Today we continue the series The Joy of Discovering Hidden Treasure.

   Matthew 6:19-21 (NIV) "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.” Alcorn – My heart always goes where I put God’s money.

1. Our Eternal Rewards. If you think Heaven is just a place where you sit on a cloud and strum a harp for eternity, you will probably dread going there. But on the other hand, if you read the Word and believe it, Heaven will be an exciting place of worship, of relief from pain and sorrow, of receiving rewards for our faithfulness, and most of all, seeing Jesus. Wow! Think about this; Jesus notices everything we do in His Name. God keeps very good records of all we do. Matthew 10:42 (NIV) “And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is my disciple, I tell you the truth, he will certainly not lose his reward."

2. Store Up for Yourselves Treasures in Heaven. Matthew 6:19-20 (NIV) "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.” Alcorn – “If it were wrong to want rewards, Christ wouldn’t offer rewards as motivation. Rewards are God’s idea, not ours. Love for God, love for people, and compassion for the poor are all vitally important. But these motives for giving are in no way contrary to the fact that God calls us to be motivated by rewards.” 

3. Our Hearts in the Right Place. How tightly are we hanging on to the things, the treasures, of this world? How many treasures are we laying up in Heaven by our extreme generosity? Why is that important? It shows us where our hearts are. Matthew 6:21 (NIV) ^“For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Alcorn – My heart always goes where I put God’s money. What we do with our money doesn’t simply indicate where your hearts are, according to Jesus, it determines where our hearts go. Our hearts follow our treasure…show me your financial records and I can show you where your heart is. 

Today we continue the series The Joy of Discovering Hidden Treasure.

 Matthew 13:44 (NKJV) "Again, the kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and hid; and for joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. Today we are going to look at this principle. God owns everything. I’m His money manager. Psalm 24:1 (NLT2) “The earth is the LORD’s, and everything in it. The world and all its people belong to him.” Haggai 2:8 (NIV) “The silver is mine and the gold is mine,' declares the LORD Almighty.” Sometimes we struggle to understand how everything belongs to God and that He wants us to be generous. Doctor Choco De-Jesus – Obedience comes first, and then, understanding will come later. This is absolutely necessary you get this: what I have has been entrusted to me, not given to me. A steward manages assets for the owner’s benefit. 

1. Generous Joyful Giving. When we realize God’s ownership of everything especially in the light of missions, you realize you are giving away God’s money to do God’s work. When you realize this, you find joy and peace you didn’t have when you thought the money was yours. The earth is the LORD’s, and everything in it. Many get stressed out every year when our Mission’s Convention comes around. They just want our money. Not at all, we want to give you the joyful opportunity to invest God’s money into God’s missionaries. 

2. The Poor Can Be Generous. 2 Corinthians 8:1-2 (NIV) “And now, brothers, we want you to know about the grace that God has given the Macedonian churches. Out of the most severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity.” How do “severe trial,” “overflowing joy,” “extreme poverty,” and “rich generosity” all end up in one verse? Giving is not just for the rich, it is a joyous privilege of the poor. 

3. To Be Like Jesus. 2 Corinthians 8:9 (NIV) “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich.” Think about Christ giving Himself for us. An infinitely wealthy King chose to become poor, not only to save us from Hell, but also to make us rich by buying our peace with God through His own death. It makes you want to shout this verse. 2 Corinthians 9:15 (NIV) “Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!”

Today we start a new series based off this one verse…

...The Joy of Discovering Hidden Treasure. Matthew 13:44 (NKJV) "Again, the kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and hid; and for joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.” Imagine with me a Hebrew man walking along with staff in hand headed to the city for business, and to save time, he cuts through a field. This was permitted. The field is uneven so he thrust his staff into the dirt to balance himself. He keeps walking and thrusting the staff into the ground when all of a sudden there is a thunk. Didn’t sound like a rock. He bends down curiously and begins to wipe away dirt and he sees a box. It looks like it has been there a long time. Hands shaking, he finally unlocks the chest. Gold and silver coins, jewelry, precious stones. A fortune! Some wealthy man must have buried it quickly when he was in danger and then, died before he returned to get it. The landowner evidently has no clue it is there. The law of the day was specific, whoever owned the field assumed ownership of everything in it. But how can I afford a big piece of property like this? I will sell everything!

