Would it Change Me? | Pastor Stephen Chandler

Luke chapter 4 zebras 11 citizens then he said a searching man the two sons and the younger of them said to his father father give me the portion of goods that falls to me and not many days after the younger son gathered all together journey to a far country in there wasted it should say his father's possessions yeah if he didn't work on his day his entire life said he wasted his possessions with rachet living yeah this is protocol but prodigal in the Greek is the word rachet which that's not true 14 but when he had spent all there arose a severe famine in that land and he began to be in have you ever noticed when it comes to finances problems don't happen when you have money right if they don't come the beginning of the month to come at the end of the month pyres tend not to blow when you have extra $300 you don't know what to do is they usually tend to blow and you don't even have the $300 an hour's hired gun and says after he spent everything then the famine came and he began to being one then he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country and he sent him into the fields to feed swine and he would gladly have filled his stomach with the pods the swine name and no one gave him anything father God we're grateful God that you are we never last which means where we stop god you're just getting started God we pray even now in this moment that you'd speak to us God transform our lives the mighty name of Jesus we pray amen amen before you sit down high-five two people tell somebody I have a really good father come on tell somebody no sir myself somebody tell somebody I have a really really good father we're starting a brand new series today and if you're new to destiny harvest the way that it works is I'll write about a three to four hour message but we took a little survey and we found out that nobody wants to hear me preach for three to four hours straight so what I did is I took that one three hour a message and I broke it up into four weeks everybody said oh I can deal with that so this series over these next four weeks there's going to be one complete thought but just part 1 part 2 part 3 and part 4 so I encourage you not to miss a week the name of the series is if I had a million dollars just do me a favor you don't have to do it out loud but kind of just in your mind or maybe even write it down finish that sentence for me if I had a million dollars I would pay off Sally may buy that house buy a car I passed at times I'd give I know you're so spiritual but what else would you do you use you anything I don't even is that a really big deal it's not about money and all I get I get again I'm just saying yes well I actually already have a million dollars I'm fine I know but if your accountant called you up and said hey I just saved you a million dollars in taxes you'd be shouting in here like just the question what would you do if you came into million dollars we're going to talk over the next few weeks about finances but before I jump into that I just want to kind of call out the elephant in the room there's something about Church that as soon as a pastor mentioned money people start clutching their wallet and clutching their purse oh man what's he about to do the pastor's trying to get my money now I have a joke and then I'll be serious in a second but I think my jokes really funny I was preparing for this series and I know that as soon as the pastor says finances or money people can get all comfortable and I began to think about two months ago we did a series on marriage and when I had announced that we were getting ready to preach a series on marriage nobody reached over and grabbed their husband was like oh no I think the pastor wants my husband well I didn't say husband because if I said wife I might get punched after church I figure let me stay safe you grab oh that's what muffin Oh but for some reason when it comes to finances it's like I don't know listen to me you may be new to this church I may have just been coming for a while so you may not be familiar with me but let me just share something with you that you're going to see over time my my vocation is not just to be a pastor pastor is actually my spiritual gift it's who God's called me to be it's who he's made me to be and this is what that means that my heart burns to see people move from where they are to where God has for them next in every single area of their lives it is not just good enough for me that you get into heaven that is not my goal here at destiny Harvest Church that is base one somebody says base one my goal is that when you get to heaven you can stand confidently before God and say I have maximized every single opportunity and that you have given me I've made the most out of my children I've made the most out of my marriage I've made the most out of my face after my career out of my finances I have worked every area of my life that you've given me somebody say Amen like it's not winter outside it breaks my heart and even this area of finances when I see people struggling and suffering because they don't either have enough or don't have godly wisdom on how to manage what they have I'll talk to a young married couple that desires to have children but because of the weight of debt that they're under they actually have to adjust their family plans because of financial reasons it shouldn't be that way