God's Plan For Financial Peace - The Speed Version - Part 1

November 2, 2008

Prayer -

Heavenly Father, we thank You for Your word which guides and directs us. We thank You for Your word which tells us our status before You, that we are saved through the blood of Jesus Christ. We thank You and praise You for that. We thank You that as we live our life here in this world that Your Word guides and directs us particularly in regard to supplying our needs. Thank You, Lord, that you have a plan for all of us. Help us this day to hear Your Word and to hear Your plan. And we pray this in Jesus’ Name. Amen.

Scripture Readings-

The first reading today from the Book of Deuteronomy is very interesting, it tells about Israel in the desert. Money didn’t do the people any good in the desert; what was important to them was food and God supplied a food called manna. He worked a miracle every day supplying food. Manna had another purpose also and that was to test the people, to ease their worries and to build trust in God.

First Reading – Deuteronomy 8:2-4  Remember how the LORD your God led you all the way in the desert these forty years, to humble you and to test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands. He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your fathers had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD. Your clothes did not wear out and your feet did not swell during these forty years.

In our next reading, Israel has entered the Promised Land. There was plenty of food there and   they didn’t need money, they just moved into the houses and cities, it was a pre-built community. So how was God going to test them, to ease their worry, and to build trust? He didn’t have to use manna anymore, this time he used war.

  Second Reading – Judges 3:1-4   These are the nations the LORD left to test all those Israelites who had not experienced any of the wars in Canaan.(he did this only to teach warfare to the descendents of the Israelites who had not had previous battle experience): the five rulers of the Phhilistines, all the Canaanites, the Sidonians, and the Hivites living in the Lebanon mountains from Mount Baal Hermon to Lebo Hamath. They were left to test the Israelites to see whether they would obey the Lord’s commands, which he had given their forefathers through Moses.

Now we move into the New Testament. Again, God wants to test the people, to ease their worries and to build trust. How did He do that? A crowd was following Jesus, more than five thousand people, it was dinnertime and there was no food except for five loaves of bread and two fish. Jesus used the five loaves and two fish to build trust.      

Gospel – Matthew 14:13-21  When Jesus heard what had happened, he withdrew by boat privately to a solitary place. Hearing of this, the crowds followed him on foot from the towns. When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them and healed their sick. As evening approached, the disciples came to him and said, “This is a remote place, and it’s already getting late. Send the crowds away, so they can go to villages and buy themselves some food.” Jesus replied, “They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat.” “We have here only five loaves of bread and two fish”, they answered. .”Bring them here to me”, he said. And he directed the people to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then he gave them to the disciples and the disciples gave them to the people. They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples gave them to the people. They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over. The number of those who ate was about five thousand men, besides women and children.

Sermon –

You don’t have to be in this congregation very long to know that God never sends us through anything unless He has first prepared us. So many people have said that the Sermon or Bible Study on Sunday prepared them for what they would face on Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday. A couple of years ago when the floods hit in Alstead, remember how God prepared us? He prepared us spiritually, mentally, and emotionally because we spent two weeks talking about our personal disaster plan so that if disaster ever hit we would be prepared. And, lo and behold, two weeks later it hit – but we were prepared. God never sends us through anything unless He first prepares us.

This year is no exception. It’s been a disastrous couple of months as far as stocks, the economy, and trying to provide for our family. But here’s how you see God in control. A year ago before all these economic problems hit, Rob Lee who is our Director of Stewardship said “We need to offer a course on finances here at Trinity”. God moved us to do that, He prepared us, because He knew about the economic problems that would surface this year. What a great God!

And you folks here at Trinity know that if God has us do a topic in Bible Study, He’s preparing us for something, so you signed up for the course. The course if full now and we want to offer it again in the winter or spring and will continue to offer it as long as people want to take it. But, for the people who haven’t taken the course, the problem is that you need help right now and that’s why we’re doing this sermon series. This is the “Speed Version” of God’s plan from the Bible for financial peace. We’re going to hit on some important topics from the Bible in regard to money so that you don’t get wiped out during this financial situation and so that you have peace. This is not even the Reader’s Digest Condensed Version – this is the “Speed Version”. So take this, digest it, use it and watch for future courses of the Financial Peace University to really solidify this stuff and get your finances in order.

