Finding True Wealth in Spiritual Connection and Generosity

### Bible Reading

1. **1 Timothy 6:6-10**: "But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs."

2. **Luke 21:1-4**: "As Jesus looked up, he saw the rich putting their gifts into the temple treasury. He also saw a poor widow put in two very small copper coins. 'Truly I tell you,' he said, 'this poor widow has put in more than all the others. All these people gave their gifts out of their wealth; but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on.'"

### Observation Questions

1. What does 1 Timothy 6:6-10 say about the relationship between godliness and contentment?
2. In Luke 21:1-4, how does Jesus compare the offerings of the rich people to that of the poor widow?
3. According to the sermon, what is the main danger of pursuing wealth for its own sake? ([32:55])
4. What personal anecdotes were shared in the sermon to illustrate the principles of sacrifice and generosity? ([57:10])

### Interpretation Questions

1. How does the concept of "godliness with contentment" challenge the cultural norm of materialism? ([30:00])
2. Why does Jesus value the widow's offering more than the larger donations of the wealthy in Luke 21:1-4? ([45:38])
3. How does the sermon suggest that the love of money can lead to ruin and destruction? ([32:55])
4. What does the story of the family canceling their entertainment subscriptions to support their church teach us about prioritizing spiritual over material wealth? ([57:10])

### Application Questions

1. Reflect on your own life: Are there areas where you prioritize material wealth over spiritual growth? How can you shift your focus to eternal values? ([30:00])
2. The sermon mentioned the importance of community support in living out Jesus' teachings. How can your small group support each other in pursuing simplicity and contentment? ([28:54])
3. Think about a time when you gave sacrificially. How did it impact your faith and trust in divine provision? ([45:38])
4. How can you practice better stewardship of your resources, understanding that everything you have is entrusted to you by the divine? ([50:17])
5. Identify one material possession or commitment that you can simplify or let go of this week to focus more on spiritual growth. What steps will you take to make this change? ([29:11])
6. How can you cultivate a heart of generosity in your daily life, not just in terms of money but also time and talents? ([40:48])
7. The sermon concluded with a call to action to release the desire for more material possessions. What practical steps can you take this week to embrace a deeper connection with the divine? ([01:10:33])

Day 1: Redefining True Wealth
True wealth is found in spiritual richness and divine relationship, not in material accumulation. This perspective invites a shift from the cultural chase for more possessions to seeking fulfillment in the divine and eternal values. It's a call to reassess what truly matters in life and to find joy and contentment in the intangible gifts of faith and community. [01:10:22]

Hebrews 13:5 - "Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, 'Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.'"
Reflection: How does your current lifestyle reflect a pursuit of spiritual wealth over material abundance?

Day 2: Embracing Simplicity in Faith
The simple teachings of Jesus are profound and life-changing, yet they require divine strength and communal support to fully embody. By embracing simplicity, one can shed the distractions of materialism and focus on the transformative power of faith and the pursuit of spiritual growth. [29:08]

1 John 2:15-17 - "Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them. For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world."
Reflection: What are some ways you can simplify your life to better focus on your spiritual journey?

Day 3: The Heart of Generosity
Generosity is measured by the willingness to sacrifice and the heart behind the gift, not the monetary value. The divine values a giving spirit that trusts in provision and prioritizes others, exemplified by the widow's humble offering. [42:20]

2 Corinthians 9:7 - "Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver."
Reflection: How can you practice generosity in a way that reflects trust in divine provision rather than the size of the gift?

Day 4: Stewardship of Divine Trust
Recognizing that all possessions are entrusted by the divine, stewardship becomes a practice of managing resources responsibly for a greater purpose. This view challenges the concept of ownership and encourages using what is given for the benefit of others and the glory of the divine. [01:07:41]

Luke 12:42-44 - "The Lord answered, 'Who then is the faithful and wise manager, whom the master puts in charge of his servants to give them their food allowance at the proper time? It will be good for that servant whom the master finds doing so when he returns.'"
Reflection: In what ways can you be a better steward of the resources entrusted to you by the divine?

Day 5: Investing in the Eternal
Giving is an opportunity to contribute to the eternal kingdom, making an impact that lasts beyond our lifetime. It's not about legalistic obligation but about embracing the chance to honor the divine and support the faith community's work. [01:04:37]

Matthew 6:19-21 - "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal."
Reflection: What is one way you can invest in the eternal today, shifting focus from temporary to everlasting significance?

We're so glad that you're here today. We know that depending on where you live and what your streets are like, it could have been a real challenge for you today.

Everybody that's still staying home and connecting with us online, we fully understand. It's a lack of dedication on your part. No, I'm just joking. We want you to be safe. Take care of yourself. Some roads, you know, are more hilly and icy, and we didn't want you to risk getting out there if it wasn't safe for you.

