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What Do You Most Treasure? (Matthew 6:19-24) | Pastor Rod
00:00 Jacob Smith's Blindness
01:09 The Importance of Following Guidance
01:38 Valuing What is Truly Valuable
02:31 Earthly vs. Heavenly Treasures
04:03 The Deceptiveness of Wealth
06:36 Focusing on the Right Things
11:39 The Danger of Materialism
23:27 Choosing to Treasure Jesus
27:29 Final Reflections and Prayer
Transcript
This is an illustration of Jacob Smith's vision.
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:He's 15 years old and he is legally blind.
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:But he's also a free ride skier, which
means he finds the steepest, craziest,
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:most dangerous mountains to go down.
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:And he goes down them,
but he's legally blind.
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:In fact, his, his, his, uh, his
vision is 20 over 800, which is four
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:times the level of legal blindness.
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:So this guy would not be
able to see really anything.
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:Again, this is kind of
what he's looking at.
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:So if you can imagine that going down a
steep terrain, that's what it looks like.
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:So the question then
becomes, how does he do this?
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:And it's amazing.
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:It's really one simple trick.
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:Matthew, not Matthew, Jacob's dad
is guiding him down on a radio.
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:And so this kid who cannot see is
flying down these steep terrains with
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:other people who are not legally blind.
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:And all he's doing is
following his dad in his ear.
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:Again, he has, he has enough
vision to see something, but he's
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:following his dad in his ear.
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:Now, this is so good because
if Jacob doesn't follow his
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:dad's voice, he crashes.
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:That's the alternative.
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:He either follows dad's
voice or he crashes.
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:You have an opportunity tonight
to follow your father's voice.
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:And the alternative is the same.
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:If you don't follow your father's voice
on this particular topic, you're gonna
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:crash and it's not gonna be good for you.
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:In fact, one of the challenges that we're
gonna talk about tonight is you're gonna
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:feel like this sermon doesn't apply to you
because, well, Pastor Rod, I don't have
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:any of the things you're talking about.
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:But I promise you, you need
this sermon now more than ever.
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:What I want to tell you, In
one short message is this.
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:You ready for it?
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:Okay, here's what I want you to know.
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:You should value what's valuable.
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:Value what's actually, truly valuable.
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:Otherwise, what you're gonna do with your
life is you're gonna value things that
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:aren't really worth your time or energy.
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:You should value things that
God says are really valuable.
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:And if you don't, you'll end up crashing.
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:You'll be like Jacob.
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:You have to trust your father's
voice to guide you So that
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:you avoid all the hazards of
materialism and money in particular.
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:If you don't, it would be
like climbing a tall ladder.
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:climbing a really tall ladder only
to realize that your ladder was
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:leaned against the wrong building.
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:Or let's say you're doing
homework for six or eight hours.
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:You're pounding away at the books only
to realize you're doing the section
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:that's not due for four weeks later.
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:They're doing the wrong section.
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:Tomorrow's section is due and
you haven't even started on that.
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:That's what's happening here.
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:I don't want you to make
this mistake with your life.
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:So this Bible verse that we're going
to talk about tonight is going to
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:encourage you to value what's valuable.
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:Turn with me to Matthew chapter
six and Verses 19 through 24.
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:We're gonna look at those six verses
tonight, and I need you to know
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:a few things as we jump back in.
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:Matthew 6 19 through 24.
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:In fact, just to remind you, we've been
in the Sermon on the Mount for what feels
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:like forever, but we're still there.
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:We're still in Matthew 5 through 7.
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:This is Jesus teaching.
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:He's teaching, he's
teaching his disciples.
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:He's teaching lots of
people who are listening in.
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:And on this particular teaching,
he's going to warn you about
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:something that a lot of people
get wrong, which is their money.
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:Their possessions, the
things that they most value.
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:Here's what Jesus has to say about it.
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:Really simple.
