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You_Can_t_Take_Money_With_You_But_You_Can_Send_It_Ahead_Rick · Voice of Rick warren

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  Speaker 1: This weekend, if you'll take out your message notes, we're
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  Speaker 1: going to look at where best to invest. Where best
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  Speaker 1: to invest. If you have a Bible, open to Matthew
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  Speaker 1: chapter six. In Matthew chapter six, Jesus is speaking in
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  Speaker 1: the Sermon on the Mount, and he says this in
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  Speaker 1: verse 19. Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth.
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  Speaker 1: Don't invest treasures on earth where moth and rust destroy
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  Speaker 1: and where thieves break in and steal, but store up
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  Speaker 1: for yourselves treasure in heavens. where moth and rust do
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  Speaker 1: not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.
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  Speaker 1: For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
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  Speaker 1: Now notice, Jesus says you can store up treasure in heaven.
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  Speaker 1: What in the world does he mean by that? How
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  Speaker 1: do you invest in eternity? How do you invest forever?
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  Speaker 1: How do you store up treasure in heaven? This is
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  Speaker 1: so important a concept that the phrase store up for
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  Speaker 1: yourselves treasure in heaven is mentioned five times in the scripture.
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  Speaker 1: Now let me give you a little tip. Any times
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  Speaker 1: God says something five times, he's saying, I want you
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  Speaker 1: to be fully aware of this. I don't want you
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  Speaker 1: to miss this. God wants you to know how to
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  Speaker 1: store up treasure in heaven. He said, you can actually
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  Speaker 1: make deposits into a bank for eternity. And he says,
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  Speaker 1: notice the phrase store up for yourselves. Circle that phrase,
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  Speaker 1: for yourselves. He's not talking about storing up for God.
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  Speaker 1: He's not talking about storing up for angels. The Bible says,
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  Speaker 1: that you can have a personal bank account in heaven,
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  Speaker 1: you can store up for yourselves treasure in heaven. And
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  Speaker 1: he says that five different times in scripture. Now, what
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  Speaker 1: is he saying here? He's saying that I will enjoy
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  Speaker 1: in heaven forever whatever I invest in heaven. What I
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  Speaker 1: invest in heaven, I'm gonna enjoy forever. Now, you've heard
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  Speaker 1: people say you can't take it with you, and it's true.
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  Speaker 1: You're never gonna see a hearse pulling a U-Haul you know,
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  Speaker 1: trailer behind it. You can't take it with you, but
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  Speaker 1: you can send it on the head. And the Bible
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  Speaker 1: says we can store up treasure in heaven. Now, how
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  Speaker 1: do I do that? Well, we're going to look at
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  Speaker 1: that this weekend. And we're going to begin with 1
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  Speaker 1: Timothy chapter 6. Verse 17 and 18 says this. Tell
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  Speaker 1: those who are rich, and by the way, let me
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  Speaker 1: stop here. That means all of you. We've talked about
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  Speaker 1: this before. If you have any money in a cup
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  Speaker 1: or in your pocket or in your wallet or laying
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  Speaker 1: around at home, you're already in the top 5% of
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  Speaker 1: people in the world. Every American is rich compared to
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  Speaker 1: the rest of the world. The poorest of the poor
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  Speaker 1: have a safety net here that they don't have in
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  Speaker 1: most countries. Tell those who are rich, that's you and me,
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  Speaker 1: not to be proud and not to trust in their money,
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  Speaker 1: which will soon be gone. but their pride and trust
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  Speaker 1: should be in the living God who richly gives us
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  Speaker 1: all we need for our enjoyment. Everything we have God
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  Speaker 1: created for enjoyment. Tell them to use their money to
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  Speaker 1: do good. I want you to circle the word use
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  Speaker 1: and I want you to circle the phrase do good.
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  Speaker 1: He says tell them to use their money to do good.