But for those that are here in person, we're so thankful that you're here as well. Several times every year, we do a baby dedication Sunday, and we scheduled it for today. We did not know we would have the ice and the snow and everything, but we did have a couple of families still that registered and wanted to do it today at this service.

So if you're here for a baby dedication, just come right up on stage right now, if you would. Come right up here. There we go. Come right here. We'll get you in the spotlight, okay? With that beautiful dress, step right up a little to the front here. Come on up.

Hey, how are you, man? You're ready for the dedication, aren't you? That's great. So this is, we've got Elion, right? Elion Gisa and Alpha and Ann, the mom and dad, right? We're so thankful that you could be here today, and we could have this time of dedication of your child with you.

We have a gift for you that we want to present. We have a gift Bible that's got a dedication page in the front that you can fill out to commemorate this day. And we also have a book for you called *Praying Circles Around Your Children*. It's by Mark Batterson. It's a great book on how to just cover your child in prayer regularly as you're raising your children.

And I know as parents that are here and part of our church family, that's your intent as you dedicate your son today. So here are those gifts for you.

I want to read a passage of Scripture that we use often for dedications like this because it's just a great reminder of the role of parents and extended family. We are their church family. We are part of this as well. They come to dedicate this child to the Lord and to dedicate themselves to raising their children in the Lord and teaching them.

And we dedicate ourselves to come around them and support them and supplement that effort to raise up their children to know and follow Jesus. There's a passage in Deuteronomy chapter 6 where God's people are about to enter into this land that God had promised them. And He's giving them instructions on how to make sure they pass along their faith through their family line.

And so I want to read that. It's a good reminder to all of us of something we can do to help with that, okay?

"Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Press them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home, when you walk along the road, when you lie down, when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the door frames of your houses and on your gates."

He's talking about saturating your children with God's Word, with the teaching and the commandments of God. And it starts in the home with the parents doing that. But then it extends to the extended family and it extends to the church family as we all join together to do that.

But notice how he starts this. It's important that we catch this part. It starts with the parents. "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, your soul, your strength. Have these commandments on your hearts first." As your children grow up, they're watching you. They're learning most in those early years from you. The example that you set makes all the difference.

And we want to support you as your church family in being that example for your children.

Let's pray together with us, Stanley.

Father, we just thank you so much for this family. The love they have for you and for each other, their desire to dedicate their son to the Lord today, to continue to raise their children to know and love you and follow Jesus. We come around them as their church family. Help us to be a strength to them, an encouragement to them, an accountability for them.

We thank you that as they dedicate their son to you today, they dedicate themselves as well as their parents. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.

God bless you, thank you. Let's welcome them again. Thank you.

Well, we are continuing our series that we started a couple of weeks ago, a couple of Sundays ago called *When Less Is More*. And in this series so far we talked about, we started out with talking about how simple is not always easy. The teachings of Jesus are often simple. They're easy to understand what Jesus is saying, but they're not easy to carry out all the time. They're not easy to live out the teaching.

And we need His help in the presence and power of His Spirit and the encouragement of His Word to be able to do that. And we need each other, supporting each other to do that. Last week we looked at, the title was *Let Me Check My Schedule*. How we get our schedule so full sometimes that it blocks out the better things and the best things that we need to have in our lives.

So we have to be careful to eliminate things, keep our schedule down, simplify what we commit ourselves to so we can give ourselves fully to the best things. Today we're talking about the message title is *Stuffed*. And I wrote it out this way, s-t-u-f-f-dash-e-d. Stuffed, because our lives are stuffed with stuff. And we keep adding more all the time.

And I'm convinced that that's not what Jesus called us to and how to live out our lives as followers of Jesus Christ. There's a passage I want to start with in 1 Timothy 6. You could be turning there. We'll put it up on the screen as well. But you might want to be turning there. Then we're going to look in Luke as well, Luke 21. So you could kind of hold one and look at the other as we start here.

And 1 Timothy 6, verse 6, sounds really simple. I just want to start with that one verse first. It says, "But godliness with contentment is great gain." Okay? Sounds simple, right? But he adds to that. He continues. He says, "We brought nothing into the world and you can take nothing out of it." Simple, right? I mean, we get the concept. We understand what he's talking about. There are no U-hauls attached to the hearse, right? You don't have a trailer or you're going to haul this stuff with you into eternity. It doesn't work that way.

It's easy to understand. But it's hard to live this out in real life when we're in the culture that we're in all the time. We're seeing the comparisons that are taking place all the time. We see how the world judges things by the viewpoint of the world by looking at the stuff, the accumulation of the stuff, the money, the material things that we can accumulate.

I said a while back, one of the hardest things to do is move. If you ever have to pack up your house and move, that's a job I despise. But one thing that does is it really points out how much stuff you've accumulated, doesn't it? When you actually have to move it all somewhere else or decide what you're going to keep and what you're going to throw away.

