The Invitations of Jesus, 2; Kingdom Stewardship, 1: "Eternal Investment" Matthew 6:19-21

- Someone once said, "Save a little money each and every month, and at the end of the year, you'll be surprised at just how little you have."

- It's funny, isn't it? Not funny, as in, "ha ha, that was funny," but funny, as in, sad and true.

- When we invest or deposit very little, then we will have very little to show for it.

- That is exactly what Jesus taught about investing in the kingdom of God.

- And Jesus wasn't just talking about being generous with money; he was talking about generosity as a lifestyle.

- Many of us get uncomfortable when pastors start talking about money. Let me comfort you, I am uncomfortable too.

- But if we are going to be faithful followers of Jesus, then we have to talk about money because Jesus talked about money more than he talked about heaven, hell or prayer.

- Let's face it. We live in a consumer oriented society, which means that our society is focused on the buying and selling of goods and services more than anything else.

- Our society is focused on creating and building up material wealth, getting more stuff and making more money.

- The world in which we live lives by this motto: more is better.

- As Christians who claim to follow Jesus, we need to learn to see the insanity of focusing our lives on more money and more stuff.

- The sad truth is: sometimes more is not better. Sometimes more is just more.

- Where we invest our time and our money plainly reflects what we value most.

- Jesus invites us to practice his resurrection and grow God's kingdom in our lives by pursuing a more sensible way of life rather than hoarding money and stuff.

- As Eugene Peterson puts Jesus words. ^19-21 “Don’t hoard treasure down here where it gets eaten by moths and corroded by rust or—worse!—stolen by burglars. Stockpile treasure in heaven, where it’s safe from moth and rust and burglars. It’s obvious, isn’t it? The place where your treasure is, is the place you will most want to be, and end up being.

- As we learn to trust God, we will stop hoarding stuff and money here on earth and start living like stockpiled heavenly treasure is what really matters.

- One way or another, money and stuff disappear.

- Stuff wears out or gets damaged beyond repair. Money gets spent replacing worn-out and damaged stuff.

- The closer we hold money and stuff to our hearts, then the further our hearts turn away from God.

- The apostle Paul tells us, "the love of money is at the root of all kinds of evil," (1 Timothy 6:10).

- It's the love of money that makes big business corrupt. It's the love of money that causes people to turn a blind eye to poverty and injustice. 

- As a people who confess that Jesus is Lord and believe God raised him from the dead, we must align our priorities with God's kingdom.

- Where are our priorities? What is most important in our lives?

- Jesus demands that his followers make a break away from hoarding money and stuff because the love of money corrupts the heart.

- As followers of Jesus, Jesus asks us to hold our stuff and our money at arm's length rather than tightly against our chest so that we may freely give them to Jesus when he has need of them.

- Jesus wants his followers to know that his call upon our lives goes deeper than just the basics like tithing.

- As Jesus said, "You should tithe, yes, but do not neglect the more important things." (Matthew 23:23b)

- Investing in heaven is about helping the poor and the needy; it's about doing good works. 

- Jesus expects those who believe in his resurrection to practice it through generous works of justice, mercy and faith.

- Jesus wants to know where our loyalty is. Will worldly wealth rule over us or will we allow Jesus to rule our hearts and lives?

- Our loyalties lie with what we value most, so let's value God's kingdom most.

- God is the great provider. He named himself Jehovah Jirah, meaning, I am the Lord who provides.

- Jesus promises abundant life to those who follow his ways and yet our mentality is a "have not" mentality.

- We live in a so-called have not province so we think we are a have not people.

- We need to realize something. If we believe that we are have not people, then we believe a lie rather than God's truth.

- Let's look at reality for a moment.

- If you have food in your fridge, clothes on your back, a roof over your head and a place to sleep, then you have more wealth than 75% of the world.

- If you have money in the bank, your wallet, and some spare change, you are among the top 8% of the world's wealthy.

- God has provided abundantly for our needs, and that's the truth.

- Jesus warns against hoarding wealth, but Jesus does not condemn our wealth. Instead, Jesus gives us a promise.

- Jesus promises eternal rewards to those who share their abundance with the poor and needy.