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  Speaker 1: Now we've talked about this in this series that money
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  Speaker 1: is a tool Money is a tool to be used,
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  Speaker 1: and the Bible says we are to use it for good,
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  Speaker 1: not for evil. We're not to waste it. Money is
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  Speaker 1: neither right nor wrong, good nor bad. It is a
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  Speaker 1: neutral thing. It can be used for great good. It
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  Speaker 1: can be used for great evil. And the Bible tells
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  Speaker 1: us to tell them to use their money to do good,
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  Speaker 1: and he says that when I use my money for good,
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  Speaker 1: I invest in heaven. In other words, I invest in heaven.
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  Speaker 1: The way I store up treasure in heaven is by
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  Speaker 1: using my money to do good. Notice this verse, 1
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  Speaker 1: Timothy 6, verse 18. He says, they should be rich
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  Speaker 1: in good works, using my money to do good works,
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  Speaker 1: and should give happily to those in need, always ready
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  Speaker 1: to share with others whatever God has given them. By
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  Speaker 1: doing this, listen, by using my money to do good
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  Speaker 1: and to help others, by doing this, they will be
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  Speaker 1: storing up real treasure for themselves in heaven. There's that
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  Speaker 1: phrase again, This is not Jesus talking, this is Paul talking.
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  Speaker 1: They will be storing up real treasures for themselves in heaven.
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  Speaker 1: It is the only safe investment for eternity. And they
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  Speaker 1: will be living a fruitful Christian life down here as well.
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  Speaker 1: So I'm gonna enjoy forever what I invest in heaven,
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  Speaker 1: and I invest in heaven every time I use money
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  Speaker 1: for good. So how do I do that? Well, the
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  Speaker 1: Bible gives us a number of different ways. You know,
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  Speaker 1: any financial advisor, any money manager, any portfolio manager will
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  Speaker 1: tell you, don't put all your eggs in one basket.
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  Speaker 1: We talked about that last week. You need a balanced
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  Speaker 1: portfolio and you put your money into different funds. Did
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  Speaker 1: you know that God has five different funds that you
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  Speaker 1: can invest in for eternity? That's what we're gonna look
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  Speaker 1: at today. Where best to invest in these five funds.
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  Speaker 1: These funds are proven, they have a track record, they're protected.
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  Speaker 1: They're risk-free and they yield enormous dividends. So let's look
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  Speaker 1: at them. Number one, the first fund is what I
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  Speaker 1: call God's growth fund. And God's growth fund is anytime
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  Speaker 1: I invest in that which is gonna grow my character.
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  Speaker 1: When I invest in eternity, I'm investing every time I
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  Speaker 1: use my money to grow my character. I invest in
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  Speaker 1: eternity every time I use money to grow my character.
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  Speaker 1: Look at these verses. Proverbs 10, 16 says, the earnings
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  Speaker 1: of the godly enhance their lives, but evil people squander
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  Speaker 1: their money on sin. Notice, wise people, godly people use
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  Speaker 1: their money to make their lives better, to enhance their lives.
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  Speaker 1: Circle that. As opposed to evil people who just blow
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  Speaker 1: their money. They waste their money. So how do I
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  Speaker 1: enhance my life with my money? Well, I use it
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  Speaker 1: to grow. I use it to grow spiritually. I use
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  Speaker 1: it to grow intellectually. I use it to grow emotionally.
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  Speaker 1: I use it to grow personally. When I use money
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  Speaker 1: to develop my skills, when I use money to become mature,
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  Speaker 1: when I use money to improve myself, the Bible says
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  Speaker 1: I'm storing up treasure in heaven. I'm investing in eternity. Now,
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  Speaker 1: you know as well as I do that there are
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  Speaker 1: a zillion ways to waste money. And we can buy things,
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  Speaker 1: but none of the things that we buy are gonna
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  Speaker 1: go with us into eternity. We're gonna leave them all behind.
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  Speaker 1: In other words, you're not gonna take your car to heaven.
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  Speaker 1: You're not gonna take your clothes to heaven. You're not
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  Speaker 1: gonna take your condo to heaven. You're not gonna take
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  Speaker 1: your china to heaven. You're not gonna take any of
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  Speaker 1: these things that are physical, but you are taking your character.
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  Speaker 1: That's the one thing you are taking. You're taking you.
