Budgets Matter

Treasures in Heaven

If you have a Bible, go ahead and grab it and turn to the book of Matthew. We are going to be looking at Matthew chapter 6. If you don't have a Bible, you can use the pew Bible in front of you. If you don't own a Bible, we would encourage you to just keep that Bible. We would love for you to have a copy of God's Word—consider that a gift from us to you. We would love for you to be able to have God's Word for yourself so that you can read it for your own edification and to hear more about Jesus. And we would love to talk to you more about what it looks like to follow Christ.

We are continuing our topical series through the church. We are right around the corner of ending this series. Next week we will talk about worship. This morning, we are going to talk particularly about how God intends to use our money and how he intends to use our funds together as a church to bring him glory.

So, this is a little bit different from the sermons that we normally tend to do. We normally pick a book of the Bible and walk through it sequentially and see what God's Word has to say. What we're doing today is something that we call topical preaching. This doesn't mean that the pastor just says whatever he wants. It's more about taking a subject that is in Scripture and then using multiple texts to highlight what God actually thinks about that topic. And so today, we'll be thinking about the topic of money, giving, and the budget. But we will begin here in Matthew chapter 6, verses 19 to 21.

“Don’t store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves don’t break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

— Matthew 6:19-21 (CSB)

Let's pray. Lord, we pray this morning as we think about stewardship, as we think about our possessions, pray, Lord, that you would help us not to be hardened in our hearts. Pray, Lord, that you would help us to be open-handed with what we have. And more importantly, pray, Lord, that you would help our hearts to be worshipful as we think about dedicating all that we have and are to you. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.

Why Your Money Matters

We are not behind on our budget. Sometimes, when you see a sermon on giving show up on a sermon calendar, you wonder how many dollars you have to put forward. I just want to be really clear that the reason why we are doing this sermon isn't because we have some annual fundraiser or because we need to meet our monetary goals. This isn't happening because our church is behind or because we are looking forward to fleecing more money from you. This isn't even a sermon I'm giving because our church is being unfaithful in giving. I think last time I checked, last year, about 95% of our church gives regularly.

So, this is not a sermon given in a spirit of scolding, or in condemnation, or even rebuke. The reason why sermons on money matter is because Jesus cared about your money. In fact, did you know that in the Gospels, Jesus talks more about your money than he does about sexual immorality? And it's no wonder that he does that, because if what he says here in Matthew chapter 6 is correct, then how we use our funds is a direct reflection of what exists in our hearts.

And so, I don't want to stand up here and give you a pep talk or to get you to feel guilty as you think about your monthly finances. What I want to do this morning, as we think about our funds, is to get you excited about knowing the responsibility that the Lord has given you. I want you to know the exact spiritual connection that we have with the dollars that we spend in seeking to honor the God who has given us all things.

Our sermon is going to work in three phases. We are really going to start individually and think about what money is and how God thinks about your money. Then, we are going to think about how our giving matters in light of how the New Testament views how we use our funds. Finally, we will work our way out to think about our church as a whole and how we as a church think about how we spend our dollars.

We are going to follow this in three points:

1. Your money matters.
2. Your giving matters.
3. Our budget matters.

Let's start with point number one: Your money matters. What is money? Your money is a measure of power. It's a measure of power. We know that the dollar itself doesn't have inherent value. What I mean is not what it represents, but what it physically is. We know that a dollar is just a piece of paper or a piece of cloth. The raw material that makes up the dollar is not worth a dollar. That's the reason why we stopped making pennies, did you know that? It costs about four cents to make one cent. It doesn't make sense, so they stopped making pennies.

And that's the point of money. Money isn't about the raw materials or what they are worth. It's about what it represents. It's a measure of value. It's a measure of worth. It is a direct reflection of how much your work is worth. You get paid your wages because your wages are how much your work is worth. It is a measure of the value of what you own, whether it's a car or a Snickers bar.

