Perspective, Posture, Action | John Challinor

You may have a seat. As you do so, good morning.

Officially now. Hope that you're well. Hope that

you weathered the rain better than Pastor Todd

did. I met him this morning and all he was like,

I just need to see the sun. I'm like, bro, it's

been a week. I think you'd be fine. Welcome to

those of you in Paulding today. We're excited

for what God is doing there. Love to hear from

Mike and Sue, who were just the best hosts ever.

Just what you guys are doing and how life is

changing. Also, Baghdad, we're so excited. Randy

and your crew and just how you keep showing up

and keep seeing people and what God's doing.

We're just grateful for all you're doing and

how we get to walk alongside each other. So welcome

this morning. Okay, I need you to do something

for me, okay? This is an invitation, but the

invitation is much bigger than just like something

in here. The ripple effects of this matter. And

so what I would say is this, that yes, there

is a camera in the lobby. Yes, there is a light

in the lobby. Yes, there is a microphone in the

lobby. What we need is for you to use your voice.

We would like to, this Christmas season, get

the good news of Jesus to as many people in our

church family, in our community, and who knows

where God uses it and what he does with it. And

so what we would love to happen is for you to

be willing to go stand in front of a microphone,

which I know is scary. I might do it a few times

in my life, right? Really, nothing. Okay, that's

how it's going to be. All right, game on. but

stand in front of a microphone and here's what

we need. We just need you to give good news.

I know Jesus is good news because I ate three

meals yesterday, right? Like it doesn't have

to be overly complicated. We're not asking you

to preach. You don't need to give the gospel,

right? You just show up and go, I know Jesus

is good news because he healed my mama. I know

Jesus is good news because when I thought my

marriage was going to fall apart, he held it

together. That simple. It doesn't have to be

overly complicated. You don't have to get into

all the details of what was wrong with your marriage.

You just need to show up and go, I know Jesus

is good news, and here's why. Why? Because the

world is starving for good news. And so we're

just going to provide it. But it requires that

you go to a mic and go, hey, I got something

to say. I know Jesus is good news because. And

then we'll see what God does and where that goes

and how he uses it and what that looks like.

But we're going to use that as we lead into the

Christmas season together. Second thing I want

to let you know about that's exciting, that's

an invitation. You might remember in March, we

were talking about our youth spaces were kind

of crowded and needed some help. They needed

some infrastructure put in so that the ministries,

the students that are meeting in there, it could

be done better and essentially reach more, that

whole thing. And so along with that, we asked,

hey, would you be willing to help fund it? To

which over 200 ,000 was raised, which is amazing,

right? Well, what I'm excited to tell you is

not next weekend. The first weekend in December

is open house because the build -out should be

done. What that means is if you're on this location,

you can go to H2, the building straight across

from here, and you can see on that weekend, see

what ended up being put in place and what the

build -out looks like and what the students there

will get to experience. You can also on that

weekend go to Park Collective and go into the

Commons and kind of open house that space as

well and see what was done with what God provided.

And so just a way for you to be connected so

that it be excited for what God's going to do

in the lives of students in those spaces. OK,

you ready? I need you to reach down to the right

and grab the seatbelt that's next to you and

buckle up. It's amazing how many of you just

did that. OK. That's another sermon for another

day. All right, here's the thing. We got 30 minutes.

We got to go, okay? We got to roll. So we've

been in this conversation about the generous

life. If you remember, we talked about birds

last week. Anybody remember birds? Anybody remember

how God feeds the birds? I got bored in between

services last week, so I was like, how many birds

are there on the planet? And God goes, or not

God goes, Chad G. Oh, you can't make that up.

That's great. Oh, so good. Chat GPT told me.

Just need to clarify that. Between 50, 50 billion

and 430 billion birds, kind of a wide range,

exist on the planet. So maybe in our language,

we'll just go, that's a few. Okay. And God fed

them all this week. I just want you to know,

I have a picture because we talked about it last

week. This was Monday morning at my house. And

my wife sending me a Snapchat saying, yep, you

fed the crow this morning. What I want you to

know is how much trash is left in the trash can.

Why? Because when God provides, he's abundant.

