A Life that is Truly Life

Okay, let's grab our seats and we're going to spend a few minutes in prayer.

If you are new to Watermark, one of the things we love to do as a church family is to pray.

And so every Sunday we take a few minutes to pray.

And we often pray for ourselves and we often pray for another church outside of ourselves.

Sometimes a church in Hong Kong, sometimes a church elsewhere.

Julie, I wonder if we can get this slide up.

I want to introduce this family to you.

This is Sujith and Cheryl Jacob with their children, their three children.

And I met Sujith and Cheryl two weeks ago in Taiwan.

These guys are originally from India and they have been living in Oklahoma City for the last 20 years or so.

And they are about to move back to India to go and start a new church in Mumbai in December.

And so they are getting ready and organizing a team and a bunch of people to move to India with them to start a church.

And so we are going to pray for Sujith and Cheryl a little later.

And so as we pray, I am going to be praying over the microphone.

But I want to encourage you to pray with me.

Join with me and agree.

And under your breath you pray as well.

So this isn't just me praying and you listening.

This is us as a church praying together.

Okay?

Can we do that?

Great.

Great.

So why don't you join me and let's pray together.

Gracious and wonderful Father, we come before you this morning to worship you and to adore you, God.

We've come to acknowledge that there's nobody like you.

There's nothing like you, God, in all creation as we said.

God, there's nobody as glorious as you.

There's no one as holy as you.

There's no one as merciful and gracious, God.

And Father, we come not because we've got it all together, but we come just as we are.

We come broken.

We come with our issues and our hang-ups.

And yet we've come to meet the glorious one and to find our rest in you, to find our hope in you, to find our peace in you.

Father, won't you open our eyes to see you more clearly?

Father, as a church family, we want to know you deeply.

We want to know your manifold dimensions, God.

We want to know the depth of your characteristics.

And so, Father, won't you open our eyes to see you?

God, we don't just want to know you superficially.

We want to continually grow in awe of you and be amazed by you.

Father, I pray that we won't just be a worshiping community on Sundays, but throughout this week, God.

Monday and Tuesday and Wednesday, and as we go to work and as we go to school and university.

Father, won't we be a worshiping community?

We pray, God.

We pray that you'll be first and foremost in our hearts and in our lives.

Father, won't you show us your glory, we pray.

We want to see your majesty, God.

Father, this morning we confess that our hearts, God, are so often turned in on ourselves.

Often our hearts are more inward focused than we like to admit.

And, Father, if we are honest, we are often motivated by pride or unbelief.

God, we get frustrated when things don't go our way.

And it's because our hearts are turned in on ourselves.

Lord, we confess this to you and we ask you to forgive us.

And we ask you to change us.

God, won't you soften our hearts and orientate our hearts towards you?

God, we want to love the things that you love and we want to love them correctly.

Help us, we pray, God.

Father, we are often fearful and anxious because we trust ourselves more than you.

Won't you help us to trust you?

Father, this morning we pray for Chris and Fiona and the team in Turkey.

Their last few days there, we pray for their safety and their protection.

And just as they're coming towards the end of their trip,

won't you continue to speak to them from your word?

I pray your scriptures will come alive.

God, won't you reveal more of yourself to each one of them?

And we pray, God, that they do come back to Hong Kong safely.

We pray for no hang-ups or issues or traveling frustrations, but that everything will go well.

Bring them back safely, we pray, Father, in these last few days.

And this morning, God, we want to pray for Sujith and Cheryl as they look to plant Cornerstone Church in Mumbai.

Father, thank you for their faith and their courage to move across the world to this unknown city for both of them

and to start this new church.

And we pray, God, that you give them courage.

We pray for boldness, Lord.

We pray, Father, that you strengthen their faith.

When they feel like they can't do it, may they remember that you, God, can do it.

God, we pray for their kids and for visas and logistics around the move.

We pray, God, for finances.

Won't you give them the necessary finances to make the move and to start up this church?

And we pray for the core team, God.

We pray for some people to go with them to help them start this church and to see a thriving church in Mumbai that will reach people for you.

God, we pray that you prepare their own hearts for the challenges that are no doubt coming their way, for the difficulties.