Usually, you have some stuff. What's become a big industry in America today is two areas of this. Storage buildings that you have at your house. A lot of people, if you own your own home or have some property, you may have a storage building out there outside the house that you put some of your stuff in. But we didn't stop there. There's a whole industry now where you can rent storage units. They have built these huge warehouses sectioned off in units where you can go put more of your stuff there.

You don't have to throw it away. You can keep it forever as long as you pay the monthly rent on the stuff you're not even using. You're paying rent to keep the stuff, to have the stuff. And some of it you don't even get out ever. It's just stored maybe in the closet, in the garage, in the storage building in your yard, or in that rental unit that you keep paying for every month.

We struggle in this life with that concept. Now the reason I want to start with 1 Timothy 6 is he goes on to give us a warning there. Let's look on here, 1 Timothy 6. Remember, godliness with contentment is great gain. We brought nothing into the world. We could take nothing out of it. But if we have simple things, food and clothing, we'll be content with that.

And here comes the warning when we're not willing to be content. He says, "Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and trap, and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction." This is one of the most misquoted verses in the Bible. It doesn't say money's the root of all evil. It says, "For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil."

Some people eager for money have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. It's a strong warning. He's not saying everybody that's rich or that gets rich has done this. He's not condemning all rich people as evil people. That's not what he's doing in this verse. He's saying the danger is if that's the priority, if that's the motivation for your life, it can cause you to make decisions that harm you and harm others that create all kinds of havoc and sin and suffering in the world if you're just driven by that.

That's the highest priority. But the American dream is to get what? Get rich or die trying. That was a song that was really popular, *Get Rich or Die Trying*. Man, what a waste of life if you just die trying to get rich and that's all your life has been about.

Jesus is giving us this warning in the Word so that we don't waste life on the things that don't really matter the most. That's why His simple teaching is so important because the fact is there is a disease that is rampant in our country. There's another epidemic that's been here even before COVID came along. It's been here since the beginning of mankind.

This is the disease that will cause people to walk into a closet that's packed full of stuff and say, "I don't have anything to wear." This is the disease that will cause you to walk out to the driveway and see your vehicle sitting out there and it's been getting you to work, it's been dependable, but your neighbor got a newer one and now that one doesn't look so good and you think I've got to update, I've got to get a new one and I can't even put this one in the garage because it's full of my stuff.

Right? This is the disease that thinks the next phone, the next electronic device, computer, laptop, the next thing you can buy on Amazon, that's the thing that's going to satisfy you. The next one, the newer one, the better one, the updated one, that somehow that's going to be able to cure this disease that I'm talking about.

And so the Amazon package comes and you open it and it's something that you wanted and you got it and it's good for just a little while and then it's not satisfying anymore. So you wait for the next package to come and the next. Thinking one of these things is going to bring the cure for this disease.

The disease I'm talking about is what we just read about in 1 Timothy, it's discontentment. We've not learned to be content with what we have. Now again, the Scripture is not teaching that it's evil to have stuff. Jesus, the Word tells us clearly that God created all that He's created, He's given us all that we have to enjoy, He wants us to enjoy life, but sometimes because we've got our eyes on the wrong thing, we are discontented with what we have and we don't even get to enjoy the stuff even when we have it.

Because no matter how much it is or how new it is, there's always a little more out there, always something else that we could add to it. I was reading a study done by Harvard University back in 2018. They interviewed 4,000 multimillionaires. By the way, we have more multimillionaires in the world today than we've ever had in the history of the world, more in America than we've ever had in America.

And they studied them, they asked them three questions in this survey. They said, number one, how much money do you have? Number two, how happy are you on a scale to 1 to 10? And number three, how much more money would it take for you to be a 10 on the happiness scale?

All right? All these multimillionaires. And here was the breakdown. They could only choose up to 10 times more money than I currently have could make me happy, all right? 26% of them said I would need 10 times more than what I have now to be happy. 26% of them. They're multimillionaires. And they still say I need 10 times more than what I have now.

24% of them said if I had five times as much as I currently have, I could be happy on a 10, on a scale. 23% said if I had twice as much as I currently have, then I would be happy. Only 13% said I'm good where I am at now. I can be happy with what I have. Multimillionaires.

And here's the thing about the survey. It didn't matter where you were on the scale of multimillionaires. It could be 5 million. It could be 50 million. And those stats played out pretty much the same no matter what level they were on. Now, we ought to, this is not hard, right? It's simple to understand. We ought to understand from that that that's not the answer to being happy and content in life.

But somehow we keep getting fooled into thinking it again. The next thing, the next time, the next purchase, the next upgrade is the thing that's going to make me happy. We hear that and we think that can't be quite right. But in this series, when less is more, Jesus gives us some very simple teachings about how we can live our lives in 2024 and commit ourselves to Him as His followers to live a different way than the rest of the world is living.

