Hillsong Church Phoenix | Terry Crist | Cash Cow - Old McDonald Had A Farm

hey god bless you may be seated this morning this morning we are beginning a brand new series that i'm calling cash cow cash cow it's an original idea which means that there's no one to blame but me should things go horribly wrong but i do personally think it's going to be deeply moving and utterly amazing and i'm going to milk it for all that it's worth [Applause] did i butcher that opening i ran this by my wife and she called it cheesy now enough with that the series is actually based on my observation that a lot of christ followers are living disconnected from biblical principles when it comes to their financial life and the disconnect is devastating the number of people who are tithing in churches across america is declining the amount of people who are in personal debt is rising and we find ourselves struggling in many ways when it comes to financial matters simply because that we haven't understood god's plan for our life as a matter of fact i think one of the reasons for the disconnect is that the biblical metaphors that we use to talk about our financial life are not just as relevant or just not as relevant to us today as they once were because we're living in a time in a place when the context has changed let me explain what i mean about that when the bible talks about financial resources or money management or blessing and favor and increase the bible uses metaphors that many of us struggle to relate to they just simply don't make sense in our lives the bible talks about things like barns fields harvests seeds and there was a time in history when everybody could relate to those things but i think those days are far gone and today we work in corporations in retail stores in government offices and educational institutions in sales centers and on construction sites we are doctors and lawyers and teachers and educators and retail workers and technology people i t people whatever it is that some of you people do when it comes to technology we are artists and we are marketers and we are homemakers and right here in the fifth largest city in america how many of you would acknowledge that we have very few farmers now there are a few but very few farmers and so the metaphors that we connect with are very different in our generation now let me clearly state that the wisdom principles of the bible apply to us even if the metaphors don't the wisdom principles of the bible are timeless they transcend culture they relate anywhere and everywhere for anyone and for everyone but we've got to work to translate them into our context so i want to take a couple of weeks right here and i want to talk about your financial life using the biblical metaphors but i also want to do some heavy lifting here in order to translate them into your context into my context so that we can discover god's plan for each and every one of us to live a flourishing life now i thought it might be fun to kick off the series by looking at a few bible verses that relate to cows to cows and every time i talk about cattle or livestock or cows i want you to see that as a metaphor for god's provision a metaphor for his resource for his blessing for his desire to meet you right where you are in whatever context you're in and to supply your needs according to his riches in glory by christ jesus so when i talk about cows i don't want you to think about mooing creatures i want you to think about god's provision for your life now the series is called cash cow and the first message today is old macdonald had a farm and will begin in the very beginning in genesis chapter 1 and verse 24. then god said let the earth bring forth the living creatures according to its kind cattle and creeping things and the beasts of the earth each according to its kind and it was so and god made the beast of the earth according to its kind cattle according to its kind and everything that creeps on the earth according to its kind and god saw that it was good now i don't know if you've ever noticed it but in the creational account of genesis chapter 1 god just generally sweeps all the animals he creates into some really big broad categories until it comes to cows he specifically identifies cows in verse 21 god lumps everything from goldfish to the great white sharks into one general category and he calls them sea creatures in verse 22 god lumps everything from sparrows to vultures into one big broad category and he identifies them as birds in verse 24 he lumps everything from bunny rabbits to elephants into one big general broad category and he calls them beasts and in verse 25 he lumps everything from lizards to crocodiles into one big broad general category and he calls them creeping things but when it comes to cattle he identifies them specifically and uniquely as cattle and it's inconsistent with every other thing we see in the creational account why is that i have absolutely no idea and neither does any other credible theologian that i've researched on the matter but what i do know is that it's there god creates cattle and names them as such or livestock and man on the sixth day of creation and he identifies both of them as objects of worth and value genesis chapter 2 and verse 18 and the lord god said it is not good that man should be alone i will make him a helper comparable to him i'll give him a swearing wife out of the ground that was a joke the lord god formed every beast of the field and every bird of the air and brought them to adam to see what he would call them and whatever adam called each living creature that was its name so adam gave names to all can you read to all cattle and to the birds of the air and to the beast of the field but for adam there was not a helper comparable to him or for him now from this point forward throughout the remainder of the bible cattle seem to hold a very important place in god's plan for humanity they're there as a source of income they're there as a source of food and even under the old testament law they are there as a source of sacrifice cattle are a sign of god's blessing his favor and his increase in an individual's life in a family's life and in a nation and on the other hand the lack of cattle