Lord, I want you to draw near to them.

And so I really pray that you wash Sujith and Cheryl in the gospel, God.

May they know that their deepest treasure is in you and not in the things of this world.

Father, then finally this morning we want to pray for Hong Kong and for our own leadership here, our civil leaders.

Father, we're aware of what happened in the legislature and the council yesterday.

God, we understand that as laws are being passed, these are complex issues.

And there are people on many different sides trying to push for their agenda.

God, we do pray for soft hearts.

We pray for wisdom.

And, Lord, we pray that above all that every lawmaker will seek the best for Hong Kong and not for themselves, God.

We pray for our civil leaders that they really will be servants of the city of Hong Kong and the people of Hong Kong, God.

We pray that they will seek to serve the city and not their own agendas, we pray.

And so, God, as these things in the next few weeks get heated, we pray for wisdom.

We pray for soft hearts.

And we pray for you, God, to even be involved there.

We pray all these things in your wonderful and powerful name.

Amen.

Amen.

Great.

Let's listen to the reading of God's word.

And then Ed is going to come and share the scriptures with us this morning.

The scripture reading comes from 1 Timothy chapter 6.

1 Timothy 6 · chapter mention

Please follow along in your bulletins or on the screen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

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.

For those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desire

that plunk 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 grifts.

Command those who are rich in this present world 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 fully life.

This is the Word of God.

Oh, great.

Well, first of all, I want to just wish all the mothers another Happy Mother's Day.

My mom is just right here now.

You guys are really—thank you, Mom.

You guys are really the unsung heroes of the family, so Happy Mother's Day.

Today, we are going to be continuing this sermon series on money.

Now, two weeks ago, Kevin preached about you cannot love both God and money,

for where your treasure is, there your heart is also.

Last week, Oscar was preaching,

be on your guard against greed and be rich to God.

I was very challenged by Oscar's sermon last week.

I asked the Holy Spirit,

Am I rich to you?

Am I rich to God?

Am I generous?

Do I really sacrificially give to God?

And the Holy Spirit was very convicting.

He says,

Ed, you receive your paycheck.

You pay for school tuitions.

You pay for rent for the apartment.

You pay for your fixed expenses,

discretionary expenses,

and you have a line item for charitable donations.

But the rest, after you pay for all those things,

you keep for yourself.

You put it into your nest egg.

What would it look like

if you shared that excess with me?

What would it look like

if you gave me 50% of that excess?

Because it's my money anyway.

To tell you the truth,

I'm still struggling with that.

Because money has such a big grasp in my heart.

And so it's very topical today.

That's exactly what we're going to be talking about.

Now, today's passage is from Timothy.

And just a little bit of background.

It's the Apostle Paul writing to Timothy.

And he says,

Timothy is overseeing the Church of Ephesus.

And one of the problems of the Church of Ephesus

that was emerging

was that there was emergence of teachers

that were teaching false doctrines.

And some teachers were even using

their religious positions

to gain wealth for themselves.

And so the Apostle Paul

is basically warning the Church,

be on your guard against greed,

don't fall in love with money,

and pursue a life that is truly wealth.

Why don't we go to the next slide?

I have a slide on the first,

the two points that we're going to be addressing.

I think the next one after this.

So three points that we're going to be talking about today.

Christ's commitment,

we're going to define that,

and the folly,

the foolishness of pursuing riches.

We're going to be talking about

your God-given wealth,

wealth,

and how that entails kingdom responsibilities,

and the enemy's deception and plans

to prevent you from living a life

that is truly life.

First point,

but godliness with contentment

is great gain.

Now,

many of us in Hong Kong

are looking for contentment

in all sorts of things.

We've been told

that it can be found

in what we have.

We've been told

that it can be found

in the experiences,

maybe travel.

The latest thing is,

the latest New Age thing

is mindfulness.

Mindfulness.

But the Apostle Paul tells us

the truest form of contentment

cannot be found

in those things,

but only found

in the person of Christ.

Jesus introduces

the concept of Christ's contentment,

basically contentment,

godliness with contentment,

or contentment in God,

which is external,

which is independent

of external circumstances,

but based on

our relationship with God,

contentment that is found

in our relationship with God.

