Entrusted 1 | Blessed with a Blessing

Thank you for listening to the Kelowna Christian Center podcast.

Our desire is that today's message will be fresh and encouraging to you.

For more information on KCC and how to connect, visit us at KCC.net.

Well, before we uh transition into the message here, would you just take a moment, just stand up and just greet a few people that are around you?

Welcome them to church today.

I see the Samson family is here.

Yeah, I spot them from across the room.

So great to have you with us today.

Well, so with an extra hour of rest, I you can look down the row and uh see who likes their bed, right?

All the the those who like to stay in that extra little bit of time.

It's great to have you here.

Um we sure enjoy that extra season.

They're trying to get rid of it, or that extra hour, they're trying to get rid of it in BC.

And every time it is here, everyone's really happy, but when it comes to fall, everyone's questioning like, should we really have this time change?

Everyone loves the extra hour.

Uh, I'm excited to be at church.

I love to be in a church that's worshiping God and hearing his word.

Uh, I'm glad to see everyone who's here.

Uh, we are in the week one of a part, uh four-part series that we are just starting today called Entrusted.

I'm going to tell you more about this in the next few minutes, but um, what I like to do is throughout the year is uh take a series and take a season, and as part of that series in that season, uh take our eyes off ourselves and take our eyes and put them on the ultimate purpose of others and other individuals and and others in our community because others are important.

A lot of us are part of, like we love to come to church.

We have a lot of series in church over the years, or over the year, that actually says, hey, this is how you can benefit, this is how I can benefit, this is how I can grow.

But what makes a difference is when others are actually influenced and impacted by us.

Jesus could have come, and it wasn't about just Jesus for himself.

He could have come and just spent his time on his own.

But what he did is he gave his life and he lived his life for others.

He loved the whole world.

He gave his life for the whole world, that they might have something, they might be able to share in what he had come to know, this relationship with his father, that they would experience the peace, they would experience the joy, they would experience the love.

And so I like to take this series, and what it's about here is it's about not only us, but it's about how God can use us to impact others.

So if you're new to KCC today, we believe God wants to take all of us on a very personal, real, authentic, like uh spiritual journey.

And we're all on the steps forward, we're all moving forward on the spiritual journey where God is leading us, and and uh we call these the next steps, where we help you take next steps forward.

And uh we believe it starts one with you actually coming to know God in a real way.

How many of you uh grew up in a Christian home?

A lot of people came from Christian homes, but even if you came from a Christian home, you need to have an experience and an encounter with God that is real to you.

Real to you.

You can't carry the faith of a parent or a friend or a grandparent or someone else.

You want to carry the faith of a personal faith, a faith that is real.

So we want people to come to know God.

When you come to know God, you you're awakened to the fact that your sins are forgiven.

How many of you, your sins have been forgiven?

That's right.

You've you're now experiencing what life is like to be forgiven of sins.

But the second step on this journey is really a fact where you actually find freedom because we carry into our world, into our world, all the habits, bad habits, the hangups that we came into our faith with, and we need to work them out.

We need to iron it out.

And so when I made the decision to follow Jesus, my life didn't automatically become perfect.

I have I have areas that are blind spots in my life.

My wife will tell you what they are.

My friends know them, my friends see them, the church sees it.

I there are areas in my life where I need to uh find freedom.

And so we have ways of actually helping you find freedom through our connect groups and through our services and some of the activities that we have and the programs we have around the church here.

But then the third step is once you've settled all your yesterdays, you want to move into your future of your tomorrows.

And tomorrows are important, but they talk a lot, it talks a lot about your purpose.

And we want people to discover their purpose.

The two most important days of your life is the day you were born and the day do you discover why you're born?

I did a career day uh this past week at one of the schools, and and uh we were talking about the career versus our calling.

And I said, Okay, when were you born?

And all these kids raised their hands, yeah.

Do you know why you were born?

Do you know why God has placed you here on this earth?

I said, My role and my job is to help steer you closer to the maker, the one who made you.

Because when you're close to the one who created you and designed you and put you together, you'll actually uncover and have clarity as to why you exist, what your purpose is.

And so, how many of you can actually like clearly define, well, man, this is my this is why I exist, this is my purpose in life.

