Holy Buckets - Week 4 - Pastor Kipp Penrod

Thank you for listening to this message from

Lifehouse Church. Good morning. If you're new

with us here this morning, welcome. It is so

good to have you in worship, and you've done

that through song, and it's good to have you

now for the Word. And I want to do this. I know

they talked about the picnic, but if you came

this morning and you're like, well, I didn't

really make plans to go to the picnic, can I

tell you, change your plans. You'll love it.

Please come out to the picnic. There's tons of

food. There's so much food we don't know what

to do with it all. So please come help eat. But

the great thing that happens at the picnic is

fellowship. We get a chance to just sit down

and talk with one another in a super casual setting

and spend time. And that doesn't always happen

on a Sunday morning. Sometimes things go quick.

Hopefully it's happening in life groups. But

just if you can, if you can possibly get there,

please come out. We'd love to spend time with

you this morning. All right? Well, many people

in the congregation know this, but I grew up

in a small town in Western PA. I'm not going

to say the town. It's a little town, but how

many of you live in a little town? Sometimes

you attend a little church. Yeah, all right.

I went to church, a smaller church setting, and

I remember something, actually many things specifically,

that happen in a small church that don't happen

when a church gets a little larger. And one of

those things, by virtue of size, is we used to

have something back in the 80s and the 90s called

testimony service. Anybody remember that? When

everybody, like not just one person got up and

testified because it was a small church. Everybody

testified, right? You get up and you stand in

a circle. And we still actually do this here

on Revive Night. At the end of every Revive,

which is a worship night that happens here on

Sunday nights, once a quarter. At the end of

the Revive, the last 10, 15 minutes, we just

stop all the music. We've stopped the worship

and praying. And we come together and just hand

the mic around and testify. And what the idea

is to hear what God's done, right? to hear how

God's worked something out in somebody's life

and to give glory to God. And I remember that

in a small town and in a small church, and I

always loved the testimony service because sometimes

it got wild, okay? How many know you can't control

what somebody's going to say? You hand them a

microphone, that's a dangerous thing. All right.

And they would hand people the microphone and

church was live and uncensored. So, you know,

you just never knew what was going to come out

of somebody's mouth. And most of the time it

was something really great. And somebody would

testify. We'd be like, yeah, man, you know what

God's done in somebody's life. But then you would

get that person who kind of missed the whole

idea of testifying and giving glory to God. And

they would get up and they'd be something like

this. I got to say, the devil's been on me all

week. Right? You know, he's been on my back all

week. And they'll start to do a story about the

devil's in my car. Their car broke down, right?

The devil's been in my car. The devil's been

in my lawnmower, right? The devil was in my toaster.

I heard it all, right? The devil's been in my

bank account, which meant they spent too much

money, right? And they didn't have enough for

the week. The devil was in the sound system.

At the church, I meant there was feedback in

the mic, right? The devil was in the sound. They

would start down that road and you're like, you're

kind of missing the point here, right? And ultimately

somebody would go, the devil's been on my back

all week. And then somebody would speak up and

say, well, you need to quit giving them a place

to sit. You know, so it's like, amen, amen. You

know, all that kind of stuff was going on. And

I remember that as a kid, you know, somebody

quoted scripture like God, you know, he who's

greater, God's greater in me than he that's in

the world. And you would hear people just kind

of cheering each other on and sometimes even

kind of correcting each other along the way.

But the reality is this, right? That the devil

really can attack. A lot of things. He can attack

our money and possessions, the things that are

in our bucket. He can attack relationships. He

can attack all these different things. John 10

.10 tells us that, right? The thief does not

come except to steal, kill, and destroy. That's

what the Word of God says. And Jesus said, I've

come to give you may have life, and you might

have it more abundantly. We know that. We know

1 John 4 is true as well, right? It says, you

are of God, little children, and have overcome

them. That's talking about Satan and the work

and the evil that he does, right? Because he

who is in you is greater than he that's in the

world. We know this. And Satan does. come against,

he does attack, and sometimes even in the area

of our money and possessions, he comes against

us. And the reality is that overcoming Satan's

work in our life many times is as simple as this.

It's as simple, not all the time, but most of

the times as simple as doing God's will. Doing

his will, right? God's will with my buckets.

