What Does the Bible Say About Wealth? | 1 Timothy 6:17–21

Well, good morning.

My name is Pastor Eric.

I am one of your pastors here at River Oak.

If you are a visitor, if you've been here for a while, we still like you.

And we're glad you're here too.

Those online who aren't able to be here, we're we're thankful for you too.

But we just want to welcome everyone here as we are finishing 1 Timothy, right?

I thought there'd be like some applause or something.

Yeah, there you go.

But what a privilege to be part of a church that doesn't just pick and choose what we think is, ah, this sounds good to me or my preference, but we get to walk through God's word verse by verse and allow the Holy Spirit to dictate what it means.

And that is and that is a rare thing if you've ever visited other churches.

There's not a lot that still do that.

I know there was an announcement this morning, but I just let you know to keep in prayer that we had about 200 students and leaders go to camp this morning around 7:30.

So pray for the students, but really for the leaders.

And so I say approximate 200 because I don't want you to think that we didn't bring them all back.

But so pray for them this week.

They'll be gone down at Ridgecrest, down in North Carolina hearing God's word, fellowshiping with one another, and enjoying that time together as a church family.

And they should return on Thursday to complete their mission.

So we are finishing 1 Timothy, and after today, we'll take about a five-week or so break, and we're going to be doing a short series on discipleship for the remainder of the summer.

And then we are going to jump into, you've guessed it, 2 Timothy.

2 Timothy will take us to around Christmas time where we'll get into Advent.

It's weird saying Christmas, but my wife told me that they already had Halloween stuff in the stores.

So time's flying.

So we're glad that you're with us or have been with us through this series.

It's been really good.

And we see how Paul left instructions to Timothy basically how the church should live and how the church should lead.

And so I think it's important for us as a church to figure that out ourselves.

What does it look like for us members of the church?

We are the church, right?

The church does not exist without us here, the gathering of individuals.

It's basically he's giving them a call to duty, a call to duty for Timothy as kind of Paul's envoy to the church there in Ephesus.

And really how to put the church in order.

And so if we just do like a really quick survey of what we've talked about in the chapters, if you just hang with me and we'll see kind of the progression.

First, chapter one talked about how to protect the gospel.

How do we protect the gospel first and foremost?

Chapter two talked about how do we prioritize worship?

How we prioritize worship.

Chapter three, how to develop godly leaders.

We start talking about eldership and what that looks like with church leaders.

Chapter four is how do we train those uh into godliness?

What does that look like?

Chapter five, how do we care for the church family?

We remember we we talked about uh talked about widows and those who needed extra help.

How do we care for those individuals?

And chapter six is how do we finish faithfully?

How do we finish faithfully?

And in today's text, we're gonna pivot from last week of fighting the good fight to this week of basically how should we handle treasures?

How do we handle treasures?

When I think of treasure, the first thing that my mind goes to is 1981, Indiana Jones, right?

And the and the Raiders of the Lost Ark.

Great movie, it kind of dates me, but that was kind of my thing back then.

I love that.

Couldn't watch all of it as a kid because some of the stuff at the end, anyways.

It's like 45 years old.

You've probably seen it before.

But we have Indiana Jones, he's he's trying to get this treasure in this in this kind of temple.

And he's going through and he's and he's navigating, and arrows are shooting, boulders are rolling, and it's this grand adventure.

He gets in this one room where there's this stone on a table.

And he gets to the stone and he's alive, and he and he takes a bag with sand, if you remember.

I think he takes some out or puts some in there, because he wants to get the right weight of what that stone is.

And he's up there and he's and he's real close to his sweat beating off of his forehead.

Because you know, if he if it's the wrong thing, there's gonna be traps.

And so he he takes the stone and he's able to put it on there.

Does it works out in the end, he ends up getting out.

Right?

That treasure, that archaeology treasure, actually was used to find another treasure in the movie, which was the Ark of the Covenant.

And so I start thinking of treasures, and archaeologists have a complete difference of what a treasure is.

It could be some scribbling on a scroll somewhere or a piece of pottery or something.

And treasures come in all shapes and sizes.

Would you agree?

Some items are kind of collected, some are inherited, some are even hobbies.

Some treasures are people.

It could be our friends.

Have you ever heard this saying?

One man's trash is another man's treasure.

Right?

I know wives are looking at their husbands now.

For many, it's a car or a truck.

I love our cruise-ins.

We have a cruise-in once a month during the uh summer time frame where people bring in some of their treasures.