Now,

Paul summarizes this concept

very well in Philippians 4.11,

where he says,

I have learned

the secret of being content

in every situation,

whether well-fed or hungry,

whether living in plenty

or in want.

I can do all this

through him

who gives me strength.

Paul is basically saying,

when Christ is your everything,

everything else

are little things.

It doesn't really matter

whether you're richer or poor.

The external circumstances

don't really matter.

For the Christian,

Jesus Christ

defines everything

in our lives.

And that is why

Paul says

that's great spiritual gain,

because our souls

can actually rest in him.

For the Christian,

Christ defines

our identity.

It says in John 1.12,

it says,

yet to all who receive him

and who put their faith in him,

you have the right

to be called children of God.

You are a child of God.

When your identity

is a child of God,

you don't have to be defined

by social media,

how much you make,

your achievements,

even how you look.

You are lovely

and perfectly loved

as a child of God.

Christ defines our purpose.

Our purpose is much,

he gives us a purpose

that is much greater

than just living the good life.

Christ says,

love others,

love God and love others,

and that's your purpose.

And join in my

kingdom redemption plan.

And we'll be talking

a little bit about that later.

Christ also defines love.

The standard of love

in which we're called

to love others

is defined by Christ.

It's defined by

the creator of this world

coming down

and dying for his creation.

That's the standard of love,

and that defines

how we love others.

And it also gives us

great freedom.

freedom.

Because in each of us,

there is darkness

in our hearts.

There are things

that we have done

or thoughts that we have

that we're not proud of.

But God says,

Jesus says,

if you repent to me,

there is no guilt,

there is no condemnation.

There's no condemnation

in Christ.

And so you are free.

When we accept Jesus

into our lives,

our souls do not have

to bounce around

looking for meaning,

looking for significance.

Our souls do not have

to be affected

by the external circumstances,

whether we got

that paycheck rise

or we didn't.

Everything becomes defined

and centrally tethered

to Christ.

And that is what Paul means

by spiritual gain.

That is great spiritual gain.

Now,

the implication

of Christ's contentment

is that we're called

to be also content

with our material things.

So we're moving on.

Paul says,

for we brought nothing

into the world

and we can take nothing

out of it.

But if we have food

and clothing,

we should be content

with that.

God's key concern

is that we don't fall

in love with the things

of this world

that would distract you.

He knows how material things

could have a sway

in our hearts

and he wants our hearts

to be tethered to him

and him alone.

He even is also

very clearly stated

throughout the book

of the Bible

and even in Deuteronomy 8

where I think

very, very clearly

God speaks to Moses.

He says,

be careful that you do not

forget the Lord your God.

Otherwise,

when you eat

and are satisfied,

when you build

the fine houses

and settle down,

and when your herds

and flocks grow large,

your silver and gold

increase and all of you

have multiplied,

then your heart

will become proud

and you will forget

the Lord your God.

Now,

Paul's argument

for why we shouldn't

fall in love

with the material things

of this earth

is slightly different

from the past couple weeks.

He's saying,

this earth

is not our home.

This earth

is not our final destination.

We are souls

created for eternity.

Our life here

is just this much

or even this much.

And so,

there is folly

and foolishness

in trying to accumulate

stuff for this world

during our time here.

In Philippians 3,

it says,

but we are citizens

of heaven.

And in 2 Peter,

it says,

we are looking forward

to the new heaven

and the new earth

he has promised,

a world filled

with God's righteousness.

happiness.

When a wealthy woman

died,

a very wealthy woman

died,

one of the attendees

in the ceremony

at her funeral

asked the minister,

how much did she leave

behind?

The minister answered,

everything.

That's how much

you're going to bring

to your next stage.

You're not going to

take anything with you.

You're going to leave

behind everything.

And God's desire

is for us to have

a love relationship

with Jesus

that is not distracted

by wealth.

Indeed,

if we have the basic

necessities,

clothing,

shelter,

we are called

to be content.

Our true treasure

is Jesus

who leads us

to take hold

of a life

that is truly life.

Paul continues on.

