Make Love Your Lifestyle

Jim Leffel

Galatians 6:6-10

As we grow in our love towards others, there are three principles for developing a loving lifestyle: 1) understanding that what we feed grows, whether we sow to the flesh or to the spirit; 2) the reward of enduring and doing good without losing heart; and 3) seizing the opportunities God places in our lives to do good to others. Living out a lifestyle of sacrificial love is rewarding not just in this life, but even more so in the next.

Leadership and Spirituality (Part 3)

Dennis McCallum

Matthew 6:19-34

Paul tells Timothy to raise up leaders who are free from the love of money. Loving God and loving money are mutually exclusive - it is impossible to pursue both! Material greed doesn't just change our value system away from what God values, but it actually warps our perception of what we need to be content and leads to constant worrying. But if we pursue God's kingdom instead of money, God says he will give us all that we need.

Loving Others with our Wallets

Dennis McCallum

1 John 3:16

Christians are called to love others in truth and deed, and this very much includes giving our money. We are stewards of what God has given us, and if we want to be dedicated givers we need to practice disciplined regular giving rather than only impulse giving. In this way we can heartily invest in God's work with the money He has blessed us with.

Principles of Biblical Stewardship

Gary DeLashmutt

Matthew 6:19-34

We are stewards of God's resources, even though we often view ourselves as owners. We should pursue contentment, taking our identity in Christ. As we give generously and live simply we should strive to be responsible stewards of what God has given us.

Overcoming Material Anxiety

Gary DeLashmutt

Matthew 6:25-34

Jesus addresses not only our relationship with material wealth but also the effect of material anxiety. We should be responsible, but we also need to place our faith in God who will never let us down. We can address our anxiety and pursue God's priorities instead.

God or Mammon?

Gary DeLashmutt

Matthew 6:19-24

Jesus teaches on the subject of material possessions and wealth. We cannot serve God and at the same time be controlled by money. We can live our lives storing up things here on this earth, or we can focus on storing up treasure in the next life.

Two Different Forms of Spirituality

Gary DeLashmutt

Matthew 6:1-18

Next in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus speaks to the religious elite. Addressing things commonly viewed as giving piety, and turning them upside down. Instead of doing things to gain peoples' admiration and favor, we should live for an audience of one. God wants a real relationship with us, not for us to merely go through the motions.

Accountability and Stewardship

Dennis McCallum

Matthew 25:14-30

In the parallel accounts of Matthew and Luke, Jesus tells the parable of three servants who were entrusted with money while their master was away. He teaches the principle of stewardship, that we do not own what we have been given. We will be held accountable to God at the end of our lives for what we chose to do with the things given to us. Two servants act wisely and make smart investments for the master with the stewarded money while the third servant buries it in the ground and receives the master's wrath for being irresponsible and lazy. With the stewardship God has given to us, we have the opportunity to achieve something lasting with our lives that will affect eternity.

How to be Rich and Successful

Dennis McCallum

Luke 12:33-48

Living for Jesus gives us the opportunity to invest in spiritual rewards in the next life. When Christ returns, each person will be assessed with how they used the resources God gave them and rewarded for their work. In light of his return, we should seek ways to build up the Body of Christ and invest our lives into the eternal work God has for each of us. This teaching includes interviews asking people about heaven.