April 10, 2025 • 26 mins
Join us as we continue our Sermon on the Mount series in Matthew 6:19-24!
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
A little bit about me .
You might know this, you mightnot, but before I was the youth
pastor here, I was the youthpastor at a little church in
Ferris, texas, called CommunityBaptist Church, cbc.
It's kind of like the CBC herein San Antonio, except there are
about 50 people and the entirebuilding was about half this
size.
So you know, basically the same.
But you know, we were gearingup for camp.
(00:22):
This was the last summer beforeI would ultimately come down
here and, man, this was like thebiggest camp ever.
Like we were pushing numbers,like we had 20 kids signed up
which I joke, but in realitylike that was huge for us and
that was a huge blessing and wewere really excited about what
God was going to do.
Some of these kids had barelyever even been to church before,
and so we were so excited.
(00:43):
But there was this one kid thatI was trying to get to show up
and I just couldn't get him toshow up.
His name was Trent and Ipastored him, I pastored him, I
bugged him, I bugged him andjust time after time he's like
no, he'd come up with an excuse,another excuse, like he did not
want to come to camp, and soone day, finally, I asked him
I'm like Trent, why don't youwant to come?
Bro, Tell me the truth.
I'm not going to judge you, I'mnot going to be mad at you.
(01:03):
Why don't you want to show up?
And I kid you not, he looked mein my eyes and he told me,
straight face, because I don'twant to be away from Fortnite
for that long Dead, seriousbrother, like 100%.
You can ask Christine, I am notmaking this story up.
And it was really sad, though,honestly, because the more I
learned, this kid really had astruggle with this game.
(01:26):
In fact, I heard from hisgrandma at one point that he
went and took her credit cardand ran up about an $800 bill on
V-Bucks.
And this is a low income.
Like $800 is like half a year,like this is bad.
And so you know, we go to campand we have a good time and God
moves and it's an incredibleexperience.
But when we get back, I stillhad this sadness for this kid,
(01:48):
trent, because ultimately hewould start coming to church
less and less and less and thenultimately he didn't come at all
and the reality was he missedout on something incredibly
valuable God working in his lifeat camp.
His sister went, god did somecool things in her life.
He missed out on somethingincredibly value because he was
giving his life to somethingthat had no real value.
(02:11):
Why do I tell you that storytonight?
Because, if we're honest,that's a lot of our biggest fear
.
Not Fortnite addiction, notthat, but giving our life to
something that doesn't matter,wasting our life.
Getting to the end of our life,we're laying on our deathbed
looking back over everythingwe've done, everything we've
spent time and energy and moneyon, and thinking I spent it all
(02:32):
on nothing.
It was a waste.
I want to have a do-over.
It was all pointless andthankfully.
How to avoid that is our topictonight, because we have been
walking through the Sermon onthe Mount in this whole year,
actually, or this whole spring,and really, if you have your
Bible, let's go ahead and flipover to Matthew, chapter 6,
(02:53):
starting in verse 19.
What the Sermon on the Mount isif maybe this is your first
Wednesday or you've been comingrecently it's a collection of
Jesus's teaching about what itlooks like to live in the
kingdom of God.
To put it more simply, what itlooks like to follow him.
And so we've gone through lotsof different topics, and now
we're on this idea and Jesus isgoing to teach us about what is
truly worth giving our lives to,so that we can live a life that
(03:17):
matters and not look back on itone day like it was completely
pointless.
So let's jump in Matthew,chapter 6, starting verse 19.
This is what Sam read earlierDo not store up for yourselves
treasures on earth where mothsand vermin destroy and where
thieves break in and steal.
Will you pray with me for justone moment?
Everybody, heads bowed, eyesclosed.
(03:37):
Will you just take a moment topray for yourself, pray for your
heart, for your mind, that Godwould remove any distractions
and he would help you to seeclearly whatever it is he has
for you through his word tonight.
And then would you spend amoment to pray for me, that I
(04:00):
would not try to preach withwise words or anything of that
sort, but through the power ofthe Holy Spirit, and that this
would be try to preach with wisewords or anything of that sort,
but through the power of theHoly Spirit, and that this would
be helpful to you.
