Financial Peace | Ps. Keith Pittman

Welcome to the Celebration Church Orlando podcast.

Thank you so much for listening today.

We hope it encourages you and inspires you.

Here's today's message.

All right, all right, all right, all right.

How's everybody doing?

Everybody doing okay?

Come on, I'm not gonna say nine o'clock was better, but nine o'clock was better.

Everybody doing okay?

There we go.

There we go.

There we go.

We're so, so um glad that you are here with us uh today.

Um today's a little bit different than um than our our traditional Sundays, if we want to call it that, because today we're gonna have something that we didn't really advertise it, but it's still something that we're gonna do, and it's called family talk.

Um, and so at the end of today's uh message, we're gonna have take about a good three to five minutes um at the end of the message just to unpack some things that are coming up for us as a church.

If you've been a part of our church family, you'll know that family talk is typically a space that's separate from the typical Sunday service expression where we can just unpack information.

So ordinarily over the past, we've talked a little bit about money and just where we are financially.

We truly believe in transparency.

Um, but today we're gonna be talking just about our schedule around the Easter season.

I realize that when you come to church that that this is a part of your life and you have so many other things going on.

So when you hear all the information, it can be a little overwhelming as to what you want to get involved in, what's your next step.

But we want to take a couple of moments at the end of today's uh service just to walk you through practically the things that are coming up for us as a church.

Hopefully, so you can orient your schedule and participate, because we truly believe um that these things will truly bring transformation if you do engage them.

Can we get a good amen on that?

Okay.

Um if you have your Bibles, I want to invite you to join me in the Gospel of Mark, chapter number 10.

The Gospel of Mark uh chapter number 10.

As you're as you're turning there, I'll I'll give you some some brief context um as to kind of what led us up to this moment um in the narrative of Christ.

Jesus up to this point has been um fully in ministry.

He's been teaching on a series of topics and going all the way back to chapter 9, Jesus hits on things ranging from divorce to what does it look like to be a kingdom citizen?

Like he's hitting on these weighty topics and it's challenging some people, it's inspiring some people.

But then he makes this statement that I think is so powerful because it's hard to wrap your mind around all of it.

All of it seems very weighty and arduous, but he says this.

He says, Whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.

He's saying to them, like, man, don't allow your uh a thought, your adult mind to get in the way of all this stuff.

Just slow down, look at it like a child, approach it with wonder, approach it with exploration, and you're gonna enter in and you're gonna experience a great deal of peace, keeping that childlike wonder.

Continuing from there, he then makes this powerful statement starting here at verse number 17.

As he, which is Jesus, was setting out on a journey, a man ran up, knelt down before him, and asked him, Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?

Why do you call me good?

Jesus asked him.

No one is good except for God alone.

You know the commandments do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not bear false witness, do not defraud, honor your father and your mother.

He said, Oh, Jesus, like, teacher, I I've kept all of these things from my youth.

I'm good.

So I'll guess I'll see you on the other side.

This is my translation of the Bible.

Yours may not say that, but it's it might be in the notes.

Um I'll see you on the other side.

But then Jesus, verse 21, it says, looking at him, Jesus loved him.

Jesus loved him, and he said to him, I hear you, but you're lacking one thing.

Here's what you need to do go and sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have a treasure in heaven, and then come and follow me.

But he was dismayed by this demand, and he went away grieving because he had many possessions.

That this man was so heartbroken that he was like, Jesus, I'd much rather you just told me the hoops I gotta jump through.

You're asking me to live a life of total surrender, and he walked away heartbroken.

Today I think that this narrative of the rich young ruler, as he's often referred to in the synoptic gospels, um, it gives us insight into what are the barriers that are keeping us from following God wholeheartedly.

If you're taking notes, and and of course I hope that you are, I want you to write down this message title that I think will encapsulate where we're going with today's sermon.

Financial Peace.

Financial Peace.

Let's pray and let's get into it.

Lord, we thank you so much for your word.