God's will be done in my relationship. God's

will be done in my emotional and my mental bucket.

We all have those buckets. And even in the money

and possession buckets, even in the bucket where

God puts money and possessions for us to manage,

right? And a lot of times we mystify the will

of God. We make it this mysterious thing that's

super hard to grab a hold of. We act like somehow

it's hidden in this spiritual fog. And if we

pray just right, if we just do the right motions,

right, in a religious manner, we'll somehow be

able to grope our way through the fog and grab

a hold of God's will and everything's going to

work out. And it seems like this exhausting.

Difficult practice. But the reality is that knowing

God's will, even in our money and possessions,

is two things. It's knowing his word, right?

The word of God. What does God's word have to

say about the matter? And then hearing the Holy

Spirit. It's a two -step process. If you want

to find God's will for your life, know the word

of God. Know what God spelled out in scripture

and what he has to say about whatever it is that

you're... Seeking them about, even in money possessions,

right? And then hearing the Holy Spirit. Because

here's what happens. His word will give you what

to do. His word will speak what you should do

to hear God's will. And the Holy Spirit will

give you the where, when, and how to do it. That's

why he put the Holy Spirit active in your life.

So when it comes to our money and possessions

in the bucket, right, that God's given us, we've

got to ask the question, what is God's will for

me in spending money? What's God's will in saving

money? How much should I give? How much should

I save? Should I save, right? We start asking

those questions. What's the Bible have to say

about? How much money should I have in the bucket?

And how much shouldn't I? How many possessions

should I have in the bucket? How much shouldn't

I, right? Should I have a lot? Should I have

a little? Should I save it all? Should I give

some of it away or all of it away? What's the

word of God have to say? What's it look like?

So we've got to ask this question and we got

to go to the word of God. So this morning, what

I'm going to do is I'm going to take you to one

of the wisdom books in scripture, Proverbs chapter

six. If you've got your Bibles, you can turn

there. If you've got your notebooks, go ahead

and get them out. If you don't have a notebook,

we sell them right outside. All right. At the

connection station, you can get yourself a life

house notebook. We encourage you taking notes,

but I want you this morning to go to Proverbs

chapter six and we'll start with verse six. And

it says this. Now we're looking for God's word,

right? Tell us what to do. It says this, go to

the ant, you sluggard, consider her ways and

be wise, which having no captain, overseer or

ruler provides her supplies in the summer and

gathers her food in the harvest. How long will

you slumber, oh sluggard? When will you rise

from your sleep? A little sleep, a little slumber,

a little folding of the hands to sleep. So shall

your poverty come on you like a prowler and your

need like an armed man. I wanna take you this

morning on a slice of money and possessions,

and we're gonna talk about saving money. Saving

money. What's God's will when it comes to saving

money? And I'm here this morning to tell you

that you're gonna learn from a bug, okay? You're

gonna learn from an insect. Turn to somebody

right now, tell them we're gonna learn from a

bug today. We're gonna learn from a bug, all

right? Declare it, all right? Shake your neighbor,

wake him up. All right, we're gonna learn from

a bug this morning. We really are. What's God's

will, you know, with money and possessions, one

in my bucket, about saving? And I can tell you

this for certainty. It is God's will for us to

save money. It is God's will for us to save money.

Go to the aunt. You sluggard. I'm not calling

you sluggard, by the way. He was talking to somebody

else. All right, go to the aunt, consider her

ways, and be wise. It is not an ungodly thing

to save money. It is actually biblical to have

a savings account. It is biblical to set money

aside. Now, as I talk about that, the Word of

God makes some very clear distinctions in this.

It's biblical to save money. It is not biblical

to hoard money. There's a difference between

the two, right? The Word of God tells us we can

save money, but we don't want to hoard money.

