…AMERICAN EXPRESSIONS | WEEK 1

Almost tripped right off the bat there. Wow. Hey. How's it going? Yes. Hey, if you're new here, my name's Bill Bush. I'm the lead pastor here, we're excited that you're here as we start a new series.

But as we get started, I got a question for you. It's probably more for me because you probably won't relate to it. I'm probably alone in this. But let me ask you. Have you ever done something stupid with money? Okay. Let me ask the follow-up. So I guess I'm not alone in this. I thought maybe I was.

Have you ever done something stupid with money and you actually thought it was good? It was a good thing you were doing. Not just... You didn't just... Going in, you didn't think it was that stupid. You thought this is good and then realized this was bad. So you're with me?

I don't know why I do that. I think I do, that's what I'm talking about today. But still, why do we do that? I remember one of the dumbest knuckleheaded moments I did it was back when I was newly married and I was still finishing college. I had two classes and worked at a church as a youth pastor.

And my school where it was at, had the two classes I had to take where there was like a couple hour gap. So I'd like... I could just went and worked on my homework and papers, but I didn't care about that. So what I did was I went over to this mall across the street from the college

and they they opened up a new fitness store that had really high end fitness equipment. And I have always, you know, had, the house I was renting. We had a little gym in this back room, and and the one thing we're missing is is is a piece of cardio equipment, something new cardio with, especially when the weather is bad and all that. And my wife and I both liked, when we went to the gym, the the stair steppers.

So I go in there, I'm looking around, and they have the the the same life fitness, the model of the stair steppers that most gyms have. And they had these gym ones, like like, the the really good ones. And I'm looking at it, and the cool thing was they're normally... Even back... This is thirty four years ago. They

were, like, $1,800 back then. And... But they had it marked down to 900. It was half off. So I thought, you know what? This would be great. My wife would like it. We like the stair steppers. It'll it'll be transformative for life. We'll be able to do cardio. I can put it in front of the TV,

and then I can I can do both addictions at the same time? And and it would save me time. And and and I was thinking about that and and looking at it, but but $900, I was like, you're thinking, wow, I'm saving $900. But that's the first stupid thing. When you buy something on sale, you didn't save, you just spent less.

Save meant you have more money. It's like... So I go, I'd only be spending $900 but here's the problem. I only made $1,100 a month back then. And and so that was... So after taxes, I think my checks were like $867. So this... Basically, the 900 I would be spending would be an entire month's salary.

And... Or I could take it out of our savings because we we we had socked away, like, $1,500. So we had $15, so I could just take half my savings account or a whole month's of salary. So I was like, I don't think I'm gonna do it. Right then, the the the guy walked up the salesman,

and I didn't even know you could do it in his first... He thought 900 is 900. Already took it half off. And he walked up and it was like a used car lot. He's like, hey. What do we got to do today to get you into that stair stepping lifestyle? And I was like, what? And then I realized he's like... I go

knock like $300 off of it. Maybe I think about it. He's like, alright. $6.50. I'm like, what? This guy's willing to negotiate. I tried to go lower and he goes, $6.50. That's as low as I can go. It's already down half. What are you trying to do here? And so then I thought about it. I'm like, alright, $6.50,

I'm gonna do it. It's good for our health. It's good for that. My wife wouldn't mind it. I'll just use the savings. We'll be fine. I'm gonna do it. So I... They loaded it in the back of my truck, and I'm driving. Apparently, was two boxes. There was the big one, and then there was this little box.

And as I'm driving down the freeway going home thinking of all the positive things, you know, of just how happy my wife's gonna be that I said, hey, you really need to use this piece of cardio equipment and what that would mean for our marriage. And, you know, if that's the thing you don't wanna do.

But I was just really kinda thinking this is gonna be cool. And as I was looking, I looked in the rearview mirror and the little box flew right out of the back of the truck. I started rolling on the...

Landed on the side of the road. I marked it because I couldn't stop at time. Was too far, but I was right next... I was coming up on an off ramp. So I was like, all right. So I got off the off ramp, went back around, and then got back on, and then slowed down when I got there, and it wasn't there.

I even did another loop just to make sure, and and it it wasn't there. So in the time it took me to go around, someone probably saw this box fly and go, free stuff, and they took it. So then I got off the road. I was gonna go back, and I opened the one box to see what what... What's missing.

And the entire stair steppers in that box, the only thing that was in the other box was just the computer console that controls the whole thing.

