Colton Moore - Jesus’ High Return Investment Strategy

[00:00:00] Speaker A: Almighty God, you welcome you. [00:00:06] Speaker B: Hey there. If you're new to Restored Church, we want to welcome you and thank you for tuning in. You're listening to a portion of our Sunday worship gathering. We believe the church is not an event, but a family you belong to, so we would love the opportunity to connect with you. If you want to learn more about our church or if we can help you in any way, please Visit our website, www.restoredtemecula.church and click on Contact. With all that said, we can. We hope you enjoy the message. [00:00:35] Speaker A: I am feeling quite nostalgic this morning for multiple reasons. One, this is our final gathering in this space. It just. Man, it's like. I don't know, I just feel really thankful to the Lord for the ways that he's provided for us over the years and this physical space. Guys, I. I cannot tell you how difficult it was when we first relocated here from San Diego to plant the church. It was so hard to find gathering space. I'm literally like. We prayed for a long time and there was, like, seemingly nothing. And then God provided this space. It was just remarkable. And we've been here for most of that time. Since we launched. On Sunday mornings and May of 2018, there was an original crew of about six of us, I think two, four, six, eight, eight of us. And on that original church planting team was a man by the name of Colton Moore. Now, it's not. It wasn't his first rodeo and being part of, like, you know, getting churches off the ground. He's. He was a member at the very first restored church with us. In fact, before that, for, gosh, almost a decade, Colton and I ministered together in church. And I just. I've had the privilege of watching him and witnessing God's hand on this guy's life. I met him when he was, like, 11 or 12 years old, and very quickly I realized, oh, like, God's hand is on this guy's life. And so I've had this just tremendous privilege of calling him friend and becoming spiritual brothers and just watching God develop him, strengthen him, send him. He's been a part of the very first restored church in San Diego. We went to Restored South Bay in Chula Vista together. We came here together. We prayerfully sent him in 2021 to restored LA, where he has since married his incredible wife, Mallory. They have two. Yes, give her some love. They have two beautiful children, and they've been serving there on the leadership team in Restored LA for the past few years. And, gosh, about a year, ish. Ago, God started stirring up something, as he typically does, about them planting a church in the west valley of Los Angeles. And so for those of you that don't know this story, it's just been a story of honestly, the mandate that we see early on in the book of genesis, of God saying two things. He says, be fruitful and multiply. And I was praying this morning, just praying for our time, praying for colton and mal, for their team. And I just felt the pleasure of God, specifically around how much pleasure it brings him, when we give ourselves over to that, to bearing spiritual fruit and to spiritually seeing multiplication happen in the lives of people in specific ministries and church plants. Churches exist to see disciples made. There's no better environment for the great commission to go forth and to actually happen. The great commission being go forth and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the father, the son, and the holy spirit and teaching them to obey everything that jesus, the king, has taught and commanded. And I just, I see this playing out in colton mallory's life in, like, the coolest ways. And their faithfulness to say yes to God, Inviting them, calling them, commanding them. It's really special. And so, without further ado, what I want to do is I want to invite colton up. I want you to give him a big round of applause. Come on up, colton. You can get settled and we're going to pray for him. If you're in the team that came up, restored west valley, will you come up and join us, too? I want you guys to come up. We're going to pray for colton. Why don't you lay hands on him? So, yeah, these are brave, courageous people who are reorienting their life to see a new church planted in a place that needs a lot of churches, A lot more churches. And so I asked colton to preach just something that's on his heart. And so he's prepared a message for us this morning. But before he does that, I just want to pray over him. I want to pray over our time. So I'd love for you to join us as we pray. Jesus. Jesus, you said that you would build your church and the gates of hell would not prevail. Your church is people. Precious, redeemed, transformed, spirit filled people. And so I just want to honor your and thank youk, king, for the fruit and the multiplication that we see unfolding before our eyes. Your spirit is so clearly at work. And I just want to thank youk. I pray that this morning, the beautiful work that yout're doing in Colton and Mallory and this. In this team, the. I don't know, they're in these early stages of seeing you birth something and that excitement and that anticipation, I pray that that would rub off on this room. We have so much to be thankful for because you're always. How do I say this? You're always desiring to birth new life. It's beautiful. And so I pray that this morning, through the words of Colton, ultimately, that are your words in his mouth. I pray that your word would go forth, that the seeds would be sown into our hearts and minds and that it ultimately would bear fruit and it would multiply. That's your heart. That's your desire. I