1. The Bible and Our Connection to Money. This parable of the hidden treasure is just one of many references Jesus made to money and possessions. Jesus referenced 15% of His teaching to this topic. More than the topics of heaven and hell combined. Randy Alcorn says “Our approach to money and possessions is central to our spiritual lives.” Zacchaeus, New Testament believers, and the rich young rulers are just a few examples of our connection to Jesus and money. Maybe you have forgotten this but even one of our Distinctives as a church is Generous Giving. 

2. Smart or Stupid. Watch this…the rich young man wasn’t willing to give up everything for a greater treasure, and the traveler in the field was. Why? Because the traveler understood what he would gain. Key – If we miss the part of the verse where it says “for joy” he sells everything he has. This was not begrudging sacrifice; it was him being a joyful giver. Lord, help us!

3. A Treasure Mentality and Principle. Jesus doesn’t just tell us where not to put our treasure, He also gives us the best investment advice ever, “Store up for yourselves treasures in heaven.” Alcorn said, “Anything we try to hang on to here will be lost. But anything we put in God’s hands will be ours for eternity. If that doesn’t take your breath away, you don’t understand it.” Where is your treasure and where is your heart?

Today we conclude the series “A Quest for Intimacy”...

... but hopefully this is not the end of our quest to be intimately acquainted with Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Philippians 3:10 AMP [For my determined purpose is] that I may know Him—that I may progressively become more deeply and intimately acquainted with Him, perceiving and recognizing and understanding [the wonders of His person] more strongly and more clearly. And that I may in the same way come to know the power outflowing from His resurrection [the power it exerts over believers]; and that I may so share His sufferings as to be continually transformed [in spirit into His likeness even] to His death.” If we will experience the transformation that we need, it will be from getting more intimate with our God. That I might know Him. Today I want to use an acronym for the word TIME. 

1. T – Time. If we will have this intimate relationship with Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, it will definitely take time. Paul said it in the amp version. That I may progressively become more deeply and intimately acquainted with Him. Progressive – happening or developing gradually or in stages proceeding step by step. I am sorry to be the one to break the news to you but if you will get close to God and have this wonderful intimate relationship, it will take time. You have to be intentional. 

2. I – Intimacy. Obviously this is an invitation for closeness. Time alone with God is a crying out to God…Into Me See! The discipline of solitude is a welcoming of God to be close. When we draw near to God in His presence and draw near to Him by reading and studying His Word, we begin to see ourselves for how we really look. Why I have trouble with prideful spiritual people.

3. M – Meditation. Meditation - to focus one's thoughts on: reflect on or ponder over. The act or process of spending time in quiet thought. Meditation, in its self is not wrong, it all depends on what we are thinking about. To be intimate with God is a process whereby we find ourselves thinking about Him all day long. Psalm 4:4-5 (NKJV) “Be angry, and do not sin. Meditate within your heart on your bed, and be still. Offer the sacrifices of righteousness, And put your trust in the LORD.” 

4. E – Evolution. Evolution - A gradual process in which something changes into a different and usually more complex or better form. Intimacy with God can become the process where we evolve into something better. Our intimacy causes cleansing from sin and the effects of this nasty world. That I might know Him!

Today, again, we continue the series “A Quest for Intimacy.” -3

 Philippians 3:10 AMP [For my determined purpose is] that I may know Him—that I may progressively become more deeply and intimately acquainted with Him, perceiving and recognizing and understanding [the wonders of His person] more strongly and more clearly. And that I may in the same way come to know the power outflowing from His resurrection [the power it exerts over believers]; and that I may so share His sufferings as to be continually transformed [in spirit into His likeness even] to His death. Let’s look at two more essential decisions, each related to a discipline (we are disciples), that will help us develop an in-depth intimacy with Christ and Holy Spirit. 