We thank you for your presence, and we thank you for the opportunity that you give us to gather um in your name, to experience your presence and to hear what it is that you want to speak to us.

Lord, I I ask that I decrease, God.

It's not about my ideas, my thoughts, or my opinions.

I ask that that I decrease so that you can increase in me.

Holy Spirit, you're welcome.

This atmosphere has been set, and God, we ask for it to hover and for you to begin to bring light to areas of darkness and to challenge us, to inspire us and to encourage us.

So Lord, I ask that you give us open eyes that we can see you, open ears that we can hear you, and open hearts to receive everything that you have for us.

In Jesus' name that we pray, amen, amen, and amen.

When I say the word peace, for the most part, there's something that comes to mind for us.

We we either have a vocabulary word that that helps us to kind of get a glimpse of what peace is.

Some of us may think of a vacation destination of peace, but but when we think about peace, there's typically something that comes to mind for every single one of us.

And while that thing seems so accessible in our brains, it can sometimes be so elusive in the practicality of our lives.

I I found specifically with being a man who's been with my wife now for almost 30 years that God has an very interesting sense of humor.

And the way that God operates is the things that may bring me peace may disrupt hers.

And the things that disrupt her peace or gives her peace may disrupt mine.

And it's interesting how you find yourself connected to people that may have finding peace in completely different ways.

Let me show you how this practically works out in the Pittman household and in our context.

Uh, Megan and I are wired vastly different if you if you haven't already listened to any of my sermons.

Um, but but let me give you a quick example, a real life example of something that may happen in the Pittman household.

Let's just say hypothetically, I'm I'm not gonna I'm not gonna say that this is actually something that has happened, but if it has happened, where I happen to be driving down the road and I'm doing four miles over the speed limit.

Again, I'm a follower of the law, so I'm just saying hypothetically, I never, hey, any popo that's watching, man, you're gonna catch me riding with cruise control.

I don't go over the speed limit.

But let's say, in one of those rare instances, I just happen to creep up over the speed limit just a little bit, and we ride past a police officer.

You should see the reaction that is inside of Megan Pittman.

You would think we had just robbed the bank and that the cops are chasing after us and there's only one light between us and our freedom.

She's like, oh my gosh, you just you just rode by the cop and you're you're doing three miles over.

And I can see that she's in this moment where she's like looking in the rearview mirror, she's looking back, and she's looking over her shoulder, and I'm thinking to myself, to me, I'm like, she's lost all of her peace, but watch this.

I'm thinking, the worst case scenario in all of this is I get pulled over and I get a ticket.

That's the absolute worst.

And so I look at her, I'm like, well, you've lost your peace over this.

She's like, no, you you don't understand.

And so that's one example.

But I have to be honest, I have to make sure that I let you guys know that I have my things as well.

I would say that I have selective OCD.

There's certain things that I like to have in certain ways and certain places.

So it's not just her, but it's also me.

Here's one example.

I like for things to be a certain way when I'm in my car.

I like things to have a certain place.

Whenever Megan gets in the car, all the tissues and stuff end up on the side of the door.

It doesn't work for me.

It doesn't work for me.

It makes me feel uncomfortable.

But another thing that I need to have in place when I'm driving in the car with my wife is that there has to be equal distribution of the way that the window is down so that the air flows appropriately.

If my window is down and her window is up, the air is not coming in.

It doesn't have the proper flow, it creates a weird sound.

So then I'm just gonna put the window.

Let's just turn the air on.

Like, what are we what are we doing?

So for me, we have to make sure that if the windows are down, that we're in unity.

You ever seen somebody driving down the road and the passenger windows down and the driver windows up?

It looks weird.

Like, you gotta make sure that we're in we're on equal footing, but that's not the only thing.

The other thing for me that I'd like to make sure is order.

And one of those things that is so ridiculous for me is I like to have order when it comes to my book bag.

I know that it sounds ridiculous.

I know that it sounds crazy, but in my mind, the book bag serves a purpose.