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  Speaker 1: Now we like to spend our money on comfort. You know,
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  Speaker 1: I want to spend my money on a comfortable chair
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  Speaker 1: and a comfortable TV and all these things. But God says,
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  Speaker 1: when you invest money in your character, you're investing for eternity.
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  Speaker 1: Look at this verse. Jesus says in Luke 2 52,
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  Speaker 1: Jesus increased in wisdom and stature and in favor with
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  Speaker 1: God and man. When Jesus was growing up as a
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  Speaker 1: young boy, it says he grew four ways. He grew
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  Speaker 1: in wisdom, that's intellectual growth. He grew in stature, that's
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  Speaker 1: physical growth. He grew in favor with God, that's spiritual growth,
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  Speaker 1: and he grew in favor with man, that's social growth.
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  Speaker 1: Anytime you use your money to grow in these four areas,
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  Speaker 1: the Bible says you're investing in eternity. Anytime you use
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  Speaker 1: your money to buy a Christian book, Anytime you use
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  Speaker 1: your money to buy a set of CDs, of message
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  Speaker 1: tapes or DVDs for a small group, you're investing in yourself,
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  Speaker 1: you're investing in God's growth fund. Anytime you attend a
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  Speaker 1: retreat and you pay to go to a seminar, you
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  Speaker 1: pay to go to a Bible conference or when you
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  Speaker 1: buy Christian books, when you buy a new Bible, you
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  Speaker 1: are investing in the growth fund. Growing things that will
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  Speaker 1: grow your character. I'll never forget the first Bible that
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  Speaker 1: I spent my major money on. I was a teenager
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  Speaker 1: and I bought a leather bound Thompson chain reference Bible.
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  Speaker 1: And I'll never forget it had really nice leather on it.
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  Speaker 1: It cost me $ 60. Now that was about two months
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  Speaker 1: of salary or not salary, but actually allowance and two
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  Speaker 1: months of skipping movies and skipping snacks and skipping buying
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  Speaker 1: the latest Jimi Hendrix album and whatever I wanted in
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  Speaker 1: order to save up to get a Bible. And you know,
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  Speaker 1: it's interesting today, I don't remember any of the meals
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  Speaker 1: that I ate as a teenager. I don't even have
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  Speaker 1: any of the record albums that I had as a teenager,
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  Speaker 1: but I still have that Thompson Chain Reference Bible now
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  Speaker 1: 40 years later And I remember that and I think
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  Speaker 1: that was probably one of the best investments I ever made.
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  Speaker 1: What was I doing when I bought that Bible? I
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  Speaker 1: was investing in the growth fund. You know, the Bible
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  Speaker 1: says in Proverbs 23, 23, invest in truth, invest in
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  Speaker 1: wisdom and in discipline and good sense and don't part
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  Speaker 1: with them. I love this verse in the message paraphrase.
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  Speaker 1: It says by wisdom, by education and by insight. Let
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  Speaker 1: me give you another verse. You might write this down.
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  Speaker 1: Proverbs 16, 16, it says, it's much better, much, much
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  Speaker 1: better to have wisdom and knowledge than to have gold
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  Speaker 1: and silver. In other words, it's better for you to
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  Speaker 1: take that money and put in something that's gonna help
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  Speaker 1: you grow than just have that money sitting around doing nothing.
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  Speaker 1: You know, a lot of times we buy all kinds
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  Speaker 1: of junk food. Well, there's spiritual junk food too. In
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  Speaker 1: Isaiah 55, let me read you a verse that says,
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  Speaker 1: why do you spend your money on food that doesn't
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  Speaker 1: give you strength and does you no good? Listen, and
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  Speaker 1: I'll tell you where to get food that's good for
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  Speaker 1: the soul. And what is that soul food? It's food
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  Speaker 1: that's truth, food that's principles that we can build our
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  Speaker 1: lives on. So I ask you this question. Are you
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  Speaker 1: building your life more on junk food Are you feeding
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  Speaker 1: yourself soul food? Today I'd like to read a testimony
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  Speaker 1: that really blessed me. It shows how even when you
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  Speaker 1: make mistakes, God's faithful to forgive you and that he's
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  Speaker 1: always working in your life to bring about everything together
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  Speaker 1: for good in your life. Not everything is good in
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  Speaker 1: your life, but God works it all for good in
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  Speaker 1: your life. Now this is from a man who says
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  Speaker 1: he's a recovering addict. And this is part of his
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  Speaker 1: story that starts when he listened to a Daily Hope podcast.