In other words, money is a measure of power. It provides for needs, and it stores value. That is precisely why Proverbs 22:7 says that the borrower is slave to the lender, because money owed is power owed. You owe them your life; you owe them things of value. It's no wonder that people get seduced by money. The reason why you get seduced by money is because you are seduced by power. You can use power for pretty much anything you want, whether it's the ease of life, unique life experiences, or obtaining more stuff. Money is like a chameleon that can morph into whatever idol you have in your heart.

Which is why money isn't just a measure of power, it is also a measure of what you love. It's a measure of what you love. It is exactly what Jesus is getting at here in Matthew chapter 6. Where your treasure is—you could even say where your dollars are, where your time is, where your effort is—where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

And you and I know this intuitively. We know the pain of having someone step on your new shoes, the anxiety of purchasing a new home, or the stress of researching before you buy a new computer. Their price tag isn't just a measure of how much money they cost, but how much your heart is invested in those things. What's worse is we don't even need to spend money for us to be obsessed with things. Whether it's a dream car, a hobby, or a curiosity, you can obsess and covet over things that you don't even have, as long as you wish you did.

It is no wonder that 1 Timothy 6:10 tells us that "the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil, and by craving it some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs." In other words, show me what you spend your money on, and I can tell you what you love. Your money can function as a stand-in for your appetites. Whatever you crave, whatever you wish to have, is demonstrated in what you think money can promise you. Wealth reveals what you want.

And Jesus wants all of you. He wants all of you. That's why when Jesus talks to the rich young ruler in Mark chapter 10, he doesn't point out all the things that he has done well. The rich young ruler stands before Jesus and says, "I've kept all the law since I was a child." Jesus doesn't even bother refuting his statement about himself. He doesn't pull a Ray Comfort; he doesn't ask if he has ever told a lie or whether he has ever stolen. He doesn't go down a laundry list of obedience. He gets straight to the throat of his heart by asking him to do one thing: "Go, sell all you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me."

Mark 10 says the young man was dismayed. He was toppled over by this demand, and he went away grieving because he had many possessions. Whatever you cannot give up—whether it's money, family, comfort, career, health, or anything that you treasure in this life—those are the things that must be surrendered for the sake of following Christ. You must deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow him.

The paradoxical, world-flipping promise of the Gospel is that when you give up those things, you gain the only thing that matters. You get Jesus. You get his blood that covers your sin. You get his everlasting, resurrection life. Jesus isn't telling the rich young ruler to deprive himself of a blessing. He actually looks at the rich young ruler as a poor beggar who lacks the only thing that actually matters. When Jesus tells him to give up what he has on this earth, he offers him the only thing of eternal value: true treasure in heaven.

Do you trust in Jesus? Have you placed your faith in him? Because following Christ gives you grace that you can't afford, and it will cost you everything that you own. It will cost you everything that you have. Not just your possessions, but all of your life and all of your affections. It will require all of your obedience. If you know the value of Christ, you will know that everything you possess is of no real value at all.

That is exactly why Paul in Philippians, as he lists out all the things that would give him worth and status in society, says it is all a filthy rag compared to the surpassing value of knowing Christ. You get to gain Jesus. And the evidence of that kind of Christ-transformed life is in your giving. Notice what Jesus says in Matthew 6: "Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." Your dollars directly disclose your devotion.

I wonder, if someone were to look at your own personal budget, if they could look at the way you spent your dollars last month or in this year leading up to today, what would they say your priorities are? Could they see the care that you have for your family, your career, your food, or your hobbies? Your money matters because your heart matters. You can use your budget like a heart autopsy.

The Gain of Generosity

Point two: Your giving matters. If your money matters to God and reveals where your heart is, then that means money is not inherently bad. In the New Testament, you don't see God telling people to deliberately embrace a life of poverty. You don't see that. You do see the rich young ruler commanded to give up all that he has and to give it to the poor because that was directly where his heart was. But you also see other examples in the New Testament of people who possessed wealth, like Lydia in the church in Ephesus, who leveraged her resources for the sake of supporting the kingdom.