And it's different because He's really going to teach all the way through what He tells us in Scripture that less is more when it comes to the value and the quality of life and the impact that lives can have. Less is more. Last week we talked about our schedules. That's one of the resources we have is our time. This week we're talking about our material possessions, our stuff, and how we need to understand we could simplify that and life would not get worse. It would get better.

Joseph Stoll identifies or defines materialism this way. He says, materialism is not so much about what we have, but what has us. I like that. It's not so much about what we hold, but how tightly we hold it, he said. It's not so much about what we have, but how we got it and what we're willing to do to get more of it is how you might define materialism.

What are you willing to sacrifice, give up, to just get more stuff, to have more than what you have now? Stoll says this. He says, the test of materialism is whether stuff has made you proud or has made you grateful. Does what you have, the stuff that you're accumulating, has it made you proud because now you feel I'm doing better and you feel better about yourself as a person because you've got more stuff, or does it make you more grateful to have what you have?

It tells you a little bit about where the mind and the heart are when it comes to the stuff. Do you find your worth in what you wear, what you drive? Does it make you feel better about yourself? And some of us would immediately say, no, it makes me more grateful.

Well, here's the next thing he talks about. If you're saying it makes you more grateful, he says the test of gratitude is always generosity. The test of gratitude is always generosity. I've never met a grateful person yet who wasn't a generous person ever in my life. I don't think you have either.

You see, grateful people are thankful for what they have and for what they can do with it to benefit, to make a difference for good in the world with what you have. So the real test of gratitude is always generosity.

So let's go to Luke 21 now. There is an encounter that Jesus has with His disciples sitting outside the temple one day. They're in Jerusalem, and they're watching people as they enter the temple there. And there is someone there, this lady, that most people would not have paid any attention to. But Jesus is going to hold up this example of what it looks like to live life the way He's talking about.

It's a simple story about a simple woman and a simple gesture of generosity. Luke 21, let's pick up with verse 1.

As Jesus looked up, He saw the rich putting their gifts into the temple treasury. He also saw a poor widow put in her two very small copper coins. "Truly, I tell you," He said, "this poor widow has put in more than all the others. All these people gave their gifts out of their wealth, but she, out of her poverty, put in all she had to live on."

Now, to be clear, most people, like I said, would not even have noticed this woman. She probably wasn't dressed very well. She probably didn't stand out from the crowd very much at all, except maybe her poverty might have been more obvious. She's there to do what everybody else was doing.

So here's the scene. Outside the temple at that time, they had this section where they had these bronze boxes, collection boxes, where as people entered into the temple, they brought their offerings to God, and they would put them into those boxes out there.

Now, during COVID, we stopped passing the plates at our service, and we started using offering boxes, and actually that's very scriptural. That's what they did in the temple for many, many, many years. And even in the synagogues, many of them, to begin with, used offering boxes like that for people to come and bring their gifts to God.

So it's a very scriptural thing to do, and it requires some effort on our part, and it requires planning, you know, to be ready to do that, or you could give online, you know, lots of different ways to give today. But back then, it was these bronze boxes.

Here's the thing. When they brought their offerings, they didn't have paper money offerings. So what were they giving? What were they putting in the box? Coins. And if you're putting coins into a bronze box, what does it do? It makes noise. Yeah. So the more big coins you could put in, more what? More noise. In the box.

And what began to happen in our fleshly nature, it almost became a little bit of a show and a competition of who's going to bring the noise that day. Who's going to bring the most noise, right? Who's going to make the biggest sound? Who's going to impress people the most by how much noise they made with the money they put in the offering boxes as they headed into the temple?

And they were probably, some people watching that, because it became quite a show, would look people up and down and kind of guess, prejudge people in advance, who's going to bring the most. He's wearing Gucci sandals. I bet he's got a big one today. Got all the jewelry on. Yeah, I bet they're going to have a lot today. They're going to bring, they're going to make a lot of noise.

You see, the noise that impresses us, we're going to learn from Jesus, is not the noise that impresses God. This woman brought her offering that day, this poor widow, and put in two copper coins. It was called a mite. And they were small coins, and they weren't very valuable in the world's eyes, the way the world would see this.

So as they watched gifts that day, had Jesus not called attention to her, it would have been almost no noise and nobody would have noticed. Nobody would have even acknowledged what this lady did. But Jesus noticed, Jesus sees it, and Jesus calls attention to it.

What we find in this story is that the noise that heaven hears is different than the noise that we listen for as we go through life on this earth and our culture. Jesus is watching all that take place. And you might wonder, well, why is Jesus paying so much attention to this?