for some older person who says man I really want to retire and move to where my grandkids are and spend time with them but I can't because I don't know how I'm going to survive or move forward or maybe someone who's reached every financial goal that you've ever had in your life and after you've reached it you're still empty and you're just like I don't know what this is for aware is for listen to me God has wisdom in his word for every single area of our lives including our finances for some reason God has just given me a passion for building wealth and for generosity I was preparing for this series and kind of just thinking just about cutting my financial journey and I was laughing because I started working even before it was legal I remember back I was about 12 years old and and I was at my parents that said hey I I don't want to shop at Payless anymore I don't want some Outbacks I want some real Tim's mom I'm getting laughed at I need some help and she said you want some real shoes great what you need is a real job figure it out so I said okay so I went and I started flipping baseball cards I would go and buy baseball cards from people who didn't know how much they were wearing did I go sell them back at a slight markup and I realized that wasn't going to get me anywhere far so my dad at the time he owned his own a medical courier company they would share ship medical samples literally all over the country and they actually had these boxes that um they would ship the medical samples to keep them from getting destroyed and transit and all that kind of stuff my dad would fold these boxes and all that so I I came to my dad with a proposition said you know like folding all these boxes you're getting blisters and calluses and all this other kind of stuff allow me to relieve you of the problem of folding these boxes for a nominal fee of 50 cents per box after a little bit of negotiation I decided to take 10 cents per box and I started my box folding business if you'd come into my house when I was 12 or 13 in my room you would have seen boxes and boxes and boxes fold and you say dude your room is dirty I said no that's funny it's just kind of just how I was raised how I've been I I worked at a summer camp when I was a teenager saved every single penny and purchased my first car cash but let me let me tell you something when you're 16 and you're dropping cash on the counter you feel like a boss I walked in there loud boom give me the rusty one I didn't say it was a lot of kid I just said it was cash sixteen paid cash from our own car 18 I gave the car away to a family that was a need because God told me to I'll discover that if I apply God's Word to my life in every single area including my finances that I will see his promises come to pass and here's something that you really need to understand I'm not special because I'm the pastor the Bible says that God is no respecter of persons which means whether you have been a follower of Christ for 60 seconds you just got saved in that song because you've been a follower of Christ for 60 years when you apply biblical principles to your you get God results in your life now I will say I would be naive to think that skepticism in church when it comes to money is not valid how many people know there's a lot of o'licious going on when it comes to churches and finances that's why as a church it is our passion to be a organization that is filled with not only integrity but also transparency our church's finances are actually are our bookkeeping and accounting is done by a third party organization we have an accounting firm outside of the church that manages all of the finances they send us a monthly report and an annual report that submitted to a Board of Elders within destiny Harvest Church that board of elders then takes that financial report and releases an annual report to the church every single year so you can go on destiny harvest TV right now click on the link that says give and on the bottom of it it's going to say annual report and you can see where every single penny that was received by destiny harvest in 2016 where it went somebody say I like that one of my overseers pastor Carlos he would always say trust but verify I trust you can I see I don't know it just users can I can I see my salary is set by a committee of elders internally and externally and they take a national survey of what pastors are paid with comfortable sized churches and incomes and all that other kind of stuff taking an account of an area of our country that we live and they said it at the beginning of every year and it's under contract this is what that means when the tithes and offerings go up my salary does not go up and ties when oftens go down hopefully that's a joke you can laugh there tough crowd what what's all this pastor this is just to say our goal is that you can confidently say I'm proud to go to that church I'd trust the integrity of that house and I'll tell you this while we do this for you not really for you I'm more afraid of God but I am of you and I want to be able to stand before God every single morning and say we have maximized everything that you've given us for the advancing of your kingdom somebody say well now I will say this if you're one of those few people that say hey I just want my pastor to be poor and broke so that God can keep him humble I mean just Oh mobile for looks this may not be the church