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:He says this, do not lay up for
yourselves treasures on earth where
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:moth and rust destroy and where thieves
break in and steal, but lay up for
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:yourselves treasures in heaven where
neither moth nor rust destroys, and
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:where thieves do not break in and steal.
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:For where your treasure is,
there your heart will be also.
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:Jesus is saying, there are two kinds
of treasures that you can acquire.
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:You can acquire treasure here
on this planet, on this earth.
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:You can get money, and houses, and cars.
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:I saw a really nice car drive
by the other day and I thought,
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:man, what do they do here?
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:Like, what's, what do people in
Texas do to make all that money?
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:They're probably ranchers or
farmers or something like that.
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:But you can accumulate those things.
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:And Jesus is saying, if you do that, the
challenge with the things that you can get
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:on this planet, they can really go away.
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:They can be stolen, they can be lost,
all the things that you can acquire
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:here is not going to be easy to keep.
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:In fact, it can go away really quickly.
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:Earthly treasure is
vulnerable, and easily lost.
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:Uh, earthly, stockpiling earthly treasure
would be like, you know, let's say,
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:let's say you have a kid, a, a sibling.
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:A sibling who's kind of, you
know, they're, they're young,
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:so they don't know any better.
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:They stockpile cotton candy.
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:That's their form of wealth.
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:And they put it all in the backyard.
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:They stockpile this huge mountain
of cotton candy, and in their minds,
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:they're the wealthiest in the world.
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:Five year old they ever knew but
little did they know that the rain was
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:coming and after five minutes of rain
all of their cotton Candy was gone.
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:That's how fleeting Wealth is on
this planet It can be gained quickly.
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:It can also be lost quickly.
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:Jesus is saying you should invest
but don't invest in this life.
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:Don't put all of your hope in this planet.
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:Don't put all of your hope in this
life because these things can fail.
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:Jesus wants you to invest
in the right things.
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:Jesus is deeply concerned for you
that you don't waste your life
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:investing in things that will not last.
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:Point number one, let's put it like this.
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:Don't hope in things that can fail.
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:Don't put your hope in
things that ultimately won't
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:satisfy and cannot last you.
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:Don't put your hope in these things.
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:There's a story about a name,
uh, but there's a story about
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:a guy named Henry Gibbom.
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:Henry Gibbom.
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:This guy went to his local,
uh, his local carnival and he
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:came across this game here.
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:Do you know this one here?
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:This is the game where you
throw a ball into a bucket.
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:The game is called, it's a game,
and it's a really fun game.
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:It's, I don't know what it's
called, but it's that game.
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:This guy, and you know
how they get you, right?
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:Come on over here.
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:I'll give you the first try free.
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:And so he gets conned into it.
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:And then he sees something
that he really needs.
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:He says, Oh, look,
there's an X Box connect.
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:I really want one of those.
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:I need one of those.
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:And so he has first try, he loses.
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:And so he keeps trying and trying again
after spending his entire life savings.
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:Yes.
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:His entire life savings
on a carnival game.
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:All he had to show for it
is a large stuffed banana.
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:Seriously, he lost everything
at a carnival game walking
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:away with a reggae banana.
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:You don't want to be Henry Gibbom.
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:You don't want to walk away with
the reggae banana at the end of
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:your life after spending everything.
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:But this guy was tricked into it.
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:He didn't know what he was doing.
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:You now know that Jesus says there's
a kind of life where you can put a
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:lot of effort into it but really walk
away with nothing good because you're
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:walking away with things that can't last.
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:Jesus wants you to know That he, that you
should not live for this, this life alone.
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:And in fact, if you're gonna not hope
in things that can fail, you really
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:ought to look at your treasure.
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:What do you treasure?
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:What's your treasure?
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:Jesus is saying there's a kind of
treasure that lasts for a long time.
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:In fact, it can't be taken, but
there's treasure on this planet, on,
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:in this life that can easily go away.