Think about Jesus for a moment. He's God in the flesh on earth, and how did he live while he was here? A very simple, humble life. He didn't have anything flashy. He never owned a home, as far as we know. He lived with his parents until he started his ministry at the age of 30. And there was nothing of worldly value that it wouldn't be impressive about Jesus and how Jesus was living. It was a very simple lifestyle.

But who had more impact in this world than anybody else? Jesus, with that very simple lifestyle. We think we're going to have more impact the other way. Jesus is teaching us, don't be impressed by all the noise. That's not what really makes the impact God's looking for.

Now, Jesus, to be clear, is not condemning the wealthy people who put in their offerings that day. He never condemns them. He never says they're bad, evil people. He's just pointing out what this lady did, what this widow did, as the thing that he notices and is impressed with more than any of the other offerings that were being put in that day.

You see, he says something that doesn't make sense from the worldly perspective, that she has given more than all the others. Now, I didn't major in math in Bible college. I had to take math to have all the credits that you need to have and all that, but it wasn't a major thing, right? But I'm pretty sure that two mites was not on paper when I added up more than what other people were giving that day.

Two mites is a very small sum in their culture. It was 1/64th of one day's wages, a mite was. So it would be equivalent to like maybe if you made eight bucks an hour, worked eight hours a day, it would be an equivalent of about two bucks, maybe, in today's market. What can you do with two dollars, right?

Why would that be more, two dollars, be more than all the noise these other rich people are making when they put their offerings in the boxes? You see, from a worldly perspective, it makes no sense. It doesn't seem to be true that hers was more than the others. But in the eyes of God, in the eyes of Jesus in the flesh, God in the flesh watching this, He says, "She gave more than all the others gave," because in Jesus' eyes it wasn't just about the amount.

Now, this poor widow, she's called a widow in that time, had very little opportunity to support herself. There had no programs, they had no social security, they had no welfare benefits, they had nothing like that in their culture. And if she didn't have family left that was taking her in and taking care of her, she would have no means of support for her life in most cases.

And Jesus says she just gave two mites, which was all she had to live on. Now, you see, that's the difference we're talking about here. When Jesus looks at more and looks at impact and looks at life that matters most, He's not looking at just amounts of stuff that we've accumulated. He's not looking at what was your bank account like when you entered into eternity. He's not looking at what house and neighborhood did you live in, what car did you drive, and what clothing line were you wearing when you died.

He's looking at investment of life in the things that matter the most, like the things of the kingdom of God. Nothing evil about having nice things or a lot of money. But the danger is that we can start trusting in those things and not use those things as God intends for them to be used for the impact that God wants us to make.

So He's defining the word more differently than we do. These two copper coins didn't seem like more than what the others gave, but she had no security, she had no source. All she has is two dollars, and two dollars doesn't amount to much unless you're hungry that day and just need at least a little something to eat. Maybe you could have used the two dollars for that, right?

And my temptation would have been if I was sitting there with Jesus and I knew the background that Jesus knows that she's given everything she has and all she had was two dollars, my temptation would be to say to her, "Oh, no, no, you don't need to do that. That's all you've got. Don't put that in there. How are you going to take care of yourself? How are you going to eat?"

You see, we still think more is measured differently than Jesus thinks it's measured by. We still think more is hold on to what you've got and try to get with that what you need, what you can do for yourself, make it about you. That's what the more mentality is all about. Make it all about you.

But this lady, this lady didn't make it about her at all. Everything but that. She's willing to give up what would be in the world's view the smarter thing to do to take care of her two dollars and go maybe buy something to eat or something. She puts it in the offering to God.

So Jesus is not impressed with the other offerings as much as he is with this woman's offering. Now why would it be that Jesus would think that's more than the others are giving? Well, what does Jesus own? Everything. He owns everything. How hard is it to impress somebody that owns everything?

How hard is it to impress them financially with money and stuff? I mean, they already own everything. What are you going to give that's impressive to him in amounts and dollar amounts where you impress God with what you just did and how much you just gave?

You see, when you own everything, two mites, $50 million, there's not much difference if you own everything anyway. Right? So here's Jesus who owns everything, created everything, sustains everything. He's more impressed with two mites. He thinks that's more than what the rich people gave that day.

In his eyes, it was more. Because in his eyes, it's not about the dollar amount as much as it is some other things. So I want to finish today with just three quick things on how Jesus defines more in this encounter.

He defines more, first of all, by portion, not by proportion. He defines more not by portion, but by proportion. Let's imagine it this way. I'm glad we got some kids in here with us today, and I'm glad we were just able to have a service today with all the roads being so bad this past week and all that.

So let's think about your children for a moment. Let's say you've got a four-year-old daughter, and Christmas is coming up, and they've tried to save up a little money for Christmas, but all they have is a dollar. And you know that's all they've got, but they don't ask you for anything else.