for you can I sign up for that I grew up for over 20 years watching my father pastor a church and run his own company on the side and it kind of just got in me I can't remember from the day it was illegal for me to work me only working one job I remember I was in college I was taken 21 credits and working two different jobs at the time I got out of school we've got my big boy job you know that first job is actually you pay taxes and you don't get anything back and I did that for six months and I got bored so I picked up another part-time job even now as I'm working at destiny harvest there's so many other things that we have going on the side run of properties and other things and I was kind of real estate was just my passion until I ran into a guy named Dave Ramsey and now I'm trying to get things in order because apparently there's baby steps shout out to connect groups but I am just letting you know that if you apply God's wisdom to this area of your life there's some guarantees that he's made the first thing is this 2nd Corinthians chapter 9 verse 11 says this you will be made room there's not leans to Bible since you will be made come on shout back at me like you're awake and not uncomfortable you will be made in what you say that's death talking about joy you're gonna be rich in joy yep yep yep you will be you're going to be rich in health yes yes yes yes yes that's included but included in every way is every way why so that you can be generous in every way such generosity produces Thanksgiving to God through us listen to me there's nothing more selfish than to say I don't need any more I don't need me I'm fine I don't need any more who said it was about you as a follower of Christ God desires that you have more than you need so that you can be a blessing to those around you and that your generosity points to the goodness of your father passes an American message just can't work in Haiti I don't care where you are if you have one bowl of rice and you are faithful with that one bowl of rice and trust God he says I will put you in a position where you have enough rice for yourself and you can feel it other people as well because generosity is the heart of our Father so there's a proverbs 10:22 the blessings of the lord brings well without painful toil maybe hustling isn't biblical pass the humble McGraw and I'll be on my crab and I'm grind I know grinding is not biblical wait for it Gus is gonna know if you do in my way I'll bring increase without the headaches without the migraines without the drama I have principles that will be a blessing to your life now when it comes to money and church people just get weird look at something next to ask them are you weird this is wait for an answer they just tend to be extremists so you'll find when it comes to money in church most people fall in one of two extremes one extreme is money is the only way that God blesses you in fact money is the definition of blessings and favor and faith and if you don't have any money that you don't have any faith somebody say the devil is a lie the other extreme is money is evil money ruins people's lives God wants us to be in a place where we constantly need so we learn to rely on him actually people who desire to build wealth are ungodly heathens and they're not of God Steve Harvey said I know the Bible says that money is the root of all evil but being poor is pretty evil too if you've ever experienced that by the way the Bible does not say money as a root of all evil the Bible says the love the obsession the unhealthy focus on it's not just the church that has extremes the world has extremes also some extremes in the world are some people believe if I have money it's because I worked harder than you and the only reason why you don't have money is because you're not working hard enough matter of fact my money is evidence of my value to society and your lack of money is evidence of your lack of value to society on the absolute opposite stream some people believe that anybody who has money is a seat you must have cheated lied or stolen from somebody to get what you have and everything that you have should be taken to give to those who are less fortunate even if they're less fortunate through mismanagement of their own resources does this sound like an election we just went through extremes would it shock you if I told you that God doesn't fall into any of those camps but there's biblical principles that he desires for us to walk in that bring increase and peace wealth and generosity so over the next four weeks of this series what we're going to do is we're going to end that question if I had a million dollars with a different question each week today we're going to answer the question would it change me if someone wrote me a check for a million dollars right now would it change me next week we're going to answer the question would I waste it someone wrote me a check for a million dollar I buy this I'll buy that car and look up six months and they have nothing to show for it research shows that many people who come into wealth quickly through the lottery or something like that 70% of them are broke have nothing within a few years after the third week we're going to ask the question would I make a lasting impact would I do anything with my money that last out last my lifetime that actually matters in light of eternity and then my favorite one the last week