good afternoon everyone as um aanti just<\/p>\n
shared my name is Tai and so my family<\/p>\n
we were members here at Grace City about<\/p>\n
um goodness from like 2021 until 20<\/p>\n
beginning of 2024 that was like our<\/p>\n
first few years in Thailand where where<\/p>\n
we made a lot of our mistakes was here<\/p>\n
but yeah we're still making mistakes<\/p>\n
anyway but it it's just special to be<\/p>\n
back here really it's been a while this<\/p>\n
actually my first time in the new space<\/p>\n
um so it's good to be back with you in a<\/p>\n
lot of ways you guys are like our<\/p>\n
foundation here in Thailand and my<\/p>\n
family's Foundation here so so it's good<\/p>\n
to be back all right um okay even though<\/p>\n
I've been gone for um a while I'm sorry<\/p>\n
to begin with a difficult actually three<\/p>\n
difficult questions okay you ready I'm<\/p>\n
going to start with three hard<\/p>\n
questions you don't need to raise your<\/p>\n
hand you can just just think about it um<\/p>\n
the first question has anyone ever had a<\/p>\n
family problem anyone ever had a problem<\/p>\n
with your family relational problem okay<\/p>\n
that's number<\/p>\n
one the second question has anyone ever<\/p>\n
had a money problem anyone ever had a<\/p>\n
problem with money a financial problem<\/p>\n
so make it fun has anyone ever had a<\/p>\n
problem so for the third question we're<\/p>\n
goingon to we're going to going to<\/p>\n
combine these all right so make it fun<\/p>\n
has anyone ever had a problem with your<\/p>\n
family about<\/p>\n
money goodness yeah we get some laughs<\/p>\n
yeah it that's um honestly this is some<\/p>\n
of the worst conflict that can happen<\/p>\n
right so just think about it we have<\/p>\n
family or let's start with money money<\/p>\n
is one of the things that can make us<\/p>\n
feel the most safe and secure and in<\/p>\n
control and comfortable and honestly<\/p>\n
family is even more than that family is<\/p>\n
probably the most important thing to<\/p>\n
most people making us feel safe and<\/p>\n
secure so when you've got a problem<\/p>\n
between those two things your life just<\/p>\n
seems very out of control it's bad I<\/p>\n
don't know if anyone has seen the the TV<\/p>\n
the it's a Thai TV series<\/p>\n
umang about a a Thai Chinese family the<\/p>\n
opening episode right is a family money<\/p>\n
problem the doll okay I won't spoil it<\/p>\n
but anyway you you who have seen it you<\/p>\n
know um honestly even in my own family<\/p>\n
my dad and my uncle have had conflict<\/p>\n
like this and it I just remember it was<\/p>\n
it was just terrible for for our whole<\/p>\n
family all right we're going to have<\/p>\n
we're going to see a guy in Luke 12<\/p>\n
today and this is his problem he has a<\/p>\n
family money problem he and his brother<\/p>\n
are arguing over the inheritance and so<\/p>\n
he comes to Jesus to ask for<\/p>\n
help money and possessions they're<\/p>\n
they're an interesting thing right on<\/p>\n
the positive side God God gives them to<\/p>\n
us that we we have to eat we we have to<\/p>\n
have money<\/p>\n
and um they can be used for amazing<\/p>\n
things I know a would be the first to<\/p>\n
say that the great City in every Church<\/p>\n
the Lord uses money to to to bring about<\/p>\n
amazing things like this to show<\/p>\n
generosity to help others at the same<\/p>\n
time though money it scripture talks<\/p>\n
about it as it's maybe one of the most<\/p>\n
dangerous things actually in the Book of<\/p>\n
Luke that will look at maybe more than<\/p>\n
any other part of scripture Jesus warns<\/p>\n
about being<\/p>\n
rich we're as Believers we are dependent<\/p>\n
and needy and what money does is it<\/p>\n
makes us it blinds us to our need so<\/p>\n
it's it's very dangerous it blinds us to<\/p>\n
our need for God so today we're going to<\/p>\n
hear a little bit about what Jesus has<\/p>\n
to say about money okay we're about to<\/p>\n
read this story um from Luke 12 13- 21<\/p>\n
before we read it though I'll tell you<\/p>\n
my four points it'll kind of be the flow<\/p>\n
of the the story okay we're in this<\/p>\n
story we're going to see first um the<\/p>\n
young man's shallow request so the young<\/p>\n
man's shallow request is first second<\/p>\n
we're going to see Jesus's deep<\/p>\n
response thank you whoever's doing<\/p>\n
slides um we're gonna see Jesus's deep<\/p>\n
response secondly and the third thing<\/p>\n
we're going to see is a greedy heart and<\/p>\n
then the fourth thing we're going to see<\/p>\n
is a Content heart so a shallow request<\/p>\n
a deep response a greedy heart and then<\/p>\n
a content heart um so I'm going to ask<\/p>\n
uh Ariana to come up and read uh we're<\/p>\n
