Small steps in faith

Sunday, August 15, 2010

"The Test of Material Perspective"

These are my notes from Rob's sermon this am. Very difficult to hear some of the words today because many hit close to home and are strong words.

James 5:1-6


Rob started off giving the story of a photographer who took over 400,000 pictures of JFK.Only a small percentage of those were published. The other negatives were stored in a vault to protect them..but during 9/11/01..they were vaporized by the attack on the twin towers.

When the pulpit shirks it's prophetic obligation, it affects the culture.
James is writing to the church..and some of them attend but are non believers. His words are very strong.

weep and howl= that phrase is the screaming you do when there is no hope, when you can't turn back,when you hit bottom and there is no way up
Matthew 6:19-20

Three reasons for God's tragic condemnation


1. Your riches have deceived you about your future (2-3) and it deceives you right now.
Your riches lie to you right now..Psalm 49: 6-20

2. Your riches have deceived you about your neighbor( v. 4,6)
You believe other people exist to serve you
It separates you and demeans your view of others.
Example..Enron
Many of our friends are in the same financial status as we are

Neighbors exist for us to love and encourage. When we tie our identity to our neighbors we deceive ourselves.
Many who choose not to be in house churches do so because they want to hide...they don't want to invest their time in others.

3. Your riches have deceived you about your comfort. v 5 We build our own little kingdom Luke 12: 16-21
Our hearts become fat..we are feeding our own destruction and storing up wrath for ourselves.

If you aim for heaven you get heaven, if you aim for earth you get Hell.


Six questions and one action


1. How much does the future dictate your spending habits?
2. Are you scared to death of death?
3. Do your buying habits simplify or complicate your life?
4. Do you have a system in place that consistently funnels finances toward kingdom expansion?
5. Do you have a system in place that consistently funnels possessions toward kingdom expansion?
6. Do you have a system in place that consistently funnels yourself toward kingdom expansion?


Action..Always read the Bible with Jesus being the crown jewel of every passage..you can read the whole Bible in a year and totally miss it.
Proverbs 11:4
Proverbs 11:28

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