think that just might be the theme for us this morning is the things that you want to do actually happen on the earth, and they actually happen in us and through us. And so fill Colton with your spirit now. Give him your words and bless this precious church body who loves him dearly. We love you, Jesus. Thank you for the gifts that you pour out on your people and thank you for the outcomes of people who courageously and with faith say, yes, we love you. It's in your name that we pray. Amen. Love you, buddy. All right, give him some more love. [00:08:09] Speaker C: Can you hear me? All right, Great. I'm going to get situated. Thank you, Tom, for those kind words. It's really nice to be back in a place where I could tell people I'm from Wildemar and they actually know where that's at. Normally in la, I'm like, have you heard of Temecula? They're like, I think so. I'm like, okay, around that area. Right. I grew up in Wildemar, and I hadn't really left the Temecula Valley that much before I moved down to San Diego to be part of the first restored. And my friends and I always called, like, the Temecula Valley. We called it the Valley. So when I moved to San Diego, I was really surprised when I kept telling people, they're like, hey, where you from? Like, oh, I'm from the Valley. They're like, oh, L.A. cool. And I was like, no, you dummy. Like, the Temecula Valley. Joke's on me. There actually is a place that people refer to as the Valley, and it's in Los Angeles. So kind of having a full circle moment here that I now, like, am actually at the Valley, coming back to preach to the Temecula Valley, which I thought was the only valley. And then I learned that it's, like, so pretentious and just, like, Los Angeles to claim exclusivity over a type of topography. Like, they're the only place in the world that's allowed to have, like, a valley. And it's like the valley. Anyway, we love that valley. My wife and I, we have our crew coming with us from the valley, and we're going to be planting a restored church in the fall, hopefully of this year. The west side kind of up the 101. And as my wife and I have been stepping in to plant, I've been asking God to share more of his burdens with me, to be the type of friend that God wants to have. C.S. lewis once wrote that friendship is born at that moment when one person says to another, what, you too? I thought I was the only one. And so I've been asking God to make me into that type of friend, right where he can say to me, oh, you too. Oh, my heart just longs for that. And I want to be the type of friend who finds joy in the things that God finds joy in. I want to be the type of friend that hates what he hates. I want to be the type of friend who he loves to disclose the burdens of his heart towards. And it's in that search and that journey that brought me to this passage. Today, the writer of the Gospel of Luke, he's given us insight into what makes God's heart tick, into what he values and what he desires. So if you have a Bible, turn with me to the Gospel of Luke, chapter 16. If you don't have a Bible, that's okay. The words will be on the screen, hopefully. Let's dive into verse one. Now, Jesus said to the disciples, there is a rich man who received an accusation that his manager was squandering his possessions. So he called the manager in and asked, what is this I hear about you? Give an account of your management because you can no longer be my manager. Then the manager said to himself, what will I do? Since my master is taking the management away from me, I'm not strong enough to dig. I'm ashamed to beg. I know what I'll do so that when I'm removed from management, people will welcome me into their homes. So he summoned each of his master's debtors. How much do you owe my master? He asked the first one. A hundred measures of olive oil, he said. Take your invoice, he told them. Sit down quickly and write 50. Next he asked another. How much do you owe? A hundred measures of wheat, he said. Take your invoice, he told them, and write 80 the master praised the unrighteous manager because he had acted shrewdly. For the children of this age are more shrewd than the children of light in dealing with their own people. And I tell you, make friends for yourself by means of worldly wealth so that when it fails, they may welcome you into eternal dwellings. Whoever is faithful in very little is also faithful in much. And whoever is unrighteous in very little is also unrighteous in much. So if you have not been faithful with worldly wealth, who will trust you with what is genuine? And if you have not been faithful with what belongs to someone else, who will give you what is your own? Okay, if you didn't have any question marks in your Bible, you should have some now. Like, this is a very strange story from Jesus. At face value, it looks like a parable about how to steward money. Well, but if it was only about that, it would be a very strange one with a lot of weird lessons to learn. So, like, first of all, what's strange? What kind of boss fires someone but then gives them time to stick around and sabotage things? Not a very smart one. Like, usually you say, hey, Fred, you know, come into my office. I gotta talk. Listen, we were downsizing the company. I'm really sorry. Here's some money. Get your things and get out. By the way, you're. Your ID card doesn't work anymore and you can't log in. Like, how dumb would that manager be to say, hey, Fred, listen, in three weeks, you're gonna lose your job and your means, but, hey, stay comfy. And Fred's like, I'm gonna, like, sabotage this place. Like, I know all the secrets. Like, I'm taking this place down with me, right? So that's. First