God does not encourage Christians to be low-income for the sake of having less. Rather, God looks at all that we possess, whether we have much or we have little, and he encourages us to give—to leverage our money for kingdom purposes. What is the primary benefit of our giving? What's the point? It is your reward.

Turn in your Bible to Philippians chapter 4. Philippians is an epistle Paul wrote to the church in Philippi, and he is writing to thank them for the support they gave to him. He is suffering in prison, in chains. The church gathered resources and sent Epaphroditus to Paul in prison to be able to feed him and sustain his life while he was ministering in chains. This is Paul's gratitude and exhortation to them at the end of his letter in chapter 4. Look at verse 10:

I rejoiced in the Lord greatly because once again you renewed your care for me. You were, in fact, concerned about me but lacked the opportunity to show it. I don’t say this out of need, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I find myself. I know how to make do with little, and I know how to make do with a lot. In any and all circumstances I have learned the secret of being content—whether well fed or hungry, whether in abundance or in need. I am able to do all things through him who strengthens me. Still, you did well by partnering with me in my hardship.

— Philippians 4:10-14 (CSB)

Paul thanks them for their support, and notice what he is doing. He is not emphasizing his own need. He's not talking about how hard it is in his chains. Sometimes, we can think of fundraising like the spiritual equivalent of those commercials where a presenter is walking in a third-world country, brings an orphan child in front of the screen, and asks you to support them with just $8 a month to feed them and their entire family. It would be easy for Paul to throw himself a little pity party, but he doesn't do that. He actually tells them that even without their support, he would have been fine. He could do all things through Christ who strengthens him. That verse isn't about winning the World Cup. It's about contentment—about being satisfied in Christ in the midst of any circumstance. It would probably be more fitting for someone who lost a tournament to cite Philippians 4:13 and say, "I can still be happy in Jesus because I can do all things through him who strengthens me."

Yet, at the end of verse 14, he says it is still good that they partnered with him. You can almost hear him saying, "Still, though, thank you for the food." It is good not just because of what Paul receives, but because of what the Philippians gain. Look at what he says in verse 15:

And you Philippians know that in the early days of the gospel, when I left Macedonia, no church shared with me in the matter of giving and receiving except you alone. For even in Thessalonica you sent gifts for my need several times. Not that I seek the gift, but I seek the profit that is increasing to your account. But I have received everything in full, and I have an abundance. I am fully supplied, having received from Epaphroditus what you provided—a fragrant offering, an acceptable sacrifice, pleasing to God. And my God will supply all your needs according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus. Now to our God and Father be glory forever and ever. Amen.

— Philippians 4:15-20 (CSB)

"Not that I seek the gift, but the profit that increases to your account." What Paul is saying is that he unironically sees the gifts the Philippians provided not as a way to help him meet a quota—he already has everything he needs, he is fully supplied—but for the profit and the gain of the Philippians' account. Paul is essentially saying, "You're welcome. Thank you for your gifts, but you're welcome." The Philippians aren't losing from their giving. They are gaining. They are gaining.

That might be a little bit hard for us to wrap our minds around. When you see the dollars shrink from your bank account, it stings. It doesn't take a lot to realize the tangible loss of giving away money that you can no longer spend. It's a lot harder to conceptualize what Paul is getting at here when he talks about our gain.

But imagine if you were in 1999. Imagine for a moment that you're living in 1999, but you know everything that you know today. A man comes up to you and introduces himself. He strikes up a conversation with you. His name is Sergey Brin, and he wants you to invest in a brand-new internet company that he and his buddy Larry have been working on called Google. They ask for a private investment of $1,000. Now, you may be thinking, "$1,000 in 1999 is a lot of money." It is a lot of cash. But do you know how much that $1,000 investment in that company in 1999 would be worth today? Over $50 million. I'm not exaggerating. Tech companies are worth way too much. It would be worth over $50 million.