He's not lacking in resource. And so God used

us to feed the crow last Monday morning. And

I just thought it was kind of funny. Like, yep,

you can't make it up. But it captures this idea

of the generous life. The generous life is the

life that God intended for you in Jesus. A life

that is bigger than you, that is given away,

that is lived on mission, on his kingdom mission.

And what happens is the ripples of that go out

that are much larger than your life. You can

live that way. You were intended for that. And

so we started talking week one. Okay, if that's

the case, then what are the principles that we

see that build a generous life? The first one

being that you have to trust God. The first thing

we looked at is your trust has to be in him.

Remember the sending out of the 72, God sends

them out. He doesn't give them anything. He's

like, just trust me. And so they go out and they

trust him. Then the next week we talked about

this idea of greed, right? That you can amass

all these possessions. And what Jesus says is

you can do that with this one life. You can live

your life amassing whatever form of greed suits

you. But don't expect to find life inside of

it because life can't be found there. Then last

week we talked about, okay, if I'm trusting God

and I'm not looking for life inside of greed,

then Jesus gets into this like, okay, so don't

worry then. And a sign that I'm not maybe amassing

greed, but I'm holding on to things is that if

I have anxiety and worry about the simple things

of life, which is where the birds came in last

week. Well, this week I would say to kind of

put a bow on this collection, so to speak, to

kind of take Jesus's thoughts and hopefully...

Put them all together to go, this is the full

perspective. Why? Because when your perspective

changes, when your perspective changes, your

posture changes. When your posture changes, your

actions change. Your perspective leads to your

actions. When I was 24, my wife was pregnant

with our first child, and I was that guy. I wanted

a boy. I told everybody I knew, what do you think

you're having? We're having a boy. Why do you

want a boy? I want to teach him how to play soccer.

The whole male gene dad thing. And then I went

to a marriage conference, and I sat in this one

session, and there was a guy on stage, and he

was just talking to the guys in the room, and

he was talking about the relationship he had

with his daughter. And it was one of the most

beautiful things I'd heard. It sounded amazing.

So much so that my perspective totally shifted.

I left that session, went to lunch with my wife

and our friends, and we're sitting at lunch and

I go, I want a girl. To which God was like, okay,

slugger, I'll change the sex for you. Hang on,

right? But all of a sudden there was this transformation

because my posture, because my perspective had

changed. My posture changed, which led to a change

of action. My action was different. I genuinely

wanted a daughter. And God goes, well, here you

go. Here's four, right? Can I give you a pro

tip from a girl dad? When you see a girl dad

out with his girls, please don't look at them

and go, you're going to keep trying for that

boy? It diminishes what God has given. Please

don't do that. If you get punched in the mouth

by that dad, you deserved it. Okay? Just going

to put that out there. So, moving on. Your perspective

directly impacts your action. And we were chatting

about this in our teaching prep this week. And

in Psalm 94, Pastor Ben was like, you know, the

Psalms always change my perspective. They always

shift my perspective. And he read this, and it's

in verse 9. It says, Does he who fashioned the

ear not hear? Does he who formed the eye not

see? Does he who disciplines the nations not

punish? Does he who teaches mankind lack knowledge?

The Lord knows all human plans. He knows that

they are futile. All right, anybody in the room

just go, okay, I got a little more perspective

on who God is. He hears, he sees, he's the only

one that can bring judgment. In fact, I read

this and my perspective was such that I was like,

why do we spend so much time in planning meetings?

Right, like if it's all futile, like let's just,

why are we doing it? And it's interesting, isn't

it? If we put it in a different context, if I'm

gonna build a house and you have the blueprints.

how weird is it of me to not come to you and

go, hey, can I get the blueprints? I'm gonna

build the house. And yet with God, that's something

we do until our perspective changes and goes,

hey, God, you got the plan, I don't. I think

what Jesus was doing in Luke chapter 12 is he's

Luke 12 · chapter mention

unrolling this plan for the generous life. He's

shifting perspective. He's getting you to get

your trust off of yourself and get it onto him.

He's getting you to not live with worry and anxiety.

