The King & His Kingdom: #102 - The Vineyard | Matthew 21:33-46

[00:00:00] Speaker A: Almighty God, you welcome you. Hey there. [00:00:06] Speaker B: 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 we hope you enjoy the message. [00:00:35] Speaker A: This morning we're going to continue our [00:00:37] Speaker C: series going through Matthew. [00:00:38] Speaker A: Our series, the King and His Kingdom. We've been journeying through Matthew, trying to learn as much as we can about the king of the universe, Jesus Christ, and what his kingdom is, the kingdom of God, the kingdom of heaven. [00:00:48] Speaker C: Those phrases are used in the scriptures kind of synonymously. And they talk about the rule and [00:00:53] Speaker A: the reign of God. [00:00:53] Speaker C: They talk about what does it look like when God gets his way. And so we're going to keep going [00:00:57] Speaker A: in this series, and I have a [00:00:58] Speaker C: lot to cover this morning. [00:00:59] Speaker A: We're going to talk about one of Jesus parables. [00:01:01] Speaker C: If you've been journeying with us, you [00:01:02] Speaker A: kind of already know where we're going [00:01:03] Speaker C: with this, but if you're not, I'll kind of bring you up to speed. But before we do, I want to pray. And so I'd love for you to join me. If you have your Bible, you can [00:01:11] Speaker A: go ahead and grab that. [00:01:12] Speaker C: Before we pray, flip over to Matthew chapter 21. If you want to use your phone app, you can do that, too. If not, we'll have words on the screen for you to be able to follow along. I know sometimes it can be tricky if you're in a different Bible translation. And so you just need to know. I'll be in the CSB this morning, the Christian Standard Bible. I want to pray. All right. So will you join me in prayer? Oh, Father, I'm just so thankful to be together with people that I love and adore. And there's nothing like belonging to the family of God through the ups, through the downs, through the ins, the outs, the, the mountaintop moments, if you will, the valley moments, like everything in between. There's this beautiful reality that we get to experience you in significant ways through your body, through your hands and your feet. Your scripture describes us as the church, as being your body, as being your hands and your feet. And I just want to pray that this morning, Holy Spirit, as we invite you to teach us through your Word that you would help us to see Jesus more clearly. Father, I pray that right now, even now, like, I just feel a lot of interesting things, and I want to ask that you would help me to love and to serve. I don't want to do anything that gets in the way of what you want to accomplish with the people that you love. And so would you help me? Apart from you, I can do nothing. But I'm thankful that your word never returns void. And so teach us, Holy Spirit, we pray right now. We just begin to open our minds to you, open our hearts to you. And the invitation still stands that mark. And the worship team this morning, the praise team, like we desire you, we want you to come and have your way among us. We want to be people who embrace your kingdom. So teach us more about who you are, what you've done, and what that means for our lives. We pray together. And all God's people said amen. [00:03:20] Speaker A: So Matthew chapter 21, we're gonna start in verse 33 and go through verse 46. Now, just to kind of bring you up to speed so you don't, like, you know, come into the movie halfway through. We're still in the last week of [00:03:32] Speaker C: Jesus life, all right? [00:03:34] Speaker A: He's about to go to the cross. He knows what he's doing. And where this actually takes place is Jesus. He is in the courtyard of the temple. He is teaching, he is preaching, he is doing, he's ministering. And he's interrupted by the religious leaders, the Jewish religious leaders, and they begin to question Jesus authority in front of everybody, okay? And if you remember what happens, there's this altercation, right? And during this altercation, Jesus starts exposing these guys. He starts exposing their incompetence. He starts exposing their lack of integrity. He starts exposing their hypocrisy. And what he does is he begins to teach. And he uses three separate parables to teach them about the kingdom of God, the kingdom of heaven, right? Now, if you were with us last Sunday, we addressed the first parable, the parable of the two sons. If you missed it, you can go [00:04:26] Speaker C: back and listen to it. [00:04:27] Speaker A: It'll kind of, you know, it has some crossover into today's parable, which is parable number two. That's what we're gonna cover right now. And this is known as the parable of the vineyard owner. Okay? Now, we live in Temecula. We're in the Temecula Valley, so we know a decent amount about vineyards. But as we read this together, I want you to picture it in your Mind. And I want you to try to identify all of the important elements of this parable. [00:04:51] Speaker C: Okay? [00:04:51] Speaker A: Can you do that? You guys with me? I can see some of some faces [00:04:54] Speaker C: this morning, and a lot of you are just kind of zoned out. No judgment. I just want. I don't want you to miss this. [00:04:59] Speaker A: I feel it, too. It feels gray and weird and gloomy. [00:05:02] Speaker C: And that's fine. It's the May gray, Southern California thing. [00:05:04] Speaker A: But I don't want you to miss [00:05:05] Speaker C: what's here because it's powerful, and I think it has the power to transform your life and impact you in some significant ways. So as we read this, I want [00:05:12] Speaker A: you, as much as you can, to visualize this and try to identify, even if you have to take notes, try to identify the important elements of this [00:05:18] Speaker C: parable, because we're breaking them down. [00:05:19] Speaker A: You with me? Yes. Whoo. Okay, here we go. Matthew 21, starting in verse 33. [00:05:27] Speaker C: This is Jesus speaking. [00:05:28] Speaker A: He says, listen to another parable. [00:05:29] Speaker C: Remember, this is parable number two. [00:05:31] Speaker A: Listen to another parable. [00:05:32] Speaker C: Here it goes. [00:05:34] Speaker A: There was a landowner who planted a vineyard, put a fence around it, dug a wine press in it, and built a watchtower. He leased it to tenant farmers and went away. When the time came to harvest fruit, he sent his servants to the farmers to collect his fruit. Whose fruit? [00:05:55] Speaker C: His. Yep, his fruit. [00:05:57] Speaker A: Verse 35. The farmers took his servants, beat one, killed another, and stoned a third. Stone was like. They throw rocks at them till they died. [00:06:05] Speaker C: Okay. It's pretty brutal. Yeah. [00:06:09] Speaker A: Verse 36. Again, he sent other servants. So there's another wave of servants. He sent other servants, more than the first group, and they did the same to them. Finally, he sent his son to them. They will respect my son, he said. But when the tenant farmers saw the [00:06:28] Speaker C: son, they said to each other, oh, this is the heir. [00:06:32] Speaker A: Come, let's kill him and take his inheritance. So they seized him, threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him. Therefore, when the owner of the vineyard comes, this is Jesus now asking a [00:06:45] Speaker C: question to the crowd. [00:06:47] Speaker A: Therefore, when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to these farmers? [00:06:53] Speaker C: Check out what these religious leaders respond with. This is what they say. Verse 41. [00:06:57] Speaker A: He, the owner of the vineyard, will completely destroy those terrible men, they told him, and lease his vineyard to other farmers who will give him his fruit at the harvest. [00:07:11] Speaker C: Jesus said to them, have you never read in the Scriptures? Okay, pause for a second. Jesus, this is like Thug Life stuff. [00:07:19] Speaker A: He just told these Jewish religious leaders, these people who have been studying and memorizing the Torah, the first five books of the Bible. They know the Bible backwards and forwards. And he asked these guys, have you [00:07:29] Speaker C: never read the Scriptures? [00:07:31] Speaker A: And he's gonna@psalm118. And he says this. [00:07:34] Speaker C: This is a quote of Psalm 118. [00:07:36] Speaker A: The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. [00:07:40] Speaker C: Everybody say cornerstone. Put that in your back pocket. [00:07:44] Speaker A: This is what the Lord has done. And it is wonderful in our