Lord, we thank you for yourword tonight and we pray that,
as we just spend time in it,that it would get into us, that
it would shape us and that wewould leave here changed.
Father, we love you and praiseyou.
We pray these things in Jesus'name.
(04:21):
Everybody said amen, thank you.
So, love you and praise you,pray these things in Jesus' name
.
And everybody said amen, thankyou.
So Jesus starts by telling hisfollowers what not to do.
Right, don't store up treasureson earth.
Well, that poses the question.
Well, what does he mean bytreasures on earth?
Well, the easy understandingwould be like money and
possessions, and that is the waythat this text is taught most
of the time, and I think that'swhat Jesus is getting at here.
(04:43):
But I think there's anotherlevel to this where he's not
just talking about money orstuff specifically, but the
things of this world in general,and you'll see that a little
bit later in the text and howthe language is and all that
sort of stuff.
But really he's not justgetting at stuff, right, having
to have the nicest and newestthings.
You need a set of Lulu for eachday of the week, the newest
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phone, the nicest car.
But treasures of the worldcould also be status and
influence.
You want to be somebody, youwant to be in that popular
social circle.
You want to be at that populartable.
You want to get invited to thepopular parties.
You want to be a trendsetter,have people follow you, be an
influencer, go viral, get theclicks, the likes, the shares,
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or maybe it's image.
You want to be the hot one, thefunny one, the one with the six
pack.
You want people to like you,think you're awesome, that you
have it all together, that youhave the good life, or it could
be success.
You want to make the team getthe offers, get some stars, or
maybe it's not athletics.
You want to make the team getthe offers, get some stars, or
maybe it's not athletics.
You want to get the grades.
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You want to get the GPA so thatyou can get the class ranks,
you can get the scholarships,you can get in the right school,
get in the right program, getsome letters by your name, have
a nice little house with whitepicket fence, retirement home in
30A Gulf Shores.
You want to succeed in life.
Or maybe it's a relationshipseed in life, or maybe it's a
relationship.
You want to find that personwho will complete you, who will
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make you whole.
Or maybe, if you're honest,it's not so much about finding
that person, as it is about notbeing single.
Right that you want to betalking with five people at once
.
Have all the guys and girls onsnap because, if you're honest
with yourself, it makes you feelwanted and that's something
that you crave deeply.
And I could go on and on and onand on about all the different
treasures and things that theworld has to offer.
But the point is that thetemptation to chase after all
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that stuff is real.
We all probably heard that listand could say, hey, this is me,
this is me, this is where I'mat.
So ask yourself, where are youwhen it comes to earthly
treasures, things of this world,the pride of life, the lust of
the eyes, lust of the flesh,those things that Scripture
calls these worldly things.
What are you most prone to betempted to chase after?
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And I have to say this thephrase store up treasures is the
key thing here.
It's not saying that money isbad.
It's also not saying that youneed to go live in a monastery
somewhere and be a monk andnever interact with the world,
but it's talking about thishoarding.
And really the point here iswhen you set your entire life,
heart and mind on chasing thesethings.
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It's an intentional pursuit andJesus says it's a problem
because ultimately it's going tolet you down in the end.
He uses this analogy of mothand thieves and obviously you
know moth do not always destroyyour money that would be really
unfortunate and thieves do notalways break in and steal your
things.
But the point is that all ofthis stuff is temporary.
(07:39):
Success is forgotten.
Guys image will fade away.
The applause of this stuff istemporary.
Success is forgotten.
Guys image will fade away.
The applause of the crowd isfickle.
Those people you think like youright now are not always going
to like you.
Relationships end, someonealways has more money and nicer
things.
And the reality is, guys, whensomething is temporary, you
never truly own it, it's just arental.
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And when you set your heart onpursuing it, no matter how much
you try to get, you never quitegrasp it.
And not only do you not own it,but the truth is it owns you.
You have to keep chasing, keepstriving, keep putting forward
this false image to make peoplelike you.
It's always more and more andmore and never enough.