And in verse 27, I don't know if you, which service

you were in, and two of those, I read this passage

last week. If you're like, he's reading the same

passage again, there's a purpose, just hang with

us. Verse 27, consider how the wildflowers grow.

They do not labor or spin, yet I tell you, not

even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed

like one of these. Consider what? Wildflowers.

Oh, that's a little weird. We're talking about

birds and now we're talking about wildflowers.

What is Jesus getting at with the wildflowers?

Because the hills were covered in them and they

were so beautifully adorned. All colors were

there and they were vibrant. And so much so that

he goes, hey, you know the richest king in your

history? Who was all about the splendor of being

a king and how he dressed and what he, yeah,

he wasn't even dressed as good as these wildflowers

are. Because God has poured out his extravagant

beauty onto them. Why? I need to think about

a wildflower for a second. A wildflower is fragile.

Like it's easily broken. It's not an oak tree,

right? It's just this spindly little flower.

It's fragile in nature. It says here, as he continues,

he says, if that's how God clothes the grass

of the field, which is here today and tomorrow

is thrown into the fire, how much more will he

clothe you of little faith? So he goes, yeah,

they're fragile, but they're also extremely temporary.

So what you have in the picture of the wildflowers

is you have it's fragile, easily broken, and

it is temporary, it is limited. I think it's

fascinating that when you look at what God is

doing, that he takes all of this creativity,

this extravagant beauty, this blessing, if you

like, and he pours it out onto these flowers

that are both fragile and temporary. They're

easily broken and they're limited. And then it

hit me. We are fragile and temporary. We're fragile

and temporary. Oh, you don't believe me about

the fragile part? Monday, I get home and I'm

like, babe, something's up with my eye. Like,

I don't know what's going on. And literally two

hours later, I'm on the couch and can't move,

right? Like, I have this migraine now behind

my eye and I'm like in miserable pain. Just laying

there. Football was on. Couldn't even watch football.

I had to listen to it. You know, that whole thing.

We're pretty fragile. My eye, and I'm out for

the count. Like, I'm down. Like, babe, I can't

do nothing. Some of you, you got this thing called

hanger. All right, you get hungry, and you turn,

nobody, right? You bunch of liars. Lunch is an

hour late and you're like, oh my gosh. And you

start eating the people you love around you,

right? We're so fragile. How do you think about

it? Some of you will go to lunch today and the

wait staff will take a little while and you'll

start mistreating them because you're hungry.

That's how fragile we are. I mean, think about

it. You have one conversation with your wife

in the morning or somebody you care about or

your kids or whatever, right? And all of a sudden,

the whole day is ruined because of that one conversation.

We're just fragile. We're easily broken. And

that's not even the big stuff of life. We're

just fragile. You know what else? You're limited.

You have a shelf life. There is a use -by date

on you. Some of you got a best use -by date.

You know that one? This is really going out to

the interwebs, huh? That's great. I mean, think

about it for a second. Everything around us gears

us to think we are anything but fragile, and

we are definitely not temporary. Everything around

us gears to think the opposite and we need a

perspective change so that we can grasp what

is actually happening with us within the kingdom

of God and grasp how important this fragile and

this temporary life really is. He says in verse

30, for the pagan world runs after all such things.

The pagan world, right? So just slowing down

for a second, you realize there is a world system

that we live inside of and the world system is

geared and put into motion and organized by the

enemy of God, right? Like this is not some conspiracy

theory. This is true, factual, firm scripture

that the enemy has this world and its systems

in place. And what is those systems geared towards?

That you would forget who you really are every

single day. How do I know that? You have this

thing called a phone, right? And we often get

on social media, right? We're often like, oh,

social media. It's just a distraction. Distract

you from what? To be unsettled, to think everything

in your life, you need this, you need that, you

need to chase that, right? You realize that social

media is just getting, essentially they're paying

for your attention. I don't need social media

to distract me. I got a phone in my pocket. And

I got the ESPN app. That's all I need. And I'm

distracted. Some of you, it's news. You got news

updates. And that's just like one itty bitty

thing that is used to distract us, right? But

don't miss it. It's part of a system that goes,

hey, if I can get you to get your eyes off of

God, if I can get you to forget who you are,

if I can get you to center in somewhere else,

then you're going to miss what this fragile and

temporary life is all about. He goes, the world

outside, right? Remember, the context of this

is he's talking to his disciples. He's talking

to those that have said yes to Jesus. He's talking

to those that are followers, would consider themselves

followers of Jesus. And he goes, hey, everybody

outside of the followers of Jesus, they're chasing

after these things that are temporary and fragile.