Family heirlooms, cars that remind them of better days, toys, projects.

For a lot of people, that car or that truck or even some motorcycles are their treasure.

And you can tell because of how they care for them.

I mean, they bring a rag with them and they're wiping it down every destination they get to.

It's a basic Christian principle, isn't it?

How we handle what we have, how we handle our health, how we handle our time, and yes, even how we handle our own wealth.

Kind of markers of our character, kind of a temperature gauge, if you will, of where our relationship with God is, is how we handle treasure.

So, first thing I want to talk about here, it picks right up there in chapter 7 is how we handle riches, how we handle treasure.

If you look back right there in verses 9 and 10, there's a little bit of a glimpse that says, But for those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, right?

So we're talking about those who want to be rich.

And then 10 says, For the love of money is what is the root of all kinds of evil.

So Paul there is really talking about those who are not yet rich but want to be rich.

And we know that doesn't always end up well.

So we're not talking about people who are trying to earn money to care for their family, or try to earn money to even save for retirement.

That's not what we're talking about.

So being rich just for wealth's sake is what he's warning against.

But then he says this in 17 As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy.

Hey, this is what he's saying.

He's saying, All of you who are rich in this world's wealth, don't be so full of yourself, don't be so obsessed with money, because you know that wealth will come and go, right?

He said, Instead, but focus on God who meets your needs with everything, and then he says, to enjoy.

Just not meeting your needs, but to enjoy.

So we have to define a few things.

It says, For the rich in this present age.

So who's rich?

I know immediately thinking that's not me.

I'm not rich.

Well, in this text, if you have more than you need, if you have excess, if you were like me last night standing in front of my wardrobe saying, which shirt do I want to wear tomorrow?

I know some people, it's which one's clean or ironed.

Or which pair of pants or which shoes.

Some people, which car am I gonna drive to church?

Some people have Sunday cars that they drive.

Guess what?

You're rich.

Those of you who can go to a fast food place and say, Yes, I will take the extra large.

Quite frankly, those of you can go to fast food places.

Those of you who had designer brands, those of you who had more than what you need.

So guess what?

I'm rich.

You're rich.

If he's saying, hey, as for the rich, that's us, and if we all say we're rich.

So as for the rich in this present age, so he's saying, in this world, in this time, so you're saying, okay, I'm safe because he's talking to Timothy and Ephesus.

Yes, he is talking to them, but he's this text, the way this is written, it also saying it's yes to you too here in Chesapeake at this time.

So we identify we're all rich, and it applies to us during this time.

He's saying, this time and this place.

Even from a just a to give us another perspective, let's think about this in our own little worlds.

Medium income, joint income in Chesapeake is 95,000, 80, 18% higher than the national average.

Average house in Chesapeake, 400 to 430,000.

Average, greater than the national average.

If we take a step even back and look at the world, average income in the UK, 45,000 to 55,000.

Germany, 55 to 65,000, Japan, 40 to 50,000.

The rest of the world, talking about those who don't have like large cities and developments,$20,000.

If you make$35,000, so that's some people who work part-time jobs, fast food,$35,000, you are in the top percent, 10% of earners in the world.

Now, if you're big money, like a firefighter, maybe your wife's a nurse, and you're pulling in over$100,000, you are in a top 1%.

Top 1% of the world.

Billions upon billions of people in this world make less than$20,000.

So we can establish that we're rich, right?

That this is to us.

Paul is not slamming them for being rich.

But what he is doing is he's giving them a warning.

And what the text says, he's giving them a charge.

He's charging them.

He's saying, listen, avoid danger.

Here's the charge.

Do not be haughty.

Some of your translations may say arrogant, some people will say high-minded or even prideful.

He's saying, hey, listen, don't be haughty, don't be prideful, don't be arrogant about your riches.

Why should we not be prideful?

Let's take a look.

Proverbs 16, 18 says, What?

Pride goes before the destruction and the haughty spirit before the fall.

James 4, 6 says this, but he gives more grace.

Therefore, it says, God opposes the proud, but he gives grace to the humble.

He's saying, Don't put your faith in riches.

Don't put your faith in riches.

And just like in verse 9 and 10, for those who wish to be rich, our hopes should not be focused on gaining wealth, gaining prestige, gaining worldly accomplishments, but our hope should be on God.

So we're not to be haughty.

If we're not to be prideful, what are we to be?

Well, the opposite of those things, high-minded and pride is having what?

Humility.

It's being humble.