in Luke 12: 13- 21 Luke 121 13-21 thank<\/p>\n
you<\/p>\n
Ariana someone in the crowd said to him<\/p>\n
teacher tell my brother to divide the<\/p>\n
inheritance with me but he said to him<\/p>\n
man who made me a judge or arbitrator<\/p>\n
over you and he said to them take care<\/p>\n
and be on your guard against all<\/p>\n
covetousness for 's life does not<\/p>\n
consist in the abundance of his<\/p>\n
possessions and he told them a parable<\/p>\n
saying the land of a rich men produced<\/p>\n
plentifully and he thought to himself<\/p>\n
what shall I do for I have nowhere to<\/p>\n
store my crops and he said I will do<\/p>\n
this I will tear down my Barns and build<\/p>\n
larger ones and there I will store all<\/p>\n
my grain and my goods and I will say to<\/p>\n
my soul soul you have ample Goods laid<\/p>\n
up for many years relax eat drink be<\/p>\n
merry but God said to him fool this<\/p>\n
night your soul is required of you and<\/p>\n
the things you have prepared whose will<\/p>\n
they be so is the one who lays up<\/p>\n
treasure for himself and is not rich<\/p>\n
toward God thank you Ariana um let's<\/p>\n
pray<\/p>\n
together Father in Heaven um thank you<\/p>\n
so much for your word um thank you that<\/p>\n
you have not left us to ourselves but<\/p>\n
you come in amongst the sinful people<\/p>\n
and you bring your grace bring us back<\/p>\n
to life Lord Lord thank you that that<\/p>\n
you are our treasure you give us all<\/p>\n
that we need and you you teach us to<\/p>\n
trust you more and more um God help<\/p>\n
please help all of our hearts today to<\/p>\n
come and trust in you more with whatever<\/p>\n
we're dealing with it's in Jesus name we<\/p>\n
pray amen all right in Luke chap 12<\/p>\n
what's happening what's going<\/p>\n
on there it says there this is earli in<\/p>\n
the chapter there's thousands of people<\/p>\n
that have gathered and it says they're<\/p>\n
train trampling on one<\/p>\n
another what what are they doing they<\/p>\n
they'd come to hear Jesus teach it's a<\/p>\n
lot of people all right so when when you<\/p>\n
think about this picture I know that for<\/p>\n
us in Bangkok you're like all right<\/p>\n
that's like impact Arena andong or<\/p>\n
like it's not like that um sry can we go<\/p>\n
to the first I'm doing the slides here I<\/p>\n
haven't been here in a while hold on um<\/p>\n
the first point we got a picture of it<\/p>\n
here there we go all right this is from<\/p>\n
The Chosen anyway so they're like in<\/p>\n
chol they're they're like in another<\/p>\n
they're in the countryside so people are<\/p>\n
sitting on rocks on grass um and dirt<\/p>\n
Jesus is teaching his<\/p>\n
followers says that they shouldn't fear<\/p>\n
because God God cares for them they<\/p>\n
shouldn't fear about how they should<\/p>\n
answer other people and then all of a<\/p>\n
sudden somebody stands up and interrupts<\/p>\n
Jesus teaching shoots up from the crowd<\/p>\n
loud you know probably yelling if it's a<\/p>\n
crowd like this and so everybody's<\/p>\n
turning around like what what's going on<\/p>\n
the teachers teaching and the guy who<\/p>\n
stands up asks Jesus Jesus tell my<\/p>\n
brother to split the inheritance with me<\/p>\n
okay we got to stop and observe here a<\/p>\n
little bit what the guy is saying has<\/p>\n
nothing to do with what Jesus is<\/p>\n
teaching about so let's say that aanti<\/p>\n
is right here preaching about love or<\/p>\n
forgiveness or something and let's say<\/p>\n
that I'm sitting over here and he's<\/p>\n
preaching and all of a sudden I just<\/p>\n
stand up and interrupt aan and say aan<\/p>\n
um I want to eat something for lunch<\/p>\n
but my wife wants to eat noodles I need<\/p>\n
you to tell my wife that hey we're<\/p>\n
eating something th today this it's kind<\/p>\n
of what it's like has nothing to do with<\/p>\n
it okay anyway Jesus is U much Kinder<\/p>\n
than we would be right he's patient he<\/p>\n
listens to the guy this guy guy he's<\/p>\n
worried about money and he wants Jesus<\/p>\n
to fix his financial problems um he's<\/p>\n
likely the younger brother in a family<\/p>\n
if you guys remember in the Old<\/p>\n
Testament we have a lot of laws about<\/p>\n
the people of Israel should live and in<\/p>\n
Deuteronomy it gives laws about how the<\/p>\n
inheritance would be handled it'd be<\/p>\n
given to the eldest son and he would be<\/p>\n
responsible to to hopefully to divide it<\/p>\n
out between others and is it wasn't<\/p>\n
happening in this family he had just<\/p>\n
hoarded it all and so the younger<\/p>\n
brother wants Jesus to come in and<\/p>\n
settle the argument in his<\/p>\n
favor all right we're looking at this<\/p>\n