I feel like I was just going through the walkthrough

last night and I was like, man, scripture needs

a bouncing ball sometimes so that we get the,

right? Like he says, the pagan world runs after

all such things and your father knows that you

need them. I just think it's like this. I don't

think it's like, and your father knows that you

need them. I think it's like, and your father

knows you need them. I think it's like just this

like simple, like really solid, happy news. Hey,

you don't got to go chase all the temporary and

fragile stuff. Why? Because your father knows

that you need them. Oh yeah, it's just like he's

got it. Verse 31, but seek, but seek, but seek

his kingdom. Now what's interesting is in verse

29, he says, and do not set your heart on what

you will eat or drink or do not worry about it.

Okay, so two verses earlier, he goes, do not

set your heart. Now, he gets to this one, and

he goes, seek, seek. Now, do not set your heart

is the same word as the seek later. So you could

say, do not seek, do not seek. What you will

eat or drink. Okay, so eat and drink is very

temporary, right? Like very basic needs. Don't

even seek those because your father knows you

need them. And then he goes, but what you should

do is seek his kingdom. Okay. What is his kingdom?

Because I'm told don't seek this fragile, temporary.

life, right? That if I'm going to live a generous

life, bigger than myself, how do I do that, God?

Well, Jesus is saying, well, you take your desire,

to seek is to take my desire, to take my pursuit,

what I'm pursuing in life, to take that, and

there's a word here that's worth underlining,

circling, right? But seek, verse 31, but seek

his, his, his, his. his, his kingdom. Okay, God,

in a conversation about temporary and fragile,

you now tell us to seek your kingdom. What's

the difference in the kingdom? Well, you remember

we were singing that song earlier. We came out

and talked about it. Remember the God who is

infinite, right? Like he, he what? He was and

is and is to come. He's infinite. So what is

his kingdom? Well, you go back through scripture

and you find that with David, he's setting up

a throne that what? Will never be dethroned because

Jesus is on the throne for all of eternity. What

you get in this moment where he says, but seek,

put your desire, your pursuit in his kingdom,

you get a kingdom that is anything but fragile

and anything but temporary. Right? It's eternal.

So what are we to seek? We're to seek what is

eternal and not what is fragile and temporary.

We're to seek what will not wear out, what will

not die, what will not fade, because there is

a God who cannot fade. There's a God that cannot

be defeated. You realize the king in heaven over

the kingdom, he never gets dethroned for all

of eternity. That's the security that you're

banking into. So then, So then he ends that with

seek his kingdom and these things will be given

to you as well. So those things of the temporary

and fragile, guess what? When I seek his kingdom,

the temporary and fragile, I mean, it's kind

of like the bouncing ball again, right? Like

these things will be given to you as well. Verse

32, do not be afraid. Do not be afraid. What's

gonna stop you from living for the kingdom of

God? Fear, every time. Why do you think the device

in your pocket is geared towards raising fear

inside of you? Right? Because that will stop

you living the generous life because you will

hunker down. He says, don't be afraid. And I

love it. It's little, little flock. Little flock.

Okay, two things are happening here. He's re

-emphasizing, these are my kids. This is my people.

These are my followers. These are my disciples.

That's who he's talking to. He goes, don't be

afraid. We started out, remember, we started

in chapter 10. And when he sent out the 72, he

sent them out like lambs among wolves. Remember

that? Sent them out specifically like poodles

to bobcats. Do not be afraid, little flock. What

is a little flock? A little flock is fragile

and temporary. Don't be afraid. For your father

has been pleased to give you the kingdom. Your

father has been pleased to give you the kingdom.

Wait. God sized the kingdom. You mean that kingdom

that's never going to fail? That kingdom doesn't

run out? That kingdom that has a king and has

a specific way of life? That kingdom that is

generous in nature because the king is generous?