of all, that's really strange. Second, what's up with the moral compass of everybody in the story? Like, everybody in here is shady at best. Like, we know the manager obviously was shady and dishonest in what he's doing, but the people getting their debts lowered don't seem to bat an eye at the potential ethical dilemma that they're caught in, right? It's like, you owe thousands of dollars to the government and some shady CPA comes up, hey, I can get rid of that for you. Just don't ask questions and let's do it quickly. And you're like, okay, here's my debts. You know, so that's kind of shady. And then lastly, you think that the master, even if he's a dumb employer, he would be at least outraged at being lied to. Instead, he praises the manager for his shrewdness, like, what in the world? What is going on here? And lastly, the question mark that I had was verse nine, where it looks like Jesus is saying somehow that you could earn your salvation with money instead of as a gift of grace through faith. Like, if you grew up like I did, thinking that the Bible was just a bunch of stories about how to be a good moral person. This parable should wreck those categories in your brain. So what is happening here? Well, you see, the gospel writers, they were very intentional about what teachings of Jesus they included, what stories about him they included, and where they placed them in the overall narrative of their gospel. They did this on purpose to convey a point. And each gospel kind of has their own unique flavor, if you will, on what they want to highlight about Jesus. So this chapter, it's located in a large block of teachings from. From Jesus with his disciples on the way to Jerusalem. And it's in the context of teaching what it means to be a disciple of the kingdom of God, what it means to be a follower of Jesus. And Luke has an agenda specifically about what the kingdom of God looks like, about what it looks like when the kingdom of God breaks in and. And Jesus becomes king. All throughout his gospel. Luke is going to uniquely highlight the socioeconomic impact of Jesus. Lordship, you cannot get more than a few chapters into Luke before he starts talking about how the Gospel is especially good news to the poor. So when we think of the poor today, it's. It's really easy to think about people who have less money than us and less opportunities. And that is part of the definition. But for Luke and the people who are swimming in the culture when the New Testament was written, the poor are those people who are lower in social status in a community. The poor would be outsiders to the social norms and institutions of the society around them. The poor would be people who are looked at with sort of stigma and suspicion. Maybe even those people are unclean for whatever reason that the culture decides they're unclean. The poor could be those who are often overlooked. Even if you were sick back then, it was assumed that either you or your parents did something to earn and deserve being smited by God in some way, that this is somehow a consequence of immoral behavior. So if you are sick and needy, you're almost looked at with a type of suspicion and stigma as well. So I want all of us right now to think about who are the people in your context, in your workplace, in your classrooms, in your community, in your neighborhood, who would fit this picture of the poor. Cause I have people in la, in my neighborhood, that fit into this. But you guys know when I say that category, who are those people? I want you to keep them in your mind today as we're going through this teaching and this block of teaching, Luke placed it here strategically because in his narrative, Jesus is being ridiculed, harassed, persecuted by the religious leaders of the day for having table fellowship with those same poor people, for loving them, for caring for them, for lifting them up, for eating meals with them, for not being afraid to be identified with them. And so Jesus is telling a parable that Luke places here to expose all of us in love to just how far our hearts are in compared to valuing what God values into being the type of friend that God longs to have. So this parable is not meant to be a teaching on morality and business dealings, because it would be a very bad one if that was the case. It's supposed to be a story of irony. And Jesus often does this in his parables where there's surprising role reversals. And you're like, I was not expecting that. He does that on purpose to make us think. So what is Jesus teaching here throughout this parable? He's warning you and I about making terrible investments. Like, Jesus isn't anti investing your money, he's anti dumb investing of your money. And he wants to help us. He wants to save us. And we don't know, like, scholars don't really know how this fully works. I'm excited to find out one day in the new heavens and new earth. But Jesus is saying that somehow when you make an investment into people, it has echoes into eternity. So when you and I take our material resources now and invest them into people, there is a return on investment that will come one day. When Jesus comes to consummate the kingdom of heaven on earth, and he wants us to be aware of this, he doesn't want us to miss out on the roi. He's like, hey, you gotta jump on this investing opportunity while it's here, while you have time. So in verse 9, Jesus isn't talking about using money to buy your salvation. I mean, one that would contradict the rest of the teachings of the Bible, that salvation is by grace through faith. What's interesting is he's teaching to those who are already claiming to be his disciples. Did you catch that? In verse