And it allows you to say a huge yes to the things you need to say yes to, and no to the things you need to say no to.

It starts to steer your life, and when you start living that way, with your life on purpose, you start to learn to actually find out that your life is starting to make a difference, and it makes a difference in the lives of other peer uh other people.

And so this series right here, Entrusted, is really a make a difference series.

It's not about us, but it is about us.

It's about what we can do for others, others are important.

So let me uh share with you from John chapter 15 today.

John 15 · chapter mention

And and John chapter 15 uh just reveals why others are so important.

John 15 · chapter mention

So Jesus said, when you make a difference with your life, God really likes it.

He likes it.

It's important to him.

The Bible says it gives him glory, it's it becomes his glory.

And when you bear fruit, that's what really defines you as a Christian.

As a disciple of Jesus is when you're going through your life and you're actually bearing fruit.

I've been through seasons of my life where I just feel like I'm not accomplishing much at all.

I don't know if any of you can relate to that, but when you're living your life and you're just grinding it out every day, and it feels like, where am I having impact?

But the joy comes when you start bearing fruit and you start making a difference in other people's lives.

It goes on to say, this is where you find joy.

And this is where you actually find complete joy.

We know the Bible says where the enemy comes to rob, kill, steal, and destroy.

He wants to take your purpose, rob your purpose, have you saying yes to the things that you shouldn't be saying yes to?

And he wants you to live your life on purpose.

When you do that, you wake up in the morning and there's a satisfaction, a deep satisfaction in the fact that you're doing what you were created to do.

We find that complete joy.

And that complete joy is really what I think the world is looking for.

People are looking for real joy in vacations and relationships and fat bank accounts.

Like they're looking for joy.

Where will I find joy?

Where will I find this joy?

And today I'm I'm gonna build a case that I want you to grasp so you understand that when you're living to make a difference, God will see that and say, I'm gonna bless that, and I'm gonna entrust you with resource and ability and energy and more, so that now you can be a blessing to others.

You can go on your life making a difference in the lives of others.

So this word blessing, blessing, it just sounds like such an old traditional word, like bless you, brother, bless you, like bless you.

My grandpa used to say, bless you, like bless you, bless you.

He would just say, bless you.

And to me, honestly, it didn't really have a connection.

I really had to look at it and say, when I when I read in the Bible that God has blessed us with a spiritual blessing, what does that mean?

And so the word blessing means this.

I'm gonna give you more, more than you need personally.

So in your life, you're blessed when you've got more time, when you've got an ability and a talent and a capacity that other people don't may not have.

You've got more resources, you've got more networks, you've got more connection, you've got more experience.

That's just a really nice way of saying you're older.

But you've got more experience, you've got more education, you've got more.

That's a blessing that God has given you.

This more.

And so a blessing is really biblical.

That some people may wake up one morning and say, you know, I don't feel blessed.

I don't feel like God has blessed me.

So if, and it's a great way to shirk responsibility.

If you don't believe you have a blessing, then I don't believe I'm responsible.

If God hasn't given me anything, why should I, why should I do anything with nothing?

He hasn't given me any talent or any ability.

But I'm saying to you today, God has blessed you.

God has blessed you.

And so it starts right back at the beginning within Genesis with Abraham.

He says, There's this, the father of our faith who started initiated this journey of our faith.

He had an encounter with God, God said, spoke to him very clearly in chapter 12.

It says, I will make you into a great nation.

God will do this.

He says, and I will bless you.

Not like your boss blessing you, or your friends blessing you, or others blessing you.

God will bless you.

God will bless you, and I will make your name great, and you will become a blessing.

And you will bless, and I will bless those who bless you, and I'll curse those who curse you.

In other words, I'm gonna set up a hedge around you that's gonna be for your benefit.

Now, this is where it comes down, and what does it say?

All peoples of the earth will be blessed through you.

So this blessing, this blessing that I receive, this my cup runneth over, isn't for me.

I'm going to bless you so that you can become a blessing to who?

To all people of the earth.

All peoples of the earth would be blessed through you.

And I'll make you great, I'll give you reputation, I'll surround you, I'll support you, I'll I'll bless those who bless you, curse those who curse you.

I'm gonna be that shield about you so that you don't just eat your blessing, you become entrusted to bless others with this blessing.