And so I went back and they was like, they thought I was asking them to replace it because they're like, no, we're not responsible. You sign the thing once we load in your truck. If something goes, that's your that's your fault. And so I'm like, oh, I know that. Just I need... How do I buy another one? And how much is that? It can't cost... It's it's the littlest piece. And then they said they don't sell them separately. You can't buy because who who just decides they're gonna get rid of this whole thing? And I'm like, there's gotta be a way. They go, nope. It's one or nothing. I And go, well, how much do I gotta pay then? He goes, $900. You won't even give me $6.50 for the second one? No.

And and and so I ended up... I'm kinda tenacious because now I'm freaking out. Now I just wasted $650 And so I called up the food chain for the next couple days, you know, and thought about... I got to the presidents

of both companies, Busy Body and Life Fitness, and I called their office every day for like four straight days and just harassed. And I told them my sob story. I'm a pastor, I love your product. Can't believe... You know, I have everything I could possibly do. And finally, the president of Life Fitness

International called me, and he said two things. One, basically, I'm annoyed with you, so I called the busybody president. We're selling them one at cost, and they'll sell it to you at cost. And I go, how much is that? $400. I'm like, God.

Now I'm gonna be at a thousand if I do this thing. And the second thing is he offered me a job. He goes, you'd be a good salesman. And and and so anyways, I went ahead and did it. I doubled down and went back. And and so I spent a thousand 50, which left me about $300 in my savings account.

And that's good because I needed it for the marriage counseling. And you know what's funny is? It didn't change my life.

We used it for a while. It was exciting. And then it got kinda pushed aside. Then we moved to an apartment. There was no room for it, so we kinda kept it in storage. Then it was still. Then we brought it to the little house we bought. We put it in the garage, but we weren't using it. And then eventually when I moved to Plant Rock Point, we gave it to the next door neighbor, and they were excited like, This is gonna change my life! I'm like, No, it's not. But

at least you got it for free. And I think about it like, you know, if you think, we all have stories like that. We all have stories of why do we go and and and use money the way we do, and sometimes we talk ourselves into thinking it's it's a good use of money.

Sometimes we don't, and we struggle and we wrestle it. What is the deal with money anyways? And I think that desire to do what I did, even for something good, comes from a basic truth of just in our culture how Americans express money. How do we use it? And what I mean by express, how we use it expresses

to us what we think it is and what we think it's for. And we have this built in kinda preconceived idea that I call the American expression of money. And what we're gonna see for the next few weeks is it's the opposite of the biblical expression. And all I wanna do today is show us the differences

and ask you to be honest and say, which one are you?

Just be honest. That's all I'm at. I'm not asking you to change anything. I'm not asking you for anything because here we are. I opened up about money and and you heard American expressions. You saw Captain America's shield, and you thought, oh, great. We're gonna talk about politics. No. It's worse than that. We're gonna talk about money.

No. You... Some... You're getting, like, tense. You're like, here we go. Some are angry. Some some you're hurting over it.

Some you literally are in financial crisis, and it's not even your own. There's some of us in this room that you've had medical bills amount to debt because you need it, you have no way. Now you're buried under it. It has nothing to do. You really are stuck. Some have lost their jobs.

Some of your business isn't going how it's going, and it's hard. So don't hear... To set the ground rules, I want us to not hear what I'm not saying. Don't hear what I'm not saying. Don't hear the wrong thing. Is is that's very true, and I'm going to be praying for you at the end of the service.

But what I wanna do is just look at the two expressions of money because like I said, the big idea for today is our money expresses

what we actually believe. The way we spend money tells us something in what we believe about. It does,

and it's critical. And for the next few weeks, we're gonna be unpackaging some things. And I'm just gonna challenge you, please come. Please open my mind. Some of you are like, here we go. Just wanna take my money, which by the way, in a minute I'm gonna tell you that if you say that you think a church talking about money just wants to take your money, that tells me something about what you think money is.

Just by saying that. We've already established something we think. But the truth is, what we're gonna see is the American expression of money. That's the only thing we see. It's built into us. It's all we see in this world. Because that stats on on money is is is they they they did a study,

and and they asked people, we think it's just about money. And they they they found... Just this is last year, 2026. 63% of Americans say they are paycheck to paycheck right now. 63%. And you think that's because we're not making enough money. Well,

between people that make 100,000 to 300,000 a year, it's 42% still say they're paycheck to paycheck. And the reality is, why? Because the American expression of money traps us. It takes. It does not give. The biblical expression frees us. But everything we think and see, we think it's the other way around.

We think it's the other way around, and we need to see that. It's critical. It's important. And before I go into this, one thing I just really want you guys why I'm saying I'm not asking anybody to make any changes, just let's be honest today, is the other thing I wanna say so you know my heart

is is a couple weeks ago I shared a story about Johnny from our special needs ministry, an adult

in there, that he felt very adamant to bring me a paper, and it was one of the kids' ministry kind of things, and it was a verse of the day. And he colored on it, and he doesn't do this. He just told his... And mom's like, he's never said this. He goes, I think pastor Bill needs this, and I wanna give it to him.