is seen as a sign of poverty and of despair and of even judgment we see it all through the bible in genesis chapter 7 god renovates the earth with the flood because of the sins of humanity and the bible tells us that noah takes all these animals two by two but then specifically cattle he takes cattle into the ark with him in genesis chapter 8 when noah comes off of the ark he brings the animals that he's taken along with him those who came two by two and the bible wants us to know again specifically that he brings the cattle along with him out of the ark and into this brand new world now just a few chapters later abraham comes on the scene abraham abram as he was initially called is the father of our faith and god wants us to know some things about abraham and as god describes the events of his life god wants us to know that abraham had cattle genesis 13 and verse 1 then abraham went up from egypt he and his wife and all he had and lot with him to the south abraham was very rich in cattle in livestock and in silver and in gold i think the odds are pretty high that he was rich with silver and gold because he had cattle again there's a running theme here in exodus chapter nine and verse one when god strikes egypt with the ten plagues for refusing to release the israelites from slavery god works cattle into the storyline let me read it exodus 9 and verse 1 then the lord said to moses go into pharaoh and tell him thus says the lord god of the hebrews let my people go that they may serve me for if you refuse to let them go and still hold them behold here's the warning the hand of the lord will be on your cattle in the field on the horses on the donkeys on the camels on the oxen and on the sheep a very great pestilence and the lord will make a difference between the cattle of israel and the cattle of egypt so nothing shall die of all that belongs to the children of israel then the lord appointed a set time tomorrow the lord will do this thing in the land so the lord did this thing on the next day and all the cattle of egypt died but the cattle of the children of israel not one died then pharaoh sent and indeed not even one of the cattle of the israelites was dead cowabunga this is shocking to read all through the scripture cattle keep making an appearance i'm not through with this before i apply this to your life let's just follow this biblical trail a little more in jonah chapter 4 when god is explaining to the prophet jonah that that he shouldn't be sulking because god in his grace and mercy and compassion spares nineveh and the ninevites god comes down and says to jonah in verse 11. he says nineveh that great city in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand persons who do not know their right hand from their left hand and also much cattle what's up with the cows again cows are a symbol of god's blessing god's favor and god's plan to see the flourishing of every single person the bible is filled with dozens of references to the blessings of owning cows deuteronomy chapter 7 and verse 13 and he god will love you and bless you and multiply you he will also bless the fruit of your womb the fruit of your land your grain your new wine your oil the increase of your cattle and the offspring of your flock in the land which he swore to your fathers to give you now i think some of you might be thinking by now if cattle are a sign of blessing it's time for the cows to come home i'd like to see a little evidence of god's blessing and favor and increase in my own personal life it's not just a picture of blessing but again the absence of cattle is a picture of judgment one more storyline remember what happened in in the life of joseph joseph is down in egypt and in genesis 41 the pharaoh has a dream joseph interprets the dream and in verse 18 of genesis 41 suddenly seven cows come up out of the river fine looking and fat and they fed in the meadow then behold seven other cows came up after them poor and very ugly and got such ugliness i have never seen in all the land of egypt those must have been some ugly cows and the gaunt and ugly cows ate up the first seven the fat cows so the interpretation of the dream was simply this the seven fat cows represented seven years of plenty of prosperity of blessing and the seven ugly cows represented the years of famine and disparity holy cow now yeah i got dad jokes for days so you might as well just settle in for the cattle ride now if cows are a sign of god's blessing through the bible how does it relate to us because let's be honest most of us are chick-fil-a eating city dwellers i don't smell any manure on anybody's boots here this morning i doubt we even have many people wearing boots here in the auditorium so how does this relate to us well i want to use the word cow now as an acronym i wanted to represent a claim on wealth a cow represents a claim on wealth in your own personal life because the truth is money is not true wealth money is only a claim on wealth in fact money has very little inherent value within the paper i don't even think it's paper technically it's only that we accept it as a claim on wealth now if you think that money has some inherent value within it you should just go to some countries that i've been to that are suffering through radical and dramatic inflation a few years ago judith and i were in zimbabwe and one u.s dollar could be exchanged for 361 zimbabwean dollars that was the exchange rate one to 361 which simply means that 25 u.s would buy you 9 000 zimbabwean dollars we exchanged a few hundred dollars and for a couple of days we were squillionaires the problem was it didn't mean anything everybody was in the same state along with us so when i talk about a claim on wealth i don't want you simply to hear this as money because money has very little inherent value except that we see it as a claim on wealth and true wealth is a lot more than money in fact the bible makes it absolutely clear that there's a fundamental difference between riches money and wealth and i want to be very clear on this this morning riches are material but wealth is fundamentally spiritual riches are produced through human effort but wealth is a gift from god riches are temporal but wealth is eternal riches