eyes. He's like, if you never read this important psalm, are you unfamiliar with this? Are you missing this? And then verse 43, Jesus says this. Therefore, I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people producing its fruit. Whoever falls on this stone will be broken to pieces, but on whomever it falls, it will shatter him. [00:08:12] Speaker C: Verse 45. [00:08:13] Speaker A: When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they. They knew he was speaking about them. Although they were looking for a way to arrest him, they feared the crowds [00:08:25] Speaker C: because the people regarded him as a prophet. All right, that's our parable. [00:08:30] Speaker A: What I wanna do is I wanna start by kinda breaking down these elements, and I want you to participate with me right now. [00:08:36] Speaker C: Okay? [00:08:36] Speaker A: We have a lighter crowd, so let's talk. Let's break down the elements of this parable. There's the landowner. [00:08:42] Speaker C: Okay? [00:08:43] Speaker A: Any ideas who? The landowner kinda symbolizes God? Absolutely. The landowner, clearly it's the Lord. [00:08:49] Speaker C: Okay? [00:08:49] Speaker A: It's Yahweh, it's the God of the universe. Now you have the vineyard. Any ideas about what that symbolizes? This one is kind. There's some depth to this one. [00:09:00] Speaker C: Okay. [00:09:00] Speaker A: This is where the Bible study kicks in. All right? So to fully understand this parable, to fully understand here what's happening with the vineyard, you have to understand Isaiah, chapter five. [00:09:09] Speaker C: Okay? [00:09:10] Speaker A: Isaiah, chapter five is actually really powerful. You have Isaiah, the prophet of God, right? And he is prophesying about God's word, vineyard. [00:09:18] Speaker C: All right? [00:09:19] Speaker A: And he describes in Isaiah chapter 5 How God has this vineyard and he expected his vineyard like any owner of a vineyard would expect. He expects the vineyard to yield good grapes. In our context, it would be grapes that would be good for producing wine. Right? So it talks about how God expects this vineyard that belongs to him to yield good grapes, but instead it yielded worthless grapes. [00:09:44] Speaker C: And because of that, Isaiah chapter 5 [00:09:46] Speaker A: says, God says he's going to make that vineyard a wasteland. [00:09:52] Speaker C: Why? Cause it's not producing good grapes. [00:09:55] Speaker A: And then in verse 7 of Isaiah 5, actually. Will you throw that up there, guys? Yeah, there it is. This is what it Climaxes with this. [00:10:02] Speaker C: Remember, we're trying to discover what the [00:10:04] Speaker A: element of this parable, the vineyard. [00:10:05] Speaker C: What's the vineyard for? [00:10:08] Speaker A: The vineyard of the Lord of armies [00:10:11] Speaker C: is the house of what, Israel and [00:10:15] Speaker A: the men of Judah. The plant he delighted in. He expected justice, but he saw injustice. He expected righteousness, Good living, right, living the right way. But he heard cries of despair. [00:10:34] Speaker C: Here. [00:10:35] Speaker A: The vineyard here, from Isaiah's prophecy, is the same vineyard from Jesus parable. [00:10:39] Speaker C: Okay? [00:10:40] Speaker A: Now, like I said, there's depth to it. And if you go in deeper with the Bible studies, all the Bible commentators agree the vineyard is the nation of Israel, God's people, right? It's the city of Jerusalem, God's city. Ultimately, it's the kingdom of God. [00:10:55] Speaker C: All right? [00:10:56] Speaker A: So that's the vineyard, the vineyard, the nation of Israel, the city of Jerusalem, and ultimately the kingdom of God. Now there's the tenant farmers. Who do you think they are? Pharisees? Yep. Yeah, the religious leaders, the Pharisees, the scribes, the chief priests, right? These are the people. These are the leaders that God entrusted his people, his city and his kingdom to. So you get the picture. These are the ones that God goes here. I'm entrusting my people to you. I'm entrusting my holy city to you. I'm entrusting my kingdom to you. [00:11:30] Speaker C: That's the tenant farmers. [00:11:33] Speaker A: Now, what about the servants, the prophets? Absolutely, the Old Testament prophets. God sent messengers to the people, right? He sent messengers to the people. These are the people that God sent to call God's people to repentance, to. Hey, God's gracious. Turn away from sin. Turn back to God. Now, if you read your Old Testament, you know, the prophets, they weren't treated [00:11:59] Speaker C: so well, were they? [00:12:01] Speaker A: They were treated very much like what we see here in this parable. [00:12:07] Speaker C: And there's one other thing I want to draw your attention to, and that is the landowner's son. Who's that? Jesus. Yeah, Say his name. Yeah, it's Jesus. [00:12:18] Speaker A: Okay, so what I want you to do is I want you to get [00:12:20] Speaker C: the picture here, okay? [00:12:22] Speaker A: Jesus tells this parable. Jesus parable of the landowner entrusting his vineyard to tenant farmers who refused to give the landowner what was his in the first place, and who rejected and killed the landowner's servants and even his son. It's describing exactly what happened with these religious leaders. This parable, it describes what had taken place and what the consequences were going to be. [00:12:57] Speaker C: So I want you to see this, okay? [00:13:00] Speaker A: God entrusted these religious leaders with three really valuable things. He Entrusted them with God's people, the nation of Israel, right? He entrusted them to lead God's people in living life God's way. And instead, what do they do? They do things their own way. Just side note, be really careful, friends, not to confuse your preference with God's preference. [00:13:24] Speaker C: That's what we see here with these religious leaders. [00:13:28] Speaker A: So he entrusted these religious leaders with God's people. He also entrusted them with God's city, the city of Jerusalem, right? And think about this. This is the place where the rest of the world would see what living life God's way actually looks like. They'd see the people of God actually thriving as they yield to the leadership and the lordship and the kingship of God. [00:13:49] Speaker C: You tracking with me. [00:13:50] Speaker A: Imagine the implications of a city of people who are actually living life God's way. What the outcome of that would be. The fruit of that would be. They would be the envy of every other nation, every other city on the planet. Why do things run so efficiently? Why is there so much unity? Why is there so much love? Why is there no needy person among you? Why are there all? Because we follow the king of the universe and his ways. [00:14:14] Speaker C: You tracking with me with this. [00:14:17] Speaker A: So they were entrusted with God's people, they were entrusted with God's city. [00:14:23] Speaker C: And unfortunately, Jerusalem was supposed to be [00:14:25] Speaker A: God's holy city, but it was far from it. Ultimately, they're entrusted with God's kingdom. I want you to see, God entrusted them to model and promote God's way in the lives of God's people. That would lead to the flourishing of God's city and in increase of the kingdom of God on the earth. Israel is supposed to be a blessing to all the nations, right? That was the promise that God made to Abraham in the very beginning. So God, he entrusted these religious leaders with all this. And they did not honor God with [00:14:59] Speaker C: what he entrusted to them. [00:15:02] Speaker A: So Jesus then concludes the parable, and what does he do? [00:15:06] Speaker C: He pronounces judgment on these leaders. [00:15:11] Speaker A: He says, first they're going to be completely destroyed. And then in verse 43, take a look at it. [00:15:18] Speaker C: Verse 43, chapter 21. [00:15:21] Speaker A: Therefore, I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people producing its fruit. Who's that? Charles L. Quarles says this quote, the landowner represents God. [00:15:37] Speaker C: We've talked about this. [00:15:38] Speaker A: The vineyard stands for first, first for Israel, then Jerusalem, then the kingdom. The tenant farmers represent the Jewish leaders, the servants, the Old Testament prophets, the Son, Jesus. [00:15:47] Speaker C: We talked about that, right? [00:15:49] Speaker A: Listen to this. Because the Jewish leaders refused to give God the fruits of righteousness that he demanded. And because they rejected and murdered his son, God would destroy them and take his kingdom