one, he says, turning to his disciples, he says, this is what it's like in the kingdom of God. So clearly Jesus isn't saying, hey, use your money and you could somehow, like, buy indulgences like they were doing in, like, the Catholic Church and like, the medieval times, right? He's not talking about that. He's saying to his disciples, hey, you guys know those people who don't live in the kingdom of God? You ever seen those people who live in the way of the world, with the world's ethics and the world's standards? Yeah, you guys should actually take a lesson from them because they know how to make good investments. They are always watching the stock market. They are always looking out for opportunities to invest and get a return on it. He says they go to great lengths to use money to get a better future for themselves. And yet, you and I, when it comes to the coming rule and reign of God, something we proclaim to see and want to happen someday, we often don't treat investing in the same way, like we're missing out. And this is why this parable from Jesus includes a surprising twist of the shady manager being praised not because he was dishonest, he was praised for his shrewdness or for showing good judgment. See, this dishonest manager, he was shrewd because he knew that one day, very soon, his money was going to run out. And he knew that what little time he had left, he could use it to make a better future for himself. And Jesus is saying, this is how you should view your time and money. Because when we don't, we squander the resources that God has given us. We squander when we use worldly wealth to get worldly gain instead of worldly wealth to get heavenly gain. Like, I remember when I was around six in Lake Elsinore, there was this card shop, like, trading card shop that opened up. And my mom took us to opening day. We were a little late, but they were doing this festivity and they had, like, raffles that were going on. And so we showed up kind of late. I get my raffle ticket and they're doing their giveaways for, you know, hey, you win this, this ticket number. And I remember they get to the last one and it was the grand prize, and it was a brand new, never touched before holographic first edition Charizard Pokemon card. You're like, oh, man, come on. And they go and they're reading that ticket number, and I realize it was like, Willy Wonka, that's me. So I win, and I'm clearing through the exodus, the sea of people. And everyone's like, just, you know, they're so salty. But I go in there to claim it. And I get this Charizard, and they, like, put this plastic cover on it. It was, like, screwed in with four bolts, and they're like, hey, man, hold onto this thing. One day, it's gonna be worth thousands of dollars. I'm like, thousands of dollars. I'm like, six, right? I'm like, I got $10 in the bank. Thousands. So I hold onto this thing for years. I'm taking care of it. It's like this prized possession. I'm like, mom, where's my Charizard card? Like, don't. Okay, right? So a few years ago, when I'm gonna get married, I need some extra cash. And the thought comes, oh, my gosh, I'm sitting on thousands of dollars. Where's that Charizard card? So I go and I get it, and I'm like, okay, I gotta get this thing appraised. So I look online. It's like, oof. Hundred dollars. Okay. I think it's worth it If I pay $100 to get 1,000. So I go. And I go to the appraiser. I'm like, all right, man. Hey, here's the story. It's incredible. What do I got coming for me? He's like, I think you'd get maybe, like, 100 bucks for it. And I'm like, no, no, no. I'm sorry. I think you're missing a zero. You don't understand. He's like, no, these are, like, really common these days. I'm like, oh, man. He said, also, the guy who gave this to you, why did he put this ridiculous plaster cover on? He just ruined the value of it. I'm like, oh, my gosh. So I go, hey, if the plastic cover wasn't on there, how much would it be worth? He's like, maybe 200 bucks. I was like, dang it. And I just realized in that moment, my whole life had been a lie. Like, I'm gonna have an existential crisis. What else did they lie to me about? And in that moment, I realized I had got a bill of goods that I didn't meet. What it was told to meet up with me. And Jesus is like, hey, this is what it's like when you're wealthy towards the world and not towards the kingdom of God. How much more friends is it pressing for us to use? Maybe we'll get 80 years to secure a future of 80 billion years. And yet we don't take Jesus up at his words. Randy Alcorn says this about your money. He says, you can't take your money with you to the grave, but you can send it ahead. And so ultimately, Jesus is coming to us in love to confront us, because he wants us to see that our use of money will reveal if our heart values what God's heart values. So Jesus, he gives some teaching in this block of text going on the way to Jerusalem. He has some teaching about what it looks like to be a shrewd manager of the finances that God has given. So I'm just gonna do a rapid fire. Chapter 10, he sends out the disciples and he basically says, travel lightly. So I have to ask, how much do you and I live with margin and minimalism below our means because if not, it will impair our ability to be sent out when and where King Jesus wants us to go. In chapter 10 also, he tells the story of the Good Samaritan and says, hey, you should use really wealth to be benevolent and care for the vulnerable and need those who help, who need help in your community. Chapter 12, he tells a story about a guy who just had no room in his house for all the abundant wealth. So he buys a whole public storage unit and