But you open your gift on Christmas morning from your daughter, and in that little box is a dollar. I want to tell you something. That's the most expensive gift you got that Christmas. It was everything she had.

See, that's how Jesus determines more. It's not by portion. It's by proportion to what you have. That's all that she has. Mother Teresa talked about this years ago. She says, "The more you have, the less you can give. The less you have, the more you can give." It doesn't make sense in math, does it? But it does make sense when you understand how Jesus defines more.

You see, the less you have, when you give out of that, it's more proportionately for you to give that. That's how Jesus sees it. That's how He looks at more. She was giving out of her need. Other people were giving out of their extra, their excess.

Pastor friend of mine, Kyle Idelman, who's the lead pastor up at Southeast Christian in Louisville, tells a story of when he went to Kenya several years back, and he was speaking to a church out in the remote Bush area there, a very poor area, a poverty-stricken area, and he preached the message that day, and at the end he sat down, and the local preacher came out with a bucket and put it out there for the offering, and they acted all happy about it, and they were just joyful, and they were singing as they brought their offerings and put it in the bucket.

And then at the end of the service, the preacher got it out and counted it. It was equivalent of about $15, Kyle said, and the preacher gave it to Kyle for preaching there that day, and Kyle didn't want to take it. He said, "No, no, use that for something else." And they said, "No, this is what they gave it for. They wanted to honor you and thank you for being here today."

So Kyle said, even now when people ask me what's the most you've ever been paid to speak somewhere, I'll always say $15, because I knew proportionately that was more than anything else I would be paid anywhere. That's how Jesus defines more. Not by portion, but by proportion to what you have to give.

Lighton Farrell was a minister of Highland Park Church in Dallas for many years, and he tells the story of the preacher that was there before him, shared this with him, said when he was there, he had a church member. The preacher was young, the church member was very young, just getting started in business, and they made a covenant that they would always tithe whatever they made.

They would bring a tithe to the church. A tithe is 10%. They would bring 10% back and give it to the church no matter what amount they ever made. The preacher made that covenant with him. He made that covenant as a young businessman, and as the businessman that year made $10,000, he brought a tent and gave it to the church.

The next year he did better. He made $100,000, and so he brought $10,000, and it just kept going like that until finally he had his best year ever, and he had decided in that best year that it was not going to be possible for him to tithe. He made $6 million that year, and he just thought, I can't write a check that big out of what I made to give to the church.

So another preacher had gotten to the church at that time, so he looked up where the other preacher had gone, the young one he made the pact with, and he asked to visit with him, and he set up a tithe, and he went and visited with him, and he said, "Pastor, I know we both pledged to tithe whatever we made, but I made $6 million this year. I can't give 10% of that. I just can't afford to do that. Would you release me from the covenant that we made?"

And the preacher said, "I can't exactly release you. That's between you and God, but I'll pray for you," and he got down on his knees, and he started praying. He said, "Dear God, please reduce this man's income to the point where he can tithe again."

It makes you think, doesn't it? It's about proportion, not portion. So when Jesus defines more, that's what he's looking at. I think he would also say that he defines more not by the sum, but by the sacrifice. Not by the sum, but by the sacrifice.

We sometimes define sacrifice as giving up something you love for something you love more. And I think that's a pretty good definition. If you look at somebody's bank account, whether it's online or wherever, if you could pull up the numbers, you would be able to see what they're sacrificing for financially, right?

The biggest portions of their finances, what's it going to? You know what that would tell you? To a large degree, it would tell you what they consider the most important things in their lives, what matters most to them, because they're willing to invest.

See, when you invest the money that you made into it, you're investing your life into it, because it took you a portion of your life to get that money. So when you give that money for that thing that you're giving it to, you're giving that chunk of your life that it took you to get that money for that thing.

It's telling you how you value that thing that you're putting that money toward, the importance that you put on it. Jesus said it this way: "Where your treasure is, that's where what is? Your heart. That's where your heart is also."

See, money reveals, to a large extent, where your heart is on those things. Some people have this approach, and I've had this as a pastor. People will tell me, "You know, pastor, if I win the lottery, I'm going to give so much to the church, it's going to be great."

All right? Well, they tell me, "You know, when I get a better job and start making more money, then I'm going to start tithing." Well, they tell me, "When I die, I've got a will where the church is going to get a big chunk of money when I die."

And I always think, you know, it's so easy to be generous with money that you don't have, isn't it? It's really easy to be generous with money that you don't have. And I hear Christians all the time just tearing down rich people because, in their minds, in their eyes, they're not doing all they should do to help other people with all their wealth.

But you know what Jesus is looking for? He's looking for what you're doing with what you have. See, He didn't call you to judge a millionaire. He didn't call you to judge anybody else. That's not your role in this world. It's not my role. He's called you to give in proportion to what you have.

