Unstuck: Peace of Mind | Part 3

Welcome to the Awakening Church podcast.

We pray this message encourages you and provides the hope and light of Jesus Christ.

Thanks for tuning in.

Good morning, Awakening.

Great to be with you.

If you're new, we haven't met, my name's Ryan.

Absolutely thrilled to have you join us today.

And we're in a series called Unstuck as we're beginning this new year.

And here's incredible news.

God wants to help you get unstuck this year.

Unstuck in some of the biggest significant areas of your life.

And the last week we asked this question, we're asking it again this week, is how do you get unstuck financially?

Like many of us were talking about this, we're just stuck financially, especially in the Silicon Valley.

And last week we we asked this question can you really experience financial freedom in the Silicon Valley?

And the answer is no, no, you can't.

I'm just kidding.

Go back, listen to next week or last week's, and we talked about the debt trap and how that keeps us stuck.

Today, we want to ask and wrestle what is the path to experiencing financial peace?

Like, how do you really experience financial peace where you're just like, huh?

It's well, there's not the stress, the anxiety, the worry, the concern.

Maybe this.

Um how much money do you need to have in the bank to have peace of mind?

Do you have a number?

Have you thought about that?

Like to be able to navigate an economic uncertainty, a job loss, uh, kids and cost, inflation.

Like, what is the path to experiencing financial peace?

We want to wrestle with that today.

And last week, here's a big idea that we said that's that's incredibly important as we have this conversation, and it's simply this that personal finances is more personal than financial.

And this is part of what keeps us stuck, isn't it?

Because if it's just financial, it's just numbers, we can we can figure that out, but because it's so personal, because it's so vulnerable, it's hard for us to be open and honest.

We can easily get defensive and hide.

It's hard for us to ask for help.

It's deeply emotional, isn't it?

And so I just want to invite you again this week afresh.

Would you allow the Holy Spirit to come in and to speak and invite his help into this area?

Heavenly Father, would you work and would you move?

Would you help me experience your freedom and your peace in this significant area in my life?

And so uh the sermon titled today is simply Peace of Mind.

Go ahead and say that to your neighbor, peace of mind.

And I hate to tell you, um you did better than the last service.

Um, you did.

Um, I was gonna have you do it again, but you did pretty darn good.

Peace of mind.

For us to experience peace of mind, here's what we need to do today in our time together.

I I want to give you a paradigm shift in the way we're thinking, and then revise our bucket list.

You know, the bucket list are the things and hopes and dreams and experiences that we want to have.

I want to give us a paradigm shift, and that paradigm shift will help shift us and move into a place where we we can begin to experience peace even in our present circumstances, and then this bucket list is what will help us develop a path of peace as a uh way of life.

Uh the paradigm shift is this you are a steward, not an owner.

You are a steward, not an owner.

You are entrusted by God with what you have.

You are not entitled because of yourself with what you have.

In fact, Psalm 24, 1 says this the earth is the Lord's and everything in it.

What is everything?

The world and help me out.

All it all belongs to God.

It all belongs to God.

This is a fundamental paradigm shift because uh we tend to think and we have this thought, it all belongs to us.

It's mine.

I worked hard for it, I gotta get mine, I gotta make sure and keep mine, and you know what?

If you threaten mine, I feel threatened.

And if the economy threatens mine, I feel threatened.

But it all fundamentally belongs to God, and He's entrusted you.

You're a steward.

A steward is simply this a person who manages uh another's property or financial affairs.

Your time is a stewardship.

Your finances is a stewardship.

Your clothes, your house, your car, it all belongs to God.

This is actually incredibly freeing.

When you begin to recognize and realize it's actually all His.

Instead of gripping it tightly, and when we grip things tightly, we're worried about it, aren't we?

We're holding tightly onto it because if it's taken away from us, then we're less than.

Instead, you're like, no, actually, God, it's all yours.

And however you want me to use it, I'll use it that way.

And if you bring some in, wonderful, and if you take some away, okay.

I didn't actually lose because it was already yours to begin with.