burn up in the fire of judgment and the trials of life but wealth passes right through the fire and the judgments of life so riches are not an indicator of god's blessing we need to be really clear on that you can be the biggest sinner on the planet and still be what do we call it filthy rich so being rich is not the evidence of god's goodness his grace his hand of provision or protection upon your life wealth on the other hand is something completely different i believe god wants every one of us to live a healthy wealthy flourishing life because we have a healthy wealthy flourishing soul and as goes the condition of our inner world so should go the condition of our family and of our relationships and of our communities that's not to say that we won't go through difficult times but it means that even in the midst of difficult times we can still be wealthy and we can flourish because it comes from a wealthy flourishing soul so wealth is more than riches it can include some financial blessing but wealth is riches let's say plus wisdom wealth is riches plus the fear of the lord wealth is riches plus the blessing of god wealth is riches plus integrity plus peace of mind plus wholeness plus a lot of other things that we find in the scripture so i'm talking about this claim on wealth money being a claim on wealth listen to ecclesiastes 10 in verse 19. a feast is made for laughter wine makes life merry and money is the answer for everything that's in the bible it doesn't come from my version of the bible it's not my translation it's in your bible like it's in my bible what does that mean money is the answer to everything well it's the answer in the sense that it's a claim on wealth in other words money says to education i can afford you money says to children in poverty i can sponsor you thank god for compassion and for all of you who sponsor impoverished children around the world money says i can feed you money says to despair i can provide for you money says to the one who is cold i can warm you money says to the one who is homeless i can house you so money is a claim on wealth money is like a ticket to a concert you exchange what you have for something of greater value you buy a ticket because you want to be in the room you want to hear hillsong united are counting crows they took our parking places last week on the downtown campus i'm coming after you crows i'm coming after you in jesus name we were in church in a mega prayer meeting and counting crows was like 200 yards away and we were battling for the same parking places what do you do you buy a ticket hey the cardinals are playing today so i see viking shirts out here so apparently the cardinals aren't playing themselves they're playing the vikings today love you guys don't like your shirts though appreciate your boldness on the other hand that's that's real confidence here awesome so you take your hard-earned money and you buy a ticket to watch the cardinals beat the vikings on a day like today they didn't walk out those are real christians there i'm just going to tell you genuine christians in church here this morning so what is it it's a claim on something you want you want to be in the room you want to be in the stadium you want to at least have a large enough television that you don't have to squint when you're watching it from your couch at home that's what you want it's not about having it it's about what it can provide for you as a claim on wealth see i think the only reason someone should want more money is because what they really want is to live an improved quality of life they really want to be a blessing to others they really want to provide for those that are in need they really want to be a change agent in their community they really want to set up a inheritance for their children and their children's children it isn't about stockpiling cash it is about the claim on a better life and making the lives of other people better because cow cash cow is a claim on wealth in fact on the other hand if it's only about money riches there's another story in the bible that gives us a picture of that it's about another kind of cow exodus chapter 32 says when the people saw that moses delayed coming down from the mountain the people gathered to aaron and said come let us make gods that should go before us for as this for for moses the man who brought us up out of the land of egypt we do not know what has become of him he's been up with god for so long we don't know if the dude is coming home and so aaron said okay let's break off the golden earrings which are in the ears of your wives your sons your daughters and bring them to me so the people broke off this just sounds so painful to me the earrings that were in their ears and brought them to aaron and he received the gold from their hand and fashioned it into an engraving with an engraving tool and he molded it into what the golden calf and the people gathered around and worshiped that it's the same thing people do today when they worship money when they worship cash when they worship accomplishment when they worship achievement when they worship what they've stockpiled and god wants us to know that's what happens when you stop pursuing true wealth and you start pursuing your own idols that's why god later warns them in deuteronomy chapter 8 and verse 18 you shall remember the lord your god for it to see who gives you the power to get wealth to live a rich and fulfilling and satisfying life to have a better quality of life doesn't say i want to give you money it's wealth that god wants to give you now real quickly before i'm through i want to give you three three points here because without these three points it's just going to be a pointless message here this morning so three moving points about [Applause] the claim on wealth number one i want you to know god is the true source of every blessing favor and increase if cows are a sign of god's blessing then god's showing us from the very beginning that he's made full provision for everything you need in life i think that's why on the sixth day god creates cattle and then he creates humanity god wants to know when we get here that he's already made provision for us and he wants that to be a powerful