Now imagine that I knew in 1999 what I know right now. Should I be crossing my arms at the thought of giving them money? Should I be concerned about how that affects my daily life if I lose that $1,000? No! I should be falling on my knees, hugging this guy around the legs, and thanking him profusely for the opportunity of a lifetime! How much more for the eternal inheritance that you and I are going to gain in glory? The offerings that you and I give now, the investments that we put in now, are increasing to our account—the reward that is waiting for us in Christ Jesus.

That is what Paul is talking about here in Philippians 4. Do you believe that? Do you believe that the gifts you are able to give right now in the present are storing up for you true treasures that will be everlasting in heaven? Because if you don't believe in that promise, you won't give. You won't give because giving would feel like the equivalent of throwing your money away, investing in a company that will fail, or tossing your dollars straight into a furnace. But if you truly believe that God will supply your needs according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus, then that will reflect in your investment in his kingdom.

In a sense, our giving reflects our faith in our Giver. It's no wonder that the master in the famous parable condemns the servant who took his talent and buried it in the ground. The reason why he condemns him isn't because he lost his master's money—the money was right there in the ground where he left it. The reason why he condemns that servant is because his lack of investment reflected the lack of faith he had in his master. It is no wonder, then, in Acts 2:45, that you see Christians in the very first church selling their possessions and property to distribute to the needy, because their radical generosity reflected the radical grace they had received.

Now, I am not trying to encourage you to mortgage your house and redistribute that money to the church. I remember visiting a prosperity megachurch in the area when I was a teenager, sitting in one of their weeknight services. They had someone stand up and give a testimony about how God told her to liquidate her 401k and give all the money to the church. The pastor came up and hugged her, made the church applaud her, and then encouraged the congregation to prayerfully consider whether the Lord was calling them to do the same thing. I don't think that is what God is obligating you to do. I actually think that is irresponsible in terms of stewardship. If you get rid of all of your money in such a way that you cannot provide for your family, 1 Timothy 5 would call you worse than an unbeliever. It is irresponsible for us to leverage our finances in a reckless way, thinking that Jesus is coming next month so we should sell all our possessions to buy billboards. That is not the way God calls us to spend our money.

That being said, our generosity is rooted in God's generosity. Our giving directly reflects our level of trust in what the Lord is going to provide and what he has already provided. In other words, you as a Christian, as a member of this church, are called to give regularly, sacrificially, and joyfully.

First, God calls us to give regularly. Turn in your Bible to 1 Corinthians chapter 16. It's just three books backward. Look at verses 1 and 2:

Now about the collection for the saints: Do the same as I instructed the Galatian churches. On the first day of the week, each of you is to set something aside and save in keeping with how he is prospering, so that no collections will need to be made when I come.

— 1 Corinthians 16:1-2 (CSB)

This is why we have a dedicated time in our service for giving. It's not because passing plates or pointing out the offering box in the back or the QR code in the bulletin is our way of guilting you. Again, this is not the equivalent of a third-world country commercial; that's not what we're trying to do. The reason why we have it in our service is because that's what the Word commands. You have a regular time every week set aside for giving.

In other words, Paul is telling the church in Corinth, "This is not a one-time fundraiser. This isn't an occasional event that happens as needs arise in the church." Giving ought to be a clear, regular rhythm for all Christians. This is part of the reason why, when we talk about our budget, I frequently say that God's faithfulness to us, or our obedience to God, isn't determined by whether or not we hit our budget goals. It's determined by whether we are faithfully stewarding what the Lord has already given.

Now, there may be days when I stand in front of you and ask you to give more money because we'd rather not lay off staff or have to make difficult decisions for the year. That has nothing to do with God's faithfulness; that just has to do with our stewardship and our predictions for the year. But the reason why we give regularly, apart from the fact that it does me and the finance committee a huge favor in knowing exactly how much money is coming in, is because that's what the Lord himself commands. You're supposed to have a regular rhythm of contributing to the ministry of the Word.