away from them. And entrust it to who? Jesus? [00:16:08] Speaker C: Disciples. [00:16:12] Speaker A: So the parable, it ends with Jesus informing these religious leaders that the kingdom of God that was once entrusted to them is gonna be taken from them and entrusted to his disciples. That's us, that's you, and that's me. [00:16:31] Speaker C: Here's what that means. Here's why this is really important. [00:16:34] Speaker A: It means this parable doesn't just apply to these religious leaders. [00:16:39] Speaker C: No, no, no, no, no. It has implications for us as well. Let me talk to you about the biggest implication. If you're taking notes, here's my first point for you. It's this. We are stewards of what God entrusts to us. We're stewards of what God entrusts us. [00:17:03] Speaker A: Maybe you've in your job currently or in a job that you've had in the past, did you ever have the responsibility of taking inventory? Right. It's like there's either, you know, there's product that needs to be sold or there's. If you're at a restaurant, there's stuff in the fridge. There's ingredients. There's different things, maybe for young people. Just think of, like, all of the things in your bedroom. [00:17:25] Speaker C: Right. [00:17:25] Speaker A: The things that you're responsible for, the things that are under your management. I want you to think about that. So maybe some of you, you know what it's like to kind of take inventory. Maybe, you know, like the clothes in your closet or the, like, kids, the things in your bedroom, or like I said, those of you in your workplace, the things that are under your management. It would be really wise in the same way for you to know what you're responsible for. [00:17:50] Speaker C: Right. [00:17:52] Speaker A: Think about your life. Think about every area of your life. Wouldn't it be wise for you to have an understanding of the things that are under your management? [00:18:06] Speaker C: Let's talk about it. [00:18:07] Speaker A: What are some of the things that [00:18:08] Speaker C: are entrusted to you? Talk to me. [00:18:11] Speaker A: Kids. [00:18:11] Speaker C: 100%. [00:18:13] Speaker A: If you're a parent in the room, your kids have been entrusted you. [00:18:15] Speaker C: What else? [00:18:17] Speaker A: Your house. Your body. [00:18:18] Speaker C: Absolutely. [00:18:20] Speaker A: Time. Finance. [00:18:22] Speaker C: Yep. [00:18:23] Speaker A: What else? Spouse. [00:18:25] Speaker C: Yep. Your marriage. Absolutely. [00:18:27] Speaker A: Talents? 100%. [00:18:30] Speaker C: Vocation. [00:18:31] Speaker A: Yep. [00:18:33] Speaker C: Pets. Yep. Your relationships. Spiritual gifts. You guys are killing it right now. [00:18:40] Speaker A: You guys know this. [00:18:42] Speaker C: Let me pray for us. We'll go home. Our communities. 100%. [00:18:47] Speaker A: Okay, so you guys are already going there. I want to focus in on a few of these, but like we're stewards of what God entrusts us. That means we aren't owners. [00:18:59] Speaker C: We're not owners. [00:19:00] Speaker A: All of it, everything that you guys already said and more, it all belongs to Him. [00:19:05] Speaker C: Here's what I want you to do. [00:19:06] Speaker A: I want you to pause for just a minute and let's actually be disciples of Jesus and actually think critically here. [00:19:11] Speaker C: Okay? [00:19:14] Speaker A: I just got done saying that we are stewards of what God has entrusted to us. [00:19:19] Speaker C: That means we're not owners. It means it all belongs to him. Pause for a second. Doc. Do you really believe that? [00:19:32] Speaker A: Do you really find yourself thinking that [00:19:34] Speaker C: throughout your life, throughout your day? [00:19:39] Speaker A: Here's what I wanna do. [00:19:40] Speaker C: I wanna spend the bulk of my time this morning, and I wanna just touch on a few things that God [00:19:48] Speaker A: entrusts to every single person in the [00:19:49] Speaker C: room, regardless of your age or stage of life. [00:19:52] Speaker A: Cause I want. It's gonna be really important that we not just be like, people who hear things in God's word, but actually we invite God's word to transform the way we live. That when we do that, his kingdom comes in and through our lives. So let's talk about some things that God entrusts to us. Somebody already said. I think it was you, ej. God entrusts everybody. Everybody in this room. You have this. You've been entrusted with this. It's this. [00:20:12] Speaker C: Your body. Your body. Oh. I'll confess to you a few months [00:20:26] Speaker A: back, and this is not the first time I feel like, if I'm honest [00:20:30] Speaker C: with you, can I just be real for a second? [00:20:34] Speaker A: I've recognized a pattern in my life [00:20:36] Speaker C: that isn't the healthiest thing, and that is this. [00:20:40] Speaker A: When stress gets pretty significant in my [00:20:43] Speaker C: life, the stewardship of my body becomes poor. [00:20:49] Speaker A: Here's what I mean by that. I start eating in ways that aren't [00:20:54] Speaker C: necessarily good for my body. [00:20:56] Speaker A: Ways that are maybe convenient or fast or quick or pleasurable even. Not that eating should be pleasurable. It should be a worship experience. God's kind. He could have just given us, like, tubes of toothpaste that we stick in the side and just, you know, like astronaut food. But he didn't. He gave us food that tastes good and smells good and looks good and just, like, awesome. So don't hear what I'm not saying, but you know what I'm talking about. When you get in those seasons where it's like, if you're anything like me, where stress increases. And now the way that I am treating my body, I'm not stewarding my body. Well, And a few months back, I feel like God lovingly convicted me, [00:21:32] Speaker C: like, hey, do you see this? And I was like, yeah, yeah, I do. I wasn't stewarding the body that God entrusted to me very well. [00:21:45] Speaker A: And so what I did was I actually wanted to practice repentance, right? Turning away from that. And so I started like, I made some really immediate changes, right? Like what I was eating, not just what I was eating, how much I was eating, started to like, if you're anything like me, one of the things that will happen too for me is like my set aside times for healthy activity, exercise, working out, those kinds of things. Not so. I mean, I know you guys probably [00:22:11] Speaker C: like, Tom's really yoked. I know that. [00:22:14] Speaker A: But not just for the vanity side of it. I'm talking about like, just for the, like, I need to be healthy. I wanna parent my kids and tell em. I don't want them to lose their dad early. I wanna be a functional human being, right? So not just for the vein part of it, but actually for like health. And what happens is stuff will come up, stress will come up. And one of the first things to get nixed in my calendar is my set aside time for exercise. Okay, well, I'll take this meeting or I'll do this thing. Cause there's a significant thing and God's [00:22:42] Speaker C: going like, are you going to steward the body I gave you? Are you going to steward it? Well, right? [00:22:49] Speaker A: So I started to guard my exercise [00:22:50] Speaker C: time on my schedule again. [00:22:51] Speaker A: I started to reprioritize, sleep and rest. These things that every body needs, right? You with me? [00:22:57] Speaker C: Am I the only person that's ever done this? Okay, cool. And there's another thing. I love coffee. You don't understand. I really, really enjoy coffee. Like I have an espresso machine in my house. It's one of my favorite things in the world. Okay? [00:23:26] Speaker A: And in this process, during this journey of repentance that God has been taking [00:23:30] Speaker C: me on the last few months, felt like the Lord said, you have an unholy dependence on coffee. Specifically you have an unholy dependence on caffeine. And I was like, that's true. [00:23:49] Speaker A: And here's how I know. Because if I didn't have coffee in the morning, my headaches, it was to that point where it was like, if I don't have this, I started to have these just awful headaches. And I'm like, okay, coffee is not a bad thing. It's a gift from the Lord. Caffeine's not a bad thing. I think it can be A gift from the Lord. As long as it's used in moderation, I'm a big fan. But I started to recognize in my own life, through the guidance and the love and the fathering of God, that man, I'm starting to develop this unholy dependence on caffeine. And so I started to make some adjustments. Now, most