different ways. But let me just hand pick a few, okay? Greg shared with us just a couple of minutes ago that the Orchard group starts new churches all over the Northeastern United States.

I mean, Orchard is one of our long term ministry partners. So our giving to gcc, what you and I give to our church, is actually used to help fund their work. And that means every time a new church is planted, every time people find salvation in Jesus through that church, our temporary dollars are producing eternal dividends. Through our investment in Orchard, we are helping to build friendships that bring people to Jesus. And one day, friends that you and I never get to meet this side of heaven will welcome us into the presence of God because of those investments.

A week ago, a week ago today, our friend Shirley Bauer passed away. This is Shirley here, pictured on the right. Shirley has typically been at our 9:30 service. She sat right down here in front. And since Shirley's husband Bill passed away back in 2008, she's had almost no family except our church.

But Shirley has faithfully served and encouraged others. She's been loved and encouraged by a lot of people here, including Bill and Sherry Wilkerson, who you see pictured with her there. They're wearing T shirts that are just, they're covered with this phrase that Shirley loved to say, and that is God's love. My joy, if you knew Shirley spent any time with her, that's something that Shirley would say all the time. Now I have every confidence that Shirley at this very moment is enjoying the presence of Jesus.

And when you and I get to heaven ourselves, Shirley is going to be a part of the welcoming committee that greets us there. 2014, my son Brendan and I had the opportunity to go to Compassion or go with Compassion International to Ecuador. And in Ecuador, we met this little guy named Anthony and We became his sponsors. Now, I know some of you sponsor children in other parts of the world as well. But through ministries like Compassion, millions of children around the world are receiving food and education and medical care and the opportunity to know Jesus.

So I'm excited to tell you that in just a few weeks, right here at gcc, we're gonna host a Compassion Sunday. We're gonna have the Compassion experience here for a weekend. And you'll have an opportunity to hear more about their work and to join us in sponsoring children in other parts of the world. That means that one day many of us are gonna have the opportunity in heaven to meet people who are there. Because we chose to invest some temporary wealth in sponsoring them, our church's missions partnerships are building Jesus centered eternal relationships all over the world.

I've had the opportunity in mission travels to meet friends from a number of places. Australia, Austria, Belgium. This is Krasimir from Bulgaria. I met him in Austria a couple of years ago. But people from Chile and Cuba and the Czech Republic, and people from Estonia and Ghana and Haiti and Mexico and Moldova and Panama and Poland and Romania and Russia and Ukraine, and I'm probably leaving some countries out, but we have the opportunity to meet friends, brothers and sisters from all over the world.

And our time with those friends is rare. We don't get to hang out very much. But a day is coming when we're going to have a reunion in heaven. And together we will be welcomed there by those God has used our collective ministries Reach. Two weeks ago, with some help from Life group friends, Allison and I kicked off Impact week by hosting a neighborhood cookout.

We distributed 22 invitations up and down our street and 18 people showed up. And we got to have the longest, richest conversations with those neighbors that we've had in the entire 18 years we've lived in our home. Now we want to care for our neighbors with no strings attached to no ulterior motives. But we pray for opportunities to share Jesus. And when you and I invest in relationships by getting to know our neighbors, hosting a block party, buying somebody lunch or breakfast or coffee, remembering someone's birthday, we are investing in relationships that have the potential to be eternity altering.

And there's no telling what the impact of those investments in those relationships might be. Remember Jesus words here in Luke 16, I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves so that when it is gone and a day is coming for all of us, when it will be, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings. When we leave this life, it's not going to matter how much money we've earned. It won't matter how much real estate we own. It's not going to matter how much our investment portfolio has paid off.

It's not going to matter what our net worth is, because we're going to leave all that stuff behind. And the only thing we will have is the eternity that we have invested in to look forward to. And if we have followed the investment strategy that Jesus lays out here, we'll get to spend eternity in his presence with others who are there because we prioritized and we invested in God's kingdom with our very temporary wealth. Here's the bottom line, okay? The best use of temporary wealth is to build eternal relationships.

The best use of temporary wealth is to build eternal relationships. And here's the thing to teach us how to do that. Jesus didn't stop right here at verse nine. He continues on ahead in Luke 16 by laying out three really key money principles, starting with this one. Number one how we handle what we're given reveals what we do with more.

How you and I handle what God has already placed in our hands is a pretty reliable indicator of what we would do if we suddenly found ourselves in possession of more resources. You may have noticed that everything costs more right now than it did a few years ago. I'm not telling you anything you don't already know. We see it at the gas pump, we see it at restaurants. We see it in our utility bills, the cost of a vehicle, interest rates on home loans, and the cost of homes themselves have skyrocketed.

So if you ever wish you had more money, you're absolutely not alone. And there's nothing inherently wrong with having more money. But Jesus said the way we handle what we already have is often a test of how we'd handle more. He said in Luke 16, verse 10, whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much. And whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much.