lesson in our life because when you get here and when you get there and when you get there one day after another god has already been there and has made provision for you on that day for everything that you have need of that's why jesus said don't worry about these things the gentiles the pagans battle over those things they fight over what they're going to wear and what they're going to eat but jesus said don't you be like a pagan idol worshiper battling over those things sufficient for the day is what god has provided for you when you get into the future the same god who has provided for you in the past is already there and has made full provision for what you need in life god has you covered and he proves that by creating cows and humans on the same day listen if you don't get anything else out of this i want you to get this this alone is worth the drive this morning and enduring all the jokes this is worth it right here the world is not your source your job is not your source the economy is not your source the government is not your source washington d.c is not your source come on your husband is not your source your wife is not your source god is your source god is your source psalm 50 and verse 10 for every beast of the forest is mine the cattle on a thousand hills god is your source and god's made full provision for you to live the kind of life that he's called you to and your claim on wealth should be no greater than your claim on god if your claim on god is strong then you claim on his blessings his benefits and his favor is going to be the byproduct of that and you'll live a prioritized life because god is first and if you seek first the kingdom of god and his righteousness then he'll provide what you need second thing i want you to see is god establishes value where he chooses that's the amazing thing about this god that we know and love and serve the beauty of trusting god with your gifts and your talents and your abilities and your financial life is that he has the ability to create an industry where none exists for you he has the ability to create a market where none exists for you he has the ability to renew a market that once existed for you god as your provider is also the great creator who has the capability to place value to establish it and create it where he chooses that's why god opens doors that no man can shut that's why god makes a way where there is no way it's because he establishes value where he chooses listen to proverbs 21 and verse 1 the king's heart is in the hand of the lord like the rivers of water he turns it wherever he wishes that means god is in control of all of history including your financial history don't you think if god can turn the heart of the king in whatever direction that he can also open a door for you to fulfill your calling to fulfill your vocational aspirations for the sake of his glory don't you think if god can turn the heart of a king he can revive a dying small business he can give you business contacts that you've never ever envisioned having don't you think if god can turn the heart of the king you can wake up tomorrow morning and one word from god can change your life one creative idea one witty invention one whisper from the spirit saying go there no go there connect with them do that don't you think that by following the leading of the spirit the quality of your life could could increase immeasurably i certainly do now here's something else i want you to know your claim on wealth is secured in the place of your obedience gonna say that again because they apparently think it's good up here on the front row i don't know what you think back there at the back but your claim on wealth is secured in the place of your obedience in other words the key to wealth building is learning to hear god's voice and follow his directives because he's going to establish value in accordance with his directives in accordance with his will so by obeying him by following him by being led by the spirit of god you're going to be led into a flourishing life god doesn't intend to lead you into poverty and despair and brokenness and and and a sense of hopelessness and and not having enough that that isn't the character of this loving father that so generously provided for us in creation and continues to provide for us as we trust him he establishes value at the place of obedience and then finally number three god wants to bless us with renewable resources see the cow teaches us some lessons about renewable resources here's a little lesson i wrote down don't eat your cow use your cow see nearsighted people eat the cow that could be used to generate something of value over a longer period of time something renewable if you will in other words is far better to milk the cow to sell the butter and cheese to use the money to buy another cow to have those two cows hook up and give you a baby cow and then maybe somewhere down the road you can have a barbecue but don't barbecue your one and only cow so that'll preach i'm working hard up in here this morning i'm having fun though do you hear where i'm going with this metaphor i think this metaphor really works because oftentimes we're interested in the short-term fix and god wants to set us up for a life of blessing that's why when when we talk about these things the measuring stick that god places on wealth is that we should set up wealth for generations that a man provides for his children's children well we don't think that way because we're just trying to get through the end of the month we've got more month than we've got paycheck we've got more month than we've got resource we've got more bills and we have provision in our lives so very few people are thinking beyond the moment we're just trying to think how to get through this moment that we're in god wants us to come into a higher perspective and to realize while that you do need to focus on the immediate there's enough grace in his presence there's enough resource in his presence to lift your gaze to lift your eyes and to help you see something longer something renewable start where you are with your cow and prove yourself worthy of the stetson another joke proverbs 27 verse 23 be diligent it's really sad when somebody's