There's a slot for the computer, there's a slot for all the devices, there's a slot for everything.

The book bag gives us a lot of pockets so that we can put things in said pockets so that when we're looking for things, we don't have to wonder where they are.

I would call that the right way.

But then my my lovely wife, she has a different philosophy.

For her, you just put things wherever they will fit.

So whenever she asks me to look into her book bag to find something, I will open it up and then things just burst out of it.

And I'm trying to sort through it all, and I'm thinking, like, you know, there's a spot that you could put these cords, there's a spot that you could put these wires.

And literally, there are times when I'm looking at it, it disrupts my peace so much.

And she's sitting there without a worry in the world.

So here's a lesson for all the women and all the men in your marriages.

Here's a lesson that I've learned that's helped me over almost 30 years.

I can't let the things that disrupt me disrupt her.

And she can't let the things that disrupt her disrupt me.

We have to learn to respect where we each find peace.

So when I think about the differences that we have and how we all have our own different versions of peace, I do think that we can universally agree that there are some things that we all want to have peace in, and that is in the area of our finances.

I have yet to meet the person that has said to me, Keith, I prefer to live paycheck to paycheck.

Sign me up for that.

I love to know when I'm not gonna pay my next bills.

That that is exactly what I've been striving for my entire life.

I don't know if the lights are gonna be on or not.

Let's see where this thing goes.

I've never met that person that enjoys that.

But I also recognize that while we all want to have financial stability, if we don't find common ground on how we get it, it can rob us of our peace.

When I look at this particular passage in its own unique way, it brings us into a journey of the way that we view our resources in the way that God has blessed us with what we currently have in our hands.

At the heart of the matter, we find this man who is extremely wealthy, but yet he finds himself coming to Jesus, asking, What must he do in order to inherit the kingdom of God?

It's worth noting that for this man on paper, he has all the boxes checked.

He has money, he has influence, he has power, but the Bible says that he came to Jesus because something was still missing.

I believe that this in itself is a cautionary tale that for some of us that we believe that if I can achieve a certain amount in my account, that that's going to be the thing that produces peace.

And I would let you know that that is not true.

That this man, that even though he had all the resources in the world, that he came to a point where he said, But yet I still feel like there's something missing on the inside of me, Jesus.

What must I do in order to inherit the kingdom of heaven?

Jesus begins to talk with him and he looks at the flaw in his question because he says, Good teacher, what must I do to inherit it?

This man was bringing a very business-minded, transactional approach to his salvation.

For his entire life, he's been able to make decisions that allowed him to be successful.

So he's asking Jesus, What must I do?

What decisions do I need to make?

What transactions do I need to do, get involved in in order for me to inherit kingdom resources?

He was caught up in a works mentality, and Jesus wanted to correct the way that he viewed things because the man was honestly believing that if I do the right things, if I say the right things, if I dress the same way, if I do certain things, though that'll be the thing that will allow me to inherit the favor of God.

But I will let you know that that's a flawed approach because we don't have to do anything except to receive what has already been done on our behalf.

As Jesus is helping this man to understand, he says, Well, first and foremost, why do you call me good?

What, like, where did you get this idea of good?

Because in that mindset, they understood that only God was good.

And Jesus was challenging this man not to deny his own divinity, but he was using this metric of saying that only God is good, and we use him as the metric to determine what is good in our lives and not on our own opinions.

Why do you why do you call me good?

And then as he begins to have this conversation with him, Jesus begins to lead him on this journey where he says, Well, you know the commandments.

There are some things that should be fruit in your life, but there's something that is missing.

There's there's some there's an area of your life that that seems to be insufficient in spite of all the things that you've accumulated, in spite of all the success that you have, your heart still does not seem to be in alignment with God's will for your life.

So here's what I need you to do: I need you to let it go.

Because the things that you've accumulated has now become a stumbling block that prevents you from walking in alignment with my word and with my will, I need you to let it go.