And I told you how moved I was by it, that he actually pastored me because the verse was out of Isaiah, it says, Fear not, for I am with you. And I told you it really moved because I needed to hear that verse. I didn't tell you why. I was fearful because I knew we were gonna do this series.

And I knew that there's something about money. It's loud. It's loud in our world. It's loud in our lives. It's loud out there. We have worries. We have frustrations. We have fears. We have... It is so loud. But here's the weird thing. It's so loud in here and out there that we don't wanna hear about it in here. And

and and people are gonna take this wrong. I wanna preach what God's word biblical expression, because I honestly, truthfully know for a fact that this is where freedom is found. The American expression is what takes. That's all I want. And so today, I just want us to look at the two and you diagnose yourself.

Where are you at on it? And it comes out of the passage, the story we just read, The story about this farmer that made a lot and then what he did with it. And then God said, Hey,

you know what? That doesn't give you security because you're gonna die. And then someone else is gonna get all the stuff from your hard work. And what did that get you? And I just wanna unpackage it. The two things we're gonna look at this is what I just said. We're gonna lay down the American expression versus the biblical expression of what is money

and what is it for. And this first thing, what is money, comes right out of this story. Now what's happening in this story is Jesus is teaching a huge crowd. There's over thousands of people there. And in the middle of it, a guy asks a question, which is not unusual

for a guy to ask a rabbi a question. Can you settle a dispute? The weird thing is that you did it... You don't usually do it in the middle of the guy teaching thousands of people. He happened to be teaching on hypocrisy, by the way, which is is is not just ironic. It's not just a coincidence

because the question the guy asked, he's actually saying, here's the problem. And the guy says, hey, you need to tell my family to settle this dispute. They need to give me more of the inheritance. They're ripping me off. Tell them to give me more of the money. I want more of the money. It was about money.

And he doesn't tell... He's like, I'm not gonna sell the dispute. I'm gonna talk about what the real issue is. And that's why he tells this story.

And in this story, I just wanna repeat some of these verses because what we're gonna see is, what is money? Well, let's look at what the real problem is when we look at the story. Starting in verse 15,

he says, Beware, guard against every kind of greed. Life is not measured by how much you own. And then he goes, then he told them a story. A rich man had fertile farm that produced fine crops. Does... Yasuka, look at what the story doesn't say. It doesn't say his problem was he was rich and made more money. That's fine.

His problem happens in how Jesus tells the next part. Said to himself, What should I do? I don't have room for all of my crops. Then he said, I know. I'll tear down my barns and build bigger ones. Then I'll have room enough to store all my wheat and other goods. And I'll sit back and I'll say to myself, my friend,

you have enough stored away for years to come. Now take it easy. Eat, drink, and be married. Now you can probably tell by the way I exaggerated what I said. Did you notice a pattern in there? What is everything he said about the stuff? I, mine, me, secure, take it easy, have enough. He never thought about anything else

than himself. It's not the money he made that's the problem. It's not even storing that's the problem. Saving is actually promoted in the Bible. He was hoarding. Why?

So he could take it easy. He wasn't trying to go be extravagant. When we think of of of of spending money, dumb, we think we think, oh, just spending money you don't have. This guy wasn't overspending. He was more worried about protecting

what he had. He was in protection mode. I want security and building all this money and keeping it. Now I found... Now I'm good. I'm secure. I'll be okay. I'll be okay. And what Jesus is saying is, no, you won't. Don't make life about what you own. Don't make security about what you own because it's not secure.

It really isn't. Because you're gonna die. And then what's gonna happen to all the stuff you work for? Even hard work. He's not condoning, ripping on that either. The whole thing is what he says in this last verse when he says, but God said to him, you fool,

you will die this very night, then you... Who will get everything you work for? And yes, verse 21, a person is a fool to store up earthly wealth but not have a rich relationship with God.

So he said, you're a fool if you're chasing this, if you're going after this and and and not having a rich relationship with God, which is rich relationship with God. He'll talk about, you need to think about other than yourself. Money is not all about you. It's not all just for you. It's not... It's it's that whole concept is the first answer that's that's that's the problem is the American expression is, what is it?

And this guy, it's his. It's about ownership.

The American expression says, money, our stuff, it's mine. Mine. The Bible says, no, it's not.

The biblical expression talks about stewardship, not ownership. Stewardship, not ownership. Means we get blessings from it, we get to use it, God's okay with us making it, but we need to manage it, not act like owners, act like stewards. Because when we act like stewards, it changes what we do.