shallow request but but before we look<\/p>\n
at Jesus's deep response I just we all<\/p>\n
need to see what a tragedy this<\/p>\n
is these two people are brothers and I I<\/p>\n
I know this may hit home for some people<\/p>\n
my own family they're they're the same<\/p>\n
blood they grew up together and then<\/p>\n
money comes in and destroys the<\/p>\n
relationship I'll say this again later<\/p>\n
having money is not wrong being rich is<\/p>\n
not wrong um like we said it it the Lord<\/p>\n
blesses us with money but when money<\/p>\n
turns into our God when it turns into<\/p>\n
something more than it should be it is<\/p>\n
very dangerous we we we love money we<\/p>\n
love stuff more than God and other<\/p>\n
people these brothers they loved money<\/p>\n
more than their own family and I think<\/p>\n
this should be a lesson for us all in<\/p>\n
how we view Money okay let's come back<\/p>\n
to the story and want to see how Jesus<\/p>\n
responds this is our second Point uh the<\/p>\n
Deep response to the shallow request<\/p>\n
thank you for the slides too slow okay<\/p>\n
um in verse 14 if you if you're reading<\/p>\n
along in your Bible Jesus says man who<\/p>\n
made me a judge or arbitrator over you<\/p>\n
so it's clear that Jesus is not going to<\/p>\n
get into the middle of these two<\/p>\n
brothers so all right when I'm reading<\/p>\n
when I was reading this prep for the<\/p>\n
sermon when I read this Jesus response I<\/p>\n
don't know about you but I I was a<\/p>\n
little bit<\/p>\n
confused I was like Jesus clearly has<\/p>\n
authority over everything and everyone<\/p>\n
doesn't he like what what what's this<\/p>\n
what's going on with this response but I<\/p>\n
want us to notice Jesus he does<\/p>\n
something very interesting<\/p>\n
here Jesus sees past this man's shallow<\/p>\n
request and points to what's going on<\/p>\n
deep in his<\/p>\n
heart it's not that Jesus doesn't care<\/p>\n
he's just actually going to the root of<\/p>\n
the problem this man he's wanting Jesus<\/p>\n
to solve this legal dispute between him<\/p>\n
and his brother but Jesus is pointing to<\/p>\n
something deeper actually in this time<\/p>\n
period a lot of scribes or Pharisees<\/p>\n
they would have settled disputes like<\/p>\n
this they would have you know come come<\/p>\n
to the temple they would have told hey<\/p>\n
who gets how much money um and so some<\/p>\n
people when I said Jesus why why don't<\/p>\n
you help this guy you're you're a<\/p>\n
teacher come on but um Jesus is actually<\/p>\n
helping the biggest problem that this<\/p>\n
guy has it's his greedy<\/p>\n
heart and I want to say here this is not<\/p>\n
comfortable okay it's not comfortable<\/p>\n
but Jesus is<\/p>\n
amazing that when we come and ask him<\/p>\n
for something he's faithful to hear us<\/p>\n
but not only that he's faithful to help<\/p>\n
us see what's going on in our heart<\/p>\n
Hearts he's faithful to fix our hearts<\/p>\n
and not just the external circumstance<\/p>\n
or situation that we're worried about<\/p>\n
and I I want to I want to pose that I<\/p>\n
think this is how prayer works sometimes<\/p>\n
and I'll give an example from my own<\/p>\n
life I'm not saying that that you<\/p>\n
shouldn't ask you we we we we we need to<\/p>\n
ask Jesus for everything but recognize<\/p>\n
that his response may be deeper than<\/p>\n
what we asked for um yeah he wants to<\/p>\n
get to the root of the problem in our<\/p>\n
hearts think about the things that you<\/p>\n
ask him for so for me I have I have four<\/p>\n
um you a common prayer for me is god um<\/p>\n
you got to have my kid brush his teeth<\/p>\n
when I tell him to brush his teeth like<\/p>\n
you you got to do it you got to help him<\/p>\n
obey all right and your parents in here<\/p>\n
you know that God doesn't always answer<\/p>\n
that request right um but I think what I<\/p>\n
see there is that maybe actually the<\/p>\n
deeper need in my heart is to see God's<\/p>\n
grace for me and to have me show Grace<\/p>\n
to my son when he do he doesn't know<\/p>\n
obey me right we often come to God with<\/p>\n
this kind of shallow request but he sees<\/p>\n
past it it's like hey we're going to<\/p>\n
work on your heart and actually I'll<\/p>\n
probably be a better parent in the end<\/p>\n
as well God not only hears our requests<\/p>\n
but he sees what's going on deep in our<\/p>\n
hearts so Jesus he continues in verse 15<\/p>\n
come come back to the story here but at<\/p>\n
this point he's not talking just to the<\/p>\n
brother he's talking to the whole crowd<\/p>\n
all right he says watch out take care be<\/p>\n
on your guard against all covetousness<\/p>\n
again we see here that Jesus is going<\/p>\n