says, I'm gonna fill all my stuff in there and be happy. And Jesus says, you fool, your life is required of you this night. What's gonna happen to your things? Chapters 11 and 12. Jesus says, don't seek after the things that the world seeks after. Seek first the kingdom of God. Don't worry, don't be on the treadmill of anxiety. Pray for your daily bread and trust God. Chapter 14, two chapters before this, Jesus says, hey, use your wealth to practice hospitality by throwing a party and inviting those who are poor, maimed, blind and lame. Those who can't repay you socially, those who can't repay you materially, even. Chapter 15, the Prodigal Son story. The son just squanders all of his wealth. And what does the father do? He lavishly throws a party. He goes all in to celebrate what God celebrates. And that's men and women coming back home to the father. How much of our money do we view as using and celebrating what God wants? And lastly, here you can make a case of using wealth to pay off people's debts. Now, I know it's a hot take, so maybe it's not physically actually doing that. Although I will say, before my wife and I got married, I prayed for several months leading up to marriage. And I said, God, this just student loan debt that we have is just an insane amount. Could you just like start us off with our marriage with like, Debt free. Three minutes later someone goes, hey, I want to pay off your debt. How much is it? 75K. Here you go. And it freed us up to stay in California because we were like, we may have to move. I don't know if we can afford to live here anymore. God's like, no, no, I got something for you here in California. Here you go. So you may just be using your money to free up fellow church planners. I'm just going to throw that out there. But for sure, if it's not literally paying off their debts, cannot you and I invest our wealth to get the gospel out? Because people in Temecula Valley have a debt that they cannot pay. Only Jesus can. So is it not worth it to sow into that kingdom of seeing people's spiritual debts freed up? See, Jesus is a king. And when we read things like this, it's easy to go into either legalism or licentiousness. [00:29:07] Speaker A: Right? [00:29:07] Speaker C: I'm crushing that list Cult. Or like, well, that's, you know, there's grace for me. Here's the thing, Jesus, lordship is not a burden, it's a blessing. Actually. No, it is a burden. It's a lighter one. Like we all live with the burden of money. And Jesus says, hey, take upon my burden. It's an easier yoke. It's a lighter burden. So there's an invitation to receive Jesus as Lord and exchange a heavier burden for a lighter one. The problem is there's a lot of things that get in the way from you and I living that. So pick up with me. In verse 13, Jesus is going to be a master, just diagnoser of the problem of why it's hard to live this way. Verse 13. No servant can serve two masters since either he will hate one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money. The Pharisees who were lovers of money were listening to all these things and scoffing at him. He told them, you are the ones who justify yourselves in the sight of others. But God knows your hearts. For what is highly admired by people is revolting in God's sight. The law and the prophets were until John. Since then the good news of the kingdom of God has been proclaimed and and everyone is urgently invited to enter into it. But it's easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one stroke of a letter in the law to drop out. Everyone who divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery, and everyone who marries a woman divorced from her husband commits adultery. Okay, so Jesus says here that the reason why you and I make bad Kingdom investments is because our hearts, which is the central operating software of our life, it's disordered, it's corrupted, it's not what it's supposed to be. And Jesus says, you and I can't make good Kingdom investments because we try to live with two masters, with two lords. And he says they're mutually exclusive and they cannot work. Jesus is saying, you either live life having money or you live life with money having you. But there's no alternative. And Jesus confronts us not because he's like the cosmic irs. He wants to free us. He wants to free us from a heavy burden and exchange it with a lighter one instead. He doesn't want us to be like me, getting a charizard, thinking you have thousands of dollars in the bank. He doesn't want us to be thinking that we have wealth here and now when we get before him, when we see him on Judgment Day, and he says, oh, I'm so sorry, you had your chance. There's billions of years of joy for you to have, but you didn't really sow into that much. He wants to save us from that, friends. So Jesus confronts us because he loves us, not because he's out to get us. He doesn't need our money, guys, newsflash. He owns everything anyway. He doesn't want your money. He wants you. He wants our hearts. So how do you know if you just have money or if money has you? Well, thank God for the Pharisees. We can look at their example and know if money has us. So the first thing is they sneered at Jesus. Teaching the Greek word literally means they, like, lifted up their nose at him in arrogance. And so for us, what can that look like when we are confronted with the teachings of Jesus? I know for me, and maybe you guys aren't aware of this, but I feel the pull towards buying things on Amazon, like every second of the day. Cause it comes to my house, like 4am the next day. I don't even need deodorant at 4am it's just there. It's awesome. You and I have all been deformed by consumerism