It changes the way we do it. It changes how we spend it. Let me let me give you an example. When I was, younger in college, my wife said, hey, don't tell them you were engaged to me at this time, which I just did,

because she didn't wanna be... Think that you would think she's so dumb that she would be engaged to someone this stupid. And so... But I told you guys anyways.

And and what happened was the church I was at, I was interning and this couple, older couple, own this cute little house, like right up on a hillside, two bedrooms, but it was beautiful. Had this beautiful backyard, looked out over this this wash, the canyon and the mountains, and you could see the sunset.

And it was awesome. And they they had an RV, and they would leave during the summers and be gone. And they just wanted someone to watch their house. They said, hey, he's an upstanding guy working with youth in our church and and

college age guy, like, and it was right around the corner from where Carrie lived, and they knew that. So like, why don't you just, would you watch our house?

And I said, okay. And were excited to show me around. When I get there, they showed me the yard. They go, hey, you should have barbecues out here. It's beautiful. Stay in the master bedroom. It's better. You know, and all that. And then they showed me all the stuff. They said, hey, you can use stuff out of the pantry. You can, you know, use our stuff. But then they said, here's what we need you to do. Keep it clean.

Make sure the trash gets out. And then they handed me a stack of these already pre made out checks

with no amounts in them. And they said it's written to the four or five bills that they had to pay because back then you had to actually write a check. It came in the mail. They're gonna be gone two months. So two times I had to pay their bills. That's all I do is get the bill, fill out the amount, stick in the envelope, and mail it, and then keep an eye on the place. That's it.

And so then they left. And like not ten minutes after they left, since it was summer, I don't know how these humans lived, but they had their air conditioning programmed to 82 degrees during the day. And I'm like, that's unacceptable. So I immediately overrode the programming and made it 68 degrees, which was awesome.

Not for their electric bill. It more than doubled, almost tripled it, especially because I would be barbecuing, I'd leave the big wide door open even when it was hot. Just air conditioning the outside, you know, and and and and not turning lights off and, you know, just kinda all kinds of stupidity.

And then the other thing is I never really cleaned anything. I got two months, man. I can... You know, in in in seven weeks and six days, I'll clean this place up. You know? And and then at the same time, I had a friend that got... He was in between places to stay and he was really stressed out about it. I go, hey, come stay with me at my place.

I'm already calling it mine.

And and you know, they wanted me to be blessed and use this stuff, but I just started abusing this stuff. I just started doing what I wanted to do. I didn't do anything. Then finally at at at at week six, they give me a call. Hey. How's it going? They're just checking in. They go, yeah. Hey. Can you, can you unlock the gate to where we pulled the RV in? I'm like, okay. I'll remember to do it when you're getting back. And then he goes, no. No. No. Can you do it now? We're gonna be there in two hours. We cut the week trip short.

I'm on the phone. I'm looking at this disaster of a house, and I'm like, FEMA needs to come in here and clean this thing up. And and I go, this is terrible. And my friend was messier than me. And it was like the odd couple, only both of us were Oscar, no Felix, moved in together.

And it was thrashed. I had no time to straighten things up or put anything away. So I just panicked, hung up. He wasn't even there. So I just ran and I just started grabbing all our clothes, all of our stuff, and running out and just dumping it in the back of my truck.

I threw everything we owned. Clothes, socks, you know, shoes, books, you know.

Anything that we put in that house, I threw in the trunk, in in the bed of my truck. And then as I was running back the last time, I looked over and I go, I forgot to put the trash out the last two weeks. I had extra bags. There was so much trash. And so I ran over there and I go, I don't want him to see that. So

guess where I threw it in the truck. It would have been nice if I threw it first. I didn't realize. So it went on top of all of our stuff, oozy stuff, things leaking. So now I got this huge pile

of... It's like just a dump of mixed of our stuff with all the trash now all over it just sitting there. And then as I ran in, I ran by the mail and I looked at I go, I never paid the bills. Not even the first month.

So I grabbed them all, and I looked, I go, and I looked, I go, oh no, I gotta pay both months. And then because I I saw this late notice and how much more it was gonna be charged if I waited a month. I'm like, now I gotta pay all that. So then I I quickly went, looked them up, and and put it... And then I took the late notices and threw them in back of my truck because I didn't want them to see that. Well, they're gonna see it when they see how much their checking account got charged.

But I was like... And I got already... I got as clean as I go. I know they're gonna notice something my friend... I didn't tell them. They didn't say I could have a friend over. And so I I just grabbed all the sheets. I threw them all in the in the wash, and I was just gonna... I was washing up the sheets

for you. And and... But they're gonna realize when they go into the guest room and go, why is there two sets of sheets? And they go in the guest room and they pull the comforter back and go, why did he need to wash these sheets?