days, most days of the week, I'm drinking decaf because I love [00:24:28] Speaker C: the taste of coffee. [00:24:29] Speaker A: I still want it. I love the routine. [00:24:32] Speaker C: Doesn't mean I'm ditching caffeinated coffee. No, man. My Sabbath, my flat white on my Sabbath. [00:24:38] Speaker A: It's more glorious than it's ever been. I'm like looking forward to that every Sabbath morning. I'm not being religious about it. I want to practice repentance, turning away [00:24:50] Speaker C: and embracing God's way again. Listen, when was the last time you [00:24:56] Speaker A: thought about your discipleship and how it's related to how you steward the body [00:25:01] Speaker C: that God has entrusted you to or entrusted to you with? [00:25:07] Speaker A: That's part of your discipleship to Jesus? That's part of all of our discipleship to Jesus because it's from him. [00:25:14] Speaker C: You with me? How's that going for you right now? Christians aren't owners of our bodies. [00:25:22] Speaker A: We're stewards of the body God has entrusted to us. [00:25:26] Speaker C: Let's talk about some more stuff that everybody has. [00:25:29] Speaker A: You guys mentioned it already. God entrusts each of us with relationships. Take some relational inventory right now. Consider the relationships in your life. Everybody's got a little bit different, but think about it. Consider your relationships with your parents. Consider your relationships with your spouse. If you're married, consider your relationships with your kids. If you have kids, consider your relationships with your friends or your neighbors or your co workers or the people who lead you or the people that you lead. Consider your relationships for just a second. [00:26:00] Speaker C: How are they doing? Here's what I've seen in my own life. [00:26:15] Speaker A: There can be all sorts of things. [00:26:17] Speaker C: Listen to me. [00:26:18] Speaker A: There can be all sorts of things in me, in me that prevent my [00:26:24] Speaker C: relationships from being healthy, okay? One of the things that I try [00:26:30] Speaker A: to get in the habit of doing fairly regularly is I tried to. The people that are kinda in my [00:26:35] Speaker C: life is I try to ask them, like, hey, how are you experiencing me, Dude? You want to like really be vulnerable? [00:26:46] Speaker A: Sometimes their answer is wonderful, great. And sometimes their answer is, do you [00:26:53] Speaker C: really want to know? How are you experiencing me, Friend? Can I ask you, like, how are your relationships going? [00:27:07] Speaker A: And I don't mean like the finger point. I don't Mean, like, well, dude, this person in my life is like, really annoying me and really frustrating me. And their sin is, like, bothering me and like, becoming inconvenient for me. And like, I don't like what this person does or that person does, or my kids are doing this or my spouse is doing this, or this person in my life's doing this, or my boss is a jerk or I don't mean that. I mean, like, what you are bringing [00:27:30] Speaker C: to the table relationally, How are your relationships doing? [00:27:40] Speaker A: Is busyness or pride or selfishness or unforgiveness? You know, you're kind of still holding a grudge or gossip. Are any of those things and other [00:27:52] Speaker C: things, are they preventing your relationships from being healthy? There might be some relationships in your life that need attention. Okay, listen, we are stewards of the [00:28:07] Speaker A: relationships God has entrusted to us. Okay, let's keep the train rolling. What else? You guys mentioned this one too. You guys mentioned time. God entrusts each of us with time. [00:28:21] Speaker C: So I'm in my 40s now, which feels weird to say, but one of [00:28:28] Speaker A: the things I think many of you [00:28:30] Speaker C: will agree with me on is that [00:28:31] Speaker A: the older I get, the faster time seems to accelerate. Like, I remember being a kid and going like, man, Christmas is two weeks away. How am I gonna wait this long? And now I'm like, I'm in a stage in my life where I'm like, what day is it? It's flying by. Time is moving so quickly. I feel like I can't keep up. It's pretty bizarre. [00:28:55] Speaker C: Does anybody else relate to this? [00:28:57] Speaker A: Time just feels different. We just took a five minute break before I got up here to preach. Right. Just to give you guys a chance to stretch and little Christian intermission. Use the restroom, grab coffee, chill. Did you catch what was on the screen? Countdown. It's just a clock counting down. It's not there to control you. It's not there to be mean. It's just there to help. It's just there to be helpful for you to know how much time you have, how much time you have to use the restroom, how much time you have to get coffee, how much time you have to have a conversation, how much time you have to pray. [00:29:27] Speaker C: You have to just chill for a bit. Have you ever considered, like, it sounds morbid, but it's true. Your life has a countdown clock. [00:29:42] Speaker A: And what's trippy about it, guys, is that for the vast majority of people, [00:29:46] Speaker C: they have no idea how much time's left. They don't know if it's five Minutes or five months or five years, five decades. One of the things that more seasoned, older, wiser people in life kind of [00:30:09] Speaker A: all tend to say the same thing [00:30:11] Speaker C: as they're getting towards the end of their life. And it's typically around like, the most precious resource that you have is time. And yet most of us, if dare I say all of us, have no idea how much time we actually have. May I ask you, how are you using it? [00:30:43] Speaker A: I'm not trying to condemn you. I'm genuinely provoking you with questions to [00:30:46] Speaker C: get you to think, to get you to sober up from the way that [00:30:51] Speaker A: life tries to hijack you culture, tries [00:30:53] Speaker C: to hijack your mind, your attention, the algorithm tries to disciple you. I'm genuinely just asking you questions that I feel like the spirit of God's been asking me this week. How are you using the most precious resource that's been entrusted to you? [00:31:12] Speaker A: Now, my goal with this is not to, like, get you to apply that [00:31:15] Speaker C: in an unhealthy way. [00:31:16] Speaker A: My goal is not for you to leave here and go like, yo, like, you only live once. I'm gonna empty my bank account. We're going to Fiji, we're doing all these crazy things because, like, I'm only get one life. No, no, I'm not trying to get you to think more temporary. I'm trying to get you to like, whoa, wait a second, there's eternity. How am I living with this finite amount of time that I don't know how much I have? But in light of eternity, like, you [00:31:40] Speaker C: see how I'm going with this. [00:31:41] Speaker A: So don't apply this in an incorrect way. [00:31:42] Speaker C: Please don't misunderstand what I'm saying. How are you using your time? Are you using it wisely? Are you using it foolishly? [00:31:52] Speaker A: Are you using it generously [00:31:55] Speaker C: or selfishly or something in between? How are you using your time? [00:32:04] Speaker A: Acts chapter 3. It describes Jesus in a really unique way. Acts chapter 3 describes Jesus as the author of life. Think about that. The author of life. Guys, hear me. Every hour, every minute, dare I say, every second of your life has been [00:32:29] Speaker C: entrusted to you by the author of life, by God. We are stewards of the time God has entrusted to us. A couple more. I want to touch on this next one. Super important for kind of modern Western people. Some of you are going to be really happy. I'm going to talk about this, but I'm going to do it. God entrusts us with money. He entrusts us with money. Now, I want to affirm many of you with this One, dude, this church is really generous. [00:33:17] Speaker A: And not just the adults, like young people. [00:33:22] Speaker C: It's beautiful. You're generous. [00:33:25] Speaker A: You want to honor God with the [00:33:26] Speaker C: resources that he's entrusted to you. I love it. [00:33:28] Speaker A: But I would not be. [00:33:32] Speaker C: How do I say this? [00:33:34] Speaker A: I would be remiss if I don't [00:33:37] Speaker C: give attention to the stewardship of money right now. [00:33:40] Speaker A: Why? Because money, you guys know this. It has such a grip on our culture. Like, it's hard to not be weird with money. Like, here's the thing. It has such a. This culture has such a grip, like, around