A lot of this stuff is going to seem really bizarre, it’s going to seem as though it doesn’t work. But you have to remember that in the Bible God always sends people through situations that look like they aren’t going to work. In Bible Study this morning we’re going to take this to the next level when we talk about Gideon going into battle in such a fashion that people said wouldn’t work but did work.. So don’t get shook up by the content. This stuff works and if you don’t believe me and if you don’t believe people in this congregation for whom it already works, then believe, as they call themselves, “The Most Trusted Name in News” – CNN!

About a month ago CNN ran a story for two days about a lady who was in deep financial trouble - thousands of dollars in credit card debt, who worried day and night about money and didn’t know where her next meal was coming from. Her church gave her Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace University course, the same one we’re doing here at Trinity, and a year later she was out of debt, worry free in regard to money. She says God’s financial plan works! That’s why we felt it was so important to do this, and you’re getting the “Speed Version” here today and next Sunday. So…

God’s Plan for Financial Peace – The Speed Version

Part I

Step 1) Financial peace begins with being right with God.

A) What good is financial success if we lose our souls to hell (Mark 8:36)

B)  Sin stops God’s help (Isaiah 59:2, Proverbs 10:3, Philippians 4:19)

C)  Christ connects us to God’s help through forgiveness of sin (1John 2:2)

Jesus said, “What good is it if you gain the whole world, what good is it if you have financial peace and your finances are in order if you lose own soul to hell?” We need sin forgiven. The Bible is very, very clear that unless we have sin forgiven, unless we are in Christ, we are cut off from God, cut off from answer to prayer, cut off from God’s help - even God’s financial help. So we need to be reconciled to God and the way to be reconciled to God is to believe that Jesus Christ is your Savior, that He died, and paid for sin. Believe Him on that, trust in Him; that’s forgiveness of sin, that’s reconciliation with God, that is being reconnected to God and the source of God’s financial help.

So let’s do this, please pray with me: Heavenly Father, we confess that we do need a Savior, we confess that our sin separates You from us and it separates us from Your help. We confess our sins to You, Heavenly Father, that we’ve trusted in money more than we’ve trusted in You, how we’ve made bad financial decisions and gotten ourselves in a hole. Heavenly Father, we confess those sins to you trusting in the blood of Jesus Christ for forgiveness. And we pray this in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Know that in Jesus Christ your sins are forgiven, that you are reconnected with God and that you are now the object of God’s help. Whether it’s financial help or any type of help, you are the object of His help – that’s what the Bible tells us and that’s why Step 1 is so important.

Step II)   Understand the two views concerning money

This is where it gets interesting. Man’s view of money and God’s view of money are dramatically different.

A)      Man’s View of Money

        (the source of financial problems)

1.       You own your money - Psalm 24:1  

Man’s view is that you earned it, you worked for it, it’s yours. God has a totally different view. Gods’ view of money is Psalm 24:1, “The earth is the Lord’s and everything in it.” God owns all the money. This is an important step; this is a big eye-opener for financial peace - all the money you have is God’s. Let me give you an illustration. When the markets started crashing about a month ago the two richest men in America, Warren Buffet and Bill Gates lost millions. Does that bother you? How many lost sleep because Warren Buffet and Bill Gates lost millions? When you heard the stock market news, did your stomach get in a knot because Bill Gates and Warren Buffet were losing money that day? No! Why didn’t you worry about that? Because first, it’s not your money and secondly, they have billions. Now transfer that thought to your situation. It’s the first part of November and your financial statements for your retirement account, or the college education fund for the kids is going to come and you’re going to have to open thar envelope and look and see just how much money you’ve lost. You know what you need to do, you need to say, “This doesn’t bother me. It’s not my money! It’s God’s money and He has all the money in the world so what am I worrying about? The money you lost is not your money, it’s God’s money and when God decides you should have some more of it, he will give you some more!

2.       Economic forces and/or your boss sets your income – see Proverbs 22:2

Economic forces or your boss doesn’t set your income. Proverbs 22:2 says God sets our income level for His purposes.