So once they got there, go, that's great. Thank you so much. Was beautiful. And what they saw looked fine. I'm like, great. I'm I'm gonna I'm gonna leave. I I gotta go right now. And I left,

never to talk to them again. I'd avoid them at church because I know they they knew what happened. They they they figured some stuff out, especially when their electric bill was three times what it should have been. What was the problem?

Was stewarding robbing me from enjoying the blessing of being there? No. But when I acted like I owned it, I misused it.

And that's what happens when we have the American expression of money. God's worried about us because we abuse it. We're not smart. I wanna show you a little bar graph here. Imagine it's like a clock. There's three things we can do with money. We can spend it, we can save it, and we can give it. And here's the thing.

Ownership model, spend is always first, and it keeps growing. Spend is always first and it keeps growing. And use the ownership model,

it goes that way. Clockwise. Because if it's clocked, that makes sense. You think, Go that way. When you think, Go around a circle, don't we just naturally think... Cause we know clocks and all that. And wheels, if you're gonna move a car forward, it... If you're watching a car drive by to your... It's like moving forward and you're on the passenger side, there it goes. It's just... You watch the wheels, it's spinning forward. That just makes sense to us. Because that's the only... This is the American expression. This is what we're taught.

You pay your bills and then you try to buy a little extra. You wanna have a little bit. So spending is your what it costs to live, period, and then any extras. But you realize even essentials can be extras because we start to want better essentials. I don't wanna buy all my clothes at Ross and Walmart.

I wanna get nicer clothes. I wanna get nicer shoes. I wanna get a nicer gadget. I wanna get a nicer car. I wanna get a nicer house. We we we start expanding our essential spending, and we call it essentials. And so that's what happens. Ownership mentality, since it's mine, I go first.

Then we find and feel guilty and go, I should probably save some. And and and we save. Now for some of us,

your looks like this. Like, you're like, I I... I'm a saver. I'm a saver. You're like this guy in the story. Your spending is low, but your saving is all that's left. And you're not saving to give. You're not even saving to spend on something. You're just, I need it. You're hoarding, which is this guy's problem.

And then we'll save a little off of what we're spending. And then if we add what was left over,

we'll give. And usually there's not much left over, so we just feel... We feel guilty, so we carve out a few bucks here to give to charity and all that. But ownership mentality takes because it'll take over. The spending and the and the hoarding will take over.

And what'll happen is it eats it up, and it eats it up. And here's the thing. When I own it, it always ends up owning me. What we own always ends up owning us.

When I steward, it changes things. See, we're going this way, and that's the problem. That's the problem. Because it affects... We usually do that, and one builds into the other and vice versa. It's like this circle. Ownership causes us to spend, save, give, and and spend gets bigger and bigger.

And and that's why we get frustrated if someone says, hey, maybe you should give. Maybe you do this. Well, what are you talking about? It's my money. I can barely live the way I'm living because we're caught in a cycle. And it's the only cycle we've seen. And you know what? Studies have shown? Most Christians

express money the American way. We just force ourselves to carve a little bit off the back end so we don't get the freedom. It still owns us. And it owns us because when we're the owner, it's what we think it's for. And what are we thinking for? The American expression is to chase comfort.

That's the problem. When you go that way, it's because we're chasing comfort like he was. Hey, I'll be comfortable when I know I have enough that I'm not gonna lose out. I can survive

for all these years. It's not that you don't save for the future. It's not that you think that it's your money that that's the main thing you need. You need the money to live. You need the stuff. You need to have this. And it's really we're chasing something instead of following something.

The American expression says we're chasing comfort like this guy was. We're chasing after this comfort. And when you try to chase comfort in that way, it's like that mirage of water when you're out on the highway and you see that looks like water in the distance. Do you ever get to it?

You're chasing something that's always moving. Because every time you get to this level, well, now I want to be at that level. And so every level you get to, you get to hear, now I'm comfortable. Well, now I'm either afraid of going backwards, and then I realize I think I need more forward.

They actually asked. They've surveyed this several generations they've done it. The number goes up a little bit just because the cost of living got more expensive. But the first time I read this survey, they asked every income category from basically you're on assistance, like poverty level,

all the way up to where you make a $500,000 a year. And they always asked, hey, how much money more? Not to maybe make all your hopes and dreams come true, but you would feel like I am content and I could live okay and comfortably, at least comfortable enough to not freak out.

How much more would you need to make a month to do that? And the most recent one I read, it changed the numbers, but the most recent ones when they asked, you know, the the most poor people, it was, like, 1,500 to 2,000 a month more. Then they moved up to, like, 50 to 75,000 a year, and you know what they said?