(08:24):
And then there's always thisundercurrent of anxiety where
you're like what if I'm notenough?
What if I can't keep up.
What if I can't earn enoughmoney, do enough things, be a
good enough person so thatpeople will like me?
And it just leaves you in thismiserable hamster wheel where
all of this pressure is on yourback and it's exhausting.
Some of you feel that heretonight.
(08:45):
I remember when I was in highschool the thing that I
desperately chased wasrelationships.
I desperately always wanted tobe dating or talking to someone,
and so I bounced fromrelationship to relationship,
thinking hey, maybe it's gonnafix this hole in my life that my
parents' divorce left andthat's a whole nother therapy
session for a whole nother day.
And so I bounced around fromrelationship to relationship.
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But I didn't realize thatreally all that was doing was
making me miserable, because itcame from the fact my heart and
my mind were set on datingsomeone.
I thought I needed arelationship to complete me and
to make me happy, and because Ithought that I needed it, I was
afraid to lose it.
And so I would get into thisrelationship and I'd have this
constant anxiety Like what ifthey leave?
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Like what if they lose feelings?
What if they don't care aboutme anymore?
And that anxiety would thenlead to this kind of bitter
jealousy and possessiveness.
Where I've got to protectwhat's mine, I got to, nobody's
going to take this from me.
They're not going to encroachon my territory.
Where I've got to protectwhat's mine, nobody's going to
take this from me.
They're not going to encroachon my territory.
And the reality is that persondidn't owe me anything and they
definitely didn't belong to me.
And I'll side note on dating,like that's something that some
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people need to hear tonight.
But that jealousy, thatpossessiveness all came from me
chasing after this thing, makingit the center of my heart.
And the worst part is when Iwould self-sabotage a
relationship and ultimately itwould end.
Then I would like it was.
The sky was falling right.
I hated being single.
I thought my world was over.
I'd mope around, tell myself Iwas depressed, all just to
repeat the entire cycle nextmonth.
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What I was pursuing to findsatisfaction in my life was
actually giving me slavery.
Let me ask you, does that soundfamiliar for you tonight?
Because maybe for you it's notrelationships, but you can plug
in any earthly treasure intothat story and probably we've
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had some sort of experiencesimilar to that in our lives.
Because whatever earthlytreasure you set your heart and
your mind on, it's eventuallygoing to end you up in the same
exact spot.
Earthly treasure you set yourheart and your mind on, it's
eventually going to end you upin the same exact spot.
And many of you came in heretonight feeling the weight of
that slavery, of feeling likeyou have to perform, feeling
like you have to measure up,trying to chase something that
you never quite get, whetherit's the approval of people, the
(10:54):
approval of parents, theapproval of a relationship,
actual money, success, whateverall those things I just listed.
My offer to you tonight is thatyou can stop.
You can get off that hamsterwheel.
You can stop chasing thosethings that are killing you.
That well, that promises waterbut just keeps running dry.
That thing that promises youlife but keeps giving you death.
(11:14):
Jesus is offering you somethingbetter, a different way of life,
free from the striving, freefrom the worry, free from the
anxiety.
So what is it?
Well, thankfully, that's wherewe go in verse 20.
Let's jump back into the text,but store up for yourself
treasures in heaven where mothsand vermin do not destroy and
where thieves do not break inand steal.
(11:35):
For where your treasure isthere, your heart will be also,
and so the alternative tostoring up earthly treasures is
to store up heavenly treasures,which again poses the question
what in the world is he talkingabout when he says heavenly
treasures?
Well, scripture is never reallyspecific about what these
things are, but scripture isclear that when we get to heaven
one day, we will receiverewards, eternal rewards, and I
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don't know what it's going to bespecifically, but it sounds
pretty sick Like I'm in, likethat's something to be desired.
But the emphasis that Jesus hashere is not so much on the what
the reward is, but how you getit.
He's telling you what to do,not to hey, fixate on this thing
, but instead here's how youearn, or this is what you should
do.
You should try to store upthese treasures in heaven.
(12:18):
And so then the question iswell then, how do I store up
treasures in heaven?
And when we hear that question,a lot of us, our answer is well,
I've got to do great things forGod.