deeper than just settling this<\/p>\n
inheritance argument he's pointing at<\/p>\n
what's in the man's heart okay the next<\/p>\n
statement that Jesus<\/p>\n
makes um it's up on the screen I think<\/p>\n
is very weighty sorry can we go back to<\/p>\n
the um the other verses the first part<\/p>\n
of the<\/p>\n
verses there we go okay Jesus makes an<\/p>\n
incredibly weight weighty statement he<\/p>\n
says at the end of verse 15 for one life<\/p>\n
does not consist in the abundance of his<\/p>\n
possessions but I mean this is very<\/p>\n
actually very pH philosophical like what<\/p>\n
is life that's what Jesus is asking so I<\/p>\n
don't want to make this more difficult<\/p>\n
for us I don't want to make this more<\/p>\n
complex but I do think that looking at<\/p>\n
the original language that what what the<\/p>\n
New Testament was written in in Greek is<\/p>\n
actually very helpful here and don't<\/p>\n
worry it's not it's not too hard it's<\/p>\n
very easy but it'll help us understand<\/p>\n
what Jesus is saying Okay so we've got<\/p>\n
English and Tha I there's a lot of<\/p>\n
languages in here but we'll just stick<\/p>\n
with English and Tha the word life or<\/p>\n
Chi it's just one word that means life<\/p>\n
but in Greek and what this this was<\/p>\n
originally written in there are three<\/p>\n
different words that talk about life<\/p>\n
there's one word bios b i o s bios this<\/p>\n
is most commonly used to talk about how<\/p>\n
long somebody lives or the amount of<\/p>\n
possession that they acquire in their<\/p>\n
life how many how much how much stuff<\/p>\n
they have okay this is the kind of man<\/p>\n
bios this is the kind of Life bios life<\/p>\n
that the that the man is pursuing but<\/p>\n
here Jesus he does not use the word bios<\/p>\n
for life he uses a deeper word which is<\/p>\n
Zoe<\/p>\n
Zoe Zoe is not something material Zoe is<\/p>\n
a<\/p>\n
relationship Zoe refers to the Abundant<\/p>\n
Life that Jesus gives us and actually<\/p>\n
maybe the most important thing about Zoe<\/p>\n
for our context here is brothers and<\/p>\n
sisters you cannot buy Zoe with your<\/p>\n
money Zoe is only given to you as a gift<\/p>\n
by Grace we cannot purchase Zoe Zoe<\/p>\n
comes to us as a gift Zoe is being in a<\/p>\n
perfect relationship with the with God<\/p>\n
our Father who made us the type of life<\/p>\n
that this young man is after this bios<\/p>\n
life we're always wanting more it's it's<\/p>\n
shallow We're Never Satisfied at this<\/p>\n
greed and you know the in the beginning<\/p>\n
of that new iPhone the new the new<\/p>\n
generation or even bigger the new job<\/p>\n
that you have like I I have that feeling<\/p>\n
too your heart's like oh man this is I I<\/p>\n
feel safe I feel I feel good now but<\/p>\n
there's always going to be something<\/p>\n
more we're always going to be hungry for<\/p>\n
something more but Zoe this Deeper Life<\/p>\n
that Jesus uses to point at this man's<\/p>\n
heart this comes from God it gives us<\/p>\n
peace and contentment that lasts if we<\/p>\n
remember the scene of Jesus with the<\/p>\n
woman at the well remember this scene<\/p>\n
when what does Jesus say to it he says I<\/p>\n
have water that if I give you this water<\/p>\n
you'll never be thirsty again that is<\/p>\n
Zoe life that that's what we need Jesus<\/p>\n
is showing this man that there is more<\/p>\n
to life than stuff Jesus is pointing<\/p>\n
deeper to a Deeper Life That's satisfied<\/p>\n
only in God so we need to do some<\/p>\n
application work here in each of our own<\/p>\n
lives um Jesus is asking the question<\/p>\n
how do you measure your<\/p>\n
life how do you measure your life when<\/p>\n
you ask yourself the question do I have<\/p>\n
a good life or a bad<\/p>\n
life do you look at the things that you<\/p>\n
have or do you look at the one that<\/p>\n
loves you when you ask yourself like H<\/p>\n
how's my life going like what how's it<\/p>\n
going do you look at the things you can<\/p>\n
see do you look at your education or<\/p>\n
maybe even more do you look at your<\/p>\n
kids's education do you look at your car<\/p>\n
your job how stable things is<\/p>\n
or do you look at the peace and the<\/p>\n
comfort that we have that Jesus gives us<\/p>\n
by his<\/p>\n
grace the question it's incredibly<\/p>\n
relevant for us today um we could look<\/p>\n
uh out that window and we would see<\/p>\n
nothing but stuff cars condos I think<\/p>\n
you can see like six or I was trying to<\/p>\n
count how many malls you can see from<\/p>\n
out the window here it's a lot of malls<\/p>\n
um it's very easy for us even Christians<\/p>\n
I know I'm guilty of this to to look at<\/p>\n
someone else's life and what do you say<\/p>\n