1,500 to 2,000 a month more. Then they asked a 100 to 150,000. You know what they said? 1,500 to 2,000 months or more. And then they went up to $300,000 a year. 1,500 to 2,000 a month or more. Then they asked people that made a $500,000, how much more would you really wanna bring in? 1,500 to 2,000 a month more.

And now you guys think I'm a wizard because that's pretty much what your answer would be. Somewhere in that range. Not getting rich, but you say, If I was just set there, I think I'd be okay. If I had to say this is as far as it can go, what's that lowest number that you would say is good?

It's now about... It started off, it was 1,000 a month or more back in the day. It used to be, If I could just make 1,000 a month or more. Some of you are like, I'm not greedy. You still think, if I just had 1,000 a month more. It's always moving because we're chasing something.

And with our ownership mentality, he says, I have to make this happen. This is about me, and I have to go find this. Therefore, I will chase something that you're never gonna catch. Never gonna catch it. But I said, but the biblical answer is not chasing comfort. It's following Christ.

That's what money's for. God gives us resource in order to be disciples with it. Because look what he says next. He turns... Look, this is crazy. In verse 22, he says, then turning to his disciples. So he's saying, hey, I answered. This guy asked a question.

I didn't do what he said. I I answered the real heart... What the real issue is. And the reason I did that is because a thousand people, he turned and he goes, because I need you guys to listen to me on this. You believe in me. You're here, but you're struggling with believing me. It's two different things.

And when it comes to money, so many of us as Christians, we believe in Jesus, but when he talks about money and where we find comfort, we don't believe him. Because how we express it shows what we really believe. It shows what we really believe.

And he even diagnoses the reason why. Why don't we believe him when it comes to how we should... What we should be doing with money? It's because we're trapped in a trap. We're fearful and we're worried.

Because look what he says. Then turn to his disciples, he says, that is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life,

whether you have enough food to eat or enough clothes to wear. For life is more than food and your body more than clothing. Look at the ravens. They don't plant or harvest or store food in barns, for God feeds them. And you are far more valuable to them than any of the birds.

Can all your worries add a single moment to your life? And if worry can't accomplish a little thing like that, what's the use of worrying over bigger things?

Look at the lilies and how they grow. They don't work or make their clothing, yet Solomon, in all his glory, was not dressed as beautifully as they are. And if God cares so wonderfully for flowers that are here today and thrown into the fire tomorrow, he will certainly care for you. Why do you have so little faith?

And don't be concerned about what to eat and what to drink. Don't worry about such things. These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers all over the world, but your father already knows your needs. Seek the kingdom of God above all else, and he will give you everything you need.

So don't be afraid, little flock, for it gives your father great happiness to give you the kingdom. What we really need is the kingdom. He wants to give us something. It's why we follow Christ with our money. So he can give us something, not take something. So he says, sell your possessions and give to those in need.

This will store up treasure for you in heaven. And the purses of heaven never get older, develop poles. He's saying, that's the better place to be rich toward your relationship with God is what he's saying.

Your treasure will be safe. No thief can steal it. No moth can destroy it. And then he says the the greatest principle of all in this, wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be.

You notice he didn't say where your heart is, there's where your treasure is. It's a discipleship issue, following Christ. Where you put your money is where your heart will go. Period. And that's why he says, I have a different way.

And that's even proof of why in Deuteronomy chapter eight, Moses warns the children... The people of God. They've they've they've... He's freed them from miraculous things. Got them out of slavery. Freed them. Got them out of slavery.

Took them through, showed them miraculous things. Took care of them. And then this first generation, they got to the promise line. Goes, I'm gonna give you this.

And you're gonna have the beauty. You're gonna have all their vineyards. You're gonna have all these houses. You're gonna have all these cities. You're gonna have all these things that you didn't even make. I'm gonna give it to you. You're gonna be you're gonna be prosperous.

But the first go around, they got there, but they saw how big their army was.

And they're like, that seems impossible. I can't go do that. I can't go do that. So they didn't. And so God still loved them, took care of them as they lived in the wilderness the rest of their lives. He says, I'm gonna take your kids in. Deuteronomy eight. Deuteronomy means second law. The first generation is gone. Now it's his new generation. And he retells them who God is and what's going on. And he says, you're about to go in and get houses you didn't earn. You're get it. But be faithful and follow the fight and trust me with it. But here's my problem. It's not about poverty, it's about prosperity.

But be careful because when you start having nicer stuff, you're gonna forget who actually gave it to you. That's what he said. You're gonna forget because because you're gonna get the stuff,

and you're gonna be all about that's mine, and it's gonna be... And even one of the Hebrew words in there when he says you're gonna basically fret, it says you're gonna look at what you got and said... And the Hebrew word means by my power. I did it myself.