Like I need to go like cornerevangelism, lead a bunch of
people to the Lord.
I need to go like start anorphanage in Africa.
Like I need to do amazingthings Like Jesus is going to.
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We're going to get to heavenone day and we're going to stand
before him and he's going toread off like the stat sheet you
know the stat sheets you see atthe end of video games.
It's like, uh, three people ledto Christ, five mission trips
attended, that's pretty good.
Two Bible studies led, uh, 25sermons slept through and 10
cups of water spilled duringworship and you're going to get
like a midsize house, like babyhouse.
You know, three max.
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And we think that it's all about.
We need to do theseextraordinary things because in
our culture a lot of times wemeasure success by celebrity,
right that we think the peoplewith the platform, the podcast,
those are the ones being used byGod.
If they're famous, then Godlikes them a whole lot, like
they're the ones that reallyhave an impact.
What can I do?
And who knows those?
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You know well-known pastors,well-known ministries.
Maybe they are doing things forthe Lord.
That's not my place to judge.
Depending on your motive, it'snot necessarily bad to want to
do great things for God, butthat's not the answer that the
Bible gives when it comes tostoring up treasures in heaven.
Look at Colossians 3, 23-24.
Whatever you do, work heartilyas for the Lord and not for men,
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knowing that from the Lord youwill receive inheritance as your
reward.
You are serving the Lord Christ.
So Paul doesn't say build anorphanage or go be a foreign
missionary Again not that he'snot saying those things, but
that's not the emphasis here.
What Paul says is that whateveryou do, do it for the Lord and
you will receive a reward.
Paul is saying that your rewardin heaven doesn't necessarily
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come from being extraordinary.
It comes from being faithful.
What did you do with what youhad, whatever that might be?
So Christine and I went on acruise this last week and we had
a chance to unplug and unwindand we didn't get the internet
package, and so we had twosailing days at the end and I
was trying to do some readingand I picked up this book that I
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had never really heard aboutuntil I saw it on Instagram a
while back and so bought it,started reading it.
It was really really good, andin it this author is writing
about how he went to thisministry conference.
It's like this for pastors andchurch leaders, and he goes and
they're doing that networkingthing where they're all talking
to each other and getting phonenumbers or whatever, and he asks
, because this conversationcomes up, that they start
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talking about legacy you knowI'm going to leave a legacy like
this or I'm going to leave alegacy like that and he asks
well, how do you measure legacy?
And the answers that they allgave him were the things you
normally hear from somebusinessman or if you've ever
seen those, like motivationalself-help videos on Instagram or
TikTok.
Like you know, you've got tohave buy-in and numbers and
longevity and cultural impact.
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And it caused this author hewrites, it caused him to ask the
question, because he's hearingthese answers in a church
setting.
Like these are pastors.
This is not the answer youwould think they would give.
And he asks like is everybodyjust waiting to make it big?
Like is everybody just waitingto become the next big thing?
And in a way, it created adesire in him to chase this sort
of celebrity.
That success in life was reallyonly measured like box office
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numbers, by spectators andstatus.
And so he finally talks.
When he's talking about his ownpersonal testimony, he comes to
this conclusion when he reallyrealized okay, I think I have
this whole thing wrong.
And so I'm actually going toread this quote.
I've edited a little bitbecause it's a you know it's a
book so it doesn't really workwell to read it, but it'll also
(15:54):
be on the screen so that you canfollow along with it, because
it's a little bit long.
But he says this the myth ofthe ordinary Christian is
basically gone.
Everybody's trying to besomething so that they can be
someone.
It feels like the kingdom isbuilt on hype and followers like
your walk with God only countsif people are watching.
(16:15):
Main character syndrome, it'sthat quiet belief that if we
really give our lives to Jesusit should lead to attention,
recognition or at least a littleclout.
And if it doesn't, if there'sno stage, no spotlight, no one
cheering us on, then we start towonder am I even doing this
right?
But that's not how it works.
We're not the main character inthe story of life, and that's
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an important lesson.
And so he continues to developthis train of thought over a few
chapters and then he reachesreally this big conclusion at
the end.