money, like, even with Christians. [00:33:56] Speaker C: And so I want to take just a moment. I want to address this. [00:33:59] Speaker A: Haggai, chapter 2, verse 8. [00:34:01] Speaker C: The Prophet says this. Actually, God says this through the prophet. [00:34:03] Speaker A: He says, the silver and gold belong to me. [00:34:09] Speaker C: This is the declaration of the Lord of armies of God. Okay? [00:34:14] Speaker A: Now, I did some research and I was shocked to find out global wealth right now. Global wealth is currently estimated at around 500 trillion. With a T dollars. That is so much money. That is like, I can't even wrap [00:34:30] Speaker C: my brain around that much money. [00:34:31] Speaker A: But you know what's crazy? The Bible says that all the money, every cent of it, all the money in the whole world belongs to who? It belongs to God. That's crazy. That means every dollar that I have in my possession, every dollar that you have, has been entrusted to you by God. We aren't owners. [00:34:57] Speaker C: What are we? Stewards. Well done. [00:34:59] Speaker A: You're listening. [00:35:00] Speaker C: We're stewards. [00:35:02] Speaker A: And one of the very clear ways in the scripture that God commands his people to steward his money is to tithe. Have you heard this word? Many of you have. Many of you are doing it to tithe. If you're not familiar with what tithe is, it just. It literally means tenth. That's what the word means. So it's 10%. So to tithe is to take 10% of the money that God entrusts to you and to give it back to him. [00:35:27] Speaker C: Right? Here's what's crazy about this. God has a lot to say in [00:35:31] Speaker A: the Bible about this. God goes as far as to say, [00:35:34] Speaker C: those who don't tithe, hear me, are robbing God. Malachi, chapter three, verses seven through ten. Listen to this. [00:35:44] Speaker A: This is God speaking, [00:35:47] Speaker C: says, stay with me. Some of you are already getting irritated and just stay with me. This is beautiful. [00:35:52] Speaker A: Since the days of your ancestors, you have turned away from my statutes really quickly. [00:35:58] Speaker C: Do you know what a statute is? [00:36:01] Speaker A: The Hebrew word for statue, that's translated [00:36:03] Speaker C: into English as statue. [00:36:04] Speaker A: What it means is, it means clear [00:36:06] Speaker C: communication of what someone should do. [00:36:09] Speaker A: Okay, so parents in the room. When you say hey to your children, hey. If you don't clean up your room, you can't go play with your friends. [00:36:19] Speaker C: That's a statute, okay? [00:36:22] Speaker A: Since the days of your ancestors, you have turned away from my clear communication about what you should do. Your statutes, you have not kept them. Return to me and I will return [00:36:33] Speaker C: to you, says the Lord of armies. [00:36:35] Speaker A: Yet you ask, how can we return? [00:36:38] Speaker C: Will a man rob God? [00:36:41] Speaker A: Yet you are robbing me. [00:36:44] Speaker C: How do we rob you, you ask? [00:36:46] Speaker A: By not making the payments of the [00:36:49] Speaker C: 10th, that's the tithe and the contributions. [00:36:53] Speaker A: You are suffering under a curse, yet you, the whole nation, are still robbing me. Bring the full tenth, that's the tithe, into the storehouse so that there may be food in my house. [00:37:05] Speaker C: 10. [00:37:06] Speaker A: Test me in this way, says the Lord of Armies. See if I will not open the floodgates of heaven and pour out a blessing for you without measure. There's so much here. [00:37:18] Speaker C: But listen, sadly, there are well meaning Christians who object to tithing. [00:37:28] Speaker A: They'll say things like, tithing looks fine, whatever. That's like. That's Old Testament law, man. We've been freed from the law. It's Old Covenant. We're New Covenant people. We've been freed from the law. [00:37:39] Speaker C: But listen, if you actually study this [00:37:41] Speaker A: in the Bible, listen to me, there's huge implications. Guys, if you study this in the Bible, you'll find tithing's not just an Old Testament law. No, no, no, no, no. It's a principle that literally runs all throughout the Bible. [00:37:54] Speaker C: Listen to me. [00:37:55] Speaker A: Tithing happens pre law with Abraham. Like who did the law? Who did God deliver the law through Moses. Abraham's way before Moses. Tithing happens pre law with Abraham and it happens post law. New Covenant with God in the flesh. The Messiah, Savior, Jesus. Flip over to Matthew, chapter 23, verse 23. Okay, this is a couple chapters ahead of where we are in Matthew, right? We're Matthew 21, this is Matthew, chapter 23. We'll get there right at the pace we're going, probably in three or four years. Matthew 23, 23, this is Jesus. Check out what he says. Woe to you scribes and Pharisees, Hypocrites. You pay a tenth, there's tithe, you pay a tenth of mint, dill and cumin. And yet you have neglected the more important matters of the law. Justice, mercy and faithfulness. Listen to what he says. These things should have been Done without neglecting the others. [00:39:00] Speaker C: Do you see what Jesus just did here? [00:39:02] Speaker A: Did you catch it? [00:39:04] Speaker C: Jesus? [00:39:06] Speaker A: God in the flesh affirms tithing. He says it's something that should be done. [00:39:11] Speaker C: Listen to me. [00:39:12] Speaker A: It's tithing. It's not just an Old Testament law. [00:39:15] Speaker C: But hear me, it is a test. It's not just an Old Testament law, but it is a test. [00:39:22] Speaker A: Go to Matthew, chapter 6, verse 24. Again, this is Jesus talking. It's a test. You guys gotta get this. No condemnation in the room. I'm getting good news. Good news is coming. Stay with me. [00:39:33] Speaker C: Verse 24 of Matthew, chapter 6. This is Jesus. [00:39:36] Speaker A: No one can serve two masters since he either he will hate one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. He goes, you cannot serve both God and money. You can't do it. So Jesus, he says, a person. Listen to this. This is critical for your spiritual health. Guys, please stay with me. Jesus says a person is either a steward of God's money or a slave to money. It's either. Or. Either a steward of God's money that has been entrusted to you or a slave to the money. I can testify to you right now. I have lived as a slave to money before. [00:40:18] Speaker C: It's awful. [00:40:21] Speaker A: The anxiety and the fear and the worry and the like, it's awful. Money is a cruel master who will actually never take care of you. [00:40:34] Speaker C: Tithing is not just an Old Testament [00:40:35] Speaker A: law, but it is a test. And hear me, it's a test in two ways, okay? Tithing firstly, is a test to see who a person's true master is. [00:40:47] Speaker C: Is it God or is it money? [00:40:50] Speaker A: Tithing's a test. It reveals what's actually real. That's the first way it's a test. The second way it's a test. And this is the part that is wild to me. The second way it's a test is that tithing is one of the few things in scripture that God invites us to test him in. Did you catch it? Look back at verse Malachi, chapter three. Look back at verse ten. This is crazy, okay? God speaking. Bring the full tenth into the storehouse so that there may be food in my house. Test me in this way, says the Lord. See if I will not open the floodgates of heaven and pour out a blessing for you without measure. Dude, a blessing without measure. Do you know what that means? Think of like a. This is my water bottle. Think about my water bottle. Caps off and you keep dumping water and it starts overflowing. That's literally. If you look at the original language, that's what it's talking about. It's an overflow of blessing. So much blessing that you can't contain it. So much blessing that it overflows. That's literally what he's saying. He's going test me in this. See if I won't do that. There's not enough room to store all the blessing that it'll pour out. Now, listen, this has been tweaked and manipulated by people, frankly, by. By leaders in the church who just wanna fleece God's flock for money. Okay? So if you're skeptical in the room, I get it. But listen, I can honestly tell you, this blessing without measure thing, I have [00:42:19] Speaker C: experienced it in my life. I've experienced it in my life. [00:42:24] Speaker A: Ebony and I, we have tithed our entire marriage. In fact, before we got married, each of us individually were tithing before we got married. So it was a very simple and