It all belongs to you.

And so, if you are a steward, if you're entrusted, if it's already his to begin with, then this is our response.

And this is actually our memory verse.

So we've been memorizing the Proverbs every single week, and this is the memory verse.

It's two verses.

I'm sorry, we're getting a little aggressive this week, okay?

But it is the most famous, probably, proverb there is in the Bible.

And it's simply this Proverbs 3, 5, and 6.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart.

Lean not on your own understanding.

In all your ways, acknowledge him or submit to him, and he will make your path straight.

Why don't you go ahead and say that with me?

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding.

In all your ways, submit to him, and he will make your path straight.

On your seat is a three by five card.

Yes, I'm old school.

Uh I want you to write that down and memorize it, review it this week.

If you're a little bit new school, we'll have this in an Instagram post that you can set as your screensaver as well.

Trust.

Put your confidence in.

Put your hope in.

Let me ask you, where's your confidence and where's your hope today?

Because whatever your confidence and your hope is, that is what you're banking on to bring you peace.

Trust in the Lord.

Well, he made it all.

It all belongs to him.

And don't miss this.

He gave it all for you.

He is the most trustworthy being on the planet, and his disposition towards you is one of love and kindness, and for your very best, your welfare, your good.

His wisdom that is woven throughout the fabric of the universe is not to harm you, but to help you.

Trust in the Lord.

Put your hope in the Lord with all of your heart.

Don't lean on your own understanding in all your ways, submit to him.

Go, God, however, you want me to deal with my finances, your ways is going to be the best way.

And he'll what?

He'll direct you, he'll guide you.

And so, what we do though, this is what we do, Proverbs 11, 28.

Those who put their trust in riches will fall, but the righteous will thrive like a green leaf.

Isn't that interesting though?

Because in times of scarcity, in times of want, when we're going through a trial, don't we put our trust in God?

Like we call out, God, we need you.

Help, show up, and then he does.

And then what happens in times of prosperity?

You get that raise, you get that new job.

Wow, you're your your stocks doing well.

They uh, you know, you you all of a sudden have many, uh, much more, and you start to put your trust in what you have.

You start to put your trust in how the economy's doing, you start to put your trust in your job, you start to put your trust in your education, you start to put your trust in, and then your peace is on shaky ground.

And that's what we do.

We put our trust in it, and then eventually it becomes shaky and we fall.

And we live in this cycle.

God doesn't want that for you.

He says, Trust in me.

It already all belongs to me, anyways.

And I've given it to you for a season to steward it.

And when you begin to hold your hands open like this and go, God, it's all yours, what do you want me to do with it?

Not only do you get to enjoy more of what you have, you have more peace coming into your heart and life.

And so, trusting God with your life means trusting God with your finances.

Let me say it again.

Trusting God with your life, this is where a lot of us, we miss it, also means trusting God with your finances.

Can I say something that's a little convicting?

You with me this morning?

Ish, no, okay, that was an ish.

That was an ish.

I'm gonna sit down for this one.

Far too many Christians say they trust Jesus for their eternity.

But they will not trust him with their stuff, with their life, with their finances.

God, save me.

But don't mess with me.

God, God, God, save me, but but let me do life however I want to do it.

And he says, no, no, no.

Stop leaning on your own understanding.

And the reason is because it's killing your peace.

Trust in Him.

It also means trusting God with your finances.

For us to experience financial peace, there's a paradigm shift.

You are a steward, not an owner.

And then we have to revise our bucket list, okay?

Bucket list is simply uh we know this, a number of experiences or achievements that a person hopes to have or accomplish during their lifetime.

So let me ask you, what is your on your bucket list?

Maybe it's to own a home?

Maybe it's to travel the world, go on nice vacations, exotic places.

Maybe it's to give your kids experiences that you never got to have.

I want them to have more than what I had.

To retire young or to have enough that you just don't have to worry.

We want to revise the bucket list, the path to financial peace, and I want us to think buckets before budgets.

And so I want to give us four big buckets that will be the pathway for us to be experiencing financial peace.