This is also why I encourage automated giving. Some people prefer to give manually as an act of worship from the heart—you go in and either submit it yourself or write out a check and put it in the offering plate. I think that's wonderful. I think God is honored by that, and I love that you have the heart to do it. I would just encourage you at the end of the year, or maybe halfway through the year, to look through your bank statements and see whether or not your intentional manual giving has unintentionally left you giving less than you planned to give. Often, I find that to be the case. In fact, a friend of mine told me the exact same thing; he found at the end of the year that he had given quite substantially less than he intended, and he subsequently automated his giving. Either way, I encourage you to make a rhythm of regular giving, returning a regular portion to the Lord.

Second, you should give sacrificially and joyfully. Often, we think of sacrifice and joy as separate things, but in Scripture, they are treated together. You can see this in 2 Corinthians chapter 9. Look at verse 6:

"The point is this: The person who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and the person who sows generously will also reap generously. Each person should do as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or out of compulsion, since God loves a cheerful giver."

Each person should do what they have decided in their heart, and that condition, "not reluctantly or out of compulsion," isn't given to prevent giving—as though you shouldn't give until you've convinced yourself it's worth doing—but to reflect on your heart as you give. The guiding principle for giving isn't a minimum, but the motivations of your heart. God loves a cheerful giver; the one who sows sparingly will reap sparingly, and the one who sows generously will also reap generously.

In other words, regardless of whether you are rich or poor, God cares about your heart in your giving. If you are sitting here every Sunday or every year as you evaluate your finances, working to try to figure out what the minimum balance is to be obedient before the Lord, I would encourage you to evaluate your affections. Check your heart. Do you pray as you think about how much to give? Do you take an honest look at your finances to see whether it costs you something to trust in Christ and to see his Gospel advance? Evaluate your heart before you evaluate your amount.

God calls us to give sacrificially and joyfully. This may mean prayerfully seeking to obey the Lord while stepping forward in faith in your giving—not out of reckless giving, but out of a radical desire to see Christ made known, to invest in the reward credited to your account. And that can be so difficult.

You know, I always thought that when I made more money, it would be easier for me to give. But what I realized was that the more money I made, the more money was coming out of my account. Let me tell you, even as a pastor who literally gets paid from the money that you give to the church, it hurts for me to give. It causes pain in my heart. With every single dollar that leaves my account, I see my idols slowly dying and getting starved. Every single time I give, I remind my heart that Jesus is worth more than the things I could obtain, the things I could hope for, or the things I could put my trust in.

How Our Church Stewards Funds

Which brings us to point number three: Our budget matters. In Acts 2, you see the example of the early church collecting funds and distributing to those in need. How do we as a church decide to do that? We do that through something we call a church budget.

Now, if you do a search through all of Scripture for the phrase "church budget," do you know how many results you're going to get? Zero. There's no appendix here with Dave Ramsey or anyone else who tries to encourage faithful financial stewardship. There is no chapter and verse dictating line items for us to follow. What a budget is, is a plan. That's all it is. It is a written plan that a church uses to guide how we are going to spend our money for kingdom purposes.

Since this is a Church Matters series, I want to explain to you clearly how that process works. Even now, as our Bylaw Committee is working on this, some details may change, but I assume it will remain relatively the same. Either the pastors—if there are five or more pastors and a majority of them are lay or non-staff—or a finance committee will come together and prepare a budget to present to the church. Then, the church will have time to read and understand the budget.

Some of you who have been members here for a while know that I personally sit down and write a budget explainer, where I write a paragraph of explanation for literally every line item change in the budget. This is so you don't have to come up and ask me basic questions; you can read that first, and then you can ask any follow-up questions you may have. Then, the church in a members' meeting has time to collectively discuss, read, understand, and approve the budget.

The reason why we go through that process of multiple layers of accountability—with people dedicated to making this plan, with making sure you know every change that happens in the church, and making sure the church collectively makes this decision together—is for a couple of reasons.

For one, it's God's money. In fact, all of your money is God's money, but these are your contributions. I think it is logical and reasonable for you to have a level of ownership and accountability in how our church decides to spend its money.