All people of the earth.

Now you might say, well, Matt, Brody, that's like a 5,000, 10,000, I'm not sure how the date on it, like your old promise.

Are you going to like actually take that promise for yourself personally today?

It goes all the way back to Genesis.

And the answer is yes.

I'm going to, because look, look at what it says in Galatians chapter 3.

Galatians 3 · chapter mention

It says, through God, through Christ Jesus, God has blessed the Gentiles, us, with the what?

Same blessing he promised to Abraham.

That same promise he promised to Abraham that I'm going to bless you is the same promise I can take and hold on to today.

That same blessing that says, Brody, you're blessed.

So when you walk around and you're saying, Am I blessed?

Am I blessed?

You are blessed.

You are blessed.

It is sometimes it takes us a little while to discover what that blessing is and what it looks like, but it's worth the time to take a moment and actually settle back and say, God, what all have you given me more of?

My cup runneth over like I've got more than I need personally.

And with that more, the question is, what is that more for?

What is it for?

So one of the verses in Timothy, this is a young preacher, Paul was instructing them, and he was he wrote a letter to it to Timothy, a young guy, and he said this.

He said, What I want you to do is I want you to command those who are rich in this present age.

How many of you are like, oh, I'm excluded, right?

I'm not rich.

But command, it's not suggest, it's command those who are rich in this age.

Like there's another age to come.

I realize that.

But today, command that those who are rich not to be arrogant or put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain.

See, not every blessing is financial.

But in our brain and in our mind, we think of like finance as being a blessing.

And it is, but it's it's not the only way that God has blessed us.

But there's a rich blessing.

Don't put your hope in wealth.

Not all money is blessed money, which is so uncertain.

Put your hope in God, who richly provides us.

Now, here's that word rich.

He God is a rich God, and He's made you rich.

Say, I am rich.

I am like you got to be comfortable saying, I am rich.

And not it, not it being weird.

He is richly provided for us.

With everything what?

For our enjoyment.

There are things that God has given you more for that are good for your own enjoyment.

He's given you time to enjoy, He's given you friends to enjoy, He's given you people to enjoy, He's given you food to enjoy, He's given you clothes to enjoy, He's given you a vehicle to enjoy, He's given you all these things to enjoy, a house to enjoy.

There's a lot that can be used for your enjoyment, but there is more.

And it says, use it, but not all of it.

Look at what God has given us so that we can be a blessing for others.

Command the people in the church.

It was like, command them.

You've got to be realizing that this isn't all that they're all that you have isn't all for you.

Live your life to be a blessing to others, and when you realize that, and when you do that, you'll find complete joy.

You'll find this joy that satisfies you.

So you w the these things that are are really important.

Now, some of you may think, well, money, like this money business and church, it's it's it's money is an issue in the world.

It's not just it's not in the church, it's out of the church, it's in your workplace, it's with your friendships, it's within your neighbors, it's it you see it on like it's the status that you see online on social sites.

It's money is is everywhere.

Money isn't an evil thing, it's it's it's not a good thing, a bad thing.

It's it's just it's just there.

It's what we use as a commodity to exchange goods, services.

Money is just there, but it's our attachment to money that becomes either good or evil.

And your attachment to it can be like, I'm gonna use it all for me.

Instead of saying, God, what am I gonna use?

Like, what have you called me to use this for?

What is my purpose?

If your purpose is to do something that requires that resource, then maybe you should be using that resource that God has given you more for to make a difference.

That money issue.

Um, for those of you who are interested in this, Andy Stanley wrote a book uh a number of years ago because he was he was addressing the issue of money with um people, and he realized that people who didn't know they didn't have a good relationship with money, and the people who had money didn't know how to be good rich people because they realized that the more in America, the more people made, the less they would give.

And it was it it became less percentage-based based on when they had less.

And so he looked at it, and so they they addressed this one Gallup poll, and this one Gallup poll they uh they talked to a number of people in their polling group, and they said, How much money would it take to be rich?

And people were like, 150,000, 150,000.

But when you talk to people who had 150,000 a year, they said, No, no, no, no, no, we're not rich.

So they said, okay.

So they talked to people who make between$35,000 and$45,000, and they said, How much money would it take for you to be considered rich?

And they said,$75,000 a year.