I need you to let go of those barriers, I need you to let go of those obstacles, I need you to let go of those things that are tripping you up, I need you to let it go because as long as you keep that thing in front of you, it's going to prevent us from having an intimate relationship.

I need you to let it go.

And what the scripture describes is the man who walks away sorrowful because it reveals that he had such great possessions that he couldn't imagine letting go of those things for a relationship with Jesus.

And I think this is the point that I'm bringing us all to.

It's okay to have money, just don't let money have you.

It's okay to have possessions, but don't let the possessions possess you.

This man was at a point where he was so in awe with what he accumulated that it became an idol that distracted him from the very king that put it into his hands.

I believe whether it's a lot or little, whether it's family, whether it's job, whatever that goal or ambition that we may have, there are things that sometimes we can allow to get in front of God just enough that if God said, Hey, I need you to put that down, that we would struggle with doing it.

This man shows us what happens when he walks away from God brokenhearted and bitter.

I want you to see that on record, this is the first time that anyone has ever come into the presence of God, thrown themselves at his feet, and walked away worse than when they came.

Because he wasn't willing to let it go.

So, what does this mean for us?

Since January, I've been keeping a watchful eye on our community.

And what I mean by that is I've I've looked at our prayer requests, I've I've looked at the conversations that I've had, and I would say that it is overwhelmingly at least 75, maybe 80% of our struggles, our needs, our barriers, our disappointments are in some way connected to our resources.

Whether it's a job, whether it's something that needs to be fixed, an unexpected expense that rises up, there's something that's connected to this ecosystem of resources that seems to be a major point of contention mainly in our community, but I also see it in society at large.

And while I'm not here to talk about how you fix those issues, but I am here to talk about how do we have peace even in spite of those things.

Because those things are gonna happen, those struggles are gonna come, but how can I still walk in financial peace even in spite of some of the challenges that may come that are completely unexpected?

So I do have three thoughts that I believe that can help us to experience financial peace even in seasons where we find ourselves in lack.

Here's the first one I want us to write down, and I want you to put this in all caps and in bold.

Live within your means.

Live within your means.

Live within your means.

With me having a son who's now 20 years old and he's reaching that level of adulthood that he can make his own decisions, particularly financially.

I'm I'm trying to do something for him that wasn't done for me, and that quite honestly, I didn't do for my kids that came before him because I just didn't know to do it.

But I'm helping him to understand what it means to live within your means.

We we live in a world where we have so many things at our disposal, so many places we can go.

There's always a new vacation destination, there's always a new pair of shoes that you can buy, there's always a new outfit that you want, there's always something new that's on the horizon.

And what can happen is it begins to create a desire for things that are beyond us and beyond our ability to afford it.

So we fill that gap with debt.

We fill that gap with afterpay.

We fill that gap with affirm.

We fill that gap with Klarna.

Some people are like, I didn't come here for this.

Yes, you did.

You did come here for this.

We we we we begin to fill these gaps because we are under this illusion that I I can't afford it, but I want it now.

This is beyond me, but I want it right now.

And and I work so hard, so I need to have it right now.

But unfortunately, we get caught into this ecosystem where we keep making these minimal payments, we're not making any progress, and then when it's time for us really to move forward with our lives, we're wondering why it seems as if it's all in the rear view mirror.

I was talking to my son about credit cards, and he's on the campus at UCF.

He's like, man, like dad, they're just giving you credit cards.

I'm like, son, if you come home with that, I will break your fingers.

He's an adult, y'all can call whoever you want.

I'm like, if you come home with a credit card, we're gonna have an issue.

Because I understand how the lore is, because I was his age.

I remember when I got my first credit card.

You mean I can swipe this thing and walk out and my bank account stays exactly the same?

Sign me up.

Swipe, swipe, swipe until I started seeing the interest rate hits.

And still I started recognizing I was making more payments on things a year later that I was no longer even wearing.

What I want to help us to understand is that so often we allow the world to convince us that we need to have more, we need to get more, we need to go beyond our means, and we find ourselves trapped in this bondage of debt.