And Jesus actually lays this out very clearly

in Luke 12, verse 16. He says this, he tells

Luke 12:16

a story, a parable. Then he spoke a parable to

them saying, the ground of a certain rich man

yielded plentiful, right? It was yielding a lot

of fruit. And he thought within himself saying,

what shall I do since I have no room to store

my crops? So he said, I will do this. I will

pull down my barns and build greater and there

I will store all my crops and my goods. Then

I will say to my soul, soul, you have many goods

laid up for many years. Take your ease, eat.

drink and be merry. But God said to him, fool,

fool, this night your soul will be required of

you. Then whose will those things be which you

have provided? So is he who lays up treasure

for himself and is not rich toward God. If my

purpose for saving money is to pack that money

away solely for me, myself and I, You're in dangerous

territory. You're hoarding it up for yourself,

right? And that's a sinful approach with saving

up money. Making as much as I can, stuffing it

in the can, and then sitting on the can so I

can dip out of the can later on, right? That's

all about me. And I'm out of God's will for money

and possessions when I do that. When I slip from

saving over into hoarding, I'm out of God's will.

for my possessions and for the money that God

places in my bucket. An ant stores up, an ant

saves up, right? An ant goes out and collects

and brings back something for two reasons, two

reasons. An ant knows, first of all, that winter

is coming and there's gonna be no food to be

found. That's what an ant knows, right? And then

secondly, the ant knows that the entire colony

needs to eat. during that season. If you look

to the end, we save for winter and we save to

sustain ourselves and others, right? We save

for the winter and we save to sustain ourselves

and others. Can I tell you that there will be

a winter season in your life? There will be.

Turn to somebody, look at them, tell them there's

going to be winter. It's going to be winter.

I know it's hot today, right? It's beautiful

today. But this is going to be winter. You're

going to have a season in your life where winter

is going to come. And it's not going to be a

time of plenty. There's going to be a time in

life that comes, and it could be something like

a sickness that comes upon you, or it could be

an injury that comes upon you, and you may not

be able to go out and work. You might not be

able to functionally go out and make money and

bring it in and pay for those basic needs that

you need in life, right? Food, clothing, and

shelter, and those kinds of things. You're going

to hit winter. There's going to be a season come.

You live long enough, you're going to hit a winter

season. You might blow your knee out. I did that.

When I was younger and I was working, I blew

my right knee out and I had to go get surgery.

And the job I was in at that time, I had to have

my knee. I had to have it actually at 100 % because

of some of the physical things that I was doing

in my job. And I was off for a couple months

just recovering and recuperating. And for some

reason, nobody wanted to pay me just to heal

up. I didn't understand. They didn't want to

do it, right? It wasn't a job -related injury.

There was no workers' comp involved. It was none

of that. I just, I was off work. It was winter.

There was no money coming in, right? You might

get laid off from your job. The company you're

working for may sell or condense or collapse,

and you might hit a season where it's going to

be winter. And you may have to stop working to

take care of a family member that's in a difficult

place. Winter will come. You live in central

Pennsylvania. Winter will come, right? The leaves

will fall. We're just about ready to head into

that season. The leaves will fall. Nothing's

gonna bear fruit in that season. And there'll

be a season where nothing is growing on the trees.

Nothing, there will be nothing to eat. And if

you're not in a winter right now, you could probably

look at the person beside you. They might be

in a winter right now. And you may get there

at some point. They need another aunt to provide

sometimes, you know, not just spiritually and

praying for somebody, but sometimes provisionally.

It's God's will to save for winter and it's God's

will to save and share up with others. It really

is. And not only is it God's will for us to save,

right? Get ready for winter and to help others,

but it's God's will for us to save wisely. Wisely.

Wisely. Amen? Say wisely. Say it to yourself.

The book of Ecclesiastes was written by King

Solomon. He was the third king of Israel, and

he was King David's son. And you've got to understand

something about Solomon. Solomon was given unusual

wisdom, actually divine wisdom. The word of God,

and I'm going to read it for you just so you

understand and hear right from God's word. Solomon's

wisdom was beyond conventional wisdom. His wisdom

was beyond what's normal. His wisdom was beyond

what is regular. And it actually came from God

himself. If you've got your Bibles, you can turn

to 1 Kings 3, verse 4. If not, they're going

1 Kings 3:4

to put it up on the screen. But it says this.

Now, the king went to Gibeon to sacrifice. He

was talking about Solomon. For that was the great

high place. Solomon offered a thousand burnt

offering on that altar. At Gibeon, the Lord appeared

to Solomon in a dream by night, and God said,

ask what shall I give you? How many know that's

a good dream? God appears to you in a dream and

says, ask whatever you want, and I'll give it

to you. How many would like that dream tonight?

I'm the only one? Come on, be honest, all right?