that lies to us to say that joy comes from getting everything you want here and now when you want it. And so we're suspicious when Jesus says, hold on, I don't know about this Jesus, or what about materialism, naturalism that we've all grown up in that says, no, only things that matter are things that you can Touch and feel and see here and now. So we're suspicious. And I do have to think about, in my context, that sometimes people hear Jesus talking about using money to care for the poor and marginalized. And you can't help but have a political ideology that's kind of filtering you that's a little suspicious about that. And so each of us here, we have ways where we sneer at Jesus. What is it for you? Another way we can know if we're enslaved to money is we can make justifications for why we don't contribute to the things that God cares about. Jesus said to the Pharisees, you are the ones who justify yourselves in the sight of others, but God knows your hearts. Aren't you and I masters of knowing what we ought to do and finding any way possible to like, not do it for a valid reason. And I'm not talking about actual genuine circumstantial hardships. Okay, hear me out. Our church in la, we are doing a capital campaign to try to raise $6 million to buy a building. And people have been coming to us as elders, weeping, saying, I am so sorry. I want to give so much more, but I can't right now. And it burdens me and it hurts me. And that's the heart posture that Jesus loves. So he's not after. He's not here to shame and condemn anyone. What he's after is heart postures that want to look good on the outside, but. But actually it's just trying to make yourself feel better for not valuing the things that God values. And so I thought about this in my context. What does justifying look like? Could be like, hey, Colton, this sounds great, but like my 3 year old has 20 soccer games every weekend until they're 20, I'm just kind of slammed, not sure I'm gonna be able to get around to this. I gotta remodel my bathroom for the fifth time. Like, I'm almost got my dream toilet. It's right there. Like just a little strapped on cash right now. What is it for you? I'll pick on the other political side. So I offend everybody. Maybe you justify because it's the government's job to care for the poor. All right, now I've offended everyone. Okay, don't email me. If you need to email me, you can send it to tommetortemicula.com I've been challenged by this. Friends living in LA, there's just more need than it's overwhelming to me. And being a family of four in Los Angeles on A church planner's budget doesn't necessarily leave us with a lot of room for margin. But as I talked with my wife, and we're like, we can do. After our tithes and giving, we can do $50 a month. But I love when Jesus tells the story of that poor widow. She gives two coins. She gave 100%. And the Pharisees, who were really wealthy, just gave 10%. And Jesus says, praise that woman. She gave everything she had. And so it doesn't matter to the Lord how much you actually give, because he's the one who can take five loaves and two fish and feed thousands. So, quick story. The beauty of being a community that does this is I look my wife, and I'm like, all right, I got $50. Maybe if I roll it over every month, then I. Once a year, I could do something with this. We had a deacon in our church who is connected to a woman from Iran. And if you know there's a lot going on in Iran right now. She's a student at Cal State Northridge, and her parents were able to send her to America to get an education. And a couple months ago, the semester was about to start, and that's when all the riots started happening in Iran and the government cut off communications. This woman had no money for her school and books. She had no way of paying for her classes. She didn't even know if her parents were alive. And this deacon sees this need and says, hey, I'm looking for 40 people at $100. We need to raise four grand for her to go to school. And I'm like, we got 100 bucks. Let's go. So we're able to be one of the people that contribute, a very small seed. And together, collectively, as a community, we were able to raise four grand to bless a Muslim woman who doesn't know any of these Christians, but wanted to share with her the love of God. And guess who was the hero in that story? Not my wife and I. You have $100. What's that compared to 4,000? But every one of us has an opportunity to participate. And when we collectively gather as a community, you'd be amazed at what Jesus can do with it. So here's what I want us to remember today. If you remember nothing else, remember this one thing. How you spend your money shows who you're friends with. How you spend money shows who you're friends with. See, I told you earlier that Luke placed this story here intentionally, and it comes right after the story about someone who was really wasteful with resources. A prodigal son. Prodigal just means exceedingly wasteful. It's the story of a younger son who was wasteful. He squandered the wealth of his father on wild living. And in that story, there's a story of an older brother who despised the father's prodigally generous heart to forgive and welcome in and throw a party. The older brother were the Pharisees. And Jesus is continuing on his teaching right after that story. Luke placed that story here because he wants us to know that the same God who is radically generous and forgiving with prodigal sons is the same God who loves to forgive prodigious managers like you and I. He placed this story here intentionally so that there could be a humility in us and accept the urgent invitation to get in on