It's all from God's wisdom out of the Proverbs.

The first bucket is this.

Make it honestly.

Make it honestly.

Um, Proverbs 13 4 says, lazy people want much but get little.

I like that.

I want a lot, but you get not.

Uh but those who work hard will what?

Prosper.

Proverbs 21, 5, we'll say it a little bit later, but in a different version.

The NLT says, good planning and hard work lead to prosperity, but hasty shortcuts lead to poverty.

Make it honestly.

And some of you are like, well, yeah, I make it honestly, Ryan.

Here's what make it honestly means: it means work with integrity.

It means work with integrity.

Integrity of heart.

I love the, you know, um, don't take shortcuts.

Like, don't cut corners at work.

I can't help myself here, but um, you know Wendy's and how they have the square patty?

Do you know why they have the square patty?

This is their slogan.

Because they don't cut corners.

I know.

It makes no sense.

But don't take shortcuts or cut corners at work.

Work with integrity.

Don't fudge on your taxes.

Don't lie or exaggerate to get a job.

Uh, don't put someone down to get ahead.

Be great at what you do.

Bring your very best.

Be an excellent coworker or boss.

Hold to your convictions.

See, Christians should be the very best people on the planet, both to hire and to work for.

The Apostle Paul would say, and whatever you do, do it as unto the Lord.

So what that means is that project that you're doing isn't for that company or for your boss, it's for Jesus.

What that means is, you know what, um, I'm gonna respond to this client that is just a pain in the rear.

Not the way I want to respond to them, but the way Jesus will respond to them because I'm working for Jesus.

Like my job, and I get it, guys, I I the Silicon Valley, it's hard to be a Christian.

You show up to work and you're alone there.

It's an environment that honestly is antagonistic to your faith.

And and what a time to be able to gather as a church and have a place where you look around and go, you know what, I'm not alone.

There's other believers, there's other people, there's other followers of Jesus.

But wouldn't it be an incredible day where people in the Silicon Valley would go, you know what, I don't believe what those Christians believe, but I want to hire all that I can.

Because of the way they work, the integrity that they have, the way they show up, you know, they work from home, but they don't do the least amount.

They're they're actually uh leveraging their time in ways that are making us better.

They're having the difficult conversations.

And so, the first bucket, make it honestly.

And that next week we're gonna, or in three weeks, we're gonna talk about just work and stress and work-life balance and all that.

And so here's what we do.

The first bucket, we make it.

Oh yeah, I have these pink um fuzzies here for it to represent all the things that we make, right?

Oh man, I'm spilling everywhere at this service.

It's going everywhere, right?

So we're we make make it honestly.

Then the second one, I know, I can't do this, is save it faithfully.

If we're gonna be a good steward of what God has given us, first the way we go about our work matters.

And I want to I want to say this all work is sacred work when done with integrity and honesty.

There isn't, like, hey, there's spiritual work and sacred work, there's, you know, there's pastors in every one of us.

You are doing deeply sacred work right where you're at, and God has called you and placed you in an incredible way to be a light.

Make it honestly, and then save it faithfully.

Proverbs says this.

Proverbs 13, 22.

A good person leaves an inheritance for their children's children, but a sinner's wealth is stored up for righteousness.

In fact, something that uh my parents and then my in-laws did, I love this.

They started a college fund for our kids.

It's just a way to leave an inheritance, especially as you know uh the crushing student loan debt that many are under.

I'm like, oh, how incredibly kind of them.

We contributed to that.

Um a good person leaves an inheritance.

To leave, you have to save.

Uh, Proverbs 21, 20 says, the wise store up choice food and olive oil, but fools gulp theirs down.

Warren Buffett, you may have heard of him.

He's done okay in life, at least financially.

He said, Do not save what is left after spending, but spend what is left after saving.

Nearly half, about 46% of Americans, have uh no retirement savings.

And you can write save and invest.

Because I learned this these buckets, and it was just save, and later in life I learned invest.

Oh, can I brag on my daughter a little bit?

She's a thank you, one person.

I love that.