Proverbs 22, 7 says this that the rich rules over the poor, and the borrower is slave to the lender.

I bet we never thought that every time we're making a payment that we're in bondage to something or to someone because we've lived beyond our means.

My new statement that I share in my household, I'm like, if we can't pay cash, we can't afford it.

If we can't get it and out of our bank account, then it's not meant for us to have it.

We'll save up and get it.

But what I refuse to do is to continue to pay into a system that is preventing me from being generous and moving forward in the areas of my life that I believe that God is calling me to do.

We're gonna put boundaries around our finances.

So we're how do we do that?

I'm gonna say a word to us that that that may be um profanity, but I believe that God's blessing me to say it.

Brace yourself.

Create a budget.

I'm gonna say it one more time just in case other people in the back didn't hear me.

Create a budget.

What that means is this is how much money I make.

Here's the expenses that I have.

This is what I have left over.

This is how I'm gonna direct my money.

Because if you don't tell your money where to go, you're gonna wonder where it went.

I'm going to establish a budget.

I know I'm not the only person in here that has ever had a good weekend where you have family and friends come in town, you're going out to restaurants, y'all hanging out, and then you look in your bank account and think that someone hacked you.

Don't y'all act like I'm the only one.

I'm like, man, somebody got my card.

They're like, no, that was you.

I'm calling the bank, like, man, somebody stole my card.

Like, nah, bro, we see you on camera.

That's you, fam.

Like, we we all know those moments when we overextend it, and and I get it, and there's room for margin and all that stuff, but watch this.

We need to make sure that we create a budget for it.

So whenever we have family in town, I'm like, okay, here's my budget for family.

So when they're like, hey, we're gonna go out to the movies, I'm like, that's not in my budget.

Do I have it?

Sure.

But not for you.

I it's it's not it's not in the budget.

What I'm saying is if we don't begin to function with boundaries, we will live in chaos.

Ask yourself, has lack of boundaries ever produced anything good in your life?

What a budget does for your finances is it allows us to create boundaries around where my money goes so that I can begin to see the impact and influence in it.

Here's the second thing that we're gonna, I'm gonna move on, Sean, because I think they're gonna start throwing stuff at me.

Okay, here's here's the next, here's the next point that I want us to have.

Live with an eternal perspective.

Live with an eternal perspective.

Here's what I mean by that, and this is not this is not exclusively about money, but this is just a posture of the heart.

The reality of it is that that we we are constantly thinking of the now and the next.

But very rarely are we thinking beyond that.

I had a friend of mine who challenged me a few years ago, and it's disturbed me since then, and because it bothers me, I'm gonna say it to you so it can bother you for the rest of your life as well.

And here's what he said to me He said, Keith, if every one of your prayers would have answered, would the world notice?

And what it began to do is it began to make me think about what is my perspective and what is the legacy that I'm looking to have?

What is the impact that I'm looking to have?

Well, well, what whatever I'm believing God for, will it.

Go beyond me, or is it just for me?

Living with an eternal perspective means that I recognize that everything that I have is temporary.

And while I believe that God has made things available for us to enjoy, I can't be so fixated on that that I lose sight of the eternal things that God is calling me to invest in.

That some things that God is calling us to do is going to go beyond us.

Living with an eternal perspective recognizes that it's not just about me, but it's also making sure that I'm creating concessions for others.

Jesus says this in Matthew 6, 19 through 21.

He says, Do not store up treasures on earth, but in heaven.

He's challenging our temporary mindset to shift to something that's a little bit more eternal.

Making sure that we have a perspective of things that are beyond us.

The rich young ruler's inability to part with his wealth for the sake of following Jesus exemplifies the danger of placing earthly riches above our spiritual journey.

Living with an eternal perspective means prioritizing our relationship with God and investing in things that last beyond our lives, such as kindness, love, justice, and spreading the gospel.

You know, there's typically two different approaches to the way that people live their lives.

There's people that live their lives for the resume, and there's people that live their lives for the eulogy.