1. Cultivating Serenity: The Discipline of Solitude. Please do not miss the value of the discipline of solitude where we cultivate serenity. Serenity – the state of being calm, peaceful, and untroubled. Solitude has been called the “furnace of transformation.” Swindoll – “In solitude, struggles occur that no one else knows about. Inner battles are fought here that seldom become fodder for sermons or illustrations for books. God, Who probes our deepest thoughts during protracted segments of solitude, opens our eyes to things that need attention. It is here He makes us aware of those things we try to hide from others.” Henri Nouwen describes solitude as a place to get rid of scaffolding that holds us up: no friends to talk to, no telephones, on meetings, not even music, no books except the Bible. Just us, naked, vulnerable, weak, sinful, deprived, broken, nothing. It is in this nothingness that I have to face my solitude. So much nothingness that all I want to do is run my friends, work, my phone. It hurts. Psalm 139:23 -24 (NKJV) “Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me, and know my anxieties; And see if there is any wicked way in me, And lead me in the way everlasting. 

2. Trusting the Lord Completely: The Discipline of Surrender. Proverbs 3:5-6 (NKJV) “Trust in the LORD with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths.” Though it has been used and re-used the fact remains that God is inviting us in all of our ways, in everything we are doing or hoping to do, that we should trust Him with all of hearts. Easy to say but hard to do. If we have a determined purpose, like Paul, to become more deeply and intimately acquainted with Jesus, we cannot do our own thing or try to work out the details of our own lives. We must trust Him fully.

Paul has so much to say about the death, the burial, and resurrection of Jesus.

 In 1 Corinthians 15:17-20 (NKJV)  “And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins! Then also those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable. But now Christ is risen from the dead.”

Can we establish during this time that we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ that He is absolutely, positively alive and we know that because He lives in us! Our identity is found in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus.

We hopefully identify with Him in His death as Paul said about himself; Galatians 2:20 (NKJV)  ^“ I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.” We have been crucified with Christ which means we have died to self and now live because of Jesus in us. We deny ourselves, take up our cross, and we follow Him or we are not His disciples. We are buried with Him which is beautifully symbolized in water baptism as we go under the water…we are literally separated from life. We are dead and buried with Christ.

But the best news ever is that we are benefactors of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Again Paul says in Philippians 3:10-11 (NIV)  ^“ I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death,
and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.” Guess what? Paul experienced the resurrection power of Jesus and you and I can too! Do we really want to know Him and do we really want the same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead dwelling inside of us? Jesus and Holy Spirit are available to all who are hungry for His presence and power! Go after all God has for you during this Easter season!

Today we continue the series “A Quest for Intimacy.” -2

 Philippians 3:10 AMP  [For my determined purpose is] that I may know Him—that I may progressively become more deeply and intimately acquainted with Him, perceiving and recognizing and understanding [the wonders of His person] more strongly and more clearly. And that I may in the same way come to know the power outflowing from His resurrection [the power it exerts over believers]; and that I may so share His sufferings as to be continually transformed [in spirit into His likeness even] to His death. I believe we all can agree that having a “determined purpose” is so important to our intimacy with Christ, but hear your pastor, it is neither easy nor automatic. If you are serious about becoming more deeply and intimately acquainted with God, you will find these two decisions will help you.

1. Reordering One’s Private World: The Discipline of Simplicity. Everything we encounter in this world works against reordering and simplifying our lives. Yes, everything. Our world is cluttered with junk and is extremely complicated. Ecclesiastes 7:29 (TEV) “God made us plain and simple, but we have made ourselves very complicated.” Surely it is not God Who is the author of such confusion and chaos. Thomas Kelly - God never guides us to an intolerable scramble of panting feverishness. To be able to re-order one’s own world happens when we find it imperative to simplify our lives. If we don’t we will not be able to find inner peace, nor be able to access the deep parts of our hearts where God speaks to us

2. Being Still: The Discipline of Silence. I have almost found in my own personal life that this challenge is insurmountable. Another family crisis, another funeral, Covid, and just life keeps us from the times of silence. But listen to the Psalmist: Psalm 46:10 (NKJV) “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!” We are commanded to rest, relax, let go, and make time for God. The scene is one of stillness and quietness, listening and waiting before Him and Him only. Sounds almost impossible in these busy times but if we will know God deeply and intimately we must have this discipline of silence. We can’t do without silence if we hope to go deeper with God. Intimacy with Jesus calls for disciplines that are no longer valued or emulated by our society. We must begin with simplicity which allows us to re-order our private world. After this, there must be silence…Be still and know that I am God.