like they're doing well what does that<\/p>\n
statement mean if you say they're doing<\/p>\n
well that means that their kids go to a<\/p>\n
good school it means that they they've<\/p>\n
got a steady income where they don't<\/p>\n
really don't have to worry or or so it<\/p>\n
may seem to us that they don't have to<\/p>\n
worry it's very easy for us to trust in<\/p>\n
the things that we<\/p>\n
have but Brothers and Sisters Jesus is<\/p>\n
graciously pointing out this Ro we've<\/p>\n
measured life the wrong<\/p>\n
way and he points this out not to J pit<\/p>\n
not to like not to um condemn us but he<\/p>\n
does it to change us and to save us what<\/p>\n
does it say it says that Jesus came not<\/p>\n
to condemn but to save we'll see more of<\/p>\n
this in a minute okay we just finished<\/p>\n
uh Jesus's deep response um now we're<\/p>\n
going to look at the third Point uh a<\/p>\n
greedy heart thank you so uh Jesus tells<\/p>\n
a parable to to make his point more<\/p>\n
clear as as he as Jesus often does all<\/p>\n
right so again Ariana just read it for<\/p>\n
us thank you Ariana uh but what what's<\/p>\n
going on in the parable we've got a man<\/p>\n
and he's got a plot of land and one<\/p>\n
harvest season again I know this<\/p>\n
agriculture talk for for those of us in<\/p>\n
Bangkok it's kind of hard to imagine but<\/p>\n
a heart a y he yields a lot of fruit one<\/p>\n
season he yelds a big crop and he gets<\/p>\n
Rich okay but the problem is he doesn't<\/p>\n
have big enough barns so what does he do<\/p>\n
he tears down his old Barns and he<\/p>\n
builds bigger barns it's like I'll just<\/p>\n
I can keep all my stuff this way again I<\/p>\n
know this may sound like an old<\/p>\n
agriculture story and like something<\/p>\n
that's kind of far from us but this kind<\/p>\n
of stuff happens today right we'll just<\/p>\n
use a very small example let's say that<\/p>\n
there's a a saleswoman who sells like a<\/p>\n
a very normal toy here in Thailand um<\/p>\n
she she makes fine money she makes<\/p>\n
enough to get by um but then one day a<\/p>\n
very special person comes and buys her<\/p>\n
toy what if Lisa from black pink comes<\/p>\n
and buys a toy from this lady's<\/p>\n
shop Lisa comes she posts on her Tik Tok<\/p>\n
what's going to happen after that every<\/p>\n
everyone what do they call it like uh<\/p>\n
like um like they follow in the<\/p>\n
footsteps of of the of the Superstar and<\/p>\n
so this mea this this lady she's going<\/p>\n
to get rich all because Lisa came to her<\/p>\n
shop and posted on her Tik Tock and so<\/p>\n
what what she got to do she's got to go<\/p>\n
open a new bank account maybe she's got<\/p>\n
to buy some more land she's got to find<\/p>\n
a spot to put all of her<\/p>\n
assets let's look at the subject in<\/p>\n
verse 16 so I know keep J jumping back<\/p>\n
to that there thank you so much she<\/p>\n
doing the slides um verse<\/p>\n
uh what is the subject of verse 16 if<\/p>\n
we're looking at it it says the land of<\/p>\n
a rich man produced plen ofy the subject<\/p>\n
is the land not the man so yes I'm sure<\/p>\n
the man plowed the ground and Seed the<\/p>\n
seed but in the end this man does not<\/p>\n
get rich unless what unless the land he<\/p>\n
has the land itself the sunlight oxygen<\/p>\n
rain and where do these come from these<\/p>\n
come from<\/p>\n
God brothers and sisters everything that<\/p>\n
we have is a gift like that we have to<\/p>\n
change our mindset that everything we<\/p>\n
have is a gift from God your brain your<\/p>\n
strength to learn things your strength<\/p>\n
to to work on that Exel sheet or teach<\/p>\n
or whatever you whatever you do for your<\/p>\n
job no matter what we do for work we<\/p>\n
must realize that any blessing or gift<\/p>\n
comes from God our Father who loves us<\/p>\n
and it's not just to be used for us it's<\/p>\n
to be meant to thank God for it and use<\/p>\n
for others but the man in this Parable<\/p>\n
he doesn't think this way he's only<\/p>\n
concerned about himself and money again<\/p>\n
look at verse 17 and 18 he he says<\/p>\n
nothing about God or about other people<\/p>\n
he's only concerned with himself verse<\/p>\n
171 18 He says what shall I do I have<\/p>\n
nowhere to store my crops I will do this<\/p>\n
I will tear down my Barns and I will<\/p>\n
store my grain and<\/p>\n
goods again I there's a lot of pointed<\/p>\n
application here that's very difficult<\/p>\n
for for me and for all of us to hear but<\/p>\n
we have to ask when you look at your<\/p>\n
stuff do you say mine mine mine or do<\/p>\n
you look at it and then look up to<\/p>\n
heaven and say God I'm very undeserving<\/p>\n