easy thing for when we were united in marriage. We were like, yeah, we're. [00:42:37] Speaker C: Keep this going, okay? [00:42:38] Speaker A: We've experienced firsthand these promises that we see here from God in Malachi, chapter three, blessings without measure. And so because we've experienced that, literally after the first year of marriage, we started giving more than 10%. We started giving more than. [00:42:55] Speaker C: And if I'm honest with you, I don't say this to sound cool. I'm just testifying to you. [00:43:02] Speaker A: Every year since. [00:43:04] Speaker C: After the first year of marriage, we have given more than 10% every single year. Do you want to know why. We're in Matthew chapter 21, right? When we get to Matthew chapter 26, it's one of my favorite events in the whole Bible. In Matthew chapter 26, we're gonna read about a follower of Jesus named Mary of Bethany. Mary of Bethany's like a. She's. Yeah. [00:43:43] Speaker A: So what happens in Matthew 26 is Jesus, he's invited to this dinner party, okay? [00:43:47] Speaker C: Picture it in your mind. [00:43:47] Speaker A: He's invited to this dinner party. Everyone's sitting around the table, fellowship's happening, conversations are happening, right? And then Mary comes in. She shows up to the dinner party, and she does something extraordinary. She does something absolutely extraordinary. Mary has with her this alabaster jar filled with perfume. [00:44:09] Speaker C: You guys know the story. [00:44:11] Speaker A: She has this alabaster jar of perfume. And listen, it's not just like, oh, that's nice. Hear me. It's the best money can buy. In fact, the Scriptures say it's worth 300 denarii. You guys know how much that is in modern day 300 denarii back then was a year's wages. So just take your annual salary, whatever it is. That's how much it cost her. So imagine if you spent what you make in a year on something that's [00:44:38] Speaker C: that alabaster jar of perfume, okay? An entire year's salary. [00:44:43] Speaker A: And what she does out of devotion, as a love offering, Mary, she breaks [00:44:51] Speaker C: the bottle and she anoints Jesus with the perfume. [00:44:56] Speaker A: And it's unavoidable. The whole room sees it. Not only do they see it, they smell. Was disruptive. [00:45:02] Speaker C: Okay? [00:45:03] Speaker A: So she breaks the bottle, she anoints Jesus with the perfume. And the people. Do you guys remember the story? The people that are there around the table, the people in the room at this dinner party, they start criticizing her. They're like, what a complete waste. We could have sold that, taken that money and blessed the poor with it [00:45:22] Speaker C: is literally what they say. [00:45:24] Speaker A: So the whole room criticizes her, but not Jesus. [00:45:30] Speaker C: Do you remember what Jesus says? He goes, stop. Stop criticizing her. Leave her alone. What Mary's done for me is a beautiful thing. And he doesn't just say that. [00:45:47] Speaker A: He doesn't stop there. [00:45:49] Speaker C: Do you remember what else he says? [00:45:50] Speaker A: He goes, what Mary's done for me [00:45:51] Speaker C: is a beautiful thing. [00:45:52] Speaker A: He goes, in fact, everywhere in the whole world where the gospel is preached, [00:45:58] Speaker C: what Mary just did will be told in memory of her. So get the picture. [00:46:07] Speaker A: It's like the missionary rolling into the Amazon rainforest to try to find some unreached people group. They roll up on this tribe and they're like, hey, we come in peace. We're here to share with you the good news of Jesus Christ and a [00:46:23] Speaker C: woman named Mary who broke the bottle for Jesus. [00:46:29] Speaker A: Like, do you realize what Jesus is saying here? It's crazy. Mary, she's criticized by the room, okay? But Jesus says Mary's act of devotion and love will go down in history. He says wherever the gospel is preached in the whole planet, Mary's devotion will [00:46:47] Speaker C: be mentioned as well. [00:46:50] Speaker A: That's incredible. That's absolutely incredible. You want to know the reason? Ebony and I have been giving more than 10% every single year since after the first year of our marriage. It's not because we just want to be, like, good stewards of the money with which God's entrusted to us. Yes, we want that, but it's not just that. It's because we want to be the kind of worshipers who break the bottle, man. I want to be the kind of worshiper who breaks the bottle for Jesus. He's so Guys, he's worth so much [00:47:18] Speaker C: more than a tithe. He's worth breaking the bottle. [00:47:25] Speaker A: You want to know why? Because he didn't tithe his blood for me. [00:47:32] Speaker C: Nah, man, he gave it all for me. Listen, if you're here and you're like, tom, you're spending way too much money, too much time talking about money here. Maybe you're irritated right now. Pastor's just trying to grow the church budget, lay on the guilt, get the budget numbers up. I understand why you think that. Like I said, there's plenty of ungodly church leaders who worship money, But you can't serve two masters. [00:48:19] Speaker A: So I get. [00:48:20] Speaker C: I understand why you'd think that. But listen, is God as my witness. I care infinitely more about you worshiping God in every single area of your life than I do about the size of this church budget. [00:48:36] Speaker A: Like, I care infinitely more about the condition of your soul. [00:48:41] Speaker C: Like, that's why I'm here. [00:48:42] Speaker A: Believe it or not, me and the other elders and the church staff, none [00:48:46] Speaker C: of us are doing this for the money. Why are you laughing? [00:48:50] Speaker A: Cause you know. [00:48:52] Speaker C: But I'm serious. [00:48:55] Speaker A: I care about your soul unapologetically. [00:48:58] Speaker C: I care about your soul. If that makes you uncomfortable, I'm sorry. But I'm not sorry. I love you. I'm gonna unapologetically promote what God calls you to. And listen to me. I live it. I live it. I'm not calling you to anything I don't do myself again. It's not about boosting a church's budget. It's about worshiping Jesus. I live it. [00:49:23] Speaker A: I can testify to you. Okay? Ebony and I have been giving more than 10% for over 15 years. And I can honestly say the saying is so cheesy, you know, you cannot give God. It's real. It is 100% cheesy, and it is 100% true. You will never outgive God. Ever. And listen, it's not just my story. It's not just her story. You could talk to any tither in the church, any tither in any Christian community, you could talk to them. And what you'll hear is you'll hear story after story of God's blessings that come as a result. [00:49:56] Speaker C: But listen to me. [00:49:57] Speaker A: I'm not trying to sell you on the blessing here. I said we don't give to get something back from God. We just deflected worship somewhere else. Okay? We wanna worship Jesus. Okay? Don't do it for the blessings. [00:50:12] Speaker C: Do it cause you love him. [00:50:14] Speaker A: Do it cause you love him and [00:50:15] Speaker C: you trust him, do it. Because you're not an owner, you're a steward. Practical things. I'm gonna move on. If you want more practical help with following Jesus with your finances. I did a whole sermon series on this years ago. [00:50:32] Speaker A: It's called you can find it on the church website. We talked about. Dude. We talked about budgeting. We talked about spending it. We talked about enjoying the money that God gives you. We talked about giving, we talked about investing. We talked about all sorts of things. How do you follow Jesus with your finances? If you want practical help with that, you can go on the church website. The series is called following Jesus with your finances. [00:50:52] Speaker C: Let that bless you. Christians are stewards of the money God entrusts to us. [00:50:56] Speaker A: One more thing. [00:50:58] Speaker C: We're stewards of that with which God entrusts us. Right? [00:51:01] Speaker A: The final thing I want to cover [00:51:02] Speaker C: before I move forward is this the gospel, [00:51:10] Speaker A: the good news about Jesus. Listen, as important as being a good, godly steward of your body is of your relationships, of your time, of your money, God has made us stewards of the greatest news in the history of the world, the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Listen, you guys know the Gospel. We are gospel people. The good news of what God has done in and through the person of Jesus Christ, that he put on flesh, that he lived the perfect