we're going to answer the question well why don't I I encourage you if you have people that hey I think they are kind of struggling this area and I don't want to be the one to talk to them I'll do your dirty work for you bring them in next week it is going to be awesome but today we're going to talk about the question of would it change me ask yourself that question if someone were to write you a check for a million dollars right now or whatever your number is 100,000 or a billion dollars whatever it is would it change who you are in this past it's what the Bible calls or theologians call the prodigal son it says that there was this man who evidently was pretty wealthy and his youngest son came to him and said dad I want my inheritance now I don't want to wait till you die I want it now now in that time in the Jewish tradition the firstborn would receive 2/3 of the father's wealth and then the rest would be divvied up amongst the rest of the children but because there was only one other son he was entitled to one-third of his father as well the Bible says as soon as he got it he left town and in a matter of months wasted it all the Bible says he parted he went out and did prodigal living it's biblical terms for rachet and he found himself with nothing now a lot of people would look at this story and say you see there's evidence that money ruins people you see that's why I don't want to much at all though I'm just content I'm fine where I am because you know if I have too much I may be in a position where I'm ruined you know there's a verse in the Bible where it says God don't give me too little yes I steal or give me too much less I turn my back on you let's read it proverbs 30 verse 8 says this fraud in lives keep far from me don't give me either poverty or wealth give me just the food I need or I'll be full and deny you and say who is the Lord or I'll be poor and steal and dishonor my God saying just a thought I asked my Bible questions I have a question if you hit a certain level of poverty that forces you to steal or you hit a certain level of wealth that forces you to forget about God could it be argued that money is not the issue in the first place because no matter where I am the bottom line is I'm turning my back on God so could it be the issue is not what I have or what I don't have but Who I am listen to me it wasn't money that ruined the prodigal son he was ruined when he was drunk you see when he went to his father and said dad gives me my inheritance he understood that you only receive your inheritance when your parent passes away so let me translate what he said to his dad dad I wish you were dead so that I can have what you have now we already know that this is a good father and he told his oldest son everything that I have already belongs to you so we know that this prodigal son didn't want this wealth because he was struggling to pay off his student loan and and his car note was choking him out and all this other kind of stuff is I just didn't know he had everything that he needed from his father in his father's house but here's the problem he was under his father's authority the issue is he wanted the father's blessing without the father's oversight so many PlayOn times let me just give it to you like it is if you're not a follower of Christ it's not because you have an issue with the blessings of God everybody wants to be healthy everybody wants joy everybody wants purpose and fulfillment that's not what I have an issue is the issue is being under his oversight I don't want God telling me what to do with my joy I don't want God telling me what to do with my purpose and my destiny in my life here's the deal that son had a heart issue of submitting to his father and that's why he was ruined first thing I want you to write down is this wealth is a magnifier wealth is a magnifier so often we think that man if I had insert the blank then I would get in a position I know I'm not the only person who's horrible ever been in the pivot readmit and soon as I get a ring then I'm going to start paying off that credit card oh man I'm telling you if I had just a little bit more I would take if I was wealthy all y'all would get houses I'm telling you you get a house you get out you get I mean if I just had a little bit more I would I'm a little low on sleep so I'm just gonna be cranky today can I just be honest with you no you wouldn't you would not do anything then that you are not already doing right now because money doesn't change you it just magnifies who you already are so if you're generous right now when more wealth comes you'll just be more generous if you're stingy right now when more wealth comes you'll just be more because it doesn't change you it just magnifies we already are so let's say you're able to provide for your family you're doing alright I wouldn't like notice how nobody considers themselves wealthy notice that first of all if you're sitting in this room right now you are wealthier than probably 90% of the planet but wealthy for us is always the next increase talk to a billionaire well I'm not building some not wealthy yet whatever well let's just say you're in a position where you're not struggling you're fine you're you you're able to provide and maybe enjoy a little bit of different things then you're in a position where where your life is boom luckily it's magnified because well magnified now be honest with the