Second, we want to make sure that those who are leading the church are able to cast a vision for how the church spends its money. Sometimes, you can see churches get bogged down in members' meetings looking at budgets, quibbling over cents and pennies, and where they may or may not be redistributed. I'd encourage you not to do that. I don't think any of us have ever done that, but I would just encourage you not to do it. The reason is because the leaders of the church, as they evaluate different things and as they weigh different matters, are trying to properly steward a whole host of factors as they present to you how the church will spend its money. You can consider that an extension of them presenting a vision for how the church should function. I often say that you could use our church's budget as a prayer list—that it should be able to double as a prayer list—so that you can look at every dollar our church spends and get an idea of what our church prioritizes. It's really a teaching opportunity for us as a church to remind ourselves of what we value.

Number three, we want to be able to hold the church accountable as we seek to be good stewards of the Lord's funds. There is no shady business that happens here at our church. We try to be as upfront with everything as we can. That's why, if you go to a Church Matters class, we tell you everything we believe in the second class. The reason why we tell you everything we believe is because there is no Flying Spaghetti Monster behind the scenes. There's no secret that we're withholding that you find out later after you are too deeply invested. The same thing is true with our budget. We don't hide anything. You won't find any dollars in our bathroom vents like they did in Joel Osteen's church—that actually happened. We are seeking to be faithful with every dollar, which means you know exactly how every dollar gets spent.

Biblical Categories for Church Spending

That being said, how should we use our money? I want to give you three general, biblical categories for how our church uses its funds.

Number one: To support church pastors. Turn to 1 Timothy chapter 5, and look at verse 17:

The elders who are good leaders are to be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who work hard at preaching and teaching. For the Scripture says: Do not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain, and, “The worker is worthy of his wages.”

— 1 Timothy 5:17-18 (CSB)

Martin Luther famously commented on this verse, saying, "Obviously, we know that this verse is not about oxen, for oxen cannot read." That term "double honor" here is referring to a financial blessing. There are pastors identified here who are responsible for the preaching and teaching at the church, and it says here that they are to be compensated for their work.

The principles of compensation here are pretty clear. It's not based on need. It's not about racking up all of the pastor's essential spending and then cutting 20% off the top of that to keep him humble, and then giving him that paycheck to curb him from being materialistic. If you have that problem, you need to fire that guy, rather than just paying him less. His compensation here is linked to the value of the work he provides. Notice it says here that "the worker is worthy of his wages." In other words, you need to ask yourself how much it's worth having that work done. That's why, for most churches, this is the primary line in their church budget, and for good reason. It actually benefits the whole church to have teachers of the Word who can equip the saints for the work of ministry.

You as a church have essentially decided that the hours I would be spending in a secular job to provide for my family would be better spent in preparation, preaching, discipling, and prayer. That is the value judgment you've made. And just so you know, I don't set how much I get paid. Not only that, I try to work very hard to make clear that I am not in this for the money.

Those of you who have been here a while know that when I came to the church at first, we didn't have enough money. There were plenty of times in our church's life where there were faithful men who came to serve this church even when we didn't have enough, and I think the Lord was honored by that. In addition to that, in our process, we have it baked in so that I don't wave some scepter to determine how much I receive every month. The Finance Committee works hard in evaluating my needs. They evaluate based on my needs, the typical compensation in the area for non-profits, local government, and area churches, as well as the financial condition of the church.

This is exactly how it works: When we have our budget meeting, I sit down with them, and I tell them how I'm doing. I tell them how money is going, whether I'm able to be generous, and whether I'm comfortable in my life. Often, I find myself telling the Finance Committee, "I'm doing okay. If you give me more money, I'll probably just give more to the church or to other good work, so thank you for what you're doing." And then, do you know what I do after that? After I tell them how I'm doing, I leave. I leave the room. The reason why I leave the room is because I don't think I should be involved in setting the amount of dollars that I make. I let them evaluate and set my compensation, and then I go back and hear what they've decided. And you know what we do after that? We move on. We move on to the next step in the budget planning process.