Um, the rest of you, oh well, here we go.

Um, so so she's uh she's amazing.

If you ever get to meet her, she's just incredible.

She's a freshman at Westmont College down in the worst place in the world, Santa Barbara.

Um and when she was in junior high, she wanted to uh support a world vision child, and so she knew that uh she had to make money, so then she started uh really focused on her babysitting, and boy, she's really good at that, and she was she had brought in a lot, but she's a saver, you know, and so we we talked about these buckets with her, and you know, save at least 10%.

Well, when you have a kid and you don't have any expenses, you kind of save it all if you're not a spender.

And so, you know, let me get it.

There's two, four, six, eight.

Oh, that's nine, ten, right?

And so she saved.

I mean, by the time she was entering into high school, she bought her own iPhone.

Yeah, a thousand bucks, all on her own.

By the way, parents, if your kids buy it, they take better care of it.

She still uses the same iPhone now in college.

She's a saver.

And then she got a job at Pete's and she began to save up uh and hit going into college.

She's like, I want to save up for college.

She had$10,000 in high school going into college.

Because she's just a saver.

It was incredible.

And then she came home and at 18, opened up a Roth IRA.

She's investing in her retirement already.

At 19 years of age, she's better than half of Americans right now.

College students, you're not too young to start.

20-year-olds, you're not too young to start.

30, 40, 50 year olds, you're not too old to start.

Make it honestly.

Save it faithfully.

Spend it wisely.

Spend it wisely.

If it is God's and it is not yours, then you have to ask God, how would you like me to use this?

Spend it wisely.

Uh, there's a proverb.

I I actually growing up, I thought it was in the Bible.

It's not.

Um, but it says, a fool and his money are soon parted.

I used to be uh a youth pastor back in the day, and we would take these trips.

You know, our our students are going to Hume Lake in a month.

It's awesome, junior high and high school.

And you take these trips and you would immediately spot the fools.

No lie.

And I I mean, I wasn't a pastor to any of your kids, so uh your kids aren't fools.

But this happened every trip.

You could see the kid that the parent gave a wad of money to, you know, because they needed some spending cash and needed to buy some food on the way up, and they needed some stuff at the camp.

And I mean, back in those days it might have been$40, now it's like$400 inflation.

It's crazy.

But you got this kid that has a lot of money in his pocket, it's just burning a hole, and he's so excited, and he's like showing it off.

And here's what happens every single time, the very first stop.

You know what happens?

He spends it all.

And it's generally a he too, by the way.

Uh, but he spends it all.

He goes over to In N Out and spends it there, and he buys it for Some stuff, and then he goes over to CBS and he buys all this stuff, and then by day two, um, Ryan?

Yeah?

I don't have any money.

And I look at him, I go, I know you spent it all.

It's gonna be a rough week, isn't it?

Yeah.

Did you think about what you're gonna eat on the way drive back down?

No.

You might want to sneak some food from the cafeteria.

I didn't say that.

Um spend it wisely.

Uh this actually in our Bible reading, we're reading Proverbs 21.

Today we're reading a Proverbs a day.

I'm posting daily if you want to follow along.

Uh this we could do this whole sermon just out of Proverbs chapter 21.

Proverbs 21 · chapter mention

Uh, and I redid this one because um last week many of you came and were like, oh, that hit.

Oh, that hurt.

Proverbs 21, 17 says, Whoever loves pleasure will become poor, and whoever loves wine and olive oil will never be rich.

And you know what I heard?

I love wine.

I love olive oil.

Proverbs 21, 5 says, the plans of the diligent lead to profit, as surely as haste leads to poverty.

It's just the NIV.

We had just read this.

The plans.

Most people don't have a plan.

You can't spend it wisely if you don't have a plan.

Most people, it just goes out, and you don't even really know where it's going.

You have no idea how much that habit is costing you every month or every year.

And it just goes.

And here's what happens is we spend over here, or keep spending over here, and then we actually make a little bit more, and we're just kind of trying to keep up, but we just keep spending over here, and life does cost the plans of the diligent.