And Solomon said, you have shown great mercy

to your servant David, my father, because he

walked before you in truth and righteousness

and in uprightness of heart with you. You have

continued this great kindness for him and you

have given him a son to sit on his throne as

it is this day. Now, O Lord my God, you have

made your servant king instead of my father David,

but I am a little child. I do not know how to

go out or come in. And your servant is in the

midst of your people whom you have chosen, a

great people, two numbers to be numbered or counted.

Therefore, give to your servant. an understanding

heart. Solomon's asking God to give him an understanding

heart. He's becoming king of all of Israel. To

judge your people that I may discern between

good and evil. For who is able to judge this

great people of yours? The speech pleased the

Lord that Solomon had asked this thing. And God

said to him, because you have asked this thing

and you have not asked for long life for yourself,

you have not asked riches for yourself, you have

not asked the life of your enemies, but you have

asked for yourself. understanding to discern

justice behold I have done according to your

words see I have given you a wise and understanding

heart so that there has not been anyone like

you before you nor shall there be any like you

arise after you and I have also given you what

you have not asked for both riches and honor

so that there shall be not be anyone like you

among the kings all your days So if you walk

in my ways to keep my statutes and my commandments

as your father David walked, then I will lengthen

your days. God promises him exceptional wisdom.

Wisdom that would not be compared. And God holds

true to this promise. Solomon is so wise that

kings and queens from other nations would travel

long distances just to sit in his presence and

listen to what he has to say. Wouldn't that be

amazing, right? Sometimes you can't get people

to come across the street to listen to what you're

going to have to say. He had people travel, wise

people, people of influence would come. He had

wealth beyond measure. Solomon was so wealthy

that he would make probably some of the most,

you know, think of whoever, Bezos or Gates, some

of these people who are so wealthy. Now, he'd

probably make them look like paupers. He was

that wealthy. He was, God blessed him. He didn't

have buckets of money. He had vats of money,

right? He had truckloads of money, but he begins

to give advice on what we should do. Now, how

many know that's a guy to listen to? I did all

that just to say, he's a guy you should probably

listen to. He's a guy you should probably read

about what he has to say when it comes to saving

money and maybe take up a little bit what he's

talking about. So in Ecclesiastes 11 .1, he starts

to give some advice. about financial matters.

He starts to talk about what we should do. And

he says this, cast your bread upon the waters

for you will find it after many days. Give a

serving to seven and also to eight for you do

not know what evil will be on the earth. If the

clouds are full of rain, they empty themselves

upon the earth. And if a tree falls to the south

or to the north in a place where it falls, there

it shall lie. He who observes the wind will not

sow and he who regards the clouds will not reap.

As you do not know what is the way of the wind

or how the bones grow in the womb of her who

is with child. So you do not know the works of

God who makes everything. In the morning sow

your seed and in the evening do not withhold

your hand. For you do not know what will prosper,

either this or that, or whether both alike will

be good. Solomon gives some wisdom and he gives

some guidance on saving and investing. And the

first thing that he says is, cast your bread

upon waters for you will find it after many days.

Do you know what he was saying? Do you know what

the wisdom is that he was talking about here?

He was saying, make long -term investments that

will pay dividends in the future. So when you're

gonna save, when you're gonna put money aside,

he's saying, make long -term investments. You

put it in something that's gonna yield return

later on. right? Do not stick it in your piggy

bank that you can peel off. How many of you got

a piggy bank? You can just peel that bottom off

and shake that thing out and get that money right

back out again. That's not what he's talking

about. He's talking about putting it in the piggy

bank and glue the plug shut. Put it in something

that's going to yield interest. Put it in something

that's going to be long -term. And long -term

is not just put it in the bank. You can get an

interest checking account, put it in there, and

then next month you can draw it right back out.

That's not what he's talking about. He's talking

about something that's going to be years, maybe

even decades down the line. And Solomon's saying,

put it in there. And he reiterates this in verse

3. He says, if the clouds are full of rain, they

empty themselves upon the earth. He's actually

giving investment. advice here. Money advice.