And again, I've edited thisquote.
If you really want to read it,go back and read the original
one, because it doesn't do itjustice.
But he says this we're told thatsuccess and fame and a big
platform will satisfy us that ifenough people see and celebrate
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us, we'll finally feel lovedand all of our pain will
disappear.
But the truth is very different.
Most people who've ever livedare forgotten.
Maybe we'll be remembered byour kids or our grandkids, but
eventually even our stories fade, and that sounds depressing.
But there's a twist.
Jesus said those who lose theirlives will find them, and I
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think he meant this.
When we live how we were madeto live, even if it costs us
everything, we find real life.
And so here's the invitation Letgo of the need to be famous or
noticed.
Stop chasing the lie that youhave to be extraordinary.
Instead, pay attention to thelife that's right in front of
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you your family, your school,your church, your neighborhood.
People don't need a celebrity.
They need you right where youare.
God wants to work through youreveryday life, your place, your
story, to show the world who heis.
Real change doesn't come throughinfluencers, programs or
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popularity.
It comes through ordinarypeople doing faithful, local
work.
Most revivals, they don't starton a stage.
They start in secret places, inliving rooms, classrooms and
quiet conversations.
So that's a lot.
Let me get to the point.
How do you store up treasuresin heaven?
Be faithful.
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To put it another way give theordinary parts of your life to
God, not just the Wednesday, notjust the Sunday, not just the
five-second interview after agame when you win.
Every single part, every momentof every day is an opportunity
to be used by God in the livesof people around you.
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So, with strangers, listen tothem, hear their story.
Don't just pass by, don't comewith your agenda of how I'm
going to perform this rehearsedthing.
Hear their story.
How is the gospel good news tothem?
Are they dealing with asickness?
Talk about how Jesus offershealing, and not just physical,
spiritual, true healing.
Are they poor?
Talk about how Jesus says that,hey, true healing.
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Are they poor?
Talk about how Jesus says that,hey, contentment and
satisfaction and fulfillment inlife has nothing to do with real
wealth.
How is the gospel good news forthem?
In your school guys?
This is for all of you.
Let your life be an example.
Be different and not different,weird, different, bad, different
, good.
Look different than everybodyelse and that's gonna put you on
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the outside looking in good.
That's the history of thechurch.
That's Christianity.
That's what it means.
Jesus got killed for it.
Invite others into your Jesuscommunity.
Invite them to church, invitethem to your small group.
Guys, do you realize thathealthy relationships are one of
the most impactful things thatwe can offer as Christians?
How many of your friends atschool are miserable because
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they have nobody they think theycan trust or talk to or who
cares about them?
You can show them somethingelse At work or in your activity
or extracurricular, in yoursport.
Work harder than anybody else.
Just do a good job, and not togain attention or not to climb
the ladder, not to benefityourself, but just to benefit
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others, to bless other people.
Pick up people's shifts.
Help people understandsomething when they're missing.
Take ownership when you mess upIn your family.
Strive to be the most loving,encouraging, generous person
that your family has ever met.
You're not always going to beperfect, but aim for it, strive
for it, serve them, buildbridges.
If you have a family thatdoesn't believe, they're going
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to be looking for every littleinconsistency and everything
that you preach.
But don't do to try and pickand poke and prod.
And again, you're not going tobe perfect, but how do you
respond when you aren't Right?
Show them that what you believeis real and not just lip
service.
Show them that what you believeis real and not just lip
service, every day, in and out.
Ultimately, let the example ofyour life and the connection
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that you have with people aroundyou open the door to share the
gospel.
Evangelizing, sharing your faith, is so much more than just
rehearsing a 25-second speech.
It's building bridges, it'sgetting to know people.
That's what opens the door.
And so if you do that, you willhave treasure in heaven.
And I don't know exactly whatthat looks like, but it's
treasure that won't fade, itwon't let you down, it won't
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turn on you, it won't break upwith you and it certainly won't
enslave you.
It's real treasure.
And so, in summary, ask yourselfwhere are you storing your
treasure?
Where's your heart?
