This transcript was generated by whisper.ai.

Hi, this is Pastor Tom and I want to welcome you to week 7 of our look through
the book of Matthew. We'll be looking at the second part of Matthew chapter 6
this week. And this week, this second half of Matthew 6, this continuing of
looking at Jesus' life management seminar, also known as the Sermon on the
Mount, we're going to look at how to manage one of the things in life that we
have to deal with every day of our lives.

We've looked at, beginning in chapter 5, how to manage our attitudes, how to
manage our relationships with others. Last week we talked about how to manage
our relationship with God. As a reminder of what we talked about last week, let
me read for you verses 16 to 18.

Jesus there taught, "When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for
they disfigure their faces to show men that they are fasting. " I tell you the
truth, they've received their reward in full. But when you fast, put oil on your
head and wash your face so that it will not be obvious to men that you are
fasting, but only to your Father who is unseen.

And your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you. This last week,
as we talked about prayer and we talked about relationship with God, we saw that
in our relationship with God, one of the things to help you to be healthy is to
make your relationship with God not about impressing others, not about
impressing but about expressing your love for Him. That sounds very simple, but
Jesus' teaching shows us how quickly we can get away from that.

You just keep with the simplicity of expressing your love for Him. So that was
last week, managing our relationship with God. This week we're going to be
looking at managing your possessions, your treasures, your money, your stuff,
your possessions.

Have you discovered that if you don't manage your possessions, your possessions
will start to manage you? Larry Burkett, a great financial counselor, talks
about ten symptoms of financial bondage. Ten symptoms of those who have begun to
let their money manage them.

One, overdue bills; two, a get-rich-quick attitude; three, a loss of desire to
work; four, deceitfulness, dishonesty in financial matters; five, greediness,
always wanting more than you have; six, feeling unable to give; seven,
over-commitment to work; eight, self-indulgence; nine, the feeling of power
because you have money; or ten, the feeling of resentment because you do not
have money. Now, obviously all ten of those don't apply to every one of us. It
depends on our financial situation.

But if two or three of those hit you, then what we're going to talk about this
week, there's a lot of freedom here. There's a lot of lessening of anxiety here.
As Jesus teaches about finance and money, in a sense we get the idea that we
need to refinance.

And not our car, not our house. We need to refinance our lives. We need to
refinance our attitude towards things.

So this week we're going to see together five specific decisions that Jesus
encourages us to make regarding our possessions. These are decisions that will
free you of anxiety. They will release you to a new place of joy.

And each of these decisions starts with a question. First question, first
decision. The question is, "Where do I store my treasure?

" And the decision behind that is what I would call the investment decision.
Here's what Jesus had to teach in verses 19 to 21. "Do not 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 moth and rust do not
destroy and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is,
there your heart will be also. " Now, Jesus talks about the investment decision
here.

Every stockbroker knows this one. Financial confidence is based on the security
of your investments. And Jesus is teaching here that the only sure investments
are eternal investments.

Earthly treasures are always going to inevitably be lost. And heavenly
investments will always last. The chief accountant for John D.

Rockefeller was asked, after Rockefeller died, was asked how much did Mr.
Rockefeller leave when he died? And he famously answered, "Well, everything.

" Jesus is saying here, he does not want that to be your answer when you die. He
says, "Store up treasure in heaven. Make investments in people and your
relationship with God that will last for eternity.

You cannot take it with you, but you can send it on ahead. " When you look at
investments, think about finances. What's the wisest investment to make these
days?

And first of all, we just think about normal investments. And I'm not about to
tell you whether it's stocks or real estate or mutual funds. I don't know.

The experts can disagree about that. But I do know the general principle that we
can all agree on. The best investment is that which brings the most return for
your money over the longest period of time.

That's the best investment. So let me invite you to invest in eternity. Invest
in the plan of God.

Invest in the people of God. Invest yourself and your possessions in that which
will last forever. Jesus says that's how to live this life.

That's how to manage your possessions. How do you make a wise investment in
eternity? Well, one word, you give.

More on that, the attitude that's behind healthy giving when we talk about
tomorrow. Right now, let's focus on investment. You see, Jesus, as he teaches
about investment, he tells us why this issue of how you invest what you have is
so important to every one of us personally.

He says in verse 21, "Where your treasure is, that's where your heart's going to
be. " Our heart, your heart follows your treasure, where you've invested that
treasure. Whether you want it to or not, it will follow that.

So to put your heart in the right place, you have to put your treasure in the
right place. And if you think you can violate this principle, well, Jesus taught
it and I trust Jesus, so I know I can't violate the principles that he taught.
Each and every day, I'm making a decision about where I'm going to store my
treasure.

And in greater ways than I can imagine, when I make those decisions, I'm making
decisions about the direction of my heart and the direction of my life. How do
you change your heart? To change your heart, you have to refocus your heart.

And Jesus tells us how here. Where your treasure is, that's where your heart's
going to be. That's how you refocus your heart.

So you look at your life and you think, "My heart's not going the right
direction. I don't like my attitude. I don't like what's important to me.

I don't like the direction of my life. " One of the first places to look, it's
not the only place to look, but according to the teaching of Jesus, one of the
first places to look is how I'm investing the treasure in my life. I can refocus
my heart by redistributing my treasure, seeing how I can invest it in a
different way.

That's the investment decision. Now, as we talk about finances this week, as we
talk about what Jesus has to teach us about this, I'm very well aware that this
is an area of great pain for many people. And when you have pain with finances,
it's just there every single day.

So as we pray today, I want to take some time to pray. And if you feel like,
"Well, I'm not in financial struggles right now," well, then you pray with me
for those who are, because there's plenty of people who are. Because of
decisions they have made or because of circumstances they found themselves in or
decisions that someone else has made, they're finding themselves in a time of
great financial struggle.

Would you pray with me? And I want to pray for you who are in those struggles
right now. Let's pray together.

Jesus, I pray. We pray together right now for those who are facing financial
struggles, whatever the cause, whatever the reason. Lord, instead of blaming
ourselves or blaming someone else, we want to look to you.

We need your healing for our finances. We need your direction. And Lord, I pray
that whether we feel like we have a lot or a little right now, whether we're
struggling or we're somehow in some great way seeing real success with our
finances, that Lord, these principles, these truths would sink into our hearts
because these are true for any time of our lives.

And so Lord, we recommit ourselves right now to investing in eternity. And Lord,
forgive us for those times when we try to compare ourselves and how much we're
giving with someone else. Truth of the matter is, you've given it to us.

And whether it's a lot or a little, when we give it back to you and we give it
to another, that pleases you. That invests in eternity. That changes our heart,
the direction of our lives.

So Lord, I pray that for those who are struggling with finances right now, you
would give the healing voice of your spirit right now, comforting and
strengthening, taking away from a place of blame and instead putting them into a
place of peace and a place of trusting you. And I pray for every one of us that
this decision to invest our lives in eternity, that Lord, we'd hear you and we'd
say yes to you. And as we say yes to you, we'd feel the joy, feel the joy, Lord,
of living life like you've made us to live life.

We pray this in Jesus' name, amen. Tomorrow we're going to talk about the
question, "Where do I fix my eyes? " The interest decision.