3.       Money is hard to obtain – see Philippians 4;19 and Romans 8:32

That’s man’s view of money. In the Bible God says something quite different. He says what’s hard to obtain because so few people have it and so few people want it is forgiveness of sin and reconciliation with God – that’s hard to obtain! In fact, you need the Holy Spirit to even believe in Christ as Savior – that’s hard to obtain – but God has given it to us as a free gift. Money is not hard  to obtain. Your salvation is hard to obtain because you need the power of the Holy Spirit, you can’t do it on your own, it’s Gods free gift to you. And we go back to Romans 8:32, “He who did not spare his own son but gave him up for us all so that we could be saints and obtain salvation, will he not also, along with Christ give us all things?” And the answer is yes! If he killed his only son for you, providing for your needs, the rest is a piece of cake! Money is not hard to obtain, God has it all and when He decides you need some, He will give it to you.

4.       Money’s worth is determined by its face value – see Mark 12:41-44

No it isn’t. From man’s view money’s value is determined by how many zeros there are behind the number on the bill. That’s not God’s view. In God’s view, money has a sliding-scale face value. In Mark 12:41-44, Jesus tells a story about people bringing offering to the Lord. A widow put in two little copper coins, a fraction of a penny, and other people were throwing in hundred dollar bills. Jesus said the offering of great value was the widow’s who threw in just two pennies because the value of money with God is not just the face value, the value of money with God is how much does that money get you to trust in God? And that widow trusted in God for everything; she threw in all she had therefore God said her offering was of great value. It’s not the face value, it’s how much the money get’s you to trust in God -   totally different from what the world says. And the story goes on about the widow that she gave all she had to the Lord and then she starved to death in the streets, right? Is that how the story ends? No way – God provides for her! Money is the tool God uses to get us to trust in Him, trust in His plan, and trust in God’s way of viewing money.

5.       Money’s main purpose is to buy things – see Colossians 1:16

No it isn’t. God can supply for your every need without money. Let’s look at Israel in the desert. He supplied their every need without money. Money’s main purpose is not to buy things. Colossians 1:16 says all thing were created by God for Hhis purposes. And what’s God’s purpose? To test faith, to ease our worries and to build our trust in Him, that’s God’s purpose.

6.       Money is evil – see 1 Timothy 6:10

So many people say you shouldn’t talk about money in church because money is evil! I remember when I was in another congregation and at Thanksgiving service, I was thanking God for providing for the needs of the congregation because a couple of years earlier they couldn’t afford to pay their bills and God, who owns all the money in the world, blessed them to the point that three years later they had a $60,000 surplus after all the bills were paid. So, I thanked God for it and a lady wrote a note saying,” I don’t think it’s appropriate to talk about money on Thanksgiving”. She didn’t get it. Money is not evil..1 Timothy 6:10 says “The love of money is the root of all evil.” In God’s eyes, money is very, very good because it is a tool  He can use to get people to trust in him.

7.       Money brings happiness – see Proverbs 15:6 and Ecclesiastes 1:2

It does not! The richest man in the world was Solomon who wrote a book in the Bible called Ecclesiastes where he says that money did not bring him happiness. He wrote, “It’s all meaningless.” If you don’t use money correctly, it cannot work for you, it cannot bring happiness. Do some research on people who have won the lottery, it’s amazing how many of them will say that all their problems started the day they won the money.

So your homework for  this week is to take one of these seven steps, look up the Bible verses, remember what we talked about, meditate on it, and let the Holy Spirit deal with you to change your view of money from mans’ view to God’s view. You will be blessed when you do it and it will be the beginning of financial peace.