Because in Jesus, in verse 21,says are you storing your
treasure?
Where's your heart?
Because in Jesus, in verse 21,says for where your treasure is
there, your heart will be also.
And at the end of this passageyou'll notice I've kind of
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skipped over two big chunks oftext and it's really two images
that Jesus has used to hammerhis point home and we don't have
time to cover all of it, butthe first one's about a lamp and
he says that our eye is like alamp for our body, and what he's
really talking about is muchmore than eyesight.
He's talking about your heart,your focus, your attitude, what
you're living for, and he'ssaying if those things are off,
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then everything else about yourlife is going to be off.
What you shape your or what youset your heart on will shape
your life and your character.
You set your heart on God andyou get life.
You set your heart on the worldand you get death.
And at the end he says that youcan't serve both God and money,
and that word for money is theword mammon and it talks about
possessions, wealth.
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It's much more than just money.
It's the things of the worldreally like what we've been
talking about.
He says you can't serve both ofthem.
You got to pick one to set yourheart on, and so you see he's
getting this point home.
At the end of the day, it allboils down to one question when
is your heart?
Be honest with yourself.
When you walked in here tonight, where is your heart?
What are you chasing?
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Is it the world or the God whomade it?
Because the good news for youtonight if you walked in here
exhausted from chasingeverything that the world has to
offer, just for it to leave youdisappointed or feeling like
your life has been spent onmeaningless, just pointlessness,
junk.
Jesus has something better.
Hear me, I'm not lying to you.
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I'm not selling you snake oil.
That satisfaction, thatfulfillment that you've been
running to guys or money orstatus or image to try and give
you, it's actually found inJesus, the one you were made to
know, the one you were made tohave a relationship with.
He is the treasure above alltreasures.
He gives your life meaning, hegives you purpose.
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He died so that he could makeyou his.
That on the cross, he becameour sin.
God punished him for our sins,so that Jesus doesn't just sweep
our sin under the rug to forgetabout it.
No, it was looked in the faceand all of its filth and all of
its grossness and all of itsmessiness.
And he says I forgive youbecause I choose you so that you
would become his child.
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And if you become his child,you're not getting kicked out of
the family.
If you're truly in the faith,then it's no longer you trying
to hold on to Jesus, it's Jesusholding on to you.
And so when we talk about atreasure that won't rust, a
treasure that won't fade.
We're talking about Jesus, theoffer that you can have him.
Nobody can take you away fromhim.
(24:00):
No suffering, no death, notrials.
Nothing you can go through inthis life can put a dent on the
fact that the God of theuniverse loves you and calls you
his kid.
And it all starts with makingthe decision to follow him.
Saying Jesus, I'm done tryingto run my own life.
I'm done trying to make my owndecisions.
I'm done chasing aftereverything that this world has
to offer, because it's left menothing but dark and depressed
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and hurt and broken.
I want you, and if you need tomake that decision tonight, I
would encourage you to find aleader.
After this, before we go tosmall groups, find me.
I usually hang around the stageup front for a little bit to
talk afterwards, because laterin Matthew, jesus himself says
verse 25, for whoever wants tosave their life will lose it,
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but whoever loses their life forme will find it.
So don't waste your lifechasing things that won't last.
Give it to the one who offersyou life to the fullest, the one
who gave his life for you.
We pray with me.
A little bit about me .
You might know this, you mightnot, but before I was the youth
pastor here, I was the youthpastor at a little church in
Ferris, texas, called CommunityBaptist Church, cbc.
It's kind of like the CBC herein San Antonio, except there are
about 50 people and the entirebuilding was about half this
size.
So you know, basically the same.
But you know, we were gearingup for camp.
(00:22):
This was the last summer beforeI would ultimately come down
here and, man, this was like thebiggest camp ever.
Like we were pushing numbers,like we had 20 kids signed up
which I joke, but in realitylike that was huge for us and
that was a huge blessing and wewere really excited about what
God was going to do.
Some of these kids had barelyever even been to church before,
and so we were so excited.
(00:43):
But there was this one kid thatI was trying to get to show up
and I just couldn't get him toshow up.