I just want you to know, on a personal note, I trust these guys. I trust that they love me, I trust that they care for me and my family, I trust that they care about how I'm doing, I trust that they care about my heart, and I trust that they know that I trust them. We steward my pay and the church's funds responsibly for God's glory and my good. So, whether they increase or decrease my salary, I trust that they desire my good and the church's good, and they have labored hard to make sure I am taken care of and that we steward our church's funds well. In turn, I'm just really grateful. I think they have fulfilled the command here in 1 Timothy 5 to make sure we give men who preach and teach well double honor.

I want to say one more thing about the salary that is not in my notes—I'm going to go overtime for saying this, but let me make this point. You guys are serving yourselves well by compensating me enough to retire. I just want to make that really clear, and let me use a personal anecdote to explain why. My dad passed away from cancer at age 60. He pastored for over 30 years of his life. He had $100,000 in retirement. My sister and I had frequent conversations about what it would look like to be able to care for my parents after they retired. The reason was because that church had a mentality of keeping a pastor poor to keep him humble. I could list multiple churches that had that "school of hard knocks" mentality.

Here is what happens with churches that do that, just practically speaking: those pastors can't retire. And when those pastors can't retire, they often end up serving way past the age of their usefulness for the life of the church. When they keep serving out of financial obligation, not only have they disqualified themselves according to 1 Peter, they are dragging the church down with lackluster ministry, and the church tends to suffer as a result. So, one of the things we want to do, in general, when we think about long-term compensation for people who intend to retire here, is to give them enough that they actually can retire here. That way, I can feel free to hand it over to the next guy, who can faithfully preach God's Word and be taken care of as well. In other words, there is a system of trust that is reciprocally beneficial for the life of the church.

Here is number two: To support church ministries. We want to use church money to support church ministries. Now, the vast majority of the church's ministries and functions aren't funded by the church because they don't cost money. You know how much money it costs to meet up with someone and read the Bible together? Zero dollars. You can even download a Bible app on your phone and be able to do that yourself. The primary means of ministry at the church is members caring for other members, fulfilling the church covenant with each other.

But in addition to that, churches have historically used their funds to help bolster and support good ministry work in the life of the church. Consider that an investment. If you think of the church's funds like a spiritual mutual fund, what you're doing is trying to invest in stocks that you think are going to grow in terms of spiritual growth in the life of the church. This means if you can find particular areas where dollars and cents can be spent that will help advance good Word-based work happening in the life of the church, that is a good use of our dollars.

One of the primary ways we do that is through our facilities. Many people don't think about what a blessing it is to have a building like this, constructed in the '80s, before we had our chapel and lots of other places where we could meet. I just did a study—honestly, this wasn't even a professional study, I just Googled it—to see what it would cost to rent a facility of just our main building size in this area, and it would cost over $70,000 a year. I'm really grateful that generations of Christians chose to steward their resources so that we could have a dedicated place to meet. That wasn't just because buildings were cheaper back then. I guarantee you buildings will continue to get more expensive. It's because Christians believed in the value of institutions like these that can outlast them.

If Artesia continues to be a city centuries from now, and we continue to have buildings and facilities like these, we can actually leverage our resources to provide all sorts of good work that can happen in our community and in our church. Being able to meet in the same place for over 75 years is a blessing—to know that we are planted, rooted, and committed to serving this city and this community with the Gospel, and to know that we are not the first Christians who ever sought to be faithful, and we are not going to be the last.

We also want to accelerate good work that's already happening by providing good resources. If you look at our ministries line in our budget, you should see the kinds of things we want to give money to. A practical example would be student ministry. I go every week to Cal State Long Beach, sit down, and do Q&A with students. We think it's worth paying for the parking fee there to do that, or paying for meals so I can meet up with people, or discipling resources where we can fund good books for members to read with other members or to share the Gospel with other people. We want to think about our dollars and cents and how we spend them to catalyze good Gospel work in the life of our church.