The resume are typically the things that we say about ourselves.

When you think about a resume, that's your accumulation of the skills you have.

And so when you break that down into our life, it's basically hey, here's the places that I've traveled to, here's the cars that I drive, here's the things that I would like to say about myself.

But a eulogy is people's observations of you and what they say about you when you're gone.

And what I find to be so fascinating is that of all the different homegoing services I've gone to, I've never heard anybody talk about the resume attributes.

They always talk about the eulogy attributes.

They were so kind, they were so generous, they were so forgiving.

I've never heard them say ever, ever.

You know how many stamps they got on their passport?

You know how many places and countries they've been to?

I've never heard that.

But what I have heard is that man, they've done so many good things for the benefit of others.

All I'm saying is I'm not saying that we have to go from one extreme to the other.

What I'm asking us to do is begin to live a life of balance.

That just because you can do something doesn't mean that you should do it if you can use those same things to make a difference in the life of someone else.

Can we get a good amen on that?

Okay, here's the third and final thing that I want to share with us.

Live generously.

Be a person that makes a decision to live generously.

So to recap, we're gonna live within our means, we're gonna put boundaries around our resources, we're gonna be people that live with an eternal perspective, recognizing that life is so much more than me just reaching my next goal.

But we also want to be people that lives generously.

A couple of weeks ago, I shared around the narrative of um the miracle of the fish and loaves.

And if you're not familiar with it, ultimately it's a moment where Jesus had a bunch of people.

5,000 is what was listed in scripture, but many believe it may have been as many as 20,000 people were there, and they didn't have any resources to feed them all.

But there was one young man who had two fish and five loaves.

He put them into the hands of Jesus, and Jesus was able to multiply it and make a difference for everyone else.

That's a powerful story, but often I think that the little boy's heart gets lost in all of this.

This young man who packed enough just for himself, but he saw a need and didn't know what Jesus was going to do, but he was willing to surrender it, knowing that if I put it into the hands of Jesus, that it can do something beyond what I can do in my own strength.

By himself, he could have ate by himself, but putting it into the hands of God, everybody ate.

And when you look at that narrative, it says that everyone ate and they were full.

Imagine what happens when we decide to be people who choose to live generously.

Generosity is a testament of our trust in God's provision and the rejection of the grip of fear and greed that can often try to grab a hold of our hearts.

Choosing to live generously, we not only contribute to the well-being of those around us, but we cultivate a spirit of contentment and utter reliance on God.

In 2 Corinthians chapter 9, Paul says these things.

2 Corinthians 9 · chapter mention

He says, Paul says, it is blessed to give because God loves a cheerful giver.

It doesn't mean he doesn't love the person who doesn't give cheerfully, but it simply means that he loves when he sees that we're able to respond and cheerfully recognize moments to make a difference.

The Bible also tells us in Acts 20, 35, recounting the words of Jesus, that it is more blessed to give than to.

Come on, y'all know the Bible better than I do.

We understand that there's these moments in Scripture that we're invited to make a difference in the lives of others.

You know, I I've recognized that there are so many needs, inclusive of our own.

But one of the things that I've begun to put into my budget, as I was referring to earlier, is I put generosity into my budget.

I treat it the same way that I do any other expense.

I budget my tithe, I budget my offering, I budget towards our building fund.

But then I also have miscellaneous generosity that I have put aside.

And typically what I do with that is that plan generosity are the moments that I'm just looking for people that may have needs.

I may have a friend of mine that's going on a missions trip and they need a couple of dollars to contribute towards that.

I've already budgeted for that.

I I may be out about in the streets and I can see someone who is hungry.

I've already budgeted for that.

What I'm saying is, instead of us waiting for us to feel it in our gut and waiting for us to hope that we have it in our account, what if we began to plan our generosity so that we know that no matter what, I can make a difference with what God has put into my hands?

Planned generosity, knowing that we can truly make a difference.

Philippians 4, verses 12 through 13 are passages that I've read for years.

Philippians 4:12–13

Paul says these words.