this investment opportunity of the kingdom of God. Because how you spend your money shows who you're friends with. See, the reality of this story is that you and I are the debtors. We owed an unpayable debt to the richest manager in the universe, God. It was our sin that separated us from relationship with him. And Jesus doesn't just reduce our debts and say, keiko, he says, I'm gonna pay them in full. We didn't just get our debts reduced before God. We got them wiped clean by the blood of Jesus. See, the only person who ever fully managed what God gave him to do well was Jesus Christ. The only person who had a righteousness bank that was overflowing with perfection was Jesus Christ. And at the cross, he. He empties that out to make you and me his friends. He does that while we were his enemies, when we were spiritually bankrupt, when we were wretched, pitiful, blind, lost, he did it for us. And when you realize that friend, you cannot help but want to be the same kind of friend to others. The gospel will get ahold of your heart and it will change your desires. And you can't help but delight what God's heart delights in. First John, chapter two says this. Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For everything in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride in one's possessions is not from the Father, but is from the world. And the world, with its lust, is passing away. But the one who does the will of God remains forever. How you spend your money shows who you're friends with. So the good news is for everyone here Today, no matter how much you and I have squandered the wealth that God has given us. And it could be a lot or it could be very little, There's a clean slate for us at the foot of the cross because he loves to forgive prodigal investors like you and I, for those of you who are here today and you're not Christian, and you've become aware that living a life of consumerism and materialism does not satisfy. It's because you were made in the image of a generous God. And when you live any way outside of that, it doesn't work. It goes against the grain of creation. It goes against who you were made to be. And it's the same for us. We were made in the image of a generous, hospitable, welcoming God who loves to welcome in people who can't repay him that'll overflow his love. He says, come on in. After Jesus pays for our debts and he overcomes sin and death and Satan on the cross, he gives us the Holy Spirit to transform our hearts to have the same generous hearts of God. So he doesn't just say, hey, here's my list of where life looks like good luck. He says, I'm gonna pour my Holy Spirit on you to give you the power and the desire to live this way for those who want it. The invitation of the Holy Spirit is here. It's that generosity that changed the hearts of those first disciples. And it's that same generosity, friends, that will change this valley. It's that same generosity that changed the world and. And took over an empire. In the 4th century, the Roman emperor Julian, he was very alarmed at the spread of Christianity. And so he's writing a letter of concern to his officials. He says this. Why do we not observe that it is their benevolence to strangers, their care for the graves of the dead, and the pretended holiness of their lives that they have done most to increase atheism, meaning Christianity. I believe that we ought and truly should practice every one of these virtues. For it is disgraceful that when the impious Galileans support not only their own poor, but ours as well, all men see that our people lack aid from us. You know what his strategy was to defeat Christianity. Because killing them didn't work. Burning them at the stake, feeding them to lions, cutting their heads off, poisoning them didn't work. It was still spreading. He says, I know what we'll do. We will out love the Christians. And it failed miserably, guys. Because the pagan priests were like, no, this goes against everything. And I'm not gonna do this. It's only after you receive the generous love of God at the cross poured into you from the Holy Spirit, that it begins to change. A church begins to change. A community begins to change. You and I. Michael Green wrote a book that I'm still trying to get through, but it's. Tim Keller, who's a pastor in New York, said, if you're a church planner, I can only recommend one book. It would be this one. And I was like, I will never recommend this to anyone. But Michael Green is talking about the church that God loves to use in reaching a city, in reaching the lost. He says this. Once a church's members begin to get released from the bonds of materialism, once they learn to tithe their income and sense the joy of giving to the Lord's work, then the whole spirit of a church changes. It becomes open to need. It begins to see with the eyes of Christ, to care and to do something about it. God can use a church like that, and he does. I don't have time to get into it, but the rest of chapter 16, Jesus tells another story. It's a story of a rich man who's unnamed, maybe because Jesus wants us to see ourselves in him. And it's a poor man whose name is Lazarus. And Jesus tells this story to the Pharisees to again warn them of the coming day when Jesus Christ will return to make what's true in the heart of the Father true on earth. Spoiler alert. Doesn't go well for the rich man who didn't heed Jesus words. Jesus in effect says, what happens to this man is that I will respect your choice. You've wanted to sow into things that will perish. Okay, you may perish as well, rich man. And Lazarus, who had his needs neglected, was brought up into the arms of the Father. Commenting on