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Published: April 5, 2015, 11:26 p.m.

Welcome to Freedom Church!

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Welcome to the last installment of this wonderful series: Be Rich.\xa0

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This series really has little to do with money and more to do with our mind set as a steward of all of God\u2019s resources He has given to us.

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Money is just part of those resources.\xa0\xa0 The gifts He\u2019s given to us\u2026 like our children\u2026 our spouse\u2026 jobs\u2026friendships\u2026 the talents\u2026 are you living for yourself or others?

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Title: Rich Towards God

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Our theme passage and series comes from this incredible instruction from Paul to Timothy here in\u2026

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(1 Timothy 6:17-19)(NIV) Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life.

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-Present Word\u2026\xa0\xa0 why would he say that?\xa0 It\u2019s because there is another world we live in.\xa0 Another mind-set that says: I want it all!\xa0 NOW!\xa0 Earthly mindset.. when there is another world to live by.\xa0

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-In this way\u2026. Meaning\u2026 when you have an eternal mindset- being rich toward others while you\u2019re here knowing you are going to a better place\u2026 you\u2019ll unlock life that is truly life.\xa0

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Pastor Ryan did a great job helping us understand that rich doesn\u2019t mean just financial.\xa0

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Rich means\u2026.More than you need.

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That\u2019s a different mindset.\xa0\xa0 This world says\u2026 get more for yourself\u2026.

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Eternal mindset says\u2026. God has blessed me with more than I need\u2026. so I will live my life doing my best to make an eternal difference\u2028in the life of others.

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So\u2026. I want to challenge you to not just leave here today and say\u2026.

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Yea\u2026 I\u2019m rich, I want to be able to make an eternal difference.\xa0\xa0 No\u2026 all great things that happen, happen when we have a plan\u2026 a strategy if you will.\xa0

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So here\u2019s a question for you to ask yourself.

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What is my giving strategy?

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Pastor Ryan shared his with us last week.\xa0\xa0 Here\u2019s the thing\u2026. We aren\u2019t saying you have to have OUR strategy, we are simply saying\u2026.just have one.\xa0

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Because here\u2019s what I know to be true.\xa0\xa0

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If you don\u2019t have a strategy for your resources, I promise you, this present world will.\xa0

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IOW- Your strategy to manage the resources God gives you is your filter.

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TIME- We want you to work 70 hours a week and be on call during the weekend and you have 3 kids in sports.\xa0\xa0 That\u2019s the job offer\u2026\xa0

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You have to process that through your FILTER\u2026your strategy of managing the resources God has given you\u2026 (your marriage, kids) and make the decision.

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People who live by this world just jump in and say\u2026YEP!\xa0 I\u2019ll do it and their family suffers and their marriage falls apart and they get upset at God over it.\xa0

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Same is true for your money and other resources\u2026. What is your giving strategy?

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A mindset that is about eternity would have this type of giving strategy:

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Eternal Giving Strategy:

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1. I will intentionally share my stuff.

Remember\u2026it\u2019s not just money\u2026that\u2019s part of it, but your car\u2026.your truck to help people move.. your ability to fix things for people like me who know hardly anything about fixing things\u2026..

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Your house for example\u2026\xa0 would you intentionally share your home to have a small group in so that others can grow to become more like Jesus?

-The question is\u2026

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Am I leveraging what I have for eternal purposes?

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Again\u2026we are talking about an eternal giving strategy\u2026.\xa0

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2. I will intentionally share my time.

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One of the major problems we have in our PRESENT WORLD is that we do not live with margin.

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With our money, our stuff\u2026and certainly with our time.\xa0

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I think more people would give more time to eternal things if they could, but they are stretched too thin as it is.\xa0 No margin.\xa0\xa0 Just like money.\xa0

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We didn\u2019t have a strategy and overcommitted our money, our time in this point\u2026 and instead of taking hold of life that is truly life\u2026.guess what\u2019s happening\u2026. We are letting LIFE take hold of us and we are trying to hold on for the ride.\xa0 And it\u2019s not fun.

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So\u2026. Make the decision today friend.\xa0 Call time out on the field and say\u2026 I will be intentional with my time.\xa0\xa0 I\u2019m going to reorder my life and be intentional with my time.\xa0

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(Ephesians 5:11-16)(MSG) Don\u2019t waste your time on useless work, mere busywork, the barren pursuits of darkness. Expose these things for the sham they are. It\u2019s a scandal when people waste their lives on things they must do in the darkness where no one will see. Rip the cover off those frauds and see how attractive they look in the light of Christ. Wake up from your sleep, Climb out of your coffins; Christ will show you the light! So watch your step. Use your head. Make the most of every chance you get. These are desperate times!