gotta tell you they told a joke resent and resemble that remark all in one proverbs 27 and verse 23 be diligent to know the state of your flocks and attend to your herds for riches are not forever nor does the crown endure to all generations riches don't last forever but true wealth does so place your claim on wealth now as the band comes back to the stage how rare is it that i call the band up earlier than they normally would come because i'm finishing earlier today since it's football season actually i got to go preach another service you people get to go watch the cardinals meet the vikings them and left they haven't left they're still here so in closing here's called action what's called action today make a decision to surrender your financial life to god okay can you do that today make the decision that you're going to trust and obey the one who has an extraordinary plan for your life beyond your own comprehension the one who wants to make you truly wealthy the one who is the creator of your cow and with that this morning i want to pray father as i stand here this morning just walking our church through this this fun bible study i'm acutely aware that something beyond this fun moment that we're in and that is it is supported by your loving kindness your compassion and your desire to see humanity flourish god we see the first glimpse of that in in genesis in the garden of eden you did not create a world with shortage in it you did not create a world with insufficiency you created this world teeming with abundance you could have created only one color of bird you could have created only one type of animal but you created this majestic beautiful vibrant glorious creation as an expression of who you are at the core of your being at the core of your being you are a good god and so lord as we rally around that truth today i pray that you would help us to see your goodness as it is extended to each of us individually not just your goodness expressed in the lives of other people but may we see you today as a god who desires to connect with each of us to bless each of us to lead each of us into a rich and full and flourishing life i pray lord as we take the next week or so to talk about these things that you would really just open our minds to your goodness because if our minds are renewed to your goodness then we don't struggle to believe your desire to bless us and i pray that during the season lord that you would open doors of opportunity for kingdom people for christian people for church people for your own people so that we could be salt and light living on mission pursuing the vocation that you know will bring fulfillment to us and a blessing to the world and i pray that today for all of your people in jesus name and everybody said come on everybody shouted amen amen would you stand with me for a moment i'm not quite through here today whether you're on our scottsdale campus this morning right here in the room or in online church i want you just to hang with me for just a second here this is the most important part of the service today i've talked about wealth but true wealth is found in knowing jesus the bible gives us this picture of this really strange image and in in the book of ezekiel and i don't often go to the book of ezekiel as my go-to move because it's it's like ezekiel smoked mushrooms i don't even know you smoke mushrooms ate mushrooms whatever you do was having some sort of a weird drug trip and start seeing creatures and all kinds of things and and one of the creatures that he actually has is this creature with four different heads and it's strangely enough representative of jesus it has the head of a man representing jesus as humanity has the head of a lion representing jesus's royalty has a head of an eagle representing his divinity and then this creature also has the head of a ball why the ball is representing his sacrifice jesus laid down his life as a sinless sacrifice so that we could be forgiven of our sins washed from guilt and shame and given a promise of eternal life in fact not just the promise but given eternal life in that moment of believing so that one day we could live in the fullness of eternal life jesus laid down his life for you and the question today is what will you do in the face of that kind of sacrifice i really hope that you'll do what so many have done here in the room today and that is to surrender to god's love and grace and to say thank you for your sacrifice so i want to invite everyone to bow their head for this morning and close your eyes for just a moment and if you today would say pastor terry when you pray in just a moment for people in this room would you include me in the prayer if that's you would you just slip your hand up wherever you are here today saying today i'm going to give my life to jesus today i'm going to say thank you for that sacrifice hands have gone up all over the room today i pray the same is true in scottsdale and in our online campus as well and so i just want to ask us all together to pray this for many of you it is just a reminder of what has already taken place in your life but there are others here today whose lives are going to be born again by the grace of god and in this moment they will be receiving the gift of eternal life because they make this decision for jesus and so with that pray this with me please say dear heavenly father dear heavenly father i surrender my life to you i believe jesus is your son he was sent to die for me and raised to life for me so i put my trust in him for the rest of my life i will live surrender to jesus thank you for loving me thank you for forgiving me thank you for giving me eternal life i am not the same as i was when i walked in here today i am a child of god and i have the promise of eternity with him in jesus name i pray amen amen he prayed that prayer we just want to celebrate this moment with you as well come on beautiful today to see so many people step into eternal life and with that let's sing wherever you are today let's go back into a couple of moments of worship before we're through

Channel: Hillsong Phoenix

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Length: 37min 27sec (2247 seconds)

Published: Sun Sep 19 2021