See, that's what the tithe was all about. That's why it was such a good system that God established in the old law, because it's proportionate to what you have, always. If you have $10, a tithe would be one of those. So you see, and no matter if you keep going up the scale, it's always in proportion to what you have.

It fits how Jesus looks at more, how He defines more. It fits it perfectly. And so now here we are. We can be generous with what we don't have, but what are we generous with what we do have?

Jesus would define more by a willingness to sacrifice with what we already have. This widow, even with just two small copper coins put in that box, was making a huge sacrifice to give what she gave. And that's what made the most noise to God. That's what He heard the loudest, was someone willing to make a sacrifice like that.

See, Jesus didn't say, "No, no, no, you need to keep those two coins for yourself, take care of your own needs." No, Jesus understood that when she did that, she's making a sacrifice based on her faith in God that God would take care of her.

That's what allowed her to do that, to give that gift. She was so deep in her trust for God, her dependency on God and God's faithfulness to her. She was so deeply embedded in that, that she felt like she could do this and God would still take care of her.

That's why she could make that sacrifice that she was making. So Jesus defines more not so much by the sum as by the sacrifice. And finally, He defines more not so much by obligation but by opportunity.

Some of you grew up, I didn't grow up going to church very much, but some of you grew up going to churches that were very, let's say, legalistic when it came to a lot of things. That's a term that we might use. In legalism, it's all about obligation to do what you're legally bound to do.

The tithe was taught in those churches and you are legally obligated, according to the Scriptures, to give that tithe. It was an obligation that you have to do that, right? So Jesus, when He looks at these people that are giving at the temple that day, He understood that this lady that gave her two mites was not obligated to give everything she had.

So she's not doing this out of obligation at all. It's got nothing to do with her legal obligation. Jesus, God never required anybody to give everything they have, even under the law. It was not required. Ten percent was required under the law.

So we know she's not doing this out of obligation. And what impresses Jesus is she sees an opportunity to do something to honor God, and that's what her offering was about that day, the opportunity to show God how much she loved Him and trusted Him and would depend on Him alone.

That's what made it such an impactful thing that made so much noise to God, to Jesus. She brought the noise that day by her willingness to sacrifice. When she saw the opportunity to sacrifice, she took advantage of that opportunity and she stepped out in faith and did it.

She saw that it was an opportunity to invest in something greater than any of the stuff of this world, and that's what we miss the most in the church in America today, is we look at our money as an opportunity to get more stuff instead of looking at what we have already as an opportunity to invest in the eternal things of God.

You see, when we're not doing it out of legal obligation, when we're doing it because we understand what an opportunity, we can invest in eternity, we can make a difference, and the return on the investment is really good when you invest in the things of God, in the things of the church, in the things of the eternal kingdom of God.

The return on the investment is amazing when we do that. And we've got lots of people here at Lakeshore who are getting that, who are understanding that, and they're sacrificing other things and they're delaying other purchases and they're making other choices to free up something so they can give it to the work of the kingdom of God.

And because of that, children are being taught, youth groups are having programs. Because of that, we're having opportunities to send them to things like the CLY conference they just went to. We have a nursery provided for families when they come. We have these opportunities for marriages to be strengthened by the teaching of God's Word.

We have the opportunity to impact our community through the branch and through the Youth for Christ programs and all those other things that we invest in. They all have an eternal return on investment, and the list goes on and on.

And when you get that, you see the offering as an opportunity to make that impact with the time that you have on this earth. And other things, the stuff of this world loses some of its luster compared to the return, the eternal return on the investment you can make in the kingdom of God.

As a pastor, when we were in a tight time at the church some years back and I asked people to really try to help out and give as much as they could, I had a family come to me and say, "We're going to cancel our cable, Netflix, and all the stuff we've got like that. And that amount is going to be freed up. We're going to bring it to the church."

And friends, that wasn't a huge amount dollar-wise. But that gift, that gift was huge. Because they understood cable and Netflix and all that, there's nothing evil about it necessarily. There's some evil stuff on it, but you don't have to go there. It's not evil in and of itself, but there was something better to sell the opportunity to invest in.

Right? You see, that's where we need to start seeing like Jesus sees, defining more the way Jesus defines more, not the way the world defines more.

So my challenge for us is simple for 2024. It's not yours anyway. That's not just true with your money, by the way. It's true with your body. It's not yours. It's true with your time. It's not yours. It's true with all the stuff that you have. None of it's yours.

Stop acting like this is a hard decision to understand and to do. You see, the teaching of Jesus is simple. More in His eyes is not defined the way the world defines it. So this is not complicated at all. Don't make it more complicated than this.

Don't act like I just can't figure out what Jesus wants for me here. It's simple. It's easy. Seek first His kingdom, His righteousness. Trust Him for the rest. It's that simple.