That kingdom that will go on for all of eternity?

That kingdom where I get to be around the king

and be in the presence of the king and never

separate it again? That kingdom? Yes. And guess

what? He has given it to you. There's nothing

left to gain. The kingdom has been given. You

are already given everything, which is why in

Ephesians it talks about, right, that you've

been blessed with every spiritual blessing. So

you're like, John, hang on a second though, right,

because I'm still temporary. The kingdom is already

here, but not yet. So right here and now, right,

eternity is real. I'm living for eternity. However,

I will have to face physical death, right? It's

this already and not yet. He goes, the kingdom

is yours. Why is he telling them this? Because

the next thing he's going to tell them is sell

your possessions and give to the poor. You know

what's interesting? He's just laid out. Life

is fragile and temporary. But God's going to

give you everything you need. Right? And he's

like, even the kingdom. The kingdom has been

given to you. You have everything you could ever

want. You've been given everything by God. It

is all yours already. So what can I do here?

I can open my hands. I can sell my possessions.

I'm not attached to them. They don't matter to

me. What matters to me is this kingdom. What

matters to me is that I'm viewing this from an

eternal perspective. So what happens is when

he says sell your possessions and give to the

poor, what he's saying is because all of this

is secure, right? All of this is eternally secure.

You can in turn now open your hands and give

it away. You can live the generous life. Sell

your possessions. It's a command, by the way.

Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Second

command is this. Provide purses for yourselves.

that will not wear out. Provide purses for yourself.

Okay, let's be clear with a command, right? A

command is something you are told to what? To

do. And sometimes I think we read this and we

read it like in our own version and tone. We

read it like Jesus come along going, hey church.

Hey, you know those ones that are following me

because I died on that cross and you like said

yes and you haven't been doing anything with

it? Well, it'd be really nice if you guys would

like provide purses for yourself. That's not

the tone. The tone is because all of that is

true. Because your future is secure. Guess what?

You can now live in such a way in this fragile

and temporary life that I provide purses for

myself in the kingdom of God. What does that

mean? The idea is that I can invest, I can put

into. What is the second word there? It's purses.

That word purses is kind of like a bag. Culturally,

you grab the bag. This is you creating the bag

that you're going to grab in eternity. So the

idea is that what Jesus is getting at is that

when you live this fragile and temporary life

and you invest it into eternal things, you are

putting away into a bag in eternity that he says

can never fail, where no thief comes near and

no moth destroys. He goes, you're banking in

a place that it can never be touched. No one

can ever take it. It's not possible. Okay, so

what does that look like? Because sometimes I

think we confuse how easy this really is. Park

Collective last week, PV Youth, had a Friendsgiving.

And part of Friendsgiving was, hey, would you

be willing to make a meal? So guess what? Some

people made a lasagna. I don't know if they actually

had lasagna. That's just what comes to mind,

right? They showed up with their lasagna. All

they were doing was what? Making a lasagna. But

guess what? According to Jesus, you showed up

as part of the generous life and you gave your

lasagna. You took your effort, your time. Hopefully

you had skill and the lasagna was good, right?

Like you took your effort, your time. You created

this lasagna. And guess what? People were fed.

And Jesus goes, you banked in eternity. Because

you took this temporary and fragile and you gave

it away on behalf of someone else. It's that

easy. It's like you walking out, because all

of you will walk out to where the light is out

there and stand in front of a microphone and

give good news. You're like, I'm just telling

my story. I'm just telling what God has done.

You don't know how God is going to use that,

but your obedience to stand and go, this is my

story and I'm sharing it. I'm giving it. however

it wants to be used in the kingdom. Guess what?

You are banking in your eternal purse forever.

You chose to not invest it here. Right? I think

this is specifically talking to of your finances.

Right? How do I know that? The very next line.

For where your treasure is, there your heart

will be also. Where your treasure is. I got an

email this week. I had a quote from Billy Graham.

Billy Graham's one of the heroes of the faith.

You can read about him later. Billy Graham said

this, give me five minutes with your checkbook.

Give me five minutes with your debit card, with

your printout statement. Give me five minutes

with your checkbook and I'll tell you where your

heart is. I'll tell you what you care about.