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:So when I ask you to evaluate your
treasure, you should ask yourself,
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:what do I spend my free time on?
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:That's likely a good indication
of what you really treasure
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:and value or how about this?
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:Where do you spend your money if you get
free time or not free time money if you
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:get free cash from grandma or grandpa?
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:You get birthday cash or Christmas cash.
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:Where do you naturally
want to spend your money?
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:That's gonna be an indicator of
what you really value because
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:you don't get a lot of it.
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:You're young You don't have a lot of
money to work with in the first place So
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:where do you spend it when you get it?
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:And finally What do you spend
your time thinking about?
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:When you can think about whatever you
want to think, you're taking a shower,
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:or you're just doing something else,
your mind is occupied with anything,
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:what do you naturally think about?
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:Jesus is saying these are good
indicators for what really captures
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:your heart, what you really treasure.
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:And again, the problem is that
for most of us, we treasure
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:things that are not going to last.
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:We treasure things that aren't going
to serve us for much longer than this
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:life, even if it does last that long.
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:Think about this.
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:You're going to treasure what's, if
you're going to value what's valuable,
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:as I've been saying, you need to
examine what am I valuing right now?
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:This is an important question because
you might think, well, I'm young.
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:I don't really have a lot to think
about, or I have a lot of money
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:to spend or a lot of free time.
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:You ought to be looking at the patterns
of your life because you're developing
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:patterns now that are going to last
all the way through your adulthood.
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:You're building habits, habits of
thoughts, habits of spending, habits
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:of life that are really hard to break
unless you're deliberate about it.
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:So I want you to think about
what am I valuing and then once
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:you identify that I want you to
choose to value what's valuable.
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:I want you to choose to put your
hope in things that are going to
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:be truly valuable in your life.
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:Jesus said one of the one of the things
that is most valuable is his kingdom.
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:In fact in Matthew 13 we're gonna get
there in a couple weeks or sooner.
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:We'll see Matthew 13.
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:Jesus said the kingdom of heaven is like
a valuable treasure a treasure hidden
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:in a field Which a man found and covered
up and then in his joy He goes and
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:sells all that he has to buy that field.
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:He gives all his earthly treasure To
buy heavenly treasure something that
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:cannot perish or fade if you're going
to value what's valuable You need to
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:know what valuable was something that
some you need to know what actually
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:is valuable 2005 I think How many guys
know what bitcoin is if I say bitcoin?
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:Do you know what that is?
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:You guys tracking with that?
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:Okay bitcoin when it first started
how much money was a bitcoin?
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:Anyone have a guess?
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:It was, it was less than that.
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:It was less than pennies
to have a Bitcoin.
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:You could have it for less than, I mean,
it was like one, one thousandth of a cent.
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:You could buy it.
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:Cause it was just an idea.
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:It was an idea.
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:So one guy bought thousands of Bitcoin.
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:He bought so much Bitcoin and it
was so early that he thought, well,
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:how cool would it be if I could
buy some pizza with his Bitcoin?
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:So he went on to a forum
and he asked for takers.
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:He said, Hey, I've got 10, 000 Bitcoin.
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:Would someone like to give me a pizza?
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:Would someone like to trade
me this Bitcoin for pizza?
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:And there was a taker.
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:And so, in May 22, 2010, this
guy spent 10, 000 Bitcoin
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:at, uh, for two large pizzas.
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:10, 000 Bitcoin was equivalent to 41.
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:Okay, 10, 000 Bitcoin, 41.
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:If you were to check the price of
Bitcoin today, or somewhere about
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:today, Bitcoin today is 100, 000.
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:One of them.
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:10, 000 times 100, 000.
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:Anyone have math, a math degree in here?
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:Yeah?
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:What is it?
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:Speaker 2: That's like a 10, 000, 000.
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:Speaker 3: I think it's
actually 1, 000, 000, 000.
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:If I'm not mistaken.
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:Someone can check.