of all this stuff like H how can I use<\/p>\n
this to bless other<\/p>\n
people again I I want to tell as we're<\/p>\n
talking about money I know this is kind<\/p>\n
of a sensitive subject saving money is<\/p>\n
not wrong like that like it's good but<\/p>\n
the in the Book of Proverbs the Lord<\/p>\n
calls us to to to save for an emergency<\/p>\n
I'm sure one day someone of my family<\/p>\n
will get sick and I'll need to help pay<\/p>\n
some hospital bills um it's good to save<\/p>\n
to for to help our kids go to school<\/p>\n
saving is good the issue is here is not<\/p>\n
the issue is not whether we should save<\/p>\n
money the issue is where is our trust<\/p>\n
the issue is it's it's not external it's<\/p>\n
internal in this Parable Jesus he's he's<\/p>\n
not as concerned with money as he is<\/p>\n
with our hearts what what is our heart<\/p>\n
trusting in really what is our heart<\/p>\n
love in this situation it's clear that<\/p>\n
this this guy's saving in the parable is<\/p>\n
so that he can rely on his riches and<\/p>\n
not on God how do we know this okay<\/p>\n
let's look again let's look at verse 19<\/p>\n
can we go to the next verses verse 19<\/p>\n
thank you um look at his response this<\/p>\n
guy's response he says he's talking to<\/p>\n
himself again he's he's not talking to<\/p>\n
God or other people he's talking to<\/p>\n
himself he says Soul you have so much<\/p>\n
stuff now ample Goods laid up for many<\/p>\n
years can you believe this you don't<\/p>\n
have to worry about anything for years<\/p>\n
just eat drink be merry hang out you can<\/p>\n
live the good life now honestly I I<\/p>\n
don't know about you I think this is<\/p>\n
maybe the most painful part of the story<\/p>\n
for me like it seems like this man is<\/p>\n
the happiest and safest he's ever been<\/p>\n
like we in English we say like he's on<\/p>\n
the Mountaintop of his life he's at the<\/p>\n
peak and yet his trust is in the wrong<\/p>\n
thing the man's greedy heart is revealed<\/p>\n
his trust in his things and getting more<\/p>\n
and more he's not trusting in God um<\/p>\n
it's like a father or a husband I think<\/p>\n
this should be a lesson to us all it's<\/p>\n
like the father or husband who who works<\/p>\n
all the time never never spends time<\/p>\n
with the Lord never spends time with his<\/p>\n
family he's working so he can get to a<\/p>\n
point where his Investments are just<\/p>\n
just at that point where he can just<\/p>\n
rest and tell himself eat drink and be<\/p>\n
marry and have nothing to worry about<\/p>\n
but when he gets to that point he looks<\/p>\n
around and he's left God he's his his<\/p>\n
wife and his kids he hasn't spent any<\/p>\n
time with them he's measured Life by the<\/p>\n
wrong things he's measured Life by stuff<\/p>\n
and not<\/p>\n
relationships again this is a very<\/p>\n
pointed application for us I want us I<\/p>\n
want us to take what this guy says and<\/p>\n
and try and apply it to our own lives<\/p>\n
right we ready what in your life think<\/p>\n
about your life what in your life if you<\/p>\n
get it will make you say to yourself<\/p>\n
Soul relax eat drink and be<\/p>\n
merry what is that for<\/p>\n
you okay in this story the man is<\/p>\n
trusting in money or he's trusting in<\/p>\n
all the stuff that's in his barn to make<\/p>\n
him feel safe and stable but honestly it<\/p>\n
doesn't have to be money for you we all<\/p>\n
have something that our heart's saying<\/p>\n
if I get that I can sit back and say eat<\/p>\n
drink be<\/p>\n
merry for some maybe if if my child gets<\/p>\n
into this school then I'm good for<\/p>\n
others don't like my job if I can just<\/p>\n
get this job that I'm applying for then<\/p>\n
my soul will say soul<\/p>\n
rest for some it's a relationship if my<\/p>\n
marriage can just get better or if I'm<\/p>\n
single if I can just find a spouse my<\/p>\n
soul will say be marry now everything's<\/p>\n
okay um how do you measure your<\/p>\n
life even I know there are people here<\/p>\n
who work for the church who are<\/p>\n
missionaries who work in Ministry this<\/p>\n
is pointed for us too what is it about<\/p>\n
your ministry or church that you would<\/p>\n
say if I can get to that point my soul<\/p>\n
would say rest you're good you got to<\/p>\n
this point brothers and sisters the it's<\/p>\n
mostly these are not bad things family<\/p>\n
money work all this is education these<\/p>\n
are good gifts from God but when these<\/p>\n
things turn into the thing that are<\/p>\n
Hearts seek for ultimate satisfaction<\/p>\n
and peace and meaning this is when it<\/p>\n
gets dangerous and this this is why<\/p>\n
God's response to the man in verse 20<\/p>\n
says fool this night your soul is<\/p>\n
