Embracing Our Identity as Treasures of God's Love

God, we pray, oh God, for your great mercy to be made known in our lives, understanding that we fall short of the glory of God and you loved us and died for us anyway. And so, God, we are grateful for all that you have done for us, all the ways in which you have made yourself known to us. And we pray, oh God, that we are the light of Christ into this world so that others who have not yet experienced that good news will find a true friend in Christ and in us. [00:19:53]

And just want you to know that myself and Sandy and Eric Bellamy and Lynn and Tim Gross and Buddy Roberts were down in San Antonio this week for the annual awakening. And it's in Frisco next year, which is not really far away, and if you have a chance, I'm going to tell you this later. It's not until next February, but I'm going to tell you this later. If you want to go and see what God is doing in the next generation, go to Annual Awakening, all right? It is powerful what God is doing in Generation Z and beyond, and it is reviving the Mid -Texas Conference in ways that I can't even tell you about right now because it would take far too long, but the work that we do as a local church feeds into that. We sent kids to Revive Mission Work Camp over the past couple of weeks ago, and God did amazing things there, and we're going to summer camp with kids and youth, and your generous giving helps make that possible. We share the gospel with the next generation because they are the church. They're not the future of the church. They are the church, and so God is doing amazing things, and your generosity right here and right now in this moment helps continue to make that happen across our conference and across the world, so let's pray. Gracious and loving God, I thank you so much for the ways in which you have blessed us even up to and this very moment. [00:22:01]

We pray, oh God, that our generosity is multiplied by putting it in your hands because you are far more generous than we are. So God, take the gifts that we give today, bless them, and multiply them so that through them we can continue to be the hands and feet of Christ for this generation and the next and the next and the next because your kingdom is right here and right now. I pray this all in the name of Jesus. Amen. [00:23:33]

Jesus says this, he says, the kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it. Word of God for the people of God. Thanks be to God. Let us pray. [00:28:39]

So Jesus says there's a man who finds treasure in a field. But it's not his field. It's someone else's field. Because he goes on to tell us that he had to sell everything that he had in order to buy the field and then get the treasure. He found it. He had to rebury it and then go buy the field so that then he could go get the treasure. And so this man has sold everything that he has in order to get this one treasure. It doesn't say he opened it and saw what was in there. [00:31:55]

now he's like a merchant looking for fine pearls and when he found one of great value he went away and sold everything he had and bought it now in this particular case he gets to see the merchandise before he sells everything that he's going to to get but he's still willing to sell everything that he has in order to have this pearl this pearl of great price this pearl of great value and he's willing to have just that pearl and nothing else again this is an all -or -nothing kind of deal and jesus says the kingdom of heaven is like that he says the kingdom of heaven is like this guy who's engaged in risky business like he liquidates all of his assets to buy this single pearl and i would imagine the people around jesus who are hearing this story are going man this is crazy why would you do that why would you sell everything that you have to buy a mystery box why would you sell everything you have just to have one pearl because you're probably just going to have to sell it back and get all your stuff back [00:33:45]

depending on where you put yourself in the story changes how this rolls out from here because if we place ourselves as the the man who finds the treasure in the field or the the merchant who finds the pearl of great price and sell everything then the kingdom of heaven becomes that treasure box or that pearl and then it becomes something we can buy and my friends the kingdom of heaven is not something we can buy it is a free gift of the grace of god that is available to all who believe in jesus christ that is the kingdom of heaven that is so it's not us it's not us who are the merchant it's not us who the is the man who's going out in the field it's jesus so then who's the pearl who's the treasure anybody want to take a guess it's us it's us we are the treasure buried in the field and he's got to pick us up and dust us off and open it up and see what's inside and go yeah i can use that or go in and selling everything that he has for a pearl of great price because we are valuable my friends we are worth an infinite amount of money and time and love to our gracious and loving [00:35:11]

God. We are far more valuable. And Jesus is telling us the kingdom of heaven is like that. And if Jesus is the one who goes and gives everything to buy this treasure, to buy the field and with the treasure on it and to buy this pearl, he's telling us what's going to happen at the end of the gospel is that he will give his entire life to gain us as a treasure. [00:36:29]

That, my friends, is the good news. That Jesus loves us so much that he is willing to give everything, that he is willing to have nothing except this pearl, except us. He is willing to give everything that he has in order to draw us into connection with him. So, I hope that you understand. [00:37:02]

And I hope that you begin to sense that these parables are not necessarily about what we're supposed to do, but indeed about what God has done for us. [00:37:40]

Do you know that you've been redeemed by Christ? And if you do, then I invite you to live as the redeemed people of God in this world, not worrying about what other people might say about you, but knowing that Christ lives inside of you through the power of the Holy Spirit, and he fills you and sends you out into this world to proclaim the good news of the gospel, and you can do so without fear. [00:43:35]

Take this time to remember that you are treasured by the Lord. That you have been bought with a price that we could not pay. That we could not earn. That we could not take away. [00:46:02]