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:But I think it's 1, 000, 000, 000.
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:This guy spent 1, 000, 000,
000 on two large pizzas.
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:I mean future 1, 000, 000, 000.
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:10, 10, 000 times 100, 000.
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:Okay.
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:Okay.
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:Okay.
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:Okay.
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:Not important.
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:Valuing what's valuable is, is like a
lot like saying, look, I've got Bitcoin.
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:This is going to be valuable for 100, 000
per Bitcoin, but you have to trust me.
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:You're buying it today in 2010, but in 10,
:
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:Just hang on to the Bitcoin today.
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:A lot of people don't
value the kingdom of God.
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:They're saying, well, is
that really that valuable?
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:Is it really that, is it
really going to be that cool?
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:And the thing is Jesus kingdom
is more valuable than any
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:human institution, period.
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:It's not value today.
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:Most people don't like it.
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:Don't look at it.
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:Don't want to talk about it But his
kingdom is worth more than any human
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:wealth can ever even fathom jesus
kingdom is worth the investment
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:So the future kingdom you ought to
value that it's a lot like bitcoin.
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:It's going to go through the roof It's
going to skyrocket in value, but you
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:got to trust that jesus knows what
he's doing He's going to win this
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:there's this guy with the 22 dollars
or the 41 dollars worth of pizza
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:10 000 bitcoin Value is valuable.
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:Don't put your hope in
things that can fail.
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:Don't put your hope in pizza.
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:Don't put your hope in money.
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:Those things fly away.
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:Jesus continues on.
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:Matthew 6, 19 through 24.
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:Actually, Matthew 6, 22 through 23.
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:Take a look at what else Jesus says.
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:This is a bit enigmatic.
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:It's going to take a minute to
explain this, but follow along.
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:The eye is the lamp of the body.
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:Another way to think about
the lamp is a window.
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:A lamp gives light.
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:The eye, have you ever heard someone
say your eye is the window to your soul?
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:It's kind of like what
Jesus is saying here.
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:Your eye, what you focus on, is
what gives light to your person,
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:what gives light to your thinking,
what gives light to your life.
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:So whatever you're focusing on is
influencing the way that you understand
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:life, the way that you live life.
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:So here's what he says about that.
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:So if your eye is healthy, if it's
focused on the right thing, if
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:it's focused on things that are
eternal and good and godly, your
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:whole body will be full of light.
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:Everything about your life
benefits and grows if you're
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:focused on the right thing.
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:But if your eye is bad, if
your eye is bad, your whole
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:body will be full of darkness.
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:And if that light in you is
darkness, how great is the darkness?
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:In other words, if you're focused,
if your eye, and we'll talk about the
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:meaning of that in a second here, if your
eye is focused on evil or greed or on
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:generosity, not being generous, which is
I think the point of this, He's saying
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:your whole life will be flooded with that
darkness and it'll infect everything.
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:What you focus on is going to
have a dominating influence on
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:the way that you live your life.
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:And Jesus is saying you should be
single minded, singular, singular,
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:singularly focused on Him.
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:If it's not, if it's focused on
money or greed, it's going to
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:have an evil effect on your life.
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:In fact, let me just show you in
Proverbs 28, 22, here's what this says.
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:This is important.
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:A stingy man hastens after wealth.
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:A stingy man hastens after wealth.
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:And does not know that
poverty will come upon him.
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:The reason I bring this up is because
the word for stingy man is literally
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:a man with an evil eye, an evil eye.
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:The word underneath it is someone
with an evil eye, which is what
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:Jesus is alluding to in this passage.
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:He's saying if someone has an evil
eye, they're stingy, they're greedy.
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:Someone with the good eye then is
someone who, like God, is generous and
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:understands what money and wealth is for.
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:So he's saying, don't be
someone with an evil eye.
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:Don't be stingy, be generous.
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:Going back to this, you see,
the eye is the lamp of the body.
