Matthew 16:26, “What do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul? Is anything worth more than your soul?”

• • As parents/individuals, we may be spending our time chasing the wrong things!
• There are a few things we’ve placed into our kids lives to help them follow Jesus after they leave home
  • Last week, sails set to catch the direction God’s Spirit is sending
  • Pray daily, read Bible regularly, worship weekly, give to God before anything else and serve somewhere!

Hebrews 11:5, “Have you forgotten the encouraging words God spoke to you as his children? He said, ‘My child, don’t make light of the Lord’s discipline, and don’t give up when he corrects you.”

Verse 7 says, “As you endure this divine discipline, rememberer that God is treating you as his own children”

All of today’s teaching hinges on a principle that Jesus taught in the sermon on the mount.

Matthew 6:21, “Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be.”

The direction of your heart is determined by where your put your money.

King David was a man after God’s heart and we see this in his life.

2 Samuel 24: 24 “But the King replied to Aruanah, ‘No, I insist on buying it, for I will not present burnt offerings to the Lord my God that have cost me nothing.’ So David paid him fifty pieces of silver for the threshing floor and the oxen.”

You can see the priority of God in your life by looking at the role your money plays in your faith.

The Apostle Paul wrote about this in 2 Corinthians.

2 Corinthians 8:1-5, “Now I want you to know, dear brothers and sisters, what God in his kindness has done through the churches in Macedonia. They are being tested by many troubles, and they are very poor. But they are also filled with abundant joy, which has overflowed in rich generosity. For I can testify that they gave not only what they could afford, but far more. And they did it of their own free will. They begged us again and again for the privilege of sharing in the gift for the believers in Jerusalem. They even did more than we had hoped, for their first action was to give themselves to the Lord and to us, just as God wanted them to do.”

• Giving wasn’t determined by their wealth but by the love they had for God in their heart
• Their financial generosity came from their desire to give of themselves fully to God.

Your love for God is demonstrated by your willingness to give.

2 Corinthians 9:6-11, “6 Remember this—a farmer who plants only a few seeds will get a small crop. But the one who plants generously will get a generous crop. 7 You must each decide in your heart how much to give. And don’t give reluctantly or in response to pressure. “For God loves a person who gives cheerfully.” 

8 And God will generously provide all you need. Then you will always have everything you need and plenty left over to share with others. 9 As the Scriptures say, “They share freely and give generously to the poor. Their good deeds will be remembered forever.” 10 For God is the one who provides seed for the farmer and then bread to eat. In the same way, he will provide and increase your resources and then produce a great harvest of generosity in you. 11 Yes, you will be enriched in every way so that you can always be generous. And when we take your gifts to those who need them, they will thank God.”

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Application Questions

1. What stood out to you from this message and why?

2. What is one thing God is telling you to START doing because of this message?

3. What is one thing God is telling you to STOP doing because of this message?

4. How will this message change how you act at home, work and in the your relationships?