If you and I are reflecting kingdom values like gratitude and contentment and generosity in the way that we use what God has entrusted to us, then it's very likely that if we're entrusted with more, we'll continue to use those resources in a way that reflects kingdom values. But if our pattern, if our routine is too overspent, if our habit is to consume everything we get and more and still not be content, then having more all of a sudden is not going to fix that. That's a heart thing. The Apostle Paul wrote to the church in Corinth, that God is able to bless you abundantly. And here's why.

So that in all things, at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. Paul went on a few verses later to say, you will be enriched in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion. And through us, your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God. God provides us income for two key reasons. Number one is to meet our needs.

Jesus said, our Heavenly Father knows what we need before we even ask. So the fact that we eat and wear clothing and have roofs over our heads, those are all blessings from God that He knows we need. But the other reason that God shares wealth with us is to equip us to share with others. It's not just about us. So here's an important question for us to chew on in light of what Jesus is saying here.

Suppose tomorrow God were to provide you an unexpected increase in money, a better job, a pay raise, a bonus, an unexpected inheritance. If you were suddenly tomorrow to find yourself in possession of more financial resources, could God count on you to be generous with that increase? Could God count on you to utilize some of what he's giving you in a kingdom focused way? Or would you immediately find a way to spend all of that yourself? Because how we handle what we're given reveals what we would do with more.

Now, there's a second principle that Jesus lays out here in Luke 16, and it is this idea that true riches are not financial. About 10 years ago, Allison and I had this opportunity. We were invited guests at a conference that was held at this beautiful Waldorf Astoria Beach Resort. I mean, this place was multiple notches above our usual accommodations. We flew into Florida, we got our Nissan rental car, and this was the kind of hotel where they only had valet parking.

And we pulled into the valet parking station with our Nissan next to Ferraris and Lamborghinis and Maseratis. We were in a hotel where we could look across the harbor at multiple million dollar yachts that were anchored over there in a marina. This was the closest to lifestyles of the Rich and Famous that we've ever been. If you can imagine this, it was even more luxurious than downtown Whiteland. I mean, we're talking big time, big time.

Okay, I'm curious. When you think of what it means to be rich, what do you think of? Do you think of fat bank balances, lavish homes? You know, the kind that are featured in magazines? Do you think of expensive cars, fabulous vacations?

Jesus asks the question in Luke 16:11, he says, so if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches? Now, did you catch that there? What Jesus is saying, by the very way he asked that question, is that worldly wealth, true riches, not the same thing. These are not synonymous concepts. According to Jesus Christ.

Worldly wealth, true riches are not the same thing. And that reminds me of something that Paul wrote to his friend Timothy. Paul said, command. Okay, not suggest, but command those who are rich in this present world, those who have what they need and more. 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 treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life. Take hold of the life that is really life, not just the life that pretends to be life. It's tempting to look to money for our security, isn't it? To see a larger bank balance and feel good, to see our retirement savings grow and feel good about that.

But that kind of security can so easily be shaken by a disruption in the stock market. And even if it's not, I mean, even if everything is always up and to the right, we can't take any of that with us when we leave this life. What Jesus called true riches, what Paul called the life that is truly life, is not about what we keep. It's about what we give away. We cannot take our wealth with us when we leave this life.

What we can do, though, is send it on ahead. Jesus is telling us here that our wisest, our most lasting investment is to recognize whatever we have, however much or little as God's gifts and and to share what God blesses us with as generously as we can with others. That's what Jesus was talking about in Matthew chapter six when he said, store up for yourselves treasures in heaven where moths and vermin do not destroy and where thieves do not break in and steal. So let me ask you another question. I'm just curious.

What do our money habits reveal? What do your money habits reveal about your take on true riches? I mean, are we focused on what we can accumulate for ourselves? Are we trying to stockpile as much as possible just to make sure that we have everything we could ever want or need? Or are we thinking consciously about what we can share with others?

See, the truest, most Lasting riches are not financial. And that's why principle number three, money makes a useful tool, but it makes a lousy master. Useful tool, lousy master. Sometimes the things that we own end up owning us. You know that we're golden retriever people.

We own two dogs who also very much own us. I mean, dogs have to be let out on a regular basis. You have to plan your work schedule around a dog. If you're going to do that when you travel, you have to make certain that you have arrangements made because your dogs can't just take care of themselves. There are things that go hand in hand with that.

If you're going to own a golden retriever, you have to be ready to throw tennis balls a lot. It's just part of the package. If you own a camper, you may feel compelled to go camping more than you normally would just to justify owning the camper. Being gone on every weekend during camping season has other costs like travel time and less time with friends. And I'll tell you from where I sit, it often plays out in a complete disengagement from church community for a number of months.

It's not wrong to own a cabin or a vacation home. I have some friends with second homes who share them very generously in some very ministry focused ways. But having multiple properties to insure and to maintain, that costs money and it costs time and it costs mental energy. At the end of the day, what we call ownership is actually an illusion because everything we think of as ours is actually God's anyway. It is on temporary loan to us, but it's all his.

Jesus asked this question. He said, and if you have not been trustworthy with someone else's property, who will give you property of your own? No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money masters, by their very definition, they don't tolerate rivals.