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:If your eye is healthy, it's good.
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:If it's focused on God's
kingdom and generosity, hey,
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:your whole body full of light.
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:You're not gonna be subjugated or
you're not gonna be, uh, you're not
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:gonna succumb to this bad thinking.
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:But if your eye is bad, if your
eye is evil, if it's stingy, man,
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:your whole body full of darkness.
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:That kind of person is someone
who's focused on, on materialism,
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:greed, more money, more clothes,
more cars, more whatever.
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:More house.
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:Some people want a lot of house,
or I want a boat, or I want
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:these really cool Draken sliders.
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:Draco?
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:Draken.
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:Draco.
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:Same difference.
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:You know what I was talking about.
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:Point number two, you ought
to be aware of these things.
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:And in fact, you ought to
see that wealth tells lies.
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:Point number two, you ought to see
through the lies of materialism.
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:Materialism.
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:The desire for more stuff.
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:To get more things.
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:More things.
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:So money, things, things, things.
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:Uh, these things are, it's a big
deal guys, and it's hard for me to
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:describe to you because you live
in a world where materialism is
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:the way that everybody operates.
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:Really cool.
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:I loved what Payless did the other day.
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:Payless created a pop up shop,
actually not the other day,
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:this is a couple years now.
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:They created a pop up shop called Palesi.
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:They put all of their, you
guys know what Payless is?
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:Payless is a cheap shoe brand.
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:They make really cheap, very poor
quality shoes, but they're good.
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:They satisfy.
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:They're not great
quality, but they're nice.
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:I grew up on Payless shoes, man.
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:They were great shoes.
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:I'll say that.
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:But as a trick, as an experiment,
Payless created a high end
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:luxury shop called Pelesi.
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:And they said that their shoes
were designed by this really great
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:designer named Um, I think Mario or
something, this is an Italian guy.
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:And so they legitimately set up a shop and
people were walking by and like, Oh man,
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:this new shop with these exclusive shoes.
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:And these guys paid hundreds
of dollars for Payless shoes.
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:They walked out of there thinking
that they got the best deal ever.
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:And they, they, they interviewed them and
these people were gushing over the quality
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:and the design being so forward thinking.
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:I mean, these guys were so duped.
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:Go look it up on YouTube.
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:It's hilarious to watch.
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:But the truth came out that
it was actually Payless behind
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:it, and people were stunned.
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:Stunned that what they, what had
happened was they were bamboozled.
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:Payless came out, people
were all over this.
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:It was a wonderful PR campaign, and only
to realize, lots of people, that they
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:were tricked into thinking that what
they thought was incredibly valuable was
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:actually was in fact worthless, valueless.
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:Again, you ought to learn
how to value what's valuable.
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:And the world loves to trick you
and say, look, this is valuable.
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:Beauty is the most valuable thing.
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:Masculine strength is the most valuable.
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:Intellect is the most valuable thing.
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:Jesus is saying, no, value
what's truly valuable.
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:Learn to value what is truly valuable.
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:In Mark chapter 4, one of the things
that Jesus warns us about is that there
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:is a kind of person Who, because of
their attention to wealth and money,
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:are deceived by riches and consequently
don't follow God, don't follow Christ.
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:And when that happens,
disaster takes place.
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:Here's what Jesus says
about this kind of person.
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:There are those where their seed, the
Word of God, is sown among thorns.
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:They are those who hear the word
but the cares of the world and the
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:deceitfulness of riches and the desire
for other things enter in and choke
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:the word and it proves unfruitful.
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:There's a kind of person, a kind of
danger for someone who loves stuff
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:where that stuff chokes the ability for
God's Word to take root in your life.
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:It's that dangerous.
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:The Apostle Paul wrote to
his young protege Timothy
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:about the danger of wealth.
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:He says this, Godliness with
contentment, that's a great game.
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:To be content and be godly,
that's a really good thing.
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:He says, we brought
nothing into the world.