life in our place, that none of us ever could. He was perfect. And he did that in order to offer that perfect record to you, if you will, just receive it in faith. And he doesn't just offer you his perfect record. He goes to the cross where he absorbs all of the sin for you, for me, for all of mankind, so that anybody who has faith in him is forgiven of their sins. They're washed, cleansed. They're cleansed. They're white as snow, the scripture says. And then through that process, anybody who trusts in that is then adopted into God's eternal family. They're literally saved from sin, Satan, death and hell. It's fantastic news. That's the gospel. Listen, you and I, if you're a Christian in this room, if you're a [00:52:21] Speaker C: follower of Jesus in this room, we [00:52:24] Speaker A: are stewards of the message of the gospel. And the Bible's really clear. The Bible says that the gospel of Jesus is the power for salvation. Listen to me. For all who believe, anybody, the worst person you've ever met can get transformed by the power of the message of the gospel. Like the youngest child, they can live a life of being transformed by the beautiful, glorious, powerful message of the gospel of Jesus Christ. It's Salvation for all who believe. When we share the gospel, friends, lives are literally changed. They're transformed. There's a lot of people who try to sell you a lot of different things. I'm not here to necessarily sell you. I'm here to promote to you that the gospel's been entrusted to you and it's the power to transform people, to transform lives. Sinners become saints. When the gospel is shared, faith in the gospel, it saves people. Friend, you have been entrusted with the cure for mankind. [00:53:34] Speaker C: Loving question, are you sharing it with people? Are you sharing with people? Not like a weirdo, like a loving friend, like someone who just cares for somebody else's soul. Not like an arrogant hypocrite. But are you sharing it with people? [00:54:03] Speaker A: Are you inviting them to join you as you come and worship God on Sundays again? [00:54:10] Speaker C: Tom's just trying to boost the numbers [00:54:12] Speaker A: of the church 100%. [00:54:13] Speaker C: I am. [00:54:15] Speaker A: I want to see as many people come to Jesus as possible. I want to send as many people out to plant churches as possible. Like that's literally. That's what Dad's family business has been doing for 2000 years. Of course I do, yeah. Are you inviting them to join you on Sundays where the gospel is preached and celebrated? Are you inviting them to Alpha where there's a safe place where they can just come with their questions and like, I don't get this. And they're not gonna be pressured. They can just process and start to kinda experience the truths of the message of the gospel in a low stakes environment. Like, are you sharing the gospel? There's that famous quote. [00:54:54] Speaker C: I think I put it up there. [00:54:56] Speaker A: It's usually attributed to Saint Francis of Assisi. He says, well, actually there's actually no [00:55:01] Speaker C: record of him saying this. [00:55:02] Speaker A: So this is kind of a weird thing, but maybe you've heard this quote before. Preach the gospel always and when necessary, use words. [00:55:09] Speaker C: Have you heard this? [00:55:10] Speaker A: Don't you love the sentiment of that? Oh, I love the sentiment. I really appreciate it. We should, it's essentially saying we should demonstrate the gospel with acts of service, with acts of love, with acts of generosity. Like, we should act in such a way that it promotes God's love and care and kindness. You guys with me? Awesome. I love this sentiment. [00:55:32] Speaker C: It's beautiful. [00:55:34] Speaker A: The problem is preaching the gospel actually requires telling people a message. Like you actually have to tell them about the gospel of Jesus. This is what it is, this is what it's not. This is what it means for you. If you trust in it, if you have faith in it. Here's what it can produce in your life. You have to use words. So I'm not saying don't act in these ways like. Absolutely. I'm saying you gotta have. You have to have words to preach the gospel, to share the message, you have to use words. [00:56:01] Speaker C: You with me? The message of the gospel has been entrusted to us, friends. We are stewards of what God entrusts us to. [00:56:13] Speaker A: And as the list could go on and on, I don't have time to get into gifts and all the different things you guys talked about. You guys are already on it. You already see it. [00:56:22] Speaker C: My question for you this morning is, are you living as a steward? Have you forgotten? Maybe. [00:56:27] Speaker A: If you're anything like me, life can get chaotic. And sometimes I forget who I am. Not like I forget my name, but I forget, like, how I'm made to operate, what the spirit wants to produce in and through my life. And one of the parts of my identity as a Christian. Your identity as a Christian is. [00:56:45] Speaker C: We're not owners, stewards. Are you living as a steward or are you living like the tenant farmers in Jesus parable? I'm almost done. A little over 10 years ago, when my family and I were living in San Diego at the very first restored church plant, [00:57:12] Speaker A: we had a bunch of [00:57:13] Speaker C: people over with a small little apartment in uptown, and we would just fill that thing. We had a New Year's Eve party [00:57:23] Speaker A: and we probably had 30 people there, [00:57:25] Speaker C: which might not sound like a lot. It was crazy. [00:57:31] Speaker A: And so we're, you know, it's probably like 9 o' clock or something, and we're all young. And EB puts Millie to bed and she was a baby. And I don't know what, I don't [00:57:47] Speaker C: know why I did this, but I brought out Jenga. [00:57:51] Speaker A: Have you guys played Jenga? The game with the blocks tower, Right? So a few of us just start playing Jenga, just kind of talking, whatever, and then I get the wild idea [00:58:01] Speaker C: of like, let's play high stakes Jenga. [00:58:06] Speaker A: And nothing too crazy. Like, it was clean. [00:58:08] Speaker C: It was, you know, it was a church party, man. Give me a break. [00:58:13] Speaker A: Like, hey, there was like 10 of us. It started with like a few and then it would grow and it was like, okay, whoever causes the tower to fall has to like wash everybody's car. Like, just start just throwing out these crazy high stakes things. Like. And guys, what happened was over the course of the night, it took over the party. Like, people would make their way from our kitchen that was connected to our living room. It was like everybody just Started gathering around. As we start playing this Jenga and everybody's playing at this point, the stakes are high. It's like, oh, my gosh, like you could feel the adrenaline in the room, right? It took over the party because the [00:58:49] Speaker C: stakes were so high. [00:58:53] Speaker A: In this parable, friends, Jesus, one of the things that he's doing is he's using this parable to teach something very important. Now, if you've played Jenga, you know that if you just put that tower [00:59:06] Speaker C: up the way that it is, if [00:59:08] Speaker A: you take that bottom corner piece, not the middle one, that bottom corner piece, [00:59:13] Speaker C: and you remove it, what happens? [00:59:16] Speaker A: It falls 100% of the time. Because the weight of that structure, when you remove what's called the cornerstone, that thing falls 100 times out of 100. [00:59:28] Speaker C: If you don't believe me, try it when you get home. [00:59:33] Speaker A: What Jesus is doing is he's using this parable to teach something very, very important. [00:59:39] Speaker C: My final point for you is this. Jesus Christ is the cornerstone of life. [00:59:44] Speaker A: He's the cornerstone of life. [00:59:47] Speaker C: I need you to realize something. [00:59:48] Speaker A: I need you to realize that your life, the entire life that God has entrusted to you, your life is like [00:59:55] Speaker C: a game of Jenga. But listen to me, the stakes are incredibly high. [01:00:03] Speaker A: Way higher than like you having to [01:00:04] Speaker C: wash ten other people's car. If Jesus is removed, [01:00:14] Speaker A: if the cornerstone [01:00:15] Speaker C: is removed, it leads to a downfall [01:00:19] Speaker A: no matter who you are, [01:00:22] Speaker C: no matter what your circumstances look like. [01:00:26] Speaker A: In verse 42, Jesus of Matthew, Jesus tells these Jewish leaders they've rejected