In fact, we're not going to get into the details, that's for freed up.

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We're kicking it off.

The plans of the diligent.

Ron Blue, a financial expert, says this most of us are responders rather than planners.

We respond to friends, advertising, and our emotions rather than planning our spending.

Make it wisely.

Save it faithfully.

A good percentage is about 10%.

Or make it honestly.

Spend it wisely.

And then any guess what the last one is?

Yeah, thank you.

You didn't have to be timid.

Give it generously.

Give it generously.

Give it generously.

Proverbs says this.

Proverbs 3, 9 and 10.

Honor the Lord with your wealth, with the first fruits of all your crops, then your barns will be filled to overflowing and your vats will brim over with new wine.

Give it generously.

Now this is a paradigm shift.

If you're a steward, not an owner, is it really giving?

It already belongs to God.

It's all his.

All of this is already his.

If you're a steward and you're entrusted and it's all his, then you're simply going, God, you direct me where you want me to give your finances to.

You direct me, how do you want me to use the car that you've given me?

You direct me, how do you want me to get entrust the house that I live in or the job that I work at?

It's all yours.

And so it's actually not losing, it's investing in the very things that are on the heart of God.

And so, a good practice, oh, we can't pull from there, you haven't made it yet, is to give 10% if you can.

But most people can't because we live beyond our means.

We don't have a plan.

So start with 1%, 2%.

Now here's what we do, and here's the call of this scripture and throughout scripture is give to God first, not what's left over.

Here's what we do.

We make it, and we maybe hopefully save it, and then we're spending it on life, and then if there's any left over, oh, we kind of give it.

Right?

It's like, oh, it's a little bit left over, and it's like we feel like, oh, what what a what a good boy or girl am I?

I feel so good about myself.

It does not take faith to give last, it does take faith to give first.

And by the way, this is right here, this is really good wisdom from the world.

This is the order for the world.

You make, you save and invest, you live and give if you have anything left.

You make, you save and invest, and you give, or you live, and then you give if you have anything left.

Scriptural would say this: peace of mind if you really want peace of mind, peace of heart, make, give, save, and then spend.

Give to God first.

In fact, Proverbs 11, 24 and 25 says, one person gives freely, yet gains even more.

Another withholds unduly, but comes to poverty.

A generous person will prosper, whoever refreshes others will be refreshed.

Like it's just incredible reality.

Like God set it up.

His wisdom is literally, we said it earlier, woven throughout the fabric of the universe.

Jesus said it this way: it is more blessed to what?

Give than receive.

We've said it before many times.

The best science and research shows that people who are generous, in fact, there's incredible research that says that give at least 10%, are doing significantly better in all major areas of life, both in happiness, purpose, and peace, and uh direction of life.

And yet, what we do is we live under incredible financial pressure.

We're making it, we're spending it, and we're kind of saving just a little bit, and this is all the way back here, and we have no plan for it.

No wonder you don't have any peace.

No wonder.

He says, As you make it, when you give it, it's a reminder that it's not yours in the first place.

Generosity releases Greed's grip on our heart.

It's a reminder that we're stewards.

God, all this is yours.

How do you want me to use it?

Who do you want me to bless?

And hear me, this is not about, hey, how do you give to awakening?

I think we do a fantastic job with what God's given us to impact this generation.

And I love many of you are so generous to us.

But this is how do I leverage my time, my talent, and treasures to align with the heart of God and to address deep needs in our world.

You know what's interesting is you have never missed money that you were generous with.

You've never regretted it.

You're never like, gosh man.

You know what you regret?

Oh, I'll tell you one.

I I think I have time for this because Rowan asked that great question.

Um, we were away during the on a date, and there was this nice shop, and they had this, this is the one of the purches I paid too much for.

And it was this shirt, and it was honestly, I thought it was cool, but it was one of those impulse perches, you know, and it really wasn't cool.

And I didn't know how much it costs, and I got up to the counter, and then they told me how much it costs.

It was a hundred dollars.