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:You're a born and naked baby.
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:You're gonna die naked.
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:They'll put clothes on you, but you're,
you come naked, you leave naked.
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:You can't take anything with you.
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:Verse 8, But if we have food and
clothing, with these we will be content.
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:Notice what Paul says you really need.
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:Food and clothing.
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:He didn't even talk about a house.
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:Things that we would say,
well, we need a house, Paul.
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:Well, we need warm water, Paul.
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:Well, we need internet, Paul.
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:But Paul saying, if we have food
and clothing, we ought to be
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:content with just those things.
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:You want to know, and I said this to
you before, but let me tell you again,
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:you and I are incredibly wealthy.
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:I know I'm not just talking
about relationships.
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:I'm talking about money.
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:Like we are, we're, we're
a really wealthy culture.
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:We live in it.
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:We swim in it.
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:So we don't recognize
it, but we are the 1%.
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:We're not the 1 percent in America,
but we're the 1 percent globally.
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:We make a lot of money here.
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:We're very wealthy.
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:Paul is saying for those of us
who are wealthy, there are special
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:dangers that we need to be aware of.
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:He says one of those things is that
we may not be content with our needs.
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:We want more than what our
needs, what our needs are.
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:So he says, look, if we have food and
clothing, we should be content with those.
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:Verse 9.
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:But those who desire to be
rich, now pause for a second.
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:Let's be honest with ourselves.
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:Is there anyone in the room here?
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:Don't raise your hand.
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:But is there anyone in the room
that has a desire to be rich?
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:And if you want to, if you
want to just have what your
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:mom and dad have, that's rich.
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:It may not be rich in your mind,
because you're thinking rich like,
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:oh, Bezos or Gates or Zuckerberg.
438
:That's like uber, super ridiculous rich.
439
:But if you're thinking about your
mom and dad rich, that's a lot
440
:of money, it's a lot of money.
441
:It's, it's, it's rich.
442
:So he says here, if you desire to be rich,
443
:you can fall into
temptation, into a snare.
444
:A snare is a trap.
445
:Think about it.
446
:A bunny rabbit getting caught in, you
know, there's, there's a carrot in a cage,
447
:the bunny rabbit jumps in, the cage clamps
on the rabbit, rabbit strangles and dies.
448
:That's a snare.
449
:They get tempt temptation into a
snare into many senseless and harmful
450
:desires that plunge people into ruin
and destruction for the love of money.
451
:Money is a root of all kinds of evil.
452
:It is through this craving, this craving,
this craving for money that some have
453
:wandered away from the faith and have
pierced themselves with many pangs.
454
:Think about, man, I'm hurting myself when
I love money so much that I'm willing
455
:to do whatever I need to do for it.
456
:Think about what money
represents in our culture.
457
:Money represents power.
458
:It represents prestige.
459
:It represents often beauty, because
if I, if I can get, if I have
460
:enough money, I could get the power.
461
:Cosmetics.
462
:I want, I can get the clothes that I want.
463
:I can get the swag or
the drip that I need.
464
:I can get the right shoes.
465
:I can get the right, I can
go to the right school.
466
:I can drive the right car.
467
:Money represents a lot of things
that a lot of people are saying.
468
:I want that.
469
:I need that.
470
:Paul is saying, you got to be very
careful because some people are just
471
:hurting themselves saying, I want money.
472
:I love money.
473
:And he's saying people destroy
themselves over the love of this thing.
474
:He continues on to his protege.
475
:Pastor Timothy, and he says, Pastor
Timothy, as for the rich of this present
476
:age, Tell them, charge them, command
them not to be proud, nor to set their
477
:hopes on the uncertainty of riches.
478
:Uncertainty.
479
:Riches aren't certain.
480
:The stock market is good one day.
481
:Great.
482
:Stock market is bad the next day.
483
:Awful.
484
:That happens all the time.