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  Speaker 1: Here's what he wrote. Pastor Rick, a couple months ago,
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  Speaker 1: I started a 12-step program in working the steps and
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  Speaker 1: in turning my addiction over to God. I searched out
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  Speaker 1: many sources for daily inspirational, daily devotional, daily meditations to
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  Speaker 1: help me reconnect with the Lord as a support for
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  Speaker 1: the progress in my recovery. Now, in what just seemed
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  Speaker 1: to be a random chance, seemed to be, I just
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  Speaker 1: came across your Daily Hope podcast, and I blindly just
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  Speaker 1: picked a message from early July. I'm sure a lot
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  Speaker 1: of other people have done that too. Well, the very
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  Speaker 1: first one I listened to was on Romans 7, which
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  Speaker 1: is all about why do I do the wrong things
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  Speaker 1: that I don't want to do when I know it's wrong,
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  Speaker 1: and what makes me do that? I can't believe that
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  Speaker 1: was the first one you listened to. Well, knock me
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  Speaker 1: over with a feather. It was a bolt of lightning
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  Speaker 1: that I needed to hear. And it was followed by
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  Speaker 1: tears of joy because the very next podcast, of course,
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  Speaker 1: was Romans 8, which is the solution to my dilemma.
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  Speaker 1: That's right, folks. Romans 7 explains the mess we're in.
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  Speaker 1: Romans 8 explains how to get out of it. He says, Rick,
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  Speaker 1: it was like a smack on the head by divine intervention.
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  Speaker 1: So I joined a small group. And I haven't missed
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  Speaker 1: a week since. And I love it. And I have
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  Speaker 1: a weekly Bible study with a close friend who graciously
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  Speaker 1: offered to help me. And I subscribe to your daily
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  Speaker 1: devotional email. And I've continued to listen to your podcast
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  Speaker 1: when I go for my morning walk. He says, the
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  Speaker 1: spiritual growth that I've achieved in a relatively short period
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  Speaker 1: of time is really nothing short of remarkable. It's a miracle.
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  Speaker 1: And it's a blessing. And it's helped me turn my
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  Speaker 1: life around. I now understand why God allowed me to
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  Speaker 1: suffer through all my addiction and that the path to
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  Speaker 1: recovery is through Jesus Christ. From the bottom of my heart, Rick,
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  Speaker 1: thank you for all you do through him. Well, wow, wow, wow.
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  Speaker 1: This testimony is a powerful reminder of how God can
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  Speaker 1: take everything in our lives, the mistakes, the sins, the failures,
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  Speaker 1: the hurts, the bad decisions, even destructive habits. And guess what?
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  Speaker 1: God can even bring good out of them The Bible says,
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  Speaker 1: in all things, God works for the good of those
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  Speaker 1: who love him. It doesn't say all things are good,
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  Speaker 1: because not all things are good. But in all things,
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  Speaker 1: God is working for the good of those who love him.
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  Speaker 1: That's Romans 8, 28. Now, this story is a beautiful
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  Speaker 1: example of Romans 8, 28 and that truth. Listen very closely.
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  Speaker 1: No matter what we've done, I'll say it again, no
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  Speaker 1: matter what we've done, We're never outside of God's master
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  Speaker 1: plan for our lives. Your life is not random. In
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  Speaker 1: this case, God led somebody to Daily Hope podcast just
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  Speaker 1: at the right moment to hear exactly what he needed. Now,
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  Speaker 1: God could have used any method. He could have used
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  Speaker 1: any person. He could have used any podcast. But God,
• 14:05
  Speaker 1: in this instance, chose to use Daily Hope. You know, friends,
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  Speaker 1: it's because of your support, your prayers, and your giving
• 14:15
  Speaker 1: that we're able to make Daily Hope Bible teaching available
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  Speaker 1: to over 35 million people every month. So thank you.