Here is number three, the third general category, and the last one: To support church missions. All throughout Scripture, Paul talks about the use of church funds to advance Gospel ministry. In fact, the entirety of the book of Romans is like a fundraising letter to a church in Rome that Paul had never met. You can turn back in your Bible to Romans chapter 15, verses 25 to 29. This is how Paul talks about funds at the end of the book of Romans after outlining the Gospel work. He says:

"Right now I am traveling to Jerusalem to serve the saints, because Macedonia and Achaia were pleased to make a contribution for the poor among the saints in Jerusalem. Yes, they were pleased, and indeed are indebted to them. For if the Gentiles have shared in their spiritual benefits, then they are obligated to minister to them in material needs. So when I have finished this and safely delivered the funds to them, I will visit you on the way to Spain. And I know that when I come to you, I will come in the fullness of the blessing of Christ."

This is a very simple, practical illustration. He is going from Macedonia and Achaia to Jerusalem. The saints in Macedonia and Achaia gave him money so he could go support the people in Jerusalem. He is saying, "If the Gospel came from Jerusalem to them and they got saved—they received spiritual benefits—it makes sense for them to return physical benefits." In other words, they're not just doing them a favor; this is a spirit of generosity and gratitude.

Then he says, "I am coming to you, and I know you're going to have that same kind of heart, because I'm headed to Spain to preach the Gospel to people who have never heard it before." You see what Paul is saying? He is saying, "If you've received spiritual benefits from me as I've preached the Gospel to you, as other people have preached Christ to you, you're going to give me money to fund my missions work." Because traveling to a place where no one has heard the Gospel, as you know, costs money. It costs money to send people to places that are difficult to reach. It costs money to train men to be pastors who will not stay in our church. It costs money to fund missionaries to travel overseas to plant churches. It even costs money if we want to plant a church to disciple new believers who don't yet fully understand the goodness of giving. There is almost always a direct correlation between the maturity of the believers in a church and those who choose to give.

We have done this in our own church. You can talk to Orly or other members about the church we planted in the Philippines. That cost money to do, and we want to be able to follow that example in our church's future. We want to be strategic in our missions giving. We want to make sure we are deploying our dollars for work in strategic places that brings lasting, consistent Gospel fruit in the nations.

We also want to be sacrificial with our missions giving. Let's be honest, when a budget gets constrained, the first thing to go is usually missions, because the needs we have on the local level are more tangible and immediately pressing. It is okay for a time if we need to prioritize local needs—there is a reason why the Lord has placed this specific church in Artesia and not in Bangladesh. At the same time, I also want to acknowledge that we will always have needs here. There will always be something we can spend our money on, and we want to make sure we leverage our wealth and resources to fund good Gospel work happening globally.

We live in one of the most affluent places, in one of the most affluent cities, in the entire world. Our ability to take small amounts of money—amounts that only affect whether or not we go to Starbucks—and use them to affect eternal change overseas is almost unfathomably significant. We have an opportunity before us to be deliberate, devotional, and dedicated in our giving in such a way as to launch and catalyze good Gospel work happening all over the planet.

You can think of our missions giving, and the way we allocate our funds to different organizations, as stamps of approval. You can look at these organizations, the missionaries they send, or the churches they plant, as works that we are excited to support. It is because we want to devotionally give to our God, showing with our actions that the Gospel is better than anything this life has to offer—that Jesus is worth more than your 401k, that Jesus is worth more than a nice car, even though it is good to have retirement savings or to be able to get where you need to go.

We want to be devoted to God with our dollars in such a way that it doesn't make sense to the world unless Jesus Christ rose from the dead. Jim Elliot, the famous missionary to the Waodani people who was martyred for his faith, wrote in his journal: "He is no fool who gives up what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose." Every single time you give—whether it's two coins, 10%, or more because the Lord has granted you abundance—you get to demonstrate with your actions to a watching world that you believe Jesus is the only thing that is going to last.

Let's pray. We do pray, Lord, that you would be able to use everything that we have to bring you glory. Pray, Lord, that you would give wisdom and responsibility to our leaders as we seek to steward your funds well. Pray, Lord, that you would help our church to be excited at the thought of being able to use what we have to advance your kingdom. We pray all these things in Jesus' name. Amen.