elihas magnifying as honesty is blurry stuff because this isn't based on long distance but if you were up close I'd be able to see details of your life there's a certain level of wealth where not everybody knows what your life is like what your children do because they're close enough to to see not everybody knows that you're stingy it's your wife's death matter we know that you're generous ha ha you just clean that up what your wife does or your husband does because a certain level it magnifies maybe maybe you're doing a little bit better than okay and and it increases the distance and I think I can hear that pimple it increases it oh maybe you ballin out of control that just means I can see you from space well does it change you it just magnifies who you already are and here's what we think we think that if I had more I'd have more opportunities and I'd be able to do more and I'd be able to go further then I'd be able to see come here pass a mirror over well come by quick quick quick quick quickly quickly quick we think said caster Damon's walking in Jesus name we think wealth does this allow him to see further and clearer but that's not what it does get that thank you look over you good I guess he's a car because I can see wealth doesn't change you it just changes how much of you others can see it thank you Pastor that's why I don't want to be wealthy because I don't want other people to see who I am well I don't know why I'm just being so mean today please forgive me if you're selfish then it makes no good for anybody to see that you are but if your entire life looks like this because of His grace because of his glory because of who he is in my life if your entire life is a life that's pointed at God when you're magnified he's magnified laughter yeah I don't know there's so much pressure that comes with money though you know rich people any shoes we can't keep a marriage together I'll get the boys and g9jr although what I've discovered broke people teeth do you just don't know but you can't see nothing to do with money who you are it magnifies who you are Matthew chapter 6 verse 21 says this where your checkbook is there your heart will be also vile actually says I can figure out who you are just by looking how you spend your money because your money follows where your heart follows where your money goes David pray this it should be our prayer not God give me a million dollars let's search me O God and know my heart test one translation says test my anxious thoughts I know you're calm now it's Sunday but what do you do in your stressed what's your mind consumed on when things don't look like they're working out if it tests who I really am under pressure point out anything you find in me that makes you sad and leave me along of a path of everlasting life God show me what really matters in life and I'm telling you if you get this right whether you have or don't have or what you do have it won't ruin you you'll simply magnify who God is in your life the second thing is just write this down wealth is a tool a tool have you ever been in a situation where you needed to do something but you did not have the right tool I don't know if you're one of those people actually write complaints to companies I always say in my mind I am going to write the complaint I never do so I'll just preach about my complaint if I were to write a complaint I would write one to Walmart did you just call that company out yes destiny harvest won't be endorsed by Walmart but that's fine I'd write a complaint to Walmart where would the complaint say why do you insist on putting babies products in military-grade packaging you go and buy a pacifier or a bottle or whatever it may be and they put it in this plastic wrap that you need a chainsaw a flamethrower and a Mack truck just to pull apart and I'm not bright so I let my daughter see it before I get it out of the packaging so she's screaming and I'm here trying to pull this they hit daddy I thought she went to the gym I'm like shut up I can't get you ever been in a situation you just don't have the right tool you can't find scissors or a blade so you take out a car key you've you've been there before and you're jamming that car key trying to get your finger knuckles all cut up it because you don't have the right tool for the job you ever try to screw screw in with a penny I never knew how thick pennies were I figured out what screws they can't fit what's the point when you have the right tool for the job it's great but when you try to use the wrong tool for the job you cut your knuckles up it brings pain and frustration listen to me wealth is a tool what are you saying there's some things that can be used for and there's some things that it can't be used for and if you try to use the tool of wealth for things that it can't be used for you will only cause yourself pain in my mind and you can argue with me after service and I love to have that argument there's only four things that you can use money for you can either save it plan for the future you can spend it take care of your needs and your wants you can give it take care of others needs and others wants or you can return it give God the 10% that belongs to him I look for things you can do save spend give return no that's not true pastor you could manipulate people with money you can will go all under the category of saving you can't do if you don't have it what can