Didn't say being broke, it's saying being humble.

Which you have to understand back in that text.

To the Greek, that was very anti-Greek to be humble.

So he was counterculture here in this.

C.S.

Lewis is attributed to this quote saying this humility is not thinking less of yourself, it's thinking about yourself less.

See, all roads leave to narcissism.

It's about me.

It's about I.

It's about what I need.

He's giving us a warning.

Hey, don't look at the riches.

Avoid putting hope in riches.

Why?

It says right here, because God gives us everything we need, and He is a generous God.

God who gives is really that text is talking about the inclination is bountiful in all things for us to what?

To enjoy for our enjoyment.

Not just meeting our needs, but so much so it's for our enjoyment because God is good.

Hey, see, there is there is no command here that you should give away everything.

That's not what he's saying.

There's no command here that you should take a vow of poverty.

That's not what he's going at.

If we look back at Matthew 19, there's this rich young man who comes in contact with Jesus, right?

And he asks Jesus, hey, how can I have eternal life?

And the rich young man says, I keep all the commandments, I'm doing all the right things.

And this is what Jesus says.

If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven.

And come, follow me.

It says, When the young man heard this, he went on his way sorrowful.

For he had great possessions.

You see, he was not asking him to sell everything because his wealth was evil.

That's not what Jesus was doing.

He wasn't saying your wealth is evil, you need to sell everything.

You see, he was asking him to sell everything because his wealth was his idol.

Do you see the difference?

It's not because it was bad, it's because it was had his heart.

And so he went away sorrowful.

Why?

For he had great possessions.

The truth is, many righteous people suffer and are poor, while many wicked people prosper.

When I think of that statement, I I think of the poor farmer who lives the simple life, has a well-worn Bible and a well-worn pickup truck, and has loves his family and loves the simple things, but yet still suffers.

And then I look at the the Hollywood elite or or the or the wealthy corrupt politicians who seem to operate in impunity and have everything they need, but yet do not know God.

And it doesn't make sense.

I know that's oversimplification, but in my head, that's what I think.

I would say it's very difficult to be wealthy and also have humility.

It's not impossible, but it's difficult.

Matthew 6, verses 19 and 20 say this Do not lay up yourself treasures on earth where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal, for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Matthew 6:19

If you were to close your eyes and think, Where is my treasure?

Where does my mind go to?

What is my treasure in my life?

And then after that, after you have identified what that is in your life, imagine that it's taken away from you.

Imagine that moth and rust did destroy it.

Imagine that a thief did destroy it.

Where would you be?

Where would your thoughts be?

How would you react to that treasure, that earthly treasure in your mind?

And I've had to think about that myself over these last few weeks.

Where is my treasure?

And it brought me right back to the cruise in.

Talked about I love watching those cars and seeing them.

And I covet.

I go there.

I like that.

I like that.

I like to have one of those.

But it takes me back to 2000 some time ago.

I had 2001 Chevy Suburban.

I know you don't think that's like a great car, but it was our family car.

It was equipped with melted crayons in the cup holders from the kids.

I mean, it got us everywhere.

This is before the time.

You remember you used to have consoles where you used to plug in and you could put DVDs and we used to travel.

And then they graduated and they started mounting TVs on the roof interior.

I think we must have had an early one because it burned out from the sun or something.

And I was getting it reinstalled because we like to, we I lived in New Orleans and we had to go back and forth, and I had four children within a short amount of time.

So we're in the mechanic and we're looking at this, and I brought my young son.

He's 28 now, so he's probably not listening, so I can say this.

But he's probably seven or eight at the time.

And we're the me and the mechanic were looking at this, and at some point I feel a little tug on my shirt.

And my son looks and he says, Dad, Dad, look what I did.

Like, okay, I look turn around and I noticed first that he he was holding a screw in his hand.

It's okay, and then he pointed to the the rear quarter panel of my 21, 201, Chevy Suburban Green.

And he had wrote with the screw in the quarter panel, I love football.

I love dad.

Yeah, yeah, you say that now.

Realized a couple things at that moment.

That the Holy Spirit was with me.

My kid could actually spell.

And that truck was not my treasure.

He thought he could just we could just repaint over it.

Not a big deal.

But I recognized and it made me analyze in my mind what if something was destroyed that I had that I held so dear as my treasure, how would I react?

There's a message for us here in the church today, here at River Oak.

And for us to put our eyes and the only real treasure that makes any difference at all, and that is God.