Again,

he goes on

and commands

those who are rich.

he says,

command those

who are rich

in this present world

to not be greedy

and to not hope

in things

that are uncertain,

but to do good

and be rich

in good deeds,

to be generous

and to share

with others.

The basic premise

here is that

there is kingdom

responsibility

with having received

God's given possessions.

In Luke 12, 48,

it says,

From everyone

who has been given much,

much will be demanded.

From anyone

who has been entrusted

with much,

much will be asked.

This is also reaffirmed

in the parable,

in Matthew 25,

in the parable

of the talents.

I'm going to spend

a little bit of time here.

In the parable

of the talents,

a master

was going to go away

for a very,

very long time.

And he had three servants

and he was going to

entrust the talents

that he had

or talents

are basically

bag of gold.

Different bags of gold

to his various servants.

To the first servant,

according to their abilities.

Now,

to the first servant,

he gives five.

To the second servant,

he gives two.

To the third servant,

he gives one.

Now,

after a very long time,

after he comes back,

the first servant

that had five talents

said,

I invested your talents

well,

your bag of gold.

Now I have five more.

Ten.

So,

thank you.

Here you go,

master.

And the master says,

good and faithful servant.

You have been faithful

over a little.

I will give you much more.

Come and enjoy

the joy of your master.

The second servant

comes and says,

master,

I have invested

your two talents

and I got two talents more.

Here you go.

And then,

again,

the master says,

good and faithful servant.

You have been faithful

with little.

I want to give you much more.

Come and enjoy

the joy of your master.

And then,

the third servant goes,

master,

I know that you are

a hard man.

You reap where you do not sow.

You gather where you do not scatter.

You gather where you do not scatter.

So,

well,

I hid your talent on the ground.

Here,

here's your one talent back.

And the master goes,

you wicked and slothful servant.

You should have at least,

ought to have at least,

put that talent in the bank

so I get some interest back.

I think,

I'm going to paraphrase a little bit

from Tim Mackey's

sermon on this.

Two reactions,

initial reactions.

The first reaction we may have is,

is this master being a bit too harsh

on that third servant?

Is this master a harsh man?

And,

you can see,

and if you look at,

if you look at how he reacted

to the first two servants,

you can see that that's not true.

Because he says,

well done,

good and faithful servant.

He's actually really enthused

that they've done a good job.

He wants to give them even more.

He says,

you've been faithful with little.

I'm going to give you even more.

And then he says,

come and join in my,

come into the,

enter the joy of the master.

And he said,

come,

let's celebrate.

Let's come and celebrate.

So,

is the master really harsh

as the third servant presents it?

Or is,

really,

he is disillusioned

about how he views the master?

The second point that you have is,

well,

maybe this servant

is just

incompetent.

And so,

again,

maybe the heart master

is being a little bit harsh

because he's just kind of,

maybe he's just like a guy

who,

you know,

really timid

and can't get stuff done.

And,

the master,

and that's the key point.

This is the key point.

The master is not angry

at the servant,

number three,

because he did a bad job.

The master is,

calls him a wicked

and slothful servant

because he did nothing at all.

He didn't do anything.

He didn't even put the minimum,

do the bare minimum,

which is put the money

in the bank

to collect interest.

And that's the point.

God desires us

to invest his resources

that he has given you,

your money,

back into the kingdom

to redeem it

in a broken world.

I mean,

not to,

not to quote a

Spider-Man cliche

because I do know

there are people

who work in Sony here,

but,

with great power

comes great responsibility.

And that's what it's saying.

Now,

we just mentioned

the concept of

kingdom redemption.

The concept of

kingdom redemption

can feel very abstract.

Even though

we pray,

every time we say

that our Father,

we pray about it.

He says,

our Father,

hallowed be thy name,

thy kingdom come,

thy will be done

on earth as it is in heaven.

But the reality is

this is not

an abstract concept.

See,

the original plan

for God

was to create

a world

where

Adam and Eve

will have dominion.

So,

he gave,

he handed over the keys

to Adam and Eve

to rule the world

in communion with him.

Then,

we chose,

then,

what actually

happened was

man says,

thanks but no thanks,

rejected God.

I'm going to run it

according to my

sense of good and evil,

my understanding

of good and evil.