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  Speaker 1: Thanks a lot. I mean this from the bottom of
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  Speaker 1: my heart. Thank you for your support. This man, who
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  Speaker 1: is a recovering addict, was helped because you, you cared
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  Speaker 1: enough to support this ministry. So let me just say
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  Speaker 1: it again. I don't ever get tired of saying it.
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  Speaker 1: Thank you from the bottom of my heart. You can
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  Speaker 1: join us in bringing hope to others. Just scan the
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  Speaker 1: QR code or go to dailyhopetv.com. And so the first
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  Speaker 1: thing God says to do with your money is he said,
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  Speaker 1: you know, money is a test and money is a tool.
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  Speaker 1: He said, I want you to use some of that
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  Speaker 1: money in a growth fund. Use it for things that
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  Speaker 1: help grow your character. Invest some money in making yourself better, smarter, wiser,
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  Speaker 1: a more skilled person. He said, that's a good use
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  Speaker 1: of your money and that's storing up treasure in heaven
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  Speaker 1: because you're taking yourself to heaven. Number two, the second
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  Speaker 1: of God's investment funds is what I call God's mutual fund.
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  Speaker 1: And God's mutual fund is when I invest in eternity,
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  Speaker 1: every time I use money, to encourage fellowship. Encouraging fellowship.
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  Speaker 1: When I use money to draw us closer together, to
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  Speaker 1: make us be closer together as brothers in Christian faith
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  Speaker 1: or sisters in Christian faith, I'm building relationships with other believers.
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  Speaker 1: I'm showing love by the way I spend my money.
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  Speaker 1: The Bible calls that investing in God's mutual fund. Look
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  Speaker 1: at these verses. Proverbs 12, verse 10. Love one another
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  Speaker 1: with mutual affection. We're to Love each other that way.
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  Speaker 1: Romans 12, 13, share what you have with God's people
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  Speaker 1: who are in need and show hospitality. Did you know
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  Speaker 1: that when you spend money on hospitality and other Christians,
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  Speaker 1: God says, that's like storing it up in the bank
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  Speaker 1: of heaven? You're not wasting that money. You're storing it
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  Speaker 1: up in the bank of heaven. Hebrews 10, 24 says this,
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  Speaker 1: think of ways to encourage one another without bursts of
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  Speaker 1: love and good deeds. In other words, be creative, be innovative.
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  Speaker 1: You know, put some thought into it. Now, in this
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  Speaker 1: second fund, the mutual fund, God's mutual fund, anytime you
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  Speaker 1: give to other believers and you use your money to
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  Speaker 1: serve and to help other believers and to show love,
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  Speaker 1: it draws you closer to them and it builds fellowship.
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  Speaker 1: And what am I talking about? When you buy a
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  Speaker 1: gift for a friend, a Christian friend, when you buy
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  Speaker 1: a card for them, when you provide a meal for
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  Speaker 1: somebody who's sick and you pay for that meal, When
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  Speaker 1: you pay for a babysitter, for somebody in your small
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  Speaker 1: group who wants to go somewhere, needs to do something,
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  Speaker 1: and you're showing love to them, when you open up
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  Speaker 1: your home and it costs you to open up your
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  Speaker 1: home for a small group, did you know that the
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  Speaker 1: expenses that you're paying out to run your small group,
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  Speaker 1: to lead your small group, to host your small group,
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  Speaker 1: that that's called an investment in the mutual fund? When
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  Speaker 1: you take a friend to lunch, a Christian friend to lunch,
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  Speaker 1: when you help your small group member financially, somebody in
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  Speaker 1: your group, You're investing in the mutual fund. Now, why
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  Speaker 1: should I do that? Why does God want me to
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  Speaker 1: use some of my money to show love to other believers? Well,
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  Speaker 1: there are three reasons. I'd like you to write these down. First,
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  Speaker 1: it proves that I'm in God's family. 2 Corinthians 9,
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  Speaker 1: verses 12 and 13 says this. This service of giving,
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  Speaker 1: and giving is a service, it's a ministry. This ministry
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  Speaker 1: of giving not only helps the needs of God's people,
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  Speaker 1: It also brings many more thanks to God, and it
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  Speaker 1: is a proof of your faith. Many people will praise
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  Speaker 1: God because you obey the good news of Christ, the
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  Speaker 1: gospel you say, you believe, and because you freely share
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  Speaker 1: with them. And notice this verse actually gives us three reasons.