Whatever masters us is going to attempt to eliminate the competition. I mean, if you put your career in the driver's seat of your life, you're going to be expected along the way to say no to your spouse and your family and your friends, even God, in order to put in more hours at the office. A person who is hooked on alcohol or drugs is going to neglect their spouse or their kids and their job and their health as that addiction just gobbles up more and more real estate in their lives. If money is our master, we will probably cut corners to get more of it. We will be reluctant to share it with anybody else, and our constant desire for more of it will make us less likely to appreciate and enjoy what we have.

What Jesus is saying, friends, is that we can allow God to direct how we use money, or we can allow money to become our God, but we cannot serve both. If money is our master, then Jesus won't be. And the way we honor Jesus rather than money as Lord and Master is by making sure that our wealth, which is actually his anyway, serves his purposes. When you and I recognize that God is the giver of every good thing we enjoy, suddenly sharing with others and giving to ministry become easier because those are expressions of worship to the God that we owe everything. When people begin giving to Greenwood Christian Church, this is exciting.

In the last year we've had over a hundred people who have decided that investing in Kingdom work here is something that they want to do. One of the things we do is just to reach out and say thank you. And we ask this question we just asked, what was it that God used to prompt you to make this a habit? Let me just share a few things people have shared with us. In response to that question, one friend said, I consider it a great privilege to be able to give back to the church and God I love.

I know our church is doing Kingdom work. All I have is His. Another friend said, if we see a need, God willing, we try to fill that need. God's gifts are always given with a purpose. Our job as the steward of those gifts is to determine where they can be best used to his glory.

Another friend said, we are motivated to give because we know that giving can lead to sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ and minister to those in need. Now those are all different ways of saying that the best use of temporary wealth is to build eternal relationships. When we give, when we share, we don't always think in these terms, but we are investing in eternal relationships. We're not just donating candy for trail of treats. It's not about Kit Kats.

We're investing in connecting kids and their families to our church and potentially to Jesus. When we go out with a friend and we pick up the tab, we're not just buying coffee. We're not just buying lunch. We're investing in a potentially impactful conversation. We don't just give to a building.

We invest in a place where life changing eternity altering relationships are being built. We don't just pay staff. We make it possible for Kingdom workers to give their full time undivided focus to building eternally significant relationships. And when we support our partners like the Orchard Group and missionaries in other parts of the world, we are investing in their pursuit of eternal relationships. The best use of temporary wealth is to build eternal relationships.

So that brings all of us to the question of how will I use what God has entrusted to me? How will you use what God has entrusted to you? Jesus loved to ask questions. And many of the questions that Jesus asked were not intended to just be answered with with words. These are questions that have to be answered with reflection.

Ultimately, these are questions that have to be answered with our lives. And one of the many benefits of being a part of a church community is it gives us other people around us to help us as we process our response to him together. We would love, as a church to help all of us, one step at a time, move closer to Jesus. That doesn't happen all at once. It happens in a series of decisions, a series of life changes, a series of redirections of our lives.

Let me quickly tell you about three simple ways that you can take a next step and that we would love to help you. One of those is going to involve inviting our Next Steps team down here to the front. Every Sunday, every service, there are several of us who will be available after the service. If we can pray with you, if we can answer a question, if we can help to direct you to people and resources, we would love to meet you where you are and help you discern what those next steps are. The second thing I'll mention to you is it's very similar, but this is specifically for our friends online or for any of you that need to jet out the door.

As soon as the service is over, you can just text the word Next next to 317-707-9997. If you'll do that, let us know what's on your heart, we will reach back out and we'll begin a conversation that way. And then every month, just as a part of our our routine, our rhythms around here we have a series of classes, four classes called Next Steps. And that next cycle begins next Sunday during this service at 11 o'. Clock.

Our next steps Discover class is a 101 entry level introduction to what Greenwood Christian Church is and what we're all about. And we would love, if you're new here or just looking to get more connected, we'd love for you to go and be a part of that. Jesus asks us questions that we answer with our lives and we have an opportunity often to come alongside each other as we wrestle through those questions of what our response to them ought to be. Would you pray with me, Father? God, we are thankful for your kingdom.

And we're thankful for the incredible investment at the cost of your own life that you made to make it possible for us to experience an eternal relationship with you. Father, all of us who know you in a personal way today, that's only true because someone else who knew you invested in us. And we're thankful for those people. And we ask, Lord, that you would help us to be those people in others lives. Father, every resource that we enjoy, the clothes on our backs, the cars that we drove in to get here, the lunch we'll eat, the beds we'll sleep in tonight, the hot showers many of us took this morning.

Father, all of those things and more are your gifts. And we're thankful that you provide for our needs. But we're reminded by Jesus this morning that what you give to us, you don't intend just to stay with us. We ask that you'd open our eyes to opportunities to share, opportunities to bless. Opportunities.

Opportunities as we encounter people who are in desperate need of things that you've already entrusted to us, Father. Opportunities to make that connection and to share. We pray, Lord, that you would help us to be people who recognize the temporary nature of everything that you place in our hands during this lifetime and who use it in eternally significant ways. God, we're thankful for a safe and loving place in which to hear a really challenging and earth shattering message. And we ask that you would help us to do wise things with it.

Lord, we pray these things in Jesus name, Amen.