And so,

the world

becomes broken.

God's redemption plan,

the kingdom redemption plan,

is to revert

the broken world

back into

this original

form

through the work

of his faithful,

through the hands

of his faithful servants.

It is a world

where there is,

where it's governed

by love

instead of fear,

generosity

instead of self-interest,

cooperation

instead of competition,

joy

instead of strife,

patience

instead of busyness,

kindness

instead of apathy,

gentleness

instead of harshness.

You can see

what I'm doing here.

I'm just taking

the fruit of the spirit,

looking at the opposite ends.

Now,

what does kingdom

redemption look like

tangibly

within our spheres

of influence

and watermark?

Kingdom redemption

is alpha

and young life

going into

the secondary schools

of our Hong Kong,

of Hong Kong,

and giving purpose

and identity

to those

youth

that are lost

and confused

in this high-pressure world.

Kingdom identity,

kingdom redemption

is sons and daughters

going into the streets

of Wan Chai,

rescuing ladies

and even men

from the sex trade

and giving them

a new identity

in Christ

as a son

and daughter

of Christ.

Kingdom identity,

kingdom redemption

is ICM

going into

meet the minorities

population

which have been

overlooked by society

and giving them

care

and attention.

kingdom redemption

is ICF's program

going into

the campuses

of Hong Kong

and bringing

the invitation

of Christ.

Kingdom redemption

is watermark church.

We're building up

our members

every week

so that they can

go out

Monday to Friday

to live with

kingdom purposes.

Kingdom redemption

is our purpose

as a son

and daughter

of Christ.

There is much joy

in participating

in the plans

of the kingdom

and it's God's desire

that you join

in this mission.

With the Holy Spirit

as a guide,

he calls you

to participate

in making investments

for the kingdom

to help redeem

this broken world.

But one big caveat,

one big caveat,

don't do it,

don't make it

a religious thing.

Don't do it

because you think

that that's what

God needs from you.

In Isaiah 66,

he says,

this is what

the Lord says,

heaven is my throne

and the earth

is my footstool.

Where is the house

you will build for me?

Where will be

my resting place?

Has not my hand

made all these things

so they came into being?

There's nothing

that God needs.

God created everything.

So we participate

in kingdom redemption

not out of

religious obligation.

We participate

because we love

our Lord.

We participate

because how rich

he has been

through us

by giving us Jesus.

We participate

because there's

richness and joy

in having the Lord

use our hands

for his kingdom

redemption purposes.

And we participate

because it is

what we're designed for.

You know,

personally,

I've been learning

to surrender

your finances

to God

is a journey.

As you can see

from what I shared earlier,

you know,

the Holy Spirit

continues to challenge me

and convict me

in terms of my giving.

Two years ago,

the Holy Spirit

spoke to me

and said,

how much would you,

how much is a soul

worth for you?

How much is it to you

if we can bring

one more sheep

back to the good shepherd?

How much is it to you

if we can bring

a lost family member

back into the family?

It starts softening

my heart.

Now,

the Holy Spirit

obviously is convicting

about,

am I actually being

rich about it?

Am I actually being

generous to God?

So,

everyone who's already

on this journey

of surrendering

your finances to God,

I pray that you continue

and continue to surrender

more and more

and have the Holy Spirit

convict you

in your giving.

But for those

who haven't joined,

I invite you to join.

It's a wonderful journey.

It's wonderful

to see when you're,

the wealth that you have

is put to use

in God's redemption,

in God's kingdom

redemption plan.

It's just like,

glory to God.

Yes.

Now,

just as we talked

about how God

invites us

to participate

in this kingdom

redemption plan,

the enemy,

the enemy prowls

and he's,

it's like basketball.

His direct objective

is to prevent you.

He's the defense.

He hates it

when you are

walking in his ways.

And so,

how does the enemy

achieve that?

How does the enemy

play defense against us?

Very easy.

In verse 9,

it says,

those who want

to get rich

fall into temptation

and a trap.

The enemy

sets a trap

that captivates

our heart's desires

and keeps us

from desiring

the things

from God.

And oftentimes,

these traps

are so deceptive

we're even unaware.

Now,

consider an animal trap.

