WHERE IS YOUR TREASURE?

SERMON STARTER

This sermon was born out of the personal pain of betrayal of the people we serve in our ministry. From the time I was told on Tuesday at the conference that our home had been violated until we arrived at home in Sharon, PA, I struggled with indignation and rage. I saw it as a satanic attack on our ministry to the poor. I also saw it as an attack on our faith in God and on our faith in people.

Tuesday evening when we arrived at the conference I asked our HNI leader to pray for us. More than two dozen ministers and wives gathered around us for prayer. Afterwards, one pastor’s wife from Buffalo whispered a prophetic oracle, “Your treasures are safe.”   Our circumstances were the same, but Lois and I felt a measure of peace.

Another interesting thing was that as we had a quick sandwich before leaving for the Tuesday night meeting, I looked over Lois’ shoulder and saw in the sky a perfect rainbow. I’ve seen many rainbows where you could see the start of the bow, but never had I seen BOTH the beginning and the end of the perfect bow. Two words came to me from this experience:

1) Completion, and

          “being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work                 in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ;” Philippians 1:6

2) Promise.

          "The rainbow shall be in the cloud, and I will look on it to remember the

everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh

that is on the earth." Genesis 9:16

          The Lord kept bringing this scripture to my heart over and over, “Where your treasure is, there your heart is also. Where is YOUR treasure? Lois and my personal long-term savings were in a supposedly safe part of the stock market in mutual funds. In two weeks our savings have been reduced by 10%. Where is OUR treasure? It’s not in self-indulgent stuff that moth and rust corrupt and thieves break through and steal. This sermon explores the real source of treasure.

Pastor Phil   <><<

October 12, 2008

Sheepfold Ministries, Pastor Phil Roland

 

WHERE IS YOUR TREASURE?

 LUKE 12:15-20
What do you value most in this life: Money, fame possessions? Jesus taught that these things are transient. Only what we do for Him will last.  Pastor Phil

 

"Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head." Matthew 8:20

 

Pastor’s Wife Oracle / Prophesy at the Conference:

          “Your treasures are safe”

 

I. WHAT DO YOU TREASURE?

          A. World’s Equation of Prosperity

                        1. Personal Security: “Are you set? I’m set.”

                        2. Money

                        3. Stock, Bonds, Securities

                        4. Property, Houses and Land

                        5. Materialism: Mindless Pursuit of the things Money can buy

                        6. Material Stuff: Electronics, Gadgets, Personal Entertainment

                        7. Power and Influence over Others (Control)

                        8. Sophistication and World Travel

                        9. Acceptance into Society

                     10. Drugs / Alcohol

          B. God’s Treasure is Jesus – Matthew 6:19-21

            ”Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust

destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves

treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where

thieves do not break in and steal. "For where your treasure is, there your

heart will be also.”

            1. Enjoying Good Personal Health

            2. Having a Healthy Family / Progeny

            3. Finding and Following God’s Will

            4. Service to Christ and His Body

            5. Ability to meet your immediate needs

                        6. Having a surplus to reach out with the Love of Christ to those less fortunate

 

II. THE RICH MAN SOUGHT / VALUED WORLDLY TREASURES

1. A.     The Problem of Covetousness – Luke 12:15

“And He said to them, "Take heed and beware of covetousness, for one's life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses."

            1. Comparing yourselves with others

2. Avarice, Greediness

3. Unhealthy Desire for Overabundance

Where is your Treasure?, cont.   

B. The Foolish Man Plans for an Early Retirement

                        1. Life is transient – James 4:13,14

                        “Come now, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit";  whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away.”

2. Job Feels Hopeless about it – Job 7:6

"My days are swifter than a weaver's shuttle, And are spent without hope.”

                   3. Poem: “The Clock of Life”

The Clock of Life is wound but once

            And no man hath the power

To say just when the hands will stop

            At late or early hour.

 

Now only is the time thine own

            To live and love and toil with a will

Put no faith in tomorrow

            For the clock may then be still!

 

    C. The Foolish Man has to answer to God about Wrong Priorities

                 Luke 12:20

            "But God said to him, 'Fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?'”

                        1. Every man must give an account of themselves to God

                       Hebrews 9:27

                            “And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment,”

                        2. It is Urgent that we use our Time wisely

                        3. Time Poem:

                                    I have only just a minute,

Only sixty seconds in it,

                                    Forced upon me

                                                Can't refuse it;

                                    Didn't seek it

                                                Didn't choose it;

                                    But It's up to me to use it.

                                                I must suffer if I lose it

                                    Give account if I abuse it.

                                    Just a tiny little minute

                                                But, eternity is in it!

III. WHAT WILL YOU DO ABOUT YOUR PRIORITIES?

“Trust in the LORD with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths.” Proverbs 3:5,6

 

 

WHERE IS YOUR TREASURE?, Text:

Luke 12:15-20

The Rich Materialistic Fool

And He said to them, "Take heed and beware of covetousness, for one's life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses."

16  Then He spoke a parable to them, saying: "The ground of a certain rich man yielded plentifully.

17  "And he thought within himself, saying, 'What shall I do, since I have no room to store my crops?'

"So he said, 'I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build greater, and there I will store all my crops and my goods.

19  'And I will say to my soul, "Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years; take your ease; eat, drink, and be merry."'

20  "But God said to him, 'Fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?'