485
:Don't set their hopes on the
uncertainty of riches, but on God.
486
:And that's the problem with wealth.
487
:It tempts us to trust it
instead of to trust God.
488
:And that's the biggest problem
that we suffer with here.
489
:Trust God who richly provides
us with everything to enjoy.
490
:And then look at verse 19.
491
:Who does this sound,
who does it sound like?
492
:He says if they do good, they'll thus
store up treasure for themselves.
493
:Storing up treasure.
494
:It sounds a lot like Jesus in
Matthew chapter 6, doesn't it?
495
:That's exactly what Paul is doing here.
496
:He's alluding to what
Jesus says about this.
497
:He says if, if they do that, they'll
store up treasure for themselves as
498
:a good foundation for the future so
that they may be able to take hold
499
:of that, which is truly life, so
they can, they can enjoy life as God
500
:intended, to value what's valuable.
501
:Solomon, the richest man ever,
pursued wealth, pleasure, happiness.
502
:Here's what his verdict.
503
:Here's, here's what he said.
504
:He who loves money will not be
satisfied with money, nor he who
505
:loves wealth with his income.
506
:This is also vanity.
507
:It's a waste of time.
508
:Don't try.
509
:God allowed a man to become super
wealthy, and he was very successful,
510
:and his, his conclusion was,
it's never going to be enough.
511
:You will not be satisfied.
512
:It's never going to work.
513
:That's why you have to value what's
valuable, and not value the things
514
:that the world says are valuable.
515
:Value what God says is valuable.
516
:Last verse here, Matthew 6 24.
517
:Here's Jesus conclusion on the matter.
518
:He says this, No one
can serve two masters.
519
:You can't say God is my master
and also something else.
520
:He said no one can serve two masters,
for either he will hate one and
521
:love the other or he'll be devoted
to the one and despise the other.
522
:You cannot serve God and money.
523
:You can't allow yourself to look
at two masters and say well this
524
:master demands me of this and
this master demands that of me.
525
:You can't have two.
526
:You have to have only one.
527
:I was telling your parents about
this this weekend, and you guys
528
:were there too, most of you.
529
:I was telling your parents about this.
530
:We must put Jesus in first place.
531
:He must have our first and our best.
532
:He will tolerate no rivals.
533
:He will not tolerate you saying, well,
I, I really, I like what Jesus offers,
534
:but I also really want to be rich or
beautiful and powerful or whatever else.
535
:Point number three, you need to decide
to treasure Jesus over everything else.
536
:Decide.
537
:You must do this.
538
:You're old enough for it.
539
:You're wise enough for it.
540
:You must decide to do it.
541
:You must say to yourself, Jesus
is worth all that my life is and
542
:all that my life ever will be.
543
:You're old enough for this.
544
:This is why I give you the message.
545
:Jesus doesn't want you to be half hearted.
546
:He doesn't want your halvesies.
547
:He doesn't want your leftovers.
548
:Jesus wants your first and your best.
549
:And your job is to say, I'm not going
to, I'm not going to pursue money.
550
:I'm going to pursue God.
551
:And if God gives me money, great,
I'll be generous with that.
552
:But he may not.
553
:He may not.
554
:And you need to be okay with that.
555
:God wants her all.
556
:One great example of this is a
guy by the name of AJ Griffin.
557
:AJ Griffin was in the NBA.
558
:He made headlines though this last
year because here's what he says, I
559
:give up basketball to follow Jesus.
560
:This guy made it.
561
:He was making millions of dollars a year.
562
:He had recently been
traded to another team.
563
:But this guy is at the top of his game.
564
:He's 21 years old, if I remember right.
565
:He's 21 years old.
566
:And then he says I'm giving up the NBA.
567
:Why?
568
:Because I want to follow Jesus.
569
:Instagram post talks
about this to quote him.
570
:He says I know that in a lot of
people's eyes that seems like it
571
:seems like a loss in the world's eyes.