That's a funny story.

I started looking up

animal traps

on YouTube

and what they

would look like

and then now,

this was on Trisha's computer,

and now all these

animal traps

come up

and advertise

like she thinks

she's going to try

to buy an animal trap.

But the animal traps,

they're scary

because they're hidden

and they're camouflaged.

Like an animal

is just like walking by

and then,

like he doesn't even know

he's walking into it.

They also feature

different bait.

There's different baits

for different animals.

And also,

animal traps

are strong.

Once it's got the animal,

you're not coming out.

And that is how

the enemy prowls.

The enemy prowls

to set traps

in our hearts

to lead us

to wander,

to lead us

into evil,

which is evil

as defined

as the absence

of God.

I have to confess,

when I first

read this passage,

my initial reaction

was,

well,

I agree with that.

Money is the root

of many evils.

Yes,

we all heard that.

Yeah,

agree,

agree,

agree.

And then,

when he says,

when he addresses

for those who want

to become rich,

I'm like,

no,

that's not me.

It's like,

if you ask me

straight to my face,

is my life's goal

to become rich?

I can honestly say no.

But,

if you ask,

if you ask me

whether I want

to get rich,

I would say no.

But,

if you ask me,

do I desire

financial security

and one day

financial,

you know,

financial freedom?

I would say yes.

Do I desire

to be respected

by society?

I would say yes.

Do I desire

to provide

a comfortable

lifestyle

for my family?

And again,

I will say yes.

I am not

some of these things,

but I am

all of these things,

and therein lies

the deception

of the enemy.

He turns these

good things,

seemingly good things,

but he makes them

take hold

of my heart,

and he leads me

to wander

from my faith,

as what it says

in the passage.

In the area

of financial security,

I have this

deep desire

to stock up

and build

my nest egg,

and that's partially

because it's

intergenerational.

I think my family

and generations

from above

lived a really

not an easy life,

and so we're

told to save,

to be thrifty,

to stock up.

It's also partly

Chinese virtues.

Chinese virtues

is teaching frugality,

preparing for lean times.

That's Chinese virtue,

and maybe it's

partially my experience

in 2008

during the great

financial crisis

when I just saw peers

and everyone

just get axed,

everyone losing

their jobs,

but the problem,

but my desire

to build my own

nest egg

is it directly

contradicts

with what God says.

Do I end up

hoping in my nest egg,

or do I end up

hoping in God?

It hinders me

from being rich

to God

as I'm finding out

because I'm so focused

on this nest egg

instead of his kingdom.

Whether I admit it

or not,

I desire to be

respected by society.

In fact,

when I changed jobs

three years ago,

I bought a nice

expensive watch.

I wanted my peers

and my clients

to know that I've

attained a certain

level of success.

but here's the thing.

Do I continuously

seek approval

from society?

Do I continuously

seek to achieve?

Do I continually

seek to get more money

versus what God says?

My identity

is in Christ.

I am a son of Christ.

I am lovely

and perfectly loved

by him.

and I desire

and I want my family

to have a good life.

I want a desire,

I desire to give my family

a comfortable life,

one that is similar

to what my parents

had provided for me.

But what if it,

what if God's intention

and purpose

for us as a family

is that to show him

his most glorious ways,

he wants us

to downsize our lifestyle?

Am I ready to do that?

The enemy has these

deceptive traps

in my life.

Oftentimes,

these enemies

hinders me

from living a life

that is fully surrendered

to God.

It can create burdens

in me

in hoping for things

that cannot deliver.

And it creates

burdens

that God actually

wants to free me from.

So the bad news is

I can't free myself.

There's all these traps

in my heart.

I can't undo it.

It's got me.

But the good news is

Jesus Christ came

and can do

what we cannot do

for ourselves.

He let himself

take the fall

for all of our sins

and be free

so that we can be free

from the trap of money.

Jesus is the one

who breaks down the traps,

the doors of the traps.

Jesus is the one

who can change

the desires of our hearts.

Jesus leads us

to a life

that is truly life.

Let's follow him

and take hold

of a life

that is truly life.

according to Jesus Christ.

We are not

you

my

God

keeping it

what we have.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.