Chasing Bigfoot | Part 4 · Rewind

Chasing Bigfoot | Part 4 · Rewind

Pastor Bill Bush · May 20, 2019

Big Idea

Instead of teaching our kids to chase success, we need to show them that real significance is found only in a rich relationship with Christ.

Success is not the enemy — but it is the number one distraction from what parenting, and life, is really about. Jesus teaches that a person is a fool to store up earthly wealth or achievement but not have a rich relationship with God, and the path we model for our kids matters more than the path we lecture them about.

Key points

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1We often approach God with a 'kingdom for' mentality instead of 'kingdom first'
Pastor Bill walks through Luke 12:13 where a man interrupts Jesus' teaching not with a question but a command, asking Jesus to make his brother split the inheritance. He shows this man wanted Jesus to serve his own agenda rather than surrender to God's, comparing it to people who ask him to 'fix' their spouse instead of examining their own hearts.
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2Life is not measured by how much you own — guard against every kind of greed
Working through the parable of the rich fool in Luke 12:16-21, Pastor Bill explains the man wasn't condemned for being successful but for believing his abundance was the goal itself. The man planned to tear down barns and take it easy, but God called him a fool because he would die that very night and lose it all.
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3Success is not the enemy of significance, but it is the number one distraction
He clarifies that God is not opposed to wealth, retirement, or achievement, but warns that when success becomes the main thing in our hearts, it warps everything, including how we parent and how we pray.
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4Chasing success is fueled by worry; kingdom-first living is fueled by trust
Pastor Bill traces Jesus' teaching on the ravens and the lilies in Luke 12:24-31, showing that worry — not faith — is what drives the success chase, and that even successful people stay anxious about losing what they've gained. He contrasts this with seeking the kingdom of God first and trusting God to provide.
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5Three mistakes to avoid: forgetting others, forgetting the Giver, and forgetting our soul
With his wife Carrie, he unpacks Luke 12:33 to show three parenting pitfalls: planning for ourselves while forgetting others (modeled through their daughter's choice to ask for charity donations instead of birthday gifts), handling resources while forgetting the Giver (modeled through their choice to tithe generously even when it meant not giving their kids everything), and pursuing right behavior while forgetting to cultivate the soul.
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6Discipleship flows from embracing the Savior, not enforcing behavior
Pastor Bill shares his own realization, drawn from praying Ephesians 3:16-19 over his son, that he had been praying for behavior change instead of heart change — sending his kids down a 'spiritual success' path wrapped in religious language. He illustrates with the rubber-band image: forced behavior snaps back, but a relationship with Christ stretches the heart from the inside out.
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7Our prayers can sound like gibberish to God, but He loves us and wants to grow us
He closes with the story of his daughter's nonsensical dictated story at age four, which they lovingly kept despite it making no real sense, to picture how our demands to God often sound the same way. He urges parents to love their kids in their immaturity while still leading them toward something more.

Application

Choose kingdom first, not kingdom for, and let that show up in what you model for your kids.

Examine what you emphasize with your kids
Ask honestly whether grades, sports, or achievement get more of your time, money, and energy than a rich relationship with Jesus, and adjust what you model.
Involve your kids in serving others
Bring your children along when you serve — at church setup, through foster care wraparound ministry, or other opportunities — so they see caring for others as normal, not optional.
Give generously and let your kids see it
Choose to tithe and give even when it means not giving your kids everything their friends have, and talk with them honestly about why, so they learn giving is a gift, not a burden.
Pray for your children's hearts, not just their behavior
Shift your prayers from 'God, change their behavior' to asking that they would know the depth of Christ's love, trusting that changed behavior follows a changed heart.
Embrace the Savior yourself first
Recognize you can only lead your kids down a path you are actually walking, so commit to your own rich relationship with Jesus before expecting it in them.