His name was Trent and Ipastored him, I pastored him, I
bugged him, I bugged him andjust time after time he's like
no, he'd come up with an excuse,another excuse, like he did not
want to come to camp, and soone day, finally, I asked him
I'm like Trent, why don't youwant to come?
Bro, Tell me the truth.
I'm not going to judge you, I'mnot going to be mad at you.
(01:03):
Why don't you want to show up?
And I kid you not, he looked mein my eyes and he told me,
straight face, because I don'twant to be away from Fortnite
for that long Dead, seriousbrother, like 100%.
You can ask Christine, I am notmaking this story up.
And it was really sad, though,honestly, because the more I
learned, this kid really had astruggle with this game.
(01:26):
In fact, I heard from hisgrandma at one point that he
went and took her credit cardand ran up about an $800 bill on
V-Bucks.
And this is a low income.
Like $800 is like half a year,like this is bad.
And so you know, we go to campand we have a good time and God
moves and it's an incredibleexperience.
But when we get back, I stillhad this sadness for this kid,
(01:48):
trent, because ultimately hewould start coming to church
less and less and less and thenultimately he didn't come at all
and the reality was he missedout on something incredibly
valuable God working in his lifeat camp.
His sister went, god did somecool things in her life.
He missed out on somethingincredibly value because he was
giving his life to somethingthat had no real value.
(02:11):
Why do I tell you that storytonight?
Because, if we're honest,that's a lot of our biggest fear
.
Not Fortnite addiction, notthat, but giving our life to
something that doesn't matter,wasting our life.
Getting to the end of our life,we're laying on our deathbed
looking back over everythingwe've done, everything we've
spent time and energy and moneyon, and thinking I spent it all
(02:32):
on nothing.
It was a waste.
I want to have a do-over.
It was all pointless andthankfully.
How to avoid that is our topictonight, because we have been
walking through the Sermon onthe Mount in this whole year,
actually, or this whole spring,and really, if you have your
Bible, let's go ahead and flipover to Matthew, chapter 6,
(02:53):
starting in verse 19.
What the Sermon on the Mount isif maybe this is your first
Wednesday or you've been comingrecently it's a collection of
Jesus's teaching about what itlooks like to live in the
kingdom of God.
To put it more simply, what itlooks like to follow him.
And so we've gone through lotsof different topics, and now
we're on this idea and Jesus isgoing to teach us about what is
truly worth giving our lives to,so that we can live a life that
(03:17):
matters and not look back on itone day like it was completely
pointless.
So let's jump in Matthew,chapter 6, starting verse 19.
This is what Sam read earlierDo not store up for yourselves
treasures on earth where mothsand vermin destroy and where
thieves break in and steal.
Will you pray with me for justone moment?
Everybody, heads bowed, eyesclosed.
(03:37):
Will you just take a moment topray for yourself, pray for your
heart, for your mind, that Godwould remove any distractions
and he would help you to seeclearly whatever it is he has
for you through his word tonight.
And then would you spend amoment to pray for me, that I
(04:00):
would not try to preach withwise words or anything of that
sort, but through the power ofthe Holy Spirit, and that this
would be try to preach with wisewords or anything of that sort,
but through the power of theHoly Spirit, and that this would
be helpful to you.
Lord, we thank you for yourword tonight and we pray that,
as we just spend time in it,that it would get into us, that
it would shape us and that wewould leave here changed.
Father, we love you and praiseyou.
We pray these things in Jesus'name.
(04:21):
Everybody said amen, thank you.
So, love you and praise you,pray these things in Jesus' name
.
And everybody said amen, thankyou.
So Jesus starts by telling hisfollowers what not to do.
Right, don't store up treasureson earth.
Well, that poses the question.
Well, what does he mean bytreasures on earth?
Well, the easy understandingwould be like money and
possessions, and that is the waythat this text is taught most
of the time, and I think that'swhat Jesus is getting at here.
(04:43):
But I think there's anotherlevel to this where he's not
just talking about money orstuff specifically, but the
things of this world in general,and you'll see that a little
bit later in the text and howthe language is and all that
sort of stuff.