I'll tell you what you're building in. I'll tell

you where you're storing in, whether you're storing

in the fragile and temporary or you're storing

in the eternal. It's interesting. We do a moment

of generosity in here every week. And you realize

that moment of generosity is just an opportunity

for you to go, God, I want to live what Jesus

called me to live. He gave me two commands, sell

my possessions, give to the poor. He told me

to provide purses, to build into eternity. One

of the ways you build into eternity is in this

room, in this room, through screens and online,

you can go, I'm going to take what God has put

in my hand and I'm gonna use it for the kingdom.

Right? And so one of the ways it's really simple

to do that is you go, God, I'm going to take

what you have put in my hand. You have put my

paycheck in my hand. You have put however that

money ends up in my hand. God, I'm going to be

faithful to what? Use it for the kingdom of God,

to steward it towards the kingdom of God. One

of the ways we do that is as a church. We compile

all of our building purses. Why? So that we can

make a mark for the kingdom of God where? In

our community and in the people around us that

we love. But it requires that you wrestle with,

do I do this or don't I? Do I invest in the fragile

and temporary? Or do I invest into eternity?

What is the posture? Be dressed and ready for

service. And keep your lamps burning. like servants

waiting for their master to return from a wedding

banquet so that when he comes and knocks, they

can immediately open the door for him. What that

tells me is your posture as you get a perspective

that we are living for eternity, not the temporary

and the fragile. That I'm not trying to build

it here because whatever you have here disappears.

I love that in teaching prep this week, Pastor

Todd goes, hey, I was in Israel and you know

what? Where these words were spoken, where the

words of Jesus, they're just ruins now. The buildings

don't even exist. How amazing, right? What a

picture. That if we're banking on the things

here, they're just fragile and temporary. And

so what's our posture? That it says immediately.

Why? Because what's going to happen? Either you're

going to go meet Jesus or Jesus is coming to

meet you. That's the future. You want to know

what your future is? Either you, Lord willing,

this doesn't happen to you, but you don't know

if you're going to make it home today. You don't

know if you get in an accident on the way home

or someone you love. We have no idea. That's

why the immediate matters. That's why we live

expectant. That's why we live ready. We're servants

of the master. So we live in a posture that's

ready. Why? Why? Because we don't know if this

is all we got in this fragile and this temporary.

But I tell you what, I wanna be building for

eternity, not here. Because here's fragile and

temporary. His kingdom's not. And it says we're

to be ready. Why? So we can immediately open

the door. Verse 37, it will be good. It will

be good. Listen to this. It will be good for

those servants whose master finds them watching

when he comes. Truly, I tell you, he will dress

himself. So the master dresses himself to serve.

We'll have them recline at the table and we'll

come and wait on them. I mean, if you didn't

have enough motivation, here's a little more.

You ready? That when Jesus returns, it says that

he, he is gonna throw one outrageous barbecue.

And you're invited to sit at the table with him.

You're invited to be a friend, a family at the

banquet. And get this, he is going. To serve.

Oh, man. How can I hold on to this life like

this is all there is? How can I care more about

my streaming services than my neighbor? How can

I miss that today, today, You have the chance

to make an investment into a bank that will never,

never go bankrupt. That you can invest today.

How? You get one generous life. That when Jesus

saved you, you now have the ability to live the

life you were created for in Jesus. Where you

go, I'm giving it away for the kingdom. How will

you use your generous life? Because only you

can decide. God, we come before you this morning

and we're just grateful. We're so thankful that

we have a God who is faithful for so long. We're

so thankful for the breath in our lungs today.

We're thankful that God. Not only do we have

the ability to breathe and have life, but we

have the ability to give back to you. That we

can build into eternity. We can build into your

kingdom. God, would you help us gain perspective

even as we sing about how great you are? Would

you help us gain perspective? That the very breath

in our lungs is on loan from you. Would you help

us gain perspective that this generous life is

to be given away? And so God, as we respond in

song, would you let us gain perspective from

you in worship that carries us through our week,

that carries us to our neighbor, that carries

us to serving those around us, that carries us

to give this life away. And so we thank you.

We are grateful, and everybody said, amen.