Take it into your week

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Scripture in this message

From the transcript
“We're gonna look at it in a passage of scripture found in Luke chapter 12, and there's a story that Jesus teaches. And and and you're gonna say, wow. I've never heard this applied to parenting”
From the transcript
“it says, then someone called from the crowd, verse 13, teacher, please tell my brother to divide our father's estate with me”
From the transcript
“Then I'll have room enough to store all my wheat and other goods. And then verse 19, I'll sit back and say to myself, my friend, you have enough stored away for years to come”
From the transcript
“But God said to him, in verse 20, you fool. You will die this very night, then you'll get then who will get everything you worked for”
From the transcript
“So then look what he says in verse 21. He's trying to summarize this. He goes, yes, a person is a fool to store up earthly wealth, but not have a rich relationship with God”
From the transcript
“he looks in verse 26. And if you worry can't accomplish a little thing like that, what's the use of worrying over bigger things”
From the transcript
“And if God cares, in verse 28, wonderfully for flowers that are here today and thrown in the fire tomorrow, He will certainly care for you. Why do you have so little faith”
From the transcript
“Then he goes into verse 27. Look at the lilies. Now they go now he's talking about flowers. He says they don't work to make their clothing, yet they're they're they're dressed out in all this glory”
From the transcript
“Why? Versa 30. These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers all over the world. But your father already knows your needs. Here it is. Seek the kingdom of God above all else”
From the transcript
“And then verse 33, he goes back to here was his problem with the guy's success. This guy's success financially wasn't the problem. It's what he chose to do with it that's the problem”
From the transcript
“God brought me to the passage, a passage in Ephesians, and it's Ephesians three, and it's verse 16 through 19. And I wanna read that. And it starts like this, it says, I pray that from his glorious unlimited resources”

7-day devotional

A personal reading plan from this message — scripture, reflection, and prayer for each day.

Sign in to track your progress through this devotional.

Day 1

The parable of the rich fool begins not with a farmer but with a dispute — two brothers fighting over an inheritance. One of them turns to Jesus and says, essentially, 'Take my side.' It's a small moment, but Jesus zeroes in on it. He doesn't arbitrate the dispute. He names the deeper problem: 'Beware! Guard against every kind of greed. Life is not measured by how much you own.' That word 'beware' is a warning signal, and it's aimed at something sneaky — the habit of approaching God with a 'kingdom for' mentality, using Him as a tool to get what we already wanted. It's easy to recognize that posture in someone else's prayer. It's much harder to spot it in our own. Most of us don't come to Jesus demanding an inheritance settlement. But we do come with agendas — for our kids' outcomes, our financial security, our sense of control. The sermon's opening question is worth sitting with today: Am I seeking Jesus, or am I seeking what Jesus can get me? That question isn't meant to produce guilt. It's meant to produce honesty — the kind that cracks open a more real, more alive relationship with God than we'd have otherwise.

For reflection

When you bring your biggest worries or desires to God, are you mostly asking Him to bless your plan, or are you genuinely open to His?

Pray

Pray for honesty about the places where you've been approaching God with a 'kingdom for' mindset, and ask for the courage to loosen your grip.

Small-group discussion guide

For leading a group conversation about this message.

Open

This message sits at the intersection of two big questions: What does a successful life actually look like, and what are we passing on to the people who come after us? Take a moment before you dive in — what one word would you use to describe what 'a good life' meant in the home you grew up in?

Discussion questions

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In Luke 12:13-21, a man interrupts Jesus to ask Him to settle an inheritance dispute — and Jesus responds with the parable of the rich fool rather than answering the question directly. What do you think Jesus is diagnosing underneath the surface request?
2
The message drew a sharp distinction between a 'kingdom for' mentality — approaching God as a means to get what we want — and a 'kingdom first' mentality. What does that difference look like in practice, and why is it easy for the two to get blurred?
3
In Luke 12:22-31, Jesus points to ravens and wildflowers to make His case against worry-driven striving. What is He actually asking His listeners to trust, and how might that trust reshape the goals people build their lives around?
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The message made the point that generosity of time and presence is caught more than taught — that involving family in serving others matters more than simply talking about it. What makes modeling harder than instructing, and what tends to get in the way?
5
In Luke 12:33-34, Jesus connects where treasure goes to where the heart follows. The message described giving as a shield against materialism rather than a burden. What does it look like for a community — not just individuals — to live with that kind of orientation?
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Paul's prayer in Ephesians 3:16-19 asks that people would be 'rooted and established in love' and know the fullness of Christ — and the message used this to frame the deepest goal of parenting as heart change rather than behavior change. How does that distinction change the way we might pray for, or walk alongside, the people we care about?

Pray together

Asking God to reorient our hearts from 'kingdom for' to 'kingdom first' — and for the courage to model, not just teach, what a life built on that looks like

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Topics

Discipleship Kingdom First Materialism and Generosity Parenting for the Heart True Success

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