you not do with the money you can't buy joy I'd be a lot happier if I had that car I know but you can't buy joy you can't buy safety I just sleep a whole lot better if I had a whole lot more in the bank you'd sleep but you'd still be unaware that you're still not saying I would feel so much more valuable so much more significant people wouldn't be able to look down on me if I just had a little bit more first of all people will always look down on you they will find some reason not to accept you second of all your net worth does not dictate your value your value is dictated on what someone's willing to spend on you and God the Father spent all that he ever had in his son Jesus Christ to purchase you and another zero in your bank account will not make you any more valuable here's the thing money is not evil but we get evil results when we try to use it for things it was never meant to be used for the Bible says this in Matthew chapter 6 verse 24 no one can serve two masters either you will hate one and love you but let's just kind of back up you're going to have a master to catch it Bible I gave you two options there's no option three free it's not in there two masters you will either hate the one and love the other or you will be loyal to the one and have contempt for the other great verse but the verse isn't over you cannot serve God and well what is God trying to tell us not that money is evil but money is evil God money is a tool it's not a source of strength it's not a source of joy it's not a source of significance and destiny and purpose here on earth and the problem with money is money writes checks that only God can cash money makes promises that only God can fulfill and God says if you can just get it right in your mind that money is a tool that I'll bless you with but don't make it your obsession don't make it your consumption and as long as it's in the rightful place in your life it will be a blessing it's when it creeps up into the place that only belongs to me that it will ruin you last thing is just write this down don't wait for more I really really hope somebody writes you a check for a million dollars I really really don't think it's going to happen but if it does don't forget to return what the most gun just say fast everyone to lottery would you take time money let's not talk about that right now I don't know if I'm spiritual is up for that question we'll talk about it later I really hope that you get some type of crazy increase but let's just say it doesn't happen or it doesn't happen tomorrow don't wait don't wait for somebody else to do for you or gods empowered you to do for yourself I'm not waiting for some you know person or some benefactor to write me a check for a million I'm waiting on the blessings of God I don't know why forgive me I'm not always this cranky next week I'll be like Barney I'll be the happiest pastor but today is just not that day can I just can I break it down for you I can tell you whether God's going to bless you or not you could figure out if he's going to bless you or not how do you have a life that he would want to magnify because that's the only reason why god bless his people to point people to himself so if you have a life that God would want everybody to see then get ready he's going to bless you but if you don't have a life that you know what everybody is see thank you talking to you talking to myself let's not wait for a windfall to be the people that God's called us to be let's not wait for more to be a good steward of what we have today let's not wait for more to be as generous as he's called us to be today you may not be able to do it to this scale that you would like to do it but the Bible says that if you're faithful with little if you're faithful with today he'll bless you with tomorrow don't worry about what's comes just be faithful with where you are Ecclesiastes chapter 11 verse 4 says if you wait for perfect conditions you will never get started on paying off that debt so you'll never do anything if you wait for the perfect day you actually last we kind of told you today to be 72 degrees sunny is beautiful I forgot I live in Maryland 42 degrees cold and miserable if you wait for perfect conditions never get anything done the Sun comes to his father and says giving my inheritance according to Jewish tradition he didn't just give the younger son his inheritance but he gave the older son his inheritance at the same time so off of one request that father was bankrupt doesn't that change the whole story when that son came home and his father threw his arms around him that father had nothing because of his son's heart and he still welcomed in that fattened calf you could read on in the story that he dipped through a party for his youngest son he probably borrowed it from his older son because he had nothing but he was still so in love with his son in spite of his waist he still wanted him back Stephens sin bankrupted heaven but yet my father still wants me back I don't care what your story is what mistakes you've made what opportunities you've wasted you have a Heavenly Father that every morning is lean is today Niccolo is today the day that they come back is today the day that I get to throw my arms around them so I've been waiting for you

Channel: Union Church

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Length: 42min 48sec (2568 seconds)

Published: Mon May 08 2017