The one that has been there in all eternity, the one that will never leave us, the one that will never forsake us, the one that rust and moth cannot destroy, the one that cannot be stolen.

The one that is there forever, the one that will never fail us.

Putting our hopes in God.

So Paul's saying, hey, here's a warning.

Watch out for this.

Watch out for this.

Instead, pivot and focus on the only thing that matters, which is God.

And then he continues to say, Hey, this is what not to do.

And then here, this is what you should do.

This is the duties that we have to fulfill.

We see that in the next verse.

It says, They are to do good, they are to be rich in good works, they are to be generous, they are to be ready to share.

He goes on from what not to focus on, for for us for what to focus on.

To do good.

What does that mean?

That means to do really good things.

Right?

It means to do really good things.

Not something superficial, but something good.

Not something shallow, but something lasting, something meaningful, something that can be passed on.

And when I'm talking about doing good, almost always in my life that requires sacrifice on my behalf.

Yes, it's in abundance many times, but what I mean by that is instead of me saying, I just want some me time, I just want to watch this movie and do this, instead of going and helping somebody who really needs my help, using the resources that I may have to help them, or saying, I really wanted to purchase this and buy this.

I needed to buy another thing that I have.

Instead of doing that, maybe helping somebody or getting backpacks for some kids at Oscar Smith.

Something simple.

That's what it's talking about, but doing good.

Then he he follows up, he says, not only do good, he says, rich and good works.

So now he's bringing works into this, rich and good deeds, not necessarily wealth.

You see, good works moves past just giving money.

Many times a money gift is appropriate.

I'm just gonna be honest.

If you drink coffee or water and you're enjoying the the air conditioned space and the seat you're in and the power of this church, there is money needs to be involved in there in some way, shape, or form.

Now we can do it without it.

We can meet in a parking lot or in a field 100%.

A little sweatier, but we could do it.

But it moves past that.

It means doing good things for people, it means sharing life with people, it means walking with others in their relationship with Christ.

That's all that's what regen is about.

If you're if you're tracking regeneration that we do at the churches, it's peer to peer, it's walking with individuals through their trials.

All good works that provide a lasting impression.

So do good, reach in good works, and then that third one, it says, be generous.

That word really meaning being bountiful, being liberal in what you're doing.

It's exactly what it says.

If you were to look at our webpage andor if you go through a membership class, you have to understand that our church has these things we call measures.

They're measures.

Meaning I can look at these statements and kind of lay it over my own life, my own walk, and see kind of a spiritual gauge of where I am.

One of the measures that we have is am I living generously?

Am I living generously?

What does that mean?

What does that mean?

Am I generous with my time?

Yes, it absolutely means that.

Am I generous with my resources?

Yes, it absolutely means that.

You see these individuals for the rock builders who are standing up there, those guys and gals can swing hammers, they can hang drywall, they can lift things and put them down.

They are being generous with their resources.

Does it mean being generous with your money?

Yes, it does.

Just like the young ruler, God's not interested in your money or your resources, your time.

He's interested in your heart.

And you can look at somebody's bank account.

You can pull up your app, USAA, Navy Federal, whatever, and you can look at it.

Maybe you got an old ledger.

My wife still actually writes stuff down on a legal pad where she tracks things.

But you can look at that and I can look at yours and I can tell you what's important in your life.

Maybe it's convenience because it's all Amazon orders.

Maybe it's food because you like food.

Maybe it's entertainment.

But I guarantee I can look at that and tell you what's important in your life.

I also can probably look at your calendar.

However you take it, on your phone, if you have a calendar on your refrigerator like we do, or a desk, and I can see what you have listed on that calendar and show you what is important in your life.

It says we need to focus on God.

It says we need to do good, rich and good works, be generous.

And the fourth one says we need to be ready to share.

What that means is ready to communicate, to not grumble when you do these things.

Oh, I gotta do this again.

A church is asking for this, or I gotta do this.

What about me?

Grumbling, saying, don't do that, saying, don't grumble in this.

Imagine you are a caretaker of a billionaire.

Elon Musk said, You can manage my finances and you can be generous.

Would you complain?

Uh it's not your money.

This is what he is saying: freely giving without grudging.

So why?

Hey, don't do this.

Focus on God.

Do these these things right here.

Why?

Thus storing up, this is verse 19, thus storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of which is truly life.

Laying up, literally in the Greek term, talks about to amass a treasure, to gather a treasure.

Next it says, for what?

For a good foundation.

Translated, familios, which translates basically to a fund.