So ask yourself when when when a pastor says, hey, here's what God says we should do. Here's what we get to do with our money. You say, but I'm the one that earned it. It's mine.

God's warning us against that because he says you're gonna get distracted. And that is the entire story of Israel, which we start after this series. We're going to walk through Israel and look at their story and see that this is the story of us. They would get distracted all the time.

And what God called him back to was not to take anything from him. He's like, I want you back with life. And so he's saying, do you chase comfort or follow Christ with your money? Because wealth cannot guarantee tomorrow, this story tells us. And storing up only for yourself and not being rich towards God

is not helpful either. So what he's saying is choose to put your treasure from his point of view. And what that is is I want to show the wheel again here, that thing, and say, This is all it is, and this is why I have a problem. We need to go counterclockwise. The biblical expression of money is counterclockwise.

You give first. I mean, you don't even add up your bills and say, okay, now that I know what I have, I'm gonna choose what to give first. You give what he asks to give, and then you save, And then you live on the rest. You make your budget or how you're going to spend based on what you've already given and already saved.

That's what he says is the way. We're going to look at that and talk about it, and we're gonna see why. But he's saying that's the way to freedom. That's the way it works. But we get confused by all that. We're like, I I... That's backwards. I don't see how that works. Like if that was a car wheel and it's going

back that way, which way is the car going? Backwards. Or so I thought. I was I was driving to...

Out to Palm Springs with our executive pastor Dave and another guy on our staff, Randy Deal. And we got into this conversation about this whole idea of perspective and and and wheels. And I was talking to him and and they were telling me that, well, it depends on where you're looking. And it's like, go, what do mean? He goes, and and we were talking about how car wheels spin. And he says, well, if you're on the passenger side looking at a car going forward, that they're they're they're going clockwise like a wheel should. Right? And I go, yeah. And he goes, well, if you watch from the driver's side and the car goes by moving forward, the wheel's actually turning counterclockwise.

I go, no. No. No. No. No. No. No. That can't be possible. And I go, that would mean they're fighting each other. Right? And he's like, no. That's just how it works. Well, I went to the robot overlords and said, hey. Does this work? And he goes, yeah. But it's it's it's the passenger side is counterclockwise,

and the driver's side is is clockwise. And I said, well, you know, even if it says it's true, but you guys got it backwards. And Dave, confident. He's... And it... This is why he's the executive pastor because he can understand physics and stuff like this. It's why he should be touching and controlling and talking about the money. Otherwise, we'd all have stair steppers.

And and and he goes, nope. It's the other way around. The overlords are wrong. So I asked it. I asked Chad. I go, are you sure about that? That's all I said. He goes, well, I'm glad you questioned me because you're right. I got this backwards. Like, AI doesn't even understand this concept completely.

No wonder we struggle with it. Let me ask, how many of you already knew that principle? Very little, but you actually... Every service has gotten smarter. There's been more hands in every service that went up. How many are still confused and confounded by, I I don't know how that's even possible?

How many say, I don't believe you, AI, or Dave Sutherland? Well,

they helped me work it out because I I was an hour. I'm like, how does that work? What what is this? Does it mean... Then I tried to explain to him. So it it means this. They go, no, it doesn't mean. Then they started doing this thing. He goes, look. Look at my hands. See how they're going? Now turn it out.

And I'm like, I don't get it. I don't get it. So they said, here, we'll do something you understand. You like Captain America's shield. So American Expressions, here we go. Here's Cap. But imagine he's got his Cap motorcycle or whatever, and and so here's his wheels. His wheels is a shield. So if we're in the

passenger side, you're looking at this car or or motorcycle, and it's gonna go forward. Right? So it's going forward now. Right? The wheels... That... What what way is that turning? Right? So you're like, there you go. What happens if you go to the the driver's side of the car?

But the camera's gonna put that up on the screen. See that little red dot, little paper? Which way is it turning? Which way? But which way is this turning? And which way is this turning? How many people are really confused? How is that even possible? It's a matter of perspective. Which side are you looking at it from?

Clock hands do the same thing, by the way. If you climbed up into that clock in Back to the Future before the 10.21 gigawatts came through and you watched the backside, you realize the hands move counterclockwise. It's the perspective. We're on the passenger side looking at life. And that wheel of money, it should be spend,

save, give. But if you come around to the driver's side,

it's give, save, spend. And let me just ask you something.

Is Captain America the author of life?

Who is the author and driver of life? God. Jesus. He knows what we need. He said so. He proved that he can provide what we need. And from his point of view, we gotta go counterclockwise. And that is the only way we move forward. The American expression is slavery.