required of you and the things you<\/p>\n
prepared whose will they be when this<\/p>\n
man dies he can take nothing with him he<\/p>\n
was saving for himself not to give to<\/p>\n
others there was so much need around him<\/p>\n
so much opportunity to help others when<\/p>\n
he comes before God in judgment all he<\/p>\n
has to show is his soul that's just in<\/p>\n
love with his stuff and his<\/p>\n
barns Jesus ends the parable in 20 verse<\/p>\n
21 says so is the one who lays up<\/p>\n
treasure for himself and not rich<\/p>\n
towards God again we've measured life<\/p>\n
Life by the wrong things he thought he<\/p>\n
was rich because his he had a lot of<\/p>\n
barns um he had wealth but we we didn't<\/p>\n
realize that true wealth comes from<\/p>\n
where it's living with God and his<\/p>\n
kingdom um again it's very difficult to<\/p>\n
examine our hearts isn't it I know it's<\/p>\n
difficult for me to examine my heart and<\/p>\n
see that often times I love something or<\/p>\n
I want something or I chase after<\/p>\n
something more than I do God<\/p>\n
actually if I were to just stop the<\/p>\n
sermon right here just end it um it'd be<\/p>\n
really difficult because we'd probably<\/p>\n
be feeling really bad about oursel like<\/p>\n
yep I I did it again I know I trust in<\/p>\n
this more than God um You probably be<\/p>\n
feeling<\/p>\n
guilty but Jesus he doesn't stop here<\/p>\n
with the young man he doesn't stop here<\/p>\n
with the crowd that's around him and so<\/p>\n
the sermon is not going to stop here<\/p>\n
anyway either okay um in the section<\/p>\n
after this Jesus again I think it's<\/p>\n
amazing how Jesus turned this guy's<\/p>\n
request into like this full teaching<\/p>\n
segment it's really amazing in the next<\/p>\n
section Jesus shows us the solution<\/p>\n
there is a way that we can live where we<\/p>\n
can trust in him that our Father in<\/p>\n
heaven knows what we need that he will<\/p>\n
care for us a Content<\/p>\n
heart okay this is the the final point a<\/p>\n
Content<\/p>\n
heart um again I know many of us may<\/p>\n
feel anxious or worried today today<\/p>\n
maybe it's maybe it's about money maybe<\/p>\n
this is like right on with what you're<\/p>\n
struggling with but it's something else<\/p>\n
you're worried that that about something<\/p>\n
in your life um and that you trust in<\/p>\n
that more than you do<\/p>\n
God Jesus does not leave us like the man<\/p>\n
in the parable just chasing after the<\/p>\n
things that will fade away and then<\/p>\n
feeling guilty about that um again like<\/p>\n
we said he didn't come to condemn us but<\/p>\n
he came to save us Jesus doesn't doesn't<\/p>\n
show us the problem in our hearts he<\/p>\n
gives us the healing for it um in the<\/p>\n
next section again this is a very famous<\/p>\n
passage Jesus says don't be anxious<\/p>\n
about your life what you will eat nor<\/p>\n
about your body what you will put on for<\/p>\n
life is more than food and the body more<\/p>\n
than clothing he's saying again he's<\/p>\n
pointing to that Zoe life that that life<\/p>\n
that is more than just<\/p>\n
stuff um here in Thailand there in the<\/p>\n
morning you have the the NOA the goow<\/p>\n
bird that's that makes the sound like<\/p>\n
goow goow I think people know what I'm<\/p>\n
talking about right um so there's a<\/p>\n
picture of it up here I was trying to<\/p>\n
think what's what's a what's a bird<\/p>\n
everybody would know here um all right<\/p>\n
so you know most people know Jesus's<\/p>\n
comparison here look at the not goow<\/p>\n
look at the go wild bird it doesn't have<\/p>\n
a big barn behind that tree right there<\/p>\n
it doesn't have a bank account um his<\/p>\n
life is great he sings all the time<\/p>\n
right and Jesus says are you worth more<\/p>\n
than a no goow are you worth more than<\/p>\n
this bird in God's eyes the answer is<\/p>\n
yes yes you're worth we're worth no go<\/p>\n
more than this God loves us so much and<\/p>\n
he'll care for us he cares for no go<\/p>\n
like he will care for us it's a it's<\/p>\n
amazing to to to meditate on this um let<\/p>\n
this warm your<\/p>\n
heart that God cares for you more than<\/p>\n
more than<\/p>\n
anything this yeah you see Jesus saying<\/p>\n
don't be concerned with money or<\/p>\n
something else to make us feel safe and<\/p>\n
comfortable the thing that makes us feel<\/p>\n
safe and at peace is knowing that your<\/p>\n
father in Heaven brothers and sisters<\/p>\n
your father in Heaven owns<\/p>\n
everything everything whatever problem<\/p>\n
you whatever money problem or whatever<\/p>\n
problem you have your father owns<\/p>\n
everything that's associated with that<\/p>\n