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  Speaker 1: It says, when I give to help other people who
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  Speaker 1: are believers, it helps their needs, it meets their needs,
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  Speaker 1: it brings thanks to God, but it proves my faith.
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  Speaker 1: it shows that I'm really in the family of God.
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  Speaker 1: If I never am generous with a believer, I should
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  Speaker 1: doubt whether I'm really a believer, whether I'm in God's
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  Speaker 1: family or not. Second reason, it creates unity. When I
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  Speaker 1: share with you, when I use my money to show
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  Speaker 1: love to other Christians, it creates unity, it draws us
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  Speaker 1: closer together. The Bible says in Psalm 133 how good
• 18:47
  Speaker 1: and pleasant it is when God's people live together in unity.
• 18:53
  Speaker 1: So it proves I'm in God's family, it creates unity.
• 18:55
  Speaker 1: Third reason God wants me to invest in the mutual
• 18:57
  Speaker 1: fund is it's a witness to unbelievers. Every time you
• 19:01
  Speaker 1: use some of your money to show love to other Christians,
• 19:05
  Speaker 1: non-Christians notice. The Bible says in 3 John 1, verse five,
• 19:10
  Speaker 1: when you extend hospitality to Christian brothers and sisters, even
• 19:14
  Speaker 1: when they're strangers, like you invite somebody into your home
• 19:17
  Speaker 1: who's come for a conference to Saddleback, you make the
• 19:21
  Speaker 1: faith You make the invisible faith come visible in the world. So,
• 19:29
  Speaker 1: first God says, I want you to invest in the
• 19:31
  Speaker 1: growth fund. Use some of your money to grow spiritually.
• 19:34
  Speaker 1: And then God says, I want you to invest in
• 19:37
  Speaker 1: the mutual fund. Use some of your money to show
• 19:39
  Speaker 1: love to other believers. Now here's the third fund in
• 19:43
  Speaker 1: God's investment portfolio. I call it the service fund. God's
• 19:48
  Speaker 1: service fund is understanding invest in eternity every time I
• 19:54
  Speaker 1: use money to serve others. Every time I use money
• 19:59
  Speaker 1: to serve others, I'm investing in what the Bible would
• 20:03
  Speaker 1: call God's service fund. God wants me to take some
• 20:06
  Speaker 1: of the money I do and use it to help
• 20:08
  Speaker 1: people who are in need. Now the Bible calls this
• 20:12
  Speaker 1: kind of giving ministry giving or service giving, meeting needs
• 20:15
  Speaker 1: in Jesus' name. Meeting their needs financially or emotionally or
• 20:20
  Speaker 1: physically in any way possible. Now let's look at some
• 20:24
  Speaker 1: verses that deal with this third fund of investment. Ecclesiastes 11,
• 20:28
  Speaker 1: one and two, I love this in the message. Be generous,
• 20:32
  Speaker 1: invest in acts of charity. Charity yields high returns. Don't
• 20:40
  Speaker 1: hoard your goods. Spread them around. Be a blessing to others.
• 20:45
  Speaker 1: This could be your last night. I love it that
• 20:48
  Speaker 1: he adds that last little phrase in. This could be
• 20:51
  Speaker 1: your last night. Now imagine this. Let's say your father
• 20:55
  Speaker 1: was a billionaire and he wanted to share his fortune
• 20:58
  Speaker 1: with you, but he knew that you needed to be
• 21:00
  Speaker 1: tested first to see if you could handle such fortune.