this story, New Testament scholar Joel Green says, amazingly, the wealthy man has not been humbled by his new and undoubtedly startling circumstances. Those who legitimately refer to Abraham as father, however, are those whose lives reflect their repentance, their orientation towards God's redemptive aim. This makes the wealthy man's address as ironic as it is presumptuous. His audaciousness for relief is only exacerbated by the long standing tradition regarding Abraham as a model of hospitality to strangers, a model that this wealthy man has manifestly not followed. With regard to Lazarus, the final irony resides in a wordplay easily recognized in the Greek text. The one who now requests mercy at the Hand of Lazarus never seems to have contemplated the merciful act of almsgiving on behalf of Lazarus. Guys, Jesus has an agenda to make things on earth as they are in heaven. The Father's heart and he's longing. It says, the eyes of the Lord wander to and fro throughout the earth, looking to strengthen those whose hearts are devoted to Him. I feel like God is just looking, asking, waiting, pleading for people to join him, to say, I want to accept this invitation to join the kingdom of God. So Jesus is going to come back soon to make things on earth as is in heaven. The question is, will he find faithful friends and partners to join with him? I'll leave us with the words of Jesus to the church in Laodicea. Write to the angel of the church in Laodicea. You say, I'm rich, I become wealthy and need nothing. And you don't realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. I advise you to buy from me gold refined in the fire so that you may be rich. White clothes so that you may be dressed and your shameful nakedness not be exposed. An ointment to spread on your eyes so that you may see as many as I love, I rebuke and discipline. So be zealous and repent. See, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens it, I will come in to eat with him and he with me. To the one who conquers, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne. Let anyone who has ears to hear listen to what the Spirit says to the churches. I know the language Jesus used is strong, but you know what he doesn't say? You're wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. Figure it out. He says, no, let me in. Show me hospitality in your heart and you will conquer with me. Friends, Jesus welcomes us hospitably. Will we go and do the same? You guys are about to go to a new location in a new neighborhood with people who don't know who restored Temecula. Are they going to be marked by seeing radically inclusive, welcoming community? And guess what? I think they will. I've experienced it here myself. And it's that same experience that is just. I want other people to know this. Jesus is incredible. So I hope the invitation for us today that you hear me say is not. Do better, try harder, figure it out. It's come as you are to Jesus Christ, hospitably, with his arms open at the foot of the cross and receive his hospitable love. Let it transform you and go and do likewise. Let's pray. Jesus, I think of the words in the writer of the Jesus storybook Bible talking to Adam and Eve says, what words does God want us to treasure in your hearts? Be good. Do you bet her? Try harder. No, those words won't free us. The words that will free us are the words I love you. And I pray that over my friends here in this room. God, thank you that you discipline and rebuke and love not to shame, not to condemn, not to accuse, but to show us our condition so that we know where to get help. Jesus, I'm reminded of Charles Spurgeon saying, evangelism is just one beggar telling another where to go to get bread. Father, I pray for my friends in this room as they move into another season of this church, as one chapter closes. Holy Spirit, I just pray that you would mark them. Spirit of God, would you mark them with the hospitality of Jesus? Would you mark them with the generosity of Jesus? Would they go into this new gathering space? Would it be in a room pleasing to you, of the lost being found, of those who were poor, being welcomed in those who had nothing to give to God, finding that their debts have been paid at the foot of the cross? Jesus, we thank you for your blood. You didn't pay our debts dishonestly. You paid them with righteous blood. Jesus, I pray the blood of Jesus over my. Anyone in this room who just feels the temptation to believe lies from the enemy, they're not good enough, that they should be ashamed. I rebuke that in the name of Jesus. And I pray that they. That they would see the blood of Jesus, know I am loved just as I am. I pray for a spirit of grace to be on this church. There would be a humility that every day we look at the foot of the cross and say, oh, man, I was so in need. Thank you, Jesus, for meeting me when I needed you. You were a friend to me, Jesus. Oh, would you make us your friends, Jesus? Would you make us into your friends? Who you can say you too. Oh, I thought I was the only one that cared about that. Father, I pray for a pleasing aroma to be lifted up to you. Of hospitality, of generosity. Father, I pray for an increase of men and women to come to know you through this church body. Father, I pray for fervor of boldness, zeal and evangelism to just spread through this church. God. Father, I pray for partnerships with other local churches that as they are one in you, Jesus, that the world would know you by the love that these disciples have for one another. Jesus, thank you for the invitation to come to you for daily bread. I pray that every heart would take you up in that offer. In Jesus name we pray. Amen.