It's like, okay, well, so there's a difference.

Then they found the people who subscribe to Money Magazine, and like there's an actual magazine about money.

You have to have some to get the magazine, I think, like to use it, but there's money magazine, and they said, um, they asked the people there, how much liquid money, like available, get your hands on now money, would you need to have to be considered rich?

And they said, five million.

But when you talk to them and you ask them if they were rich, they would say, No, they're not rich.

So the point is, like, everyone knows someone who's rich, but nobody's rich.

Like, and that's the idea.

And if I was to call out today in the in the audience, I said, How many of you here are rich?

Very few people would put up their hands and say, I'm rich.

But if I would say, how many of you are blessed?

Y'all would raise your hand.

Oh, I'm blessed, I'm blessed, thank you, Lord, for blessing me.

But you wouldn't call yourself rich.

The fact is, if you're making 40,000 a year in a combined household income, you're in the top 1% of the world.

Yeah, you are rich.

It may not seem like that right now, but you are rich.

And you, you know, we have rich problems, like rich people problems.

Like the internet on my on my device is slow while I'm on my Playing in the sky.

Or some of you have a house for your clothes, you know, a room in that your house where your clothes live.

It's like a whole room.

It's like, and some people have actually walked to that room and go, I have what?

Nothing to wear.

We see, we see the rich problems all around us.

And this isn't to put guilt on you, there's like or or pressure you in any way.

It's just to make you aware of the fact that you're actually rich.

You are rich.

You're wealthy.

And I get challenged with that because I'm thinking, Lord, what do you want me to do with my life?

What do you want me to do with the resources that you've given me?

And how do you make how am I to become a better steward?

And it makes all the difference.

So how do I become a better steward?

God doesn't want us feeling guilty about the things He's given us.

He just wants us to be responsible and feel entrusted that we're entrusted with the things He's given us.

So what is your more for?

What is it that you're you're you've got more right now, but now what is that for?

And uh if you've got more right now with your marriage, then use your marriage to share with other people how they can have a healthy marriage.

If you have more in terms of your your favor, then open up doors for other people who are looking for favor.

If you've got more in terms of your capacity to lead, then use your more to actually lead.

Like look for different ways to actually use your more.

When you've been given a lot, uh like I look at KCC, and KCC has been over the years, 37, 38 years, has been, has, has got a lot.

And thankfully, for like good leadership in the church and your giving, we've been able to pay the building off here and our land off, and we're mortgage-free on this building and the land, and we've got a development out front, and that and when we stop and we don't go, oh yeah, good for us, puff our chest out.

We actually stop and go, okay, God, you've given us more.

Now what do you need us to do?

Like God isn't done with us.

In fact, God has more for us to do, more people for us to take care of, more people for us to reach.

And so we don't stop, but we look at our blessing and we say, Thank you, Lord, for blessing us.

So now we can become a blessing for others.

And it starts simple with our words, our touch, our connection, our resource, our giving, our generosity to each other, that our our care, our hugs, our our prayers.

We're giving of ourselves because God, you've given us much.

You've richly, richly blessed us.

Amen.

Amen.

Would you bow your heads with me for a moment?

Father, I thank you today that you love us.

I thank you, Lord, today that you care for us and that you've richly blessed us, and Lord, you've provided for us in every way.

We thank you, Lord, that you've made us to be rich and you've caused us to, you've you've called us to make a difference in this world.

And so, Father, we ask that as we keep our eyes on you, Lord, would would you direct us to places where we can be a blessing, where we can make a difference, where we can touch the lives of others, where we can shift an organization and make a difference in even nations around the world.

You said to Abraham that nations would be blessed from him.

And so, Father, today we just want to make a difference in nations.

We want to make a difference in systems of education and health care.

We want to make a difference, Father, in agriculture and in the environment.

We want to make a difference in the entertainment industry and in politics.

We want to make a difference.

So, Lord, we thank you for every gift and treasure in this place.

Everyone who's got a unique and diverse call here, and ask, Lord, that you'd call us out and call us up and use, Lord, those gifts that you've so generously placed in us so we can be a blessing to others.

In Jesus' name.

Amen.

Amen.

God bless you.

Thank you for listening.

For more information on KCC and how to connect, visit us at KCC.net.