• 21:05
  Speaker 1: an enormous inheritance. So your father, let's just say, gives
• 21:09
  Speaker 1: you a set amount that he says, I want you
• 21:12
  Speaker 1: to learn to live on less than I'm giving you.
• 21:16
  Speaker 1: Are you listening? Your father says, I'm gonna give you
• 21:19
  Speaker 1: this amount, but I want you to learn to live
• 21:21
  Speaker 1: on less than I'm giving you so you can use
• 21:25
  Speaker 1: the rest to help other people. Now I'm gonna be
• 21:28
  Speaker 1: watching you and I'm gonna see how you manage and
• 21:31
  Speaker 1: how you distribute the funds that I've given you And
• 21:35
  Speaker 1: if you do well, then I'm gonna share everything else
• 21:38
  Speaker 1: with you for the rest of your life. How do
• 21:42
  Speaker 1: you think you'd use that money? You'd be very, very careful.
• 21:45
  Speaker 1: You'd be very, very considerate about how you used it,
• 21:48
  Speaker 1: not to waste it, not to misspend it, not to
• 21:52
  Speaker 1: fritter it away, but to live on less so you
• 21:54
  Speaker 1: could help others, because that would be what your father
• 21:56
  Speaker 1: told you to do. Well, that's exactly what God has
• 22:00
  Speaker 1: said to us. He's saying, what I'm giving you, I
• 22:03
  Speaker 1: want you to learn to live on less So some
• 22:05
  Speaker 1: of it can be invested in the service fund, in
• 22:08
  Speaker 1: helping other people. Now, friends, opportunities for service are literally
• 22:13
  Speaker 1: all around you. All you have to do is just
• 22:16
  Speaker 1: open up your eyes. You know, the other day, Rick
• 22:19
  Speaker 1: Mucho and I went out on a Friday night and
• 22:21
  Speaker 1: we went to Saddleback Hospital and then to Mission Hospital
• 22:25
  Speaker 1: to visit some people who were in the hospital. And
• 22:29
  Speaker 1: As I was coming back up El Toro Road, as
• 22:31
  Speaker 1: we got to El Toro and Portola, right at the
• 22:33
  Speaker 1: intersection of our church property, I saw a car stalled
• 22:37
  Speaker 1: right in the middle of the intersection. I leaned out
• 22:41
  Speaker 1: my window and I said, could I give you a
• 22:43
  Speaker 1: little push? And a guy leaned out the window and
• 22:46
  Speaker 1: he said, see. And so I gently pulled up next
• 22:52
  Speaker 1: to him and I pushed him through the intersection. And
• 22:54
  Speaker 1: of course, right there was the, Saddleback Church office parking lot.
• 22:59
  Speaker 1: So I pushed him into the parking lot and he
• 23:00
  Speaker 1: pulled in there. And I met him, his name was Guillermo.
• 23:04
  Speaker 1: And I said, what's your problem? He said, well, my
• 23:06
  Speaker 1: battery keeps dying. Well, I had some jumper cables in
• 23:11
  Speaker 1: my backseat. So Rick and I got out and I
• 23:14
  Speaker 1: hooked up the jumper cables and we jumped his car
• 23:17
  Speaker 1: and he got us started. He took off, he thanked us.
• 23:20
  Speaker 1: Before he left, I gave him a Spanish version of
• 23:23
  Speaker 1: Purpose Driven Life and signed it. I always keep them
• 23:25
  Speaker 1: in the car, Una Vida Con Propósito. Gave him a
• 23:28
  Speaker 1: copy of Purpose Driven Life and Guillermo was on his way. Well,
• 23:33
  Speaker 1: about a minute later, we took off and as we
• 23:35
  Speaker 1: headed down the street, all of a sudden I noticed
• 23:37
  Speaker 1: Guillermo was pulled over about three blocks down the street again.
• 23:41
  Speaker 1: So he pulled over behind him and he says, something
• 23:43
  Speaker 1: is shorting us out. It's not my battery and I
• 23:46
  Speaker 1: can't go any further. Well, both Rick and I had AAA.