He says, I know how to make do with little.

And I know how to make do with a lot.

And in all circumstances, I have learned the secret of being content.

Whether well fed or hungry, whether in abundance or in need, I'm able to do all things through Christ that strengthens me.

And every time I would historically quote that passage of I can do all things through Christ, I always associated it with some form of obstacle that I was going through.

I always associated with, man, I got a big test that's coming up.

I could do all things through Christ that strengthens me.

I've associated it with my own personal struggles.

I could do all things through Christ that strengthens me.

And there's a principle that allows that to be applicable for sure.

But in its proper context, what Paul was saying is that I have learned how to be content.

Whether I have rich or whether I'm dealing with lack, I am content in the presence of God, and it's in that I can do all things through Christ because he gives me the strength to do it.

That changes the way that we view our resources and the way that we think that we can experience hope and peace.

Because if we think that our peace and our finances come from having a certain amount in our account, it will always be elusive.

Because I've been there.

If I could just make this, then I will.

But you know what ends up happening?

You end up making it, you create expenses for every dollar of it, and that same anxiety continues to follow you every step of the way.

But what if we began to have a different perspective of our resources?

What if we began to live within our means and recognizing our season?

That is so important.

I remember when I first moved to Jacksonville with my family, that we were in a season where God has saw fit to put us around a bunch of people that made substantially more money than me.

And as I'm around them and we're going to their gated neighborhoods and we're hearing about their vacations of going to Hawaii and I'm going back to my three-bedroom townhouse, there were moments that even though at one point I was thankful for where I was, I lost my peace because there was somewhere else I wanted to be.

Have you ever considered that today's answered prayer becomes the things you despise when you don't have the proper perspective and learn how to be content?

So I found myself that in spite of me having what we had, it was still never enough.

And I would never have peace, man.

Like they just went, they just went to Hawaii, man.

We didn't go to Hawaii until now.

I don't have peace.

I don't have I don't have Hawaii money.

I got I I got Smyrna Beach money.

And that's okay.

Because there will be a season when we can go to Hawaii, but right now that's not where we are.

And how can I learn to be content in that?

How can I learn to be content?

Like, man, I would I would love to go and get the new Tesla truck.

Not really, but if I did, I would love to go and get it.

But that's not the season that I'm in because I've learned how to be content with where I am.

I believe that the enemy loves to get us to a place where we're always pursuing the next thing instead of looking at the fact that God is blessing the now thing.

That where you are right now, God is blessing it.

So the thing that transformed our lives the most is when we got involved in a group called Financial Peace University.

And when we went there, we were exposed to people that were in different seasons of life, but it changed our mindset when it came to money.

Just how do we look at our money?

How do we look at our resources and learning how to really adapt the mindset of being content with where we are?

We've had much, we've had little, we've moved, we've sold houses, we built houses, but I've learned to be content where we are.

And it took years to get there.

I can honestly stand before you now and tell you that as I stand, we don't worry about money.

That's not a flex.

It doesn't mean that there's not time, I need more money in my account.

I do, and I can set up my GoFundMe right now if you want to give to it.

That's not what I'm saying.

What I'm saying is because we've learned how to be content and we've learned to live within our means, that I'm no longer worried about the next thing because I'm going to be fully present and thankful for the now thing.

And when God leads us to what's next, then we'll have the provisions to step into what's next.

What I'm saying is when you can begin to change your mindset around these things, you can stop living with this hustle mentality that burns you out, that's un that's insatiable, that's unachievable, and you leave yourself in a place where you're disconnected from your family, disconnected from God, and you end up being just like this rich young ruler.

What must I do to get peace?

What must I do to get into heaven?

What do I gotta do?

Nothing.

Just be still and receive that Christ has done it for you and cannot be good enough for you.

With every head bowed and every eye closed, I want to ask us this question.

Maybe you're in here and you're just like the rich young ruler.

Maybe for you, you've you come here today asking the same question, maybe different phrasing, but ultimately you're looking to fill that same void that he has.