572
:It's a loss.
573
:You're giving up all this money, AJ.
574
:But I just want to let you guys know that
I'm super excited because I truly get
575
:to serve God, you know with my full yes,
and I feel like letting go of basketball
576
:is allowing me to go into full time
ministry and truly serve the Lord with
577
:all my heart with all my time too as well.
578
:So I'm just excited to
see where that leads me.
579
:You know what that, that is?
580
:No regrets.
581
:Yeah, I'm giving up a paycheck of millions
of dollars a year, but no regrets.
582
:Jesus is more valuable than
millions of dollars a year is what
583
:AJ is saying, and I applaud that.
584
:I don't know the guy.
585
:I don't know what kind of Christian he
is, but I think that's the right mindset.
586
:Deciding to say, I'm gonna, I'm gonna put
Jesus over everything else is saying, I'll
587
:take Jesus over the million dollar check.
588
:I really want you to get this,
because if you can get this,
589
:everything else is gonna make sense.
590
:Jesus is more valuable than anything
else your life can offer, which is
591
:why it makes so much sense for you
to say, Jesus, you get everything.
592
:And you can, as a young woman or
a young man tonight, you could
593
:say, I'm gonna follow Jesus.
594
:I'm gonna trust that He's doing something,
that He's real, that He really did
595
:live in my place, that He really did
die on the cross and then rise again
596
:on the third day, and that He really
said, I'm coming back, and that He
597
:really will reward those who follow Him.
598
:If Christianity's true, guys,
this is radically life changing.
599
:I challenge you tonight to decide
to treasure Jesus over everything.
600
:Value what's really valuable.
601
:Before Joshua died, he said to the
people of Israel, he said this, Now
602
:therefore, fear the Lord and serve
Him in sincerity and in faithfulness.
603
:Put away the gods that your
father served beyond the river
604
:and in Egypt and serve the Lord.
605
:And if it is evil in your eyes to
serve the Lord, choose this day whom
606
:you will serve, whether the gods
of your fathers or the gods of the
607
:Amorites and whose land you dwell.
608
:But ask for me in my house.
609
:We will serve the Lord.
610
:Those are some of the last words that
Joshua gave to the people of Israel
611
:before they entered into the promised
land, before they continued to take
612
:the land that God had promised them.
613
:But I love what he says.
614
:You choose this day.
615
:You choose.
616
:He didn't say, hey, have
your parents choose for you.
617
:He says, no, you choose.
618
:Choose this day who you will serve.
619
:The fingers in your chest.
620
:As I told your parents this weekend, I
want them to choose, but you choose now.
621
:What are you gonna do with this message?
622
:You can choose a value that's
valuable, and now you know.
623
:Now, you know, you can say I, I, Pastor
Rod said the Bible, more importantly,
624
:according to the Bible, there's a
kind of wealth that you can have
625
:that, that is fleeting, fading, or
you can have wealth that is lasting,
626
:unending, untouchable, imperishable,
that God wants to give to you.
627
:That's real wealth.
628
:You get to choose which one you want.
629
:Are you going to choose the
wealth that the world offers
630
:or the wealth that God offers?
631
:You ought to value what's valuable.
632
:I hope you choose wisely.
633
:Let's pray.
634
:God, give us the wisdom
to choose rightly tonight.
635
:As we go to our small groups, help
us not to skirt good questions or
636
:to not have good conversations.
637
:Help us to have valuable conversations
in the way that we interact tonight.
638
:Let us be honest about
where our hearts are.
639
:Some of us really want money and
money's attractive for a lot of
640
:reasons and materialism has a lot of
benefits, but we don't want to be.
641
:Distracted by those things help us to
know and to believe that the real wealth
642
:that is out there is found in Christ He
is all the wealth that we need and his
643
:wealth will never fail We ask for your
blessing as we now go to our small groups.
644
:Help us have a great time in Jesus name.
645
:Amen