B. God’s View of Money

            (the source of financial peace)

1.         Money is simply a tool – See Colossians 1:16

I have some tools - a level, a screwdriver, a flyswatter and a dollar bill. Think of this dollar bill as a tool that God is going to use in your life the same way you use a level, a screwdriver or a flyswatter. That’s the purpose of money, it’s simply a tool. Colossians 1:16 says, “All things (all things - money included) are created by God and for his purposes” Money is simply a tool to help you achieve God’s purpose for your life.

a)    Money tests our faith – Are you going to trust in money or are you going to trust in God? He will test your faith with money because God tests people’s faith all the time.

b)    Money helps us to worry less. When God tests our faith by asking us to do something pretty bizarre, and you have to admit that compared with the world God’s financial principles are pretty bizarre, He asks us to trust Him. And when we see God providing for our needs we begin to worry less. All of you in this congregation who have put your financial situation in God’s hands and have seen God provide for you week after week after week, do you worry less about money? Yes, you do!

c)    Money leads us to trust in God. As God tests our faith and we see Him providing for our needs, we worry less and trust is built.

2.         God uses money the same way He used:

a)      Manna – see Deuteronomy 8:2-4

b)      War – see Judges 3:1-4

c)       Five loaves of bread and two fish – see Matthew 14:13-2

In our Old Testament reading from today, Deuteronomy Chapter 8, we read, “Remember how the LORD your God led you all the way in the desert these forty years, to humble you and to test you!” He tested the people, He said, “I’m not going to use money to test you because money is worthless in the desert, I’m going to use food. And here’s how I’m going to test you - gather only enough food only for that day.” Now human reasoning tells us to gather as much as you can because two days from now there might not be any more, right? And three days from now you might not have any at all. Gather as much as you can, hang on it; store it up because you might not have enough. But God said, “Don’t do that. Gather only enough for that day and that day alone.” And He said that because every day they would be in need, every day they would have to rely on God to send more manna. And day after day as God supplied their need, trust was built, they worried less, and they figured out that it was God who supplied their needs. That was the purpose of manna.

He used war the same way in Judges Chapter 3, “These are the nations the LORD left to test all those Israelites.” War was there to test them. They had plenty of food and didn’t need money because, they had moved into prefab cities and houses. So now He used something else to test them. They needed to go to war and drive out the inhabitants of the land of Canaan; it was a test to see if they were going to do battle God’s way. They had to go into battle and God put them in need by severely limiting their ability to win. Many times they went into battle without weapons. Can you imagine going into battle against great warriors without any weapons and God saying, “I’ll give you the victory”. He did that to test them. And when God caused the victory to happen each day, they worried less and trust was built.

And feeding the five thousand - can you imagine having five thousand men plus the women and children to feed and someone tells you to take five loaves of bread and two fish and hand it out so that everyone will have enough to eat? That’s crazy! It’s not going to work! But it did it work! God tests - are you going to do it His way, are you going to use God’s viewpoint on feeding the crowd? And then when it works, when God does the miracle, you worry less and trust is built. And He does those same things using money.

3.         God’s tools, manna, war,  loaves and fish, and money are all

“Faith Tester Worry Easer Trust Builders”

Whether it is manna, war, five loaves and two fish, or money, it’s a Faith Tester Worry Easer Trust Builder. The name “flyswatter” tells you exactly what it does; the name “screwdriver” tells you exactly what it does. We make a mistake when we call this thing “money”, “moola”, “bucks”, “dollars”, “the mean green”. What is it really? It’s a Faith Tester Worry Easer Trust Builder. I like using that term because it is a tool and the name describes exactly what it does and what God wants us to do; He wants us to see money as a tool as a Faith Tester Worry Easer Trust Builder. If you need five of these for lunch you need five “Faith Tester Worry Easer Trust Builders”. When you have to pay your property taxes, what do you pay it in? You pay it in Faith Tester Worry Easer Trust Builders. This is just like manna, this is just like war, this is just like five loaves and two fish, it’s a tool, it’s a Faith Tester Worry Easer Trust Builder tool.

God has given us some instruction for using the Faith Tester Worry Easer Trust Builder tool and next week we are going to talk about using it. In the meantime, you have your assignment - shift your view from man’s view of money to God’s view of money and every time you have to deal with it you want to look at it as a Faith Tester Worry Easer Trust Builder.

Prayer –

Heavenly Father, we thank You for what the Bible tells us about money, to help us rearrange our thinking that when you test our faith with these paper things, that we would see it as you who provide, that we worry less and that trust in you would be build. Help us to accept, learn and use your financial plan. And we pray all this in Jesus’ Name. Amen.