And and I'm like, I I don't pay a hundred dollars for t-shirts, but I I have pride, and and I didn't want them to know that I don't pay a hundred dollars for t-shirts, and I was too embarrassed to go, oh bless God, that's too much for me.

I bought the dang t-shirt, and Jenny still makes fun of me to this day about it.

We have all those things that we go, why did I do that?

Misspent, mismanaged.

But we don't regret when we're generous because it's well invested.

I remember when Jenny and I, it just we first were learning this stewardship and trusting God, our memory verse, with all your heart, which means with your finances.

Uh we were newly married, we had two kids, uh babies at the time.

We were living in Atlanta, Georgia.

If you ever experienced church hurt, we get it.

If you've ever been like deeply wounded and want to give up on the church, we get it.

That's where we were at.

I can't go into that story.

I do in our Awakening 101, that's coming up in a couple of weeks.

But we're moving, and our our job church had stopped paying us, which we're still working, that was not cool.

Um, and we had no money, we had a mortgage, and we're trying to move back to the West Coast.

And I had a Honda pilot, 1999 Honda pilot, uh, and I just put a new engine in it, a whole nother story for another time.

And I was going on a missions trip with high school students, and one of the parents, I said, Would you help me sell this?

Because this is how we're gonna like afford our mortgage and move across country.

And he said, Absolutely, I'll help you sell it.

We wanted to get$5,000 for this Honda passport.

And and so he's working on it, and while I was in Mexico, I just got this sense from guys that like, you need to give this family that's helping you sell it the Honda Passport.

Now they had four teenagers, they didn't have a lot of means.

And and I remember calling up Jenny, I said, I just got this sense.

She's like, Yes, absolutely, let's do this.

And so I went to him and I said, Hey, um God told us we actually aren't gonna sell it, we're gonna give it to you.

And he said, No, you can't do that.

I said, Well, you you have to take it.

God said it, and you shouldn't say no to God.

I don't think that's pretty wide.

I that's not good.

And so we gave them the car, and then we're in that middle.

What's gonna happen?

We don't have money, our bank account is almost on zero.

We have a mortgage, we gotta move across country in a week.

Like we don't have any way to pay, and you're in that middle, and some of you are in that middle right now.

And I gotta experience the reality that you can't outgive God, and when you trust Him, He actually takes care of you.

We got this knock on our door like a few days before we were moving, and it was a courier, and at that stage in my life, I never had a courier show up to my door.

You had to sign for this little, you know, uh envelope, and I sign for it, I get it, and I opened it up, and a note from a guy I met once said, Heard you're moving out of the area, sad to see you go.

Thought you could use a little moving around money, and in it was a check for$5,000.

Like when we trust God, we get to see God provide, and then we get to know that He is the provider of all our things, and we get to hold it and go, God, I can't wait to see what you're gonna do with this.

But most of us are living like this, and we never get to see God provide or show up because you're trusting yourself.

No wonder you're not experiencing the power of God in your life.

There's no faith.

He says, in fact, would you just trust me with a little?

And let me show up.

Because I don't need your stuff.

I do want your heart.

And often our stuff has our heart.

Paradigm shift.

You're a steward.

Not an owner.

A new or revised bucket list.

Make it honestly.

Give it faithfully.

Spend it wisely.

Oops, wrong order.

Save it faithfully.

Spend it wisely.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart.

Lean not on your own understanding.

In all your ways.

Submit to him.

God, this is yours.

And he'll direct your path.

Jesus, thank you for my friends, and I just feel for some that walked in the weight of worry financially, the stress, and the anxiety.

God, in this moment, would you be ever present?

Remind them of your grace and your goodness, that you want something for them, not from them.

Remind them that you're the God that gave it all for them.

They can trust you.

And today, would you make a lordship decision?

God, today I trust you with all my heart.

Which means all my time, all my finances, I trust you with my friendships and my relationships.

God, I trust you.

You know best.

And would you bring whatever you're holding on tightly to Him and say, God, today I give it afresh to you, knowing you want what's very best for me.

In Jesus' name.

We hope you are blessed by this message.

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