and he knows exactly what you need<\/p>\n
that's what he says before he tells us<\/p>\n
to come to him he says your father knows<\/p>\n
what you need even before you ask him<\/p>\n
knowing that he cares for us more and<\/p>\n
ultimately what will give us a content<\/p>\n
and Rich heart is this is knowing that<\/p>\n
that Jesus died to make us<\/p>\n
rich in 2 Corinthians 8 uh uh chapter 8<\/p>\n
verse 9 it says for you know the grace<\/p>\n
of our Lord Jesus Christ that though he<\/p>\n
is Rich yet for your sake he became poor<\/p>\n
so that you by his poverty might become<\/p>\n
rich what this means that Jesus left the<\/p>\n
richest place on place in this universe<\/p>\n
he left most impoverished Point both<\/p>\n
physically in application he did this<\/p>\n
died on the cross to save us to show us<\/p>\n
what for this particular application he<\/p>\n
did this to show us that life is more<\/p>\n
than<\/p>\n
stuff for this application Jesus died on<\/p>\n
the cross to show you that life is more<\/p>\n
the than whatever you're chasing after<\/p>\n
right now to help us to take our eyes<\/p>\n
off of the temporary and put it on the<\/p>\n
eternal that life is measured by<\/p>\n
relationships more than it is stuff and<\/p>\n
when we see this kind of love from our<\/p>\n
savior it will bring us to trust in him<\/p>\n
and not our<\/p>\n
possessions<\/p>\n
um and in closing what kind of trust and<\/p>\n
contentment uh what what kind of thing<\/p>\n
does does trust and contentment produce<\/p>\n
it will produce where we go out and we<\/p>\n
work hard we do um but we we do that to<\/p>\n
the glory of God and so that we can be<\/p>\n
generous and help others with with our<\/p>\n
money with our assets contentment and<\/p>\n
trust in Jesus care it produces<\/p>\n
generosity because we see that<\/p>\n
everything comes from<\/p>\n
him okay in summary do we see the flow<\/p>\n
of this passage that started with the<\/p>\n
the young man coming and interrupting<\/p>\n
Jesus do we see how Jesus saves us from<\/p>\n
covetousness the man comes with a<\/p>\n
shallow request because why he wants<\/p>\n
more<\/p>\n
money um Jesus answers the man with a<\/p>\n
deep response showing him that the<\/p>\n
problem is that he's living life for the<\/p>\n
wrong things his heart loves money<\/p>\n
instead of God and others we see that in<\/p>\n
the parable too and then Jesus shows us<\/p>\n
that the way to heal a greedy heart is<\/p>\n
not by just working harder or trying to<\/p>\n
force it no it's by by looking at our<\/p>\n
Father in heaven and seeing that he<\/p>\n
loves us so much and that he will care<\/p>\n
for us he loves us so much that Jesus<\/p>\n
went from the richest to the poorest in<\/p>\n
order that we might be rich towards God<\/p>\n
that's how that's how this whole thing<\/p>\n
ends as being rich towards God and we<\/p>\n
have that in the gospel and we see this<\/p>\n
truly our hearts change our hearts<\/p>\n
change and we become a very generous<\/p>\n
people okay let's<\/p>\n
pray Father in heaven we thank you so<\/p>\n
much Lord that you care for us father<\/p>\n
thank you that even though we are often<\/p>\n
stubborn and we are often um yeah we we<\/p>\n
get caught up in the wrong things Lord<\/p>\n
but but you do not leave leave us there<\/p>\n
you're faithful to come in and bring us<\/p>\n
back in as as your sheep Lord You're Our<\/p>\n
Shepherd father we um we thank you for<\/p>\n
your word that that again not only comes<\/p>\n
in to to show us where we've sinned um<\/p>\n
but it does that so we can receive your<\/p>\n
grace and receive your mercy and receive<\/p>\n
things like the fact that our father in<\/p>\n
Heaven cares for us and knows exactly<\/p>\n
what we need Lord use your word um to<\/p>\n
change our hearts by the power of your<\/p>\n
spirit pray these things in Jesus name<\/p>\n
amen am<\/p>","english_search_text":"","":"","original_publish_date":"20250320","video_url":"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=-6nT516Bt_c","video_id":"-6nT516Bt_c","video_duration":"34:29","channel_name":"Grace City Bangkok"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/241","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=241"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/241\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":242,"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/241\/revisions\/242"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/240"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=241"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=241"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=241"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}