the cornerstone of life. They rejected God's lordship in important areas of life, and it led to their downfall. [01:00:44] Speaker C: I'm here to ask you a question this morning, and the question is, are you rejecting the cornerstone of life in [01:00:50] Speaker A: anywhere of your life? Are you rejecting the cornerstone of life? Are you building your life without Jesus as the cornerstone? [01:01:01] Speaker C: Maybe you're here and you're like, I don't know. Am I? Here's how you know. Here's one of the ways you know if you're living like an owner and not a steward, Jesus Christ is the cornerstone of life. [01:01:23] Speaker A: If he's removed, you're going to it's downfall. [01:01:33] Speaker C: All right, I'm going to close with some good news. How about that band coming up? [01:01:41] Speaker A: Maybe you're here and you're like, I'm never coming back. [01:01:44] Speaker C: Or you're like, I don't like the way you make me feel right now. [01:01:47] Speaker A: I feel really uneasy in my spirit. [01:01:49] Speaker C: I feel really condemned in my spirit. Listen, if that's you, I want you to consider one more thing from this parable. I want you to consider how many opportunities the landowner owner gave the tenant farmers to do the right thing. You catch it? It's awesome. [01:02:06] Speaker A: It gives me so much hope. It comforts my soul. Guys, listen. He could have destroyed them after the very first offense, but what does he do? Does he destroy them after the first offense? No. [01:02:20] Speaker C: No. [01:02:21] Speaker A: What does he do? [01:02:22] Speaker C: He sends wave after wave of messengers, [01:02:27] Speaker A: wave after wave of people. And he even sends his son. [01:02:35] Speaker C: Do you see it? One of my favorite things about this [01:02:41] Speaker A: parable and one of my favorite things [01:02:42] Speaker C: this parable teaches us is that God is so patient with sinners. He's so patient with us. It's wild. [01:02:53] Speaker A: Can I just read you one more passage of scripture? Second Peter, chapter three, verse nine. He's so patient with sinners like me. [01:03:03] Speaker C: Three, verse nine. Look at this. Hey, let this actually, like, minister to your soul for a second. I'm gonna read it slow. How we doing on time? We're doing okay. The Lord does not delay his promise as some understand. [01:03:25] Speaker A: Delay. [01:03:27] Speaker C: But is what patient with who? With you? With me not wanting any to perish, but all to come to. There it is. [01:03:43] Speaker A: That R word again. [01:03:45] Speaker C: Repentance. Do you have any idea how patient God is with sinners? He's so patient with us. [01:04:00] Speaker A: He's every right to just snap his [01:04:01] Speaker C: fingers and go, I'm done with you, Tom. [01:04:05] Speaker A: I've entrusted so much to your care, and you do things your way all the time. [01:04:10] Speaker C: Be gone from me. He doesn't do that to me and [01:04:13] Speaker A: he doesn't do that to you. [01:04:14] Speaker C: He's so patient with sinners. [01:04:16] Speaker A: This invitation to repent is like the most gracious and loving invitation that's ever been given. Ever. It's wonderful. Do you see it? [01:04:24] Speaker C: Do you see it? [01:04:25] Speaker A: For you and your unique experiences and your unique circumstances and your unique inventory, the invitation to turn away from living life your way and instead embrace God's way. [01:04:39] Speaker C: The kingdom. We've been talking about it for literally over a hundred Sundays. I'm not gonna. I'll never stop talking about it, Guys. Rejecting the cornerstone of life, it's only gonna lead to downfall. So maybe you're here. And if you're honest, I had to do some serious work this week with this one. [01:05:06] Speaker A: Some real inventory of my life, my heart, and the condition of what's going on in me. [01:05:12] Speaker C: Maybe some of you, you're here. And if you're honest, you're living like an owner instead of a steward of what God's entrusted to you. You know what God's response to that is? He's so patient. He's patiently and faithfully inviting every one of us to repentance. Come back to the kingdom where you belong. If you were with us last week. [01:05:46] Speaker A: Get in here. [01:05:48] Speaker C: Get in here. [01:05:49] Speaker A: It's amazing. The water feels incredible. [01:05:53] Speaker C: The gracious invitation. [01:05:55] Speaker A: God is patiently inviting you and I to be a godly steward of our body. He's patiently inviting you and I to be a godly steward of the relationships [01:06:06] Speaker C: he's entrusted to us, of the time he's entrusted to us, of the money [01:06:10] Speaker A: he's entrusted to us, of the gospel [01:06:12] Speaker C: that he's entrusted to us. May we be a community that does not reject the cornerstone of life. Instead, may we be a people who hear me, enjoys him, obeys him, and operates like him. In every single area of our life. I want to pray for you. Will you stand with me if you're able. [01:06:52] Speaker A: To. [01:07:06] Speaker C: There is, therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. [01:07:14] Speaker A: Father, I pray your word back to you. I pray your word to fill this space. There is, therefore now no condemnation. Not some, not a little bit, not a lot. There's therefore no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. And I just want to acknowledge that there's a difference between being in church and in Christ. Father, do whatever you have to do to prepare this bride for your return to be clean. Not because we've cleaned ourselves up, but because we've yielded to your lordship and your leadership. And your spirit is guiding us and directing us and changing us as we practice repentance and we enjoy your forgiveness, and we seek to enjoy you and obey you and operate like you do. I pray for anybody in this room who's in church, but not in Christ. I pray, Father, that you would give them the faith. You'd gift them the faith. To say yes to entering into your lordship, to say yes to entering into your kingdom. I pray salvation. That's my prayer. Salvation for every single man, woman, child, youth, everybody in the room, myself included. Let us not be people who are deceived, who slip into the current of the culture around us. That current is leading somewhere. [01:08:35] Speaker C: It's leading to judgment. [01:08:37] Speaker A: It's leading us away from the lover of our soul. Have mercy on us, Jesus. Have mercy on us, Jesus. I thank you for your cross. I thank you for your blood. I thank you for your body, your life in our place, your death in our place. You've made a way because of what you've done, because of the gospel. [01:09:00] Speaker C: There's therefore no Condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. [01:09:02] Speaker A: We are people who are free to say no to. We are people who are free to practice repentance, knowing that our salvation is not on the line. You gave yourself for us. [01:09:16] Speaker C: Let us be faithful stewards of that with which you entrust to us. And may you experience all the glory [01:09:21] Speaker A: and may your kingdom come in us, [01:09:24] Speaker C: through us, all around us. We love you and honor you and pray these things in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and all God's people said together. Amen. If you're on the prayer team this morning, would you make your way to the front? [01:09:38] Speaker A: We're gonna spend the remainder of our [01:09:40] Speaker C: gathering, about 10 minutes. We're gonna respond to God. This is the chance for you to [01:09:44] Speaker A: come forward and receive prayer for any reason. If God's poking at you with something and you need increase of faith or you need God to touch your life in any way, there's trusted men and [01:09:52] Speaker C: women that would love to pray for you. [01:09:54] Speaker A: Saints in the room, Christians in the room, disciples in the room. We're also gonna fill this room with praise. The band's gonna lead us. These aren't just trite songs to sing. These are prayers offered up to God. [01:10:04] Speaker C: These are. [01:10:04] Speaker A: These are prayers of gratitude and thanksgiving and love. Thank you, Lord. Thank you. Don't give up on me. Thank you for the gospel that empowers me to live life. Seeking out, promoting, living in your kingdom. So we're gonna praise him, we're gonna offer prayer ministry. Come forward at any time. [01:10:21] Speaker C: And then in about eight minutes or so, Eric will come up and pastor us in closing. Okay, I love you guys very much. Enjoy him.