• 23:51
  Speaker 1: So he said, well, just hang on. So we called
• 23:53
  Speaker 1: AAA and we stood there and we waited with him
• 23:56
  Speaker 1: while the AAA was coming to fix his car and
• 23:59
  Speaker 1: to tow it to his house and to get it fixed.
• 24:03
  Speaker 1: So while we're standing there, I'm talking to Guillermo and
• 24:05
  Speaker 1: I said, tell me your story. And Guillermo said, well,
• 24:08
  Speaker 1: I'm a painter. And I said, but I've been out
• 24:09
  Speaker 1: of work for two years and I'm probably going to
• 24:12
  Speaker 1: have to sell my house here in Foothill Ranch and
• 24:16
  Speaker 1: move up in the mid part of Orange County where
• 24:18
  Speaker 1: it's a little bit cheaper and I'll find someplace to rent.
• 24:22
  Speaker 1: And I said, well, Guillermo, you've been out of work
• 24:24
  Speaker 1: for two years. How are you making a living? He said,
• 24:30
  Speaker 1: I go through garbage. And he said, I look through
• 24:34
  Speaker 1: garbage bins and these big giant bins and I find
• 24:38
  Speaker 1: old shoes and old shirts and old things that people
• 24:42
  Speaker 1: don't want anymore. And I put them in trash bags
• 24:44
  Speaker 1: and he says, every weekend I drive across the border
• 24:48
  Speaker 1: into Tijuana and I sell them very, very cheaply to
• 24:52
  Speaker 1: people who have less than I do just to make
• 24:54
  Speaker 1: a little for myself and to help those less fortunate.
• 24:58
  Speaker 1: I thought, here is an opportunity to help somebody right
• 25:01
  Speaker 1: in my own backyard. There are people like this living
• 25:05
  Speaker 1: right next to you. people who are down on their luck,
• 25:08
  Speaker 1: people who are out of work, people who are going
• 25:10
  Speaker 1: through a tough time, and when you invest by giving
• 25:13
  Speaker 1: something of value to somebody else and you help somebody
• 25:16
  Speaker 1: in need, you're investing in the service, the service fund. Now,
• 25:21
  Speaker 1: in fact, the Bible tells us that this is a
• 25:23
  Speaker 1: test of faith. Let me read you a verse out
• 25:24
  Speaker 1: of the book of James. James 2, 15 and 17
• 25:27
  Speaker 1: says this. Suppose you see a brother or sister who
• 25:31
  Speaker 1: needs food or clothing and you say, God bless you,
• 25:33
  Speaker 1: stay warm, eat well. but then you don't give them
• 25:36
  Speaker 1: any food or clothing. What good does that do? Faith
• 25:39
  Speaker 1: that doesn't show itself by good works, by good deeds,
• 25:42
  Speaker 1: is no faith at all. In fact, it's dead and useless.
• 25:46
  Speaker 1: This is so important that God has put many, many
• 25:48
  Speaker 1: promises in scripture. Let me just read you a few
• 25:50
  Speaker 1: of them. Proverbs 11, 24 says this. The world of
• 25:53
  Speaker 1: the generous gets larger and larger, but the world of
• 25:56
  Speaker 1: the stingy gets smaller and smaller. In other words, the
• 26:00
  Speaker 1: more you help others, the more God blesses you. Why?
• 26:03
  Speaker 1: Because God wants you to be like him. God's a giver,
• 26:05
  Speaker 1: God's generous, and he wants you to become like him,
• 26:07
  Speaker 1: like father, like son, like father, like daughter. Proverbs 28,
• 26:11
  Speaker 1: verse 27 says this. Give to the poor and you'll
• 26:14
  Speaker 1: never be in need. Did you read that? Give to
• 26:17
  Speaker 1: the poor and you'll never be in need. But if
• 26:20
  Speaker 1: you close your eyes to the poor, many will curse you.
• 26:24
  Speaker 1: And then look at this verse on your outline, Proverbs 19, 17.
• 26:26
  Speaker 1: When you give to the poor... It's like lending to
• 26:30
  Speaker 1: the Lord and the Lord will pay you back. That's
• 26:35
  Speaker 1: an amazing promise. It's investing for eternity.