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How?\xa0 Get on a serving team here\u2026 go through growth track and we will help you with your strategy to make the most of your time.\xa0

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The 3rd part of my strategy is\u2026

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3. I will intentionally share Christ.

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Here\u2019s the thing\u2026.\xa0\xa0

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Let\u2019s say by some crazy amazing super-hero ability, you knew that your friend had cancer and no one else did.\xa0 Would you tell them?\xa0

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Sure\u2026 else, what kind of a friend are you?\xa0\xa0\xa0

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Of course\u2026.you\u2019d tell them\u2026.why?\xa0 Because you would want them to know and to do everything they can to try to live.\xa0

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Please listen to me church.\xa0\xa0 Every single day\u2026.right here in our own community\u2026people are taking their last breath and facing either Heaven or Hell.\xa0

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You have an ability to know whether or not someone will live forever with Jesus in Heaven or in Hell.\xa0\xa0 To KNOW this and not share it with your friend would be a crime.\xa0

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I know\u2026I know the biggest reason is fear.\xa0 What will they say?

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Listen\u2026let the fear of them spending eternity in Hell be greater than the fear of them hurting your feelings for a moment.\xa0

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To help you in your strategy to share Christ, we make this a place where you can invite your friends.\xa0 We aren\u2019t going to do anything spooky, kooky or weird but we will give them an invitation to know Jesus every service.\xa0

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We have invite cards for you today to help you have that discussion with them.

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It\u2019s why we planted this church\u2026.. we decided as a family that we would intentionally share Christ and the best way we knew how to do that was to plant a church\u2026. And get this\u2026 since we opened the doors\u2026 1, 839 people made a decision to commit or recommit their lives to Jesus.\xa0

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Why have a strategy?\xa0 Because eternity matters.\xa0

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One of the things I love about scripture is how something written so long ago applies to our lives right here and now.\xa0

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Jesus knew we would have a tendency to store up for ourselves the resources we are given.\xa0 He knew we\u2019d think it was \u201cnormal\u201d to save things for later\u2026. So, in Luke, He tells this Parable\u2026.this story\u2026.and example..which is exactly how we are living now\u2026.

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(Luke 12:16-19)(NIV) And he told them this parable: \u201cThe ground of a certain rich man yielded an abundant harvest. He thought to himself, \u2018What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.\u2019 \u201cThen he said, \u2018This is what I\u2019ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store my surplus grain. And I\u2019ll say to myself, \u201cYou have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.\u201d

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IOW- he thought he had plenty of time to enjoy it all\u2026if you don\u2019t live with eternity in mind\u2026this sounds great.\xa0\xa0 But look at what God says to him\u2026

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(Luke 12:20-21)(NIV) \u201cBut God said to him, \u2018You fool!

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Not because he was rich, but because he didn\u2019t know what to do with his richness.\xa0

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This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?\u2019

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And look at what Jesus says\u2026.this is the point of the story\u2026. Check it out\u2026.

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\u201cThis is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God.\u201d

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So, because we love you\u2026 because we want you to live with eternity in mind, we want you to be rich toward God.\xa0

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How do I do that?\xa0

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Being rich towards God means I value:

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Stewardship over ownership.

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I\u2019m going to realize that nothing is mine anyway, I\u2019m a steward\u2026a manager of God\u2019s.\xa0

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EVERYTHING I have..not just the 10%, the whole thing\u2026 all my \u201cstuff\u201d I manage not based on what I like, but I find out what He likes and try my best to manage it that way.\xa0

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People over possessions.

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Why?\xa0 Because possessions burn\u2026.people last forever.\xa0

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This is why a portion of what you give today goes to Stella\u2019s voice.\xa0 What\u2019s Stella\u2019s voice?\xa0 A place that rescues people stuck in sex trafficking and finds a new home for them and help them rehabilitate.\xa0 People matter.

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Here\u2019s what I know\u2026this may sting a little but it\u2019s true.\xa0\xa0

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We will live one of two ways.\xa0

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We\u2019ll love people and use money or we\u2019ll love money and use people.

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I say we love people and use our money\u2026our resources to invest in what lasts forever.

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Eternity over temporary.

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Paul speaks to this again\u2026

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(Philippians 3:18-20)(NIV) \u2026many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is on earthly things. But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ.

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Listen\u2026one day He\u2019s coming back\u2026 it\u2019s true\u2026and it will be wonderful to stand before Him and say\u2026. I did my best with what I had to be rich toward God.\xa0 How about you?