Stop putting trust in the next thing as if it's going to do for you what only God can do for you. You see, only that relationship with God through His Son Jesus can truly satisfy the longings of our heart.

I'm really convinced more than ever that there's something in us that God put there that makes us want more. I think He made us that way. I just think the real problem is sin and Satan has deceived us into thinking that prompts us that the stuff of this world is what answers that for us.

You see, He wants us to desire more than the ordinary, more than the temporary stuff. He wants us to desire more about our lives, more impact, more meaning, more purpose to life. He put that in us when He made us because He wants you to understand it's the eternal things that satisfy that longing for more.

And it's only the eternal things that can satisfy that longing for more.

Let's pray together.

Father, we thank You. We thank You that You made us to have this inner desire, this longing in our hearts for more out of life. But Father, we pray that all of us would have the wisdom, the insight, the knowledge from Your Word that teaches us that in Your eyes more is not about more stuff. It's about more meaning, more purpose, more impact, more accomplished for the eternal kingdom that Jesus came to establish through the Church.

Father, help us to understand our longing for more at its root as a longing for more of You. When it comes to less being more, Father, it all comes back to less of us and more of You. And that's what makes life more what You created it to be.

I pray that if there's anyone today who needs to take a step of releasing their desire for more stuff and embracing their desire for You that today they would take that step. It's in Jesus' name that we pray, amen.

If you're here today and you have a decision you need to make, we're going to stand and sing. It's a hymn of invitation time. We invite you to come right up front. As we're singing, I will meet you there and lead you in those next steps.

Let's stand and sing together.

Everybody have a seat, please. At this time, Dean is going to come and lead us at a time of communion around the Lord's table.

Thank you for making the effort to be here today in person, and thank you for those that connected online that couldn't be here in person. We're so thankful for that opportunity.

If you'd like to continue your worship through the giving of an offering, there are lots of ways to do that. We have offering boxes that I mentioned earlier available. One's in the back of the auditorium, one in the hallway as you exit. You can drop your offering in the top slot there.

You can also give online a couple of different ways. You can go to lakeshorechristian.com, click on the Give tab there, or you can take your bulletin cover. It's got a QR code there to give. You just scan that with your phone camera. It'll take you to that page, and you can give online there.

You can mail in your offerings to the church office. However you do it, it is an act of a way to honor God. You saw an opportunity with what He gave you to give back in a way that honors Him. So we thank you for that, and it supports the work and the ministry of the church.

We always appreciate those who support that in their offerings and in their time and their talents in other ways, too. Thank you.

We are thankful that this week, it looks like it's going to warm up, and all this ice and snow is going to be gone. Yeah, that's a good thing. I'm very grateful that I haven't heard of any of our church members that suffered any loss or injury or anything like that. There have been others that did around the country. You want to be praying for those families.

But I'm thankful we have not had any of that within our church family. But always know if there's a need, if there's an emergency-type situation or something like that, please call us or email us or text us or whatever. Try to get ahold of us. We'll be glad to try to see if there's a way we can intervene and help out in some way.

We're a family, and we want to be there for each other. So thank you. I'm so grateful for the safety of our church family.

At this time, Jeremy's going to come and close us out with some announcements and with a prayer. Let's welcome Jeremy up here. We appreciate him doing that. Thank you, man. Thank you.

1) "Materialism is not so much about what we have, but what has us. It's not so much about what we hold, but how tightly we hold it." [39:30] (Download)

2) "The test of materialism is whether stuff has made you proud or has made you grateful." [40:27] (Download)

3) "The teachings of Jesus are often simple. They're easy to understand what Jesus is saying, but they're not easy to carry out all the time." [29:08] (Download)

4) "It's about more meaning, more purpose, more impact, more accomplished for the eternal kingdom that Jesus came to establish through the Church." [01:10:22] (Download)

5) "The less you have, when you give out of that, it's more proportionately for you to give that. That's how Jesus sees it. That's how He looks at more." [54:28] (Download)

6) "It's not so much about what we have, but how we got it and what we're willing to do to get more of it is how you might define materialism." [39:30] (Download)

7) "The real test of gratitude is always generosity. I've never met a grateful person yet who wasn't a generous person ever in my life." [41:22] (Download)

8) "Jesus defines more not so much by the sum, but by the sacrifice. And finally, He defines more not so much by obligation but by opportunity." [01:02:55] (Download)

9) "Jesus, when He looks at these people that are giving at the temple that day, He understood that this lady that gave her two mites was not obligated to give everything she had." [01:03:49] (Download)

10) "Jesus didn't call you to judge a millionaire. He didn't call you to judge anybody else. That's not your role in this world. It's not my role. He's called you to give in proportion to what you have." [01:00:37] (Download)