A fund, what I mean is like a mutual fund or an index fund, something that you are to save for the future.

Basically saying amassing for themselves a good, sound fund for the future.

And we all can think through that through a 401k or a Roth or a traditional IRA or a 529 or whatever you do for future times.

Kids, those are all like statements that you're supposed to save money if you didn't know what I was talking about.

That's not what he's talking about.

He's talking about the other things that do good, rich in good works, and be generous.

He's talking about the things that you invest in as you're focusing on God.

By doing good, by being rich in good works, and by being generous, you are building a good, solid foundation as the building arises for the future that will go on and on and on.

Why?

Which truly is life.

You see, these things produce a life that is not focused on self, but puts the focus on God and what He is doing in your life and in the life of others.

You guys see the picture here.

It's not about the treasures, it's not about that.

It's where is your focus in that?

I have found in my own life, the more I'm focused on God, or the more I'm focused on other people, the less I'm struggling about the things I want.

They become way less significant in my life.

Go on a mission trip, serve others, and you'll see what I'm talking about.

Verses 17 and 19 kind of encapsulate to this.

And so let me just share this illustration.

There's a group of uh of men here that go hiking every spring and fall here at the church.

And they usually pick a place, Appalachian Trail, type it's a three-day, two-night hike.

Okay, but here's the deal.

If you go on this hike, you have to carry everything that you need to survive for those three days.

So I've gone on a couple times.

If you go with me, I'm not carrying your stuff.

Okay, I'm not.

So weight plays a factor, right?

The more comfortable you want to be, guess what?

The heavier the bag is gonna be.

There is a guy on this trip, and I won't say his name, Brandon Smith, that cuts his toothbrush in half.

Because you know how heavy that back end of the toothbrush can be.

So it's a real thing.

This is a real deal here.

There is like cutting of like foam that you sit on instead of a chair.

It's a real thing.

So comfort versus necessity is really there.

Now imagine you fill your backpack with bricks or unnecessary items that will only slow you down and cause discomfort.

The truth is, we spend our lives filling our backpacks with money, possessions, status, forgetting that none of that crosses into eternity.

Paul is reminding Timothy and reminding us that wealth is not the destination, it is just the equipment for the journey.

A question to you is are you carrying treasures that are weighing you down?

Or are you investing in the things that last forever?

So he's giving us a warning.

Hey, this is how you need to handle riches.

And then he says, Hey, don't handle it this way, don't get so focused on that.

Get focused on God and then do these very practical things.

Be good, help people out, be generous, communicate.

And then he pivots here in verse 20.

And he's saying, Hey, guard the faith.

Oh Timothy, guard the deposit, entrusted to you.

Avoid the irreverent babble and the contradictions of what is falsely called knowledge.

For professing it, some have swerved from the faith.

Grace be to you.

He's saying, Guard the deposit.

I'm giving you this information, this faith that I'm entrusting in you.

Guard this deposit.

All this wisdom that I'm sharing with you.

Man and how to manage the church.

Keep hold of this.

Have you ever given information to somebody and it's really good information and they need to hear it?

And they're just staring at you with like deer in the headlights.

You're like, write this down.

Many times it's to your kids.

But sometimes it's a teacher saying to their students, hey, by the way, this is gonna be on the test.

You might want to remember this.

This is what this letter is.

He's giving us a warning, and he's telling us how to live.

This is what you must do.

And by the way, while you're listening and you're guarding this, he said, Hey, don't listen to the Babel.

This these empty voices, this word babelios means unsacred or outside of sacred place.

All this nonsense, this dribble.

Don't listen to it.

Or don't listen to the contradictions.

Picture the word contradictions as you're having three documents in place and you're looking at them and you're you're contrasting and comparing them and try to refute some information.

Because what they were dealing with was people, the babble and the contradictions of what?

Of the knowledge.

So what is the knowledge in which he is referencing?

Well, that knowledge would have been in the early church this Gnostic heresy.

I don't know if you've ever heard of this not of Gnosticism.

Just a real quick thumbnail sketch of what that looks like in the Gnostic heresy.

It's where they people claimed, Gnostics claimed, that people were not saved by faith in Christ, but by possessing a secret, higher knowledge that only a select few could receive.

There's a few tenets that they believe.

First, they believed that all matter was evil, that only the spirit counted.

So flesh was evil.

Everything physical was evil.

But we know God created the physical world, and he said in 131 that it was what?

It was good.

They also say that Jesus was not truly human, that he was not truly human.