And he's saying it will come to maturity in due

time. Just be patient. If you're going to save,

think long term. If you're going to save, think

long term. And you should save. A cloud when

it rains, right? Water droplets, that's after,

what happens up in a cloud is there's water droplets

and ice crystals that are in that cloud. And

as the water evaporates on the earth and it condensates

up in that cloud, it will stay in that cloud

because of the updraft in the clouds and the

wind, it will stay up there till enough of it

accumulates together and then gravity will take

over and it will fall to the earth. And Solomon's

saying, just put it away. Let it accumulate.

Let it grow. Let it get bigger. Some of you young

couples in here, you need to hear me in this.

Just take a little bit. Set it aside. Just take

a small portion. Because over time, that grows.

And it turns into a much bigger thing. And it

will drop back to you, right? That's his point.

It takes time for water droplets to engage, enlarge,

and for them to fall. It takes time for seeds.

You put a seed in the ground. I mean, you don't

plant a seed in the spring and you just stand

there and just wait, right? 10 minutes later,

whoop, there it goes. All right, you got a pepper

plant. There it is, tomato plant. That doesn't

work that way. It takes time. It takes time.

Come on, this is good advice. I should be charging

you for this, all right? I'll say it again. Winter's

gonna come. It's going to come to you. Others

around you are going to need help. They're going

to need sustenance in the winter. And if you're

saving, if you're putting away, you're going

to get at a time in the future where you're able

to not only sustain yourself, but bless others.

Solomon's second savings advice. You still with

me? Say amen. Amen. All right. Make long -term

investments that will pay dividends. That's the

first one. Spread your money out into several

different types of investments to protect your

assets from calamity that you cannot foresee.

All right? He speaks that in verse 2. He says,

give a servant to seven and also to eight, for

you do not know what evil will be on the earth.

My parents used to use a phrase. They used to

say, don't put all your eggs in one what? Yeah,

right? They'd say, don't put all your eggs in

one basket. Do you know why they say that? Because

you might drop the basket. And if all your eggs

are in there, they're all ruined. Make sure you're

investing in multiple different things. Solomon

says saving in different kinds of things, seven

or eight different things. You might be in stocks.

You might be in real estate. You might be in

bonds. You might be in precious metal. There's

a host of places that you can put investment

and save, right? He's saying save. Make sure

you're investing in seven or eight different

streams. Because you just don't know what's going

to fail. And if you put it all in one, if you

put it all in real estate and the market goes

in the toilet and you got to sell then, you've

lost it all. He says, this is good stuff, by

the way, with savings, right? You know, I know

people who don't trust the banks. They don't

trust financial advisors, Christian financial

advisors. They don't trust anybody. They're kind

of stuff it in the mattress kind of people, right?

They get all the cash and they stuff it in the

mattress and they don't tell anybody. And then

they get some more cash and they stuff it in

the mattress because they don't trust anybody.

And they don't put it in seven or eight. They

just keep sticking it in the mattress. Well,

that's all wonderful while you're laying on the

mattress. But what if the house burns down? All

right. What if you're sticking it in the floorboards,

under the floorboards and you're sticking that.

of cash in there and a mouse finds it and says,

you know what? That looks like some good nesting

material if I ever saw it, right? And chews it

up, makes himself a nice little nest with all

that. You know, the word of God saying just,

you know, when you're saving, look for those

seven or eight strings. Don't put it all in one

basket. You don't know what's going to fail and

what's going to do well. This is wisdom from

Solomon. This is from the word of God. He gives

his serving to seven or eight because you don't

know what evil is going to befall one of them.

You don't know. Spread it out. Last one. Last

one I'm going to give you today. If you wait

for the perfect conditions to save, you'll never

start to save. Now, I like this one, right? He

says, he who observes the wind will not sow,

and he who regards the clouds will not reap.

If you just stand watching for the right time,

the perfect time, if you're a farmer and all

you do is stare at the cloud every day, You get

up and you stare at the cloud and you're like,

there's a cloud. I don't think I can do it today.

It's going to rain. I just got to wait, right?

