Money, money, money .... MONEY! The most disliked topic comes at us straight on this week - faith and money. Ever thought of investing in God's promise? Not the counsel you're likely to hear from your financial adviser. But you will hear about it in this week's sermon.
Money and what we do with it is a most sensitive topic. Scripture has some teachings that you're unlikely to appreciate.
We start with the prophet Jeremiah who gets a surprise visit from his cousin Hanamel. With Babylonians waging a siege against Jerusalem, the real estate market is full of sellers and no buyers - no surprise. Yet cousin Hanamel wants Jeremiah to buy his land, an ancestral property which bears an obligation for him to buy. As the prophet will explain, he makes the purchase as an investment in God's promise ot his people.
That may not be the financial guidance you were looking for. Right.
Let's consider Jesus' parable which features a rich man and a poor, disgusting beggar named Lazarus who begs at the rich man's gate. These two are at the opposite ends of the worldly order; one on top and one at the bottom. Since Jesus always teaches about the Kingdom, it should be no surprise that there is a reversal. Both of them die, but the despised poor beggar man - Lazarus (he has a name; the rich man doesn't - another reversal of the worldly order) - goes to heaven to stand with patriarch of faith and righteousness Abraham while the rich man is tormented in the fires of Hades.
That would be the end of the story, but the editor had two more pieces to insert.
The point is clear: the rich man who scorned the beggar Lazarus has invested nothing in God's promise which abided in Lazarus, and his return on his investment is "the first shall become last." Lazarus has always borne God's promise, and though the world would not invest in him, he is given new life in the Kingdom.
What does this mean for us? How would investing be different if our values followed the way of Jesus' Kingdom teaching? Watch and find out below.
Money and what we do with it is a most sensitive topic. Scripture has some teachings that you're unlikely to appreciate.
We start with the prophet Jeremiah who gets a surprise visit from his cousin Hanamel. With Babylonians waging a siege against Jerusalem, the real estate market is full of sellers and no buyers - no surprise. Yet cousin Hanamel wants Jeremiah to buy his land, an ancestral property which bears an obligation for him to buy. As the prophet will explain, he makes the purchase as an investment in God's promise ot his people.
That may not be the financial guidance you were looking for. Right.
Let's consider Jesus' parable which features a rich man and a poor, disgusting beggar named Lazarus who begs at the rich man's gate. These two are at the opposite ends of the worldly order; one on top and one at the bottom. Since Jesus always teaches about the Kingdom, it should be no surprise that there is a reversal. Both of them die, but the despised poor beggar man - Lazarus (he has a name; the rich man doesn't - another reversal of the worldly order) - goes to heaven to stand with patriarch of faith and righteousness Abraham while the rich man is tormented in the fires of Hades.
That would be the end of the story, but the editor had two more pieces to insert.
The point is clear: the rich man who scorned the beggar Lazarus has invested nothing in God's promise which abided in Lazarus, and his return on his investment is "the first shall become last." Lazarus has always borne God's promise, and though the world would not invest in him, he is given new life in the Kingdom.
What does this mean for us? How would investing be different if our values followed the way of Jesus' Kingdom teaching? Watch and find out below.
| 09-29-19-sermon.mp3 |
| 09-29-19-ff-answers.pdf |
| 09-29-19-investing_in_god.pdf |