They believe that physical bodies were bad, so how could Jesus be part of a physical body?

The problem is the word became flesh and dwelt among us.

Some claim that Jesus only appeared to have a body.

There is this dossietism, which basically says that Christ became God after baptism and before he was crucified, spirit left them.

That's where they get their information.

And then the third thing, they would say, salvation comes only through secret knowledge.

That you had to have some spiritual truth available only to an elite group.

But we know God has made his word plain and available to all, to whoever would believe.

We know Jesus goes on missions and says you have to do two things repent and believe.

Not complicated, right?

Repent.

Understand you're a sinner, right?

Hey, God, I'm a sinner.

I make mistakes.

I need a savior.

Repent means to walk and turn away from your sin and run towards God.

He says you have to do this and then believe.

Believe that Jesus was born of a virgin, lived a perfect life, died on the cross as a sacrifice or big word propitiation for us.

Died, rose again three days later in an earthly form.

All why?

To give us access to eternal life in a relationship with Him.

Simple.

So it's not as complicated as the Gnostics would say.

You say, Hey, do we have the Gnostics today?

We do.

They just say things differently like, hey, truth is whatever you discover within yourself.

Maloney.

They'll say something like, Hey, Jesus is one spiritual guide among many.

So there are still falsehoods being spread.

But he is saying, don't focus on that babble, those contradictions, but focus on what?

The one and true God.

Guard what you have been taught, Timothy.

Avoid the noise, avoid these teachings.

Remember, this text in Timothy points to not only his duty that he was supposed to take care of in the church there in Ephesus, but to our duty.

And we have to remember that one of the highest forms of worship that we can have is that is duty.

Romans 12, 1 and 2 talks about that, right?

Hey, present your bodies as a living sacrifice.

Right?

That is our duty.

Imagine someone gave you$100,000 to hold for the month.

You had$100,000 to hold for a month while they were away.

Now this money wasn't yours to spend as you please.

You were expected to return this money intact.

You were expected to return it intact.

Your role was not ownership, but your role was stewardship.

Paul ends 1 Timothy here with that exact same idea.

Timothy has been entrusted with something way more valuable than money.

He was entrusted with the gospel.

He was entrusted with God's word.

Our calling is not to alter this.

Our call is not to hide this, but to faithfully preserve and pass this on to the next generation.

And that's the same cry that he gave to Timothy way back in Ephesus in that time.

You see, everything we possess, everything we possess, including our resources, including our influences, and I see great faithful Christians do that.

Business owners who leverage their influences for the case of Christ and the gospel.

I see that every day.

As we trust in God, there is a faithfulness that is measured not by how much we have, how much that we can accumulate, but it's measured by how well we steward what has been entrusted in us.

So as we as we close and as we leave, I want you to think to yourself, what is my treasure?

Where is my treasure?

And after you identify that, what would happen if that was gone?

If you have any answer apart from Christ, you need to reevaluate.

So as we go in this week, I want you to think about that.

I want you to pray about that.

And as we as we get ready to sing this last worship song, this is a chance to you to come and to give God his words back.

Because that's what the words are.

That's what these songs are.

Or his words that we're we're singing in worship back to him.

We're praying to yourself.

God, reveal this treasure in me and allow me to engage my treasure and refocus that on to you.

The one thing that will last for eternity.

Maybe that's not you.

Maybe you don't have a relationship with God.

And you need to do that thing that Jesus went on to do to call people to repent and believe.

But that could be you this morning.

And I can't think of a better time than as we get ready to sing for you to make that decision.

So if you pray with me, Lord, I just thank you.

I thank you for your word.

I thank you for the goodness.

I thank you for the faithfulness.

And Lord, the hundreds of people in this room.

Each have their own circumstance.

Each are dealing with their own trials, their own tribulations.

And Lord, each carry their own treasure.

They have something that they look to.

I know it's hard because sometimes treasures can be the loved ones that we have around us.

But Lord, when we look in the eyes of eternity, we know none of that lasts.

We know the only thing that lasts is our relationship with you.

So I pray that you prick our hearts and you draw us closer to you, Lord.

Allow us to refocus on where our priorities are.

Lord, we thank you for just even allowing us to be here, Lord.

We Lord, we pray that people respond.

We thank you for all these things in Jesus Christ's name.

Amen.

Hey, we are glad you could join us this morning.

We pray that this message speaks life into your walk with Jesus.

If you don't have a home church, we'd love to see you in person.

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