I don't know. This might not be the day. You

know, this isn't the perfect conditions to do

this. And I'll tell you, with finances and money

and possessions and what God gives us, this falls

true with giving to God, right? This happens

all the time with people that are going to, you

know, we'll talk to them about tithing and giving

God the first and first fruits and giving the

best. I preached on that last two weeks, you

know, and giving God the first fruits. And they're

like, well, when conditions are just right. No,

you plant. You don't worry about what the conditions

look like. You plant, you do that. And it's the

same thing with saving. If you wait till you

got enough extra money to put some money in savings,

you'll. never do it. How many know there's always

something to buy? There's always something to

pay for? Your kid is always going to break something

in the house. It's going to happen. They're going

to do it, right? There's going to be something

that falls apart. Your kid's going to need sporting

equipment of some kind. Whatever it is, there's

always something. And if you wait for the conditions

to be just right, you will stand paralyzed. You

will never give and give God the first and the

best. Right? And you will not save. You will

say, someday I'm going to do it, and someday

I'll have it. Come on, some of the people that

are over 50 years of age, how many know in a

blink of an eye, you're over 50? Amen? Raise

your hand. Come on, testify. Amen. Thank you.

You're in the club with me. All right? It's the

wisdom that Solomon gets if the worship team

would come and make their way up. It's the wisdom.

Prayer team's going to be coming as well. Listen

to what Solomon says in Ecclesiastes 11, five.

Listen to what he says. As you do not know what

is the way of the wind or how the bones grow

in the womb of her who is with child, so you

do not know the works of God who makes everything.

In the morning, sow your seed and in the evening,

do not withhold your hand for you do not know

which will prosper either this or that or whether

both alike will be good. That's what the Word

of God says. What's his advice? Entrust it, right?

You don't know. If we do things according to

the will of God, the Word of God, right? The

Word of God says to do this, and we do it, and

then we ask the Holy Spirit when, where, and

how. That's what we do. We walk in obedience,

and then we ask the Holy Spirit to give us the

when, where, and how, and with who. You don't

know what God's going to do. You don't know how

something's gonna flourish or God's mysteriously

gonna touch, just like you don't know where the

wind comes from and where it goes. God's hand

will be upon it and it will mysteriously do this

amazing thing, this amazing work. It'll grow.

You don't know, just like we don't understand

how a child's bones form. I don't know if you've

ever been in with a woman who's pregnant and

they're doing an ultrasound. It is incredible

to see them. going over and you see this image

come up on the screen and you can see the bones

grow of a child. We don't understand that fully,

but I know God does it. And here's the thing,

if you get God involved in your money and possessions,

you do it his way and not your way, you start

walking in that, you start being obedient in

that, I'm telling you, there's amazing, mysterious,

miraculous things that can happen. I could take

you in this congregation. I could pull people

out right now, hand them the mic, and they would

tell you the stories of what God has done. Incredible

stories. Amazing what God's done. He wants you

to be obedient. He wants you to walk in what

he says so that his hand can be upon it. He's

the one who blesses it. Jesus, when he was on

the hillside and there wasn't enough food to

feed 4 ,000 or 5 ,000, he said, just take what

you got and put it in my hand. And he blessed

it and he broke it. And 4 ,000 and 5 ,000 people

ate till they were full and there was plenty

left over. It's gonna be like the church picnic

today. Come on. It's true. I'm gonna ask you

to stand. So here's what I'm asking you. And

I'm going to challenge your belief this morning.

Because it doesn't really matter what you think

necessarily if you don't believe it. You can

think a lot of things. I think about a lot of

things. And a lot of it's stuff I just don't

necessarily believe. I'm just mulling it over

in my head. What really matters is what you believe.

What really matters is what you have faith in.

Because whatever you believe is what you act

on. You don't believe on what you think. You

believe on what you act or what you, you move

on what you believe, not what you think. Yeah.

I could talk all day about that. People, people

think a lot of things. Amen. They like to get

on the keyboard and talk all about what they

think. That's a far cry from what you believe.

So what do you believe? Do you believe that if

you obey God in what he says with money and finances,

with giving and saving, right? If you believe

what he says and what Solomon speaks and the

wisdom that's in God's word, if you believe that,

do you also believe that if I'm obedient to that,

God's miraculous hand will be upon that and things

will happen that you can never dream of? Amen?

Do you believe that? Because you will only act

in what you believe. You can think this is a

good idea. You can think, well, that was a great

message and you're going to leave today and go

to lunch and come to the picnic and eat food

and you'll forget all about it. As a matter of

fact, I'm pretty happy if anybody remembers my

message by lunchtime. So I consider that a complete

success. What do you believe? What do you believe?

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