"The Limits of Abundance"

These are my notes from Rob's sermon last night.
Loved the worship songs .."I Am" by Phil Wing, "You alone" by David Crowder, "Always Forever" by Phil Wickham, "None but Jesus" by Brooke Fraser.

Affluenza is more devastating that influenza.

There are more than 1 million people without clean water..We use 400 to 600 liters/day in the U.S.
There are children starving..we throw away 14% of our food in the U.S
1/3 of Americans own 3 cars.

Consumption is destroying families and churches.

In Luke..Jesus becomes part of a conflict in a family. During this time, Rabbis would settle these conflicts.

There is all kinds of greed..we are all vulnerable to this because we live in western culture.

We need a call for simplicity.

Material abundance is a leading cause of spiritual blindness.

Material abundance can limit your view of:

1. Personal significance..Need to be on watch. Your life does not depend on your abundance of possessions.
Pharisees would often compare themselves to others and justify.

Tim Keller wrote a book "Counterfeit Gods" which deals with putting a perspective on material abundance.
Material abundance locks you into "robot existence"..you are living day to day for yourself not to glorify God.

2. God's provision
God provides the soil, the rain, the sun. We try to switch roles and make ourselves the owner of things and God as the user. We need to give thanks every day for our basic needs being met.

3. View of contentment. When you make more...do you buy more? Needs and wants blur together.

4. Eternal judgment. We are deceived. We are consumed with desire for things..we grab for security..and things come crashing to the ground around us. Eternally God denies us.
What protects our fall? Grabbing the cross not "things"