And here's the reason we struggle. Some of you are like, I get that, but I still... I just can't. I can't. I can't. Because the physics is confusing. But he promises that freedom is found in doing it the other way around. So I'm not trying to take anything from you guys. God's not trying to take anything from you guys.

I am trying to do my job of help set us free from this American expression that this country gets richer and richer and yet poorer and poorer at the same time. And we, as Christians, are called to get off the crazy train. And we have an opportunity to be different and experience the kingdom.

And you know what? What we're gonna look at next week... Because right now, I'm not asking for anything.

What I'm asking you do is the thing I would love for you to do is just do an audit. Take your finances for the last three months. Some of don't even need the audit. You already know the answer. But do an audit and just be honest. I'm not saying you do anything with it, but which way does the way you spend money, which expression are you?

Are you spend, save, give? Or are you give first and give what he's asked? Then save, and then budget the rest and live on. Just be honest. You gotta start there. Because in order to change your perspective, you gotta change your position. You gotta at least come around and look at it. And then just ask yourself where you're at.

That's all I'm asking you to do right now. Because next week, we're gonna talk about this concept.

What if all of this worry you have, all this frustration or all the shame or or all the struggle you have with what we're talking about right now, and maybe even an attitude says, this guy's still trying to just get something from me, or you're... Or whatever you're wrestling with.

And some of feel like, I just... Well, if God loved me so much, why does he give me more? Whatever it is. What if this whole talk... What if why God cares about what we do with money? Why does he care so much? Why does he want? What if that has nothing to do with money itself?

What if this whole talk is really nothing to do with money? It's something deeper. It's more critical. It's more powerful. What if that's the real truth? That's what we're looking at next week. So please just be honest about your expression and come back next week. Because God loves you. He loves me. And how we express money

really tells us what we believe. And are we enslaved even though we believe in? Because we're an American expression even though I believe in Jesus? Or do we wanna be set free by believing him on the biblical expression? And we'll see why next week.

Father, I love you, Lord, and I thank you that you love me and love us more than we can love ourselves. So right now, I just wanna pray. I wanna pray that we all could get this and understand this and actually embrace pursuing your kingdom and following you first

so you can set us free and give us the kingdom as you said you love to do. But Lord, I pray for some different people in this room. First, I wanna pray for those I talked about that they they do honor you. They do love you. They are pursuing this. But, man, just events and things out of their control have knocked them off

this path. There's people in here that have medical conditions that has caused debt that they can't control, and they are overwhelmed. There's people here that have lost jobs or they're under jobbed or their business or their dream is something that's just not working, and and they legitimately

are so in need over their head they don't know what to do. Lord, I pray that you would show up and provide in the most unexpected ways this week in their life, and that you would encourage them that they are going the right direction. And Lord, I also pray for those in this room that maybe are in over their head

because of the American expression of money, that we've now realized it is a trap, now I don't know how to get out of this trap. Lord, I pray that because of their willingness to look to you, that you would, first of all, encourage their heart, give them a sense of your love and hope,

and help them to understand that this isn't about guilt or shame or anything, but that you would show them the way out. That you would provide for them, and that they could have the courage to be honest about where they're at. And that they would take your hand.

Give them a sense of hope and love this week like they've never felt before. And, Lord, for those who are on this path and and have been doing this and and they know this is the way, I thank you for them. And I pray that they go away encouraged in this message, that even if it's getting a little tough,

they were encouraged to remember. Remember the expression of money in their lives and stay living in that freedom. And Lord, for all of us, I pray we would just take this as a moment to not just look at money to be a resource, but say, hey, how have I made it the source in my life? And that we could sit and see you

and not chase comfort, but just follow you. I just pray this all in the mighty, mighty name of Jesus. Amen. Amen. Hey. I love you guys. Amen. Your things pastor Bill or as my kids call him pop. Hey. It's always fun talking about money in church. Yeah. And who knew wheels were so complex?

I think I'm more confused. But, hey, in all seriousness, as people of God, let's be good stewards with our money. And just

so you know, Bill and Carrie are some of the most generous people with their finances. I've had a front row seat of some of the things they have done and challenged me in my own finances. And so just know that you got a pastor who's living out what he is preaching about.

This Thursday is our night of worship. I'd love if you join me and our team and come and just have a night of worship and praise on Thursday. And then this Saturday, we are combining our three and 5PM services. Just having the 3PM service so that we can go and be engaged in our communities

on Saturday night. With that, we have our prayer room to my right, your left, full of amazing leaders that would love to pray with you. Maybe if you are facing financial hardship, you're not alone, and we have leaders that would love to pray with you. With that, enjoy the rest of your Sunday. We love you guys, and we'll see you Thursday. Thanks

for joining us online this weekend. You can stay connected with us through rockwind.io or our social media.