What do I gotta do to experience the kingdom of God?

To paraphrase it.

What do I have to do to experience what God has for me?

What do I have to do to experience the blessings from heaven?

Jesus says, you don't have to do anything, it's already been done for you.

What you need to do is to finally stand still long enough and receive it and remove everything out of the way that's preventing you from grabbing it.

If you're in here today and you know that your next step is simply to say yes to Jesus, to receive this free gift that you don't have to work for, then on account of three, I want you to boldly lift your hands up so we can celebrate with you, but also pray a prayer with you.

One, two, three.

Amen.

Amen.

God bless you.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Church, can we put our hands together and celebrate what God is doing in the lives of so many of our incredible community?

We're so thankful for what God is doing in you and through you.

I I want to lead us in a prayer really quick.

And in this prayer, I want all of us to pray this prayer together as a family, as a community, helping along the people that may be praying this prayer for the very first time.

I want you to repeat this after me.

Say, Lord Jesus, I believe that you died on the cross and that you rose from the grave, and that makes me saved.

I give you my life and ask that you fill me with your spirit in the name of Jesus.

Amen.

Come on, let's put our hands together for the goodness of God.

We're now going to go back into a moment of worship.

And as we prepare to go into worship, I recognize that there's some of us in here that you've surrendered your life to Christ, but but you know that there's a next step for you.

There's something that God is challenging and inspiring you to do.

Maybe there's something that you've heard in here and you just need to invite God into it.

During this time of worship, I want to invite you to just allow the Holy Spirit to hover.

The Bible talks about in Genesis chapter 1 how the Holy Spirit hovered over the areas of darkness.

Genesis 1 · chapter mention

And then God began to call things into order.

He turned on lights, he began to put things in order.

He began to create new life because he hovered.

And I believe that the Holy Spirit's been hovering the whole time, but now he wants to begin to move in each and one of our lives.

Maybe he wants to bring light to some areas, maybe he wants to bring order to some areas.

But it's in moments like this that the Holy Spirit begins to move in a very individualistic and powerful communal way.

Let me get you to stand on your feet.

And as we go into this time of worship, I want to pray over us because maybe for you, your your next step is, Keith, man, I just need help with trying to put a budget together.

I mean, that that speaks to me.

I don't live with a budget.

I just kind of figure it out, but but maybe you need some assistance with that.

We have team members that would love to connect with you.

We have a great financial peace course that's going on.

Ilya and his wife, they do a phenomenal job of leading that course, and they would love to help you.

I'm putting you on a spot, but I'm assuming you're gonna say yes, yeah.

Okay.

So he he would love to help you and connect you with what next steps could be, with even putting some things in in place for that.

Maybe you want to know what it looks like to live with an eternal perspective and what are the areas of your life that you've been so fixated on that you've lost the big picture.

I'm believing that in this time that God's gonna reveal to you and begin to show you that your desires of your heart shouldn't just be for you, but it should be for also the kingdom of God.

We're gonna invite the Holy Spirit to bring some order.

So let me pray a blessing over us.

God, I thank you for what you're doing in this environment.

We thank you for your spirit and your presence and how you confront us, you challenge us, but your word reminds us that you challenged a rich young ruler because you loved him.

You love every single one of us.

So even when we have discussions around the way that we view money, it's because you love us and you don't like the idea of us being so consumed with our resources that it robs us of our peace.

So, Father, I pray that you help us with our budgets.

I pray that you help us with an eternal perspective, and I pray that you help us to be people that can live over and above generosity so that we can make a difference beyond us.

So, in this moment, Holy Spirit, have your way.

Stir our hearts.

And for those of us that need to give, God, I pray that we're responding in giving.

For those of us that need order in our finances, we respond and get connected with how to bring order in our finances.

And for those of us that need a fresh perspective of having a view of the things of God and not just of the things of the world, God, I pray that you shift that perspective.

So speak to us in this time in Jesus' name.

Thanks again for listening.

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