But really he's not justgetting at stuff, right, having
to have the nicest and newestthings.
You need a set of Lulu for eachday of the week, the newest
(05:04):
phone, the nicest car.
But treasures of the worldcould also be status and
influence.
You want to be somebody, youwant to be in that popular
social circle.
You want to be at that populartable.
You want to get invited to thepopular parties.
You want to be a trendsetter,have people follow you, be an
influencer, go viral, get theclicks, the likes, the shares,
(05:27):
or maybe it's image.
You want to be the hot one, thefunny one, the one with the six
pack.
You want people to like you,think you're awesome, that you
have it all together, that youhave the good life, or it could
be success.
You want to make the team getthe offers, get some stars, or
maybe it's not athletics.
You want to make the team getthe offers, get some stars, or
maybe it's not athletics.
You want to get the grades.
(05:47):
You want to get the GPA so thatyou can get the class ranks,
you can get the scholarships,you can get in the right school,
get in the right program, getsome letters by your name, have
a nice little house with whitepicket fence, retirement home in
30A Gulf Shores.
You want to succeed in life.
Or maybe it's a relationshipseed in life, or maybe it's a
relationship.
You want to find that personwho will complete you, who will
(06:15):
make you whole.
Or maybe, if you're honest,it's not so much about finding
that person, as it is about notbeing single.
Right that you want to betalking with five people at once
.
Have all the guys and girls onsnap because, if you're honest
with yourself, it makes you feelwanted and that's something
that you crave deeply.
And I could go on and on and onand on about all the different
treasures and things that theworld has to offer.
But the point is that thetemptation to chase after all
(06:36):
that stuff is real.
We all probably heard that listand could say, hey, this is me,
this is me, this is where I'mat.
So ask yourself, where are youwhen it comes to earthly
treasures, things of this world,the pride of life, the lust of
the eyes, lust of the flesh,those things that Scripture
calls these worldly things.
What are you most prone to betempted to chase after?
(06:57):
And I have to say this thephrase store up treasures is the
key thing here.
It's not saying that money isbad.
It's also not saying that youneed to go live in a monastery
somewhere and be a monk andnever interact with the world,
but it's talking about thishoarding.
And really the point here iswhen you set your entire life,
heart and mind on chasing thesethings.
(07:19):
It's an intentional pursuit andJesus says it's a problem
because ultimately it's going tolet you down in the end.
He uses this analogy of mothand thieves and obviously you
know moth do not always destroyyour money that would be really
unfortunate and thieves do notalways break in and steal your
things.
But the point is that all ofthis stuff is temporary.
(07:39):
Success is forgotten.
Guys image will fade away.
The applause of this stuff istemporary.
Success is forgotten.
Guys image will fade away.
The applause of the crowd isfickle.
Those people you think like youright now are not always going
to like you.
Relationships end, someonealways has more money and nicer
things.
And the reality is, guys, whensomething is temporary, you
never truly own it, it's just arental.
(08:03):
And when you set your heart onpursuing it, no matter how much
you try to get, you never quitegrasp it.
And not only do you not own it,but the truth is it owns you.
You have to keep chasing, keepstriving, keep putting forward
this false image to make peoplelike you.
It's always more and more andmore and never enough.
(08:24):
And then there's always thisundercurrent of anxiety where
you're like what if I'm notenough?
What if I can't keep up.
What if I can't earn enoughmoney, do enough things, be a
good enough person so thatpeople will like me?
And it just leaves you in thismiserable hamster wheel where
all of this pressure is on yourback and it's exhausting.
Some of you feel that heretonight.
(08:45):
I remember when I was in highschool the thing that I
desperately chased wasrelationships.
I desperately always wanted tobe dating or talking to someone,
and so I bounced fromrelationship to relationship,
thinking hey, maybe it's gonnafix this hole in my life that my
parents' divorce left andthat's a whole nother therapy
session for a whole nother day.
And so I bounced around fromrelationship to relationship.
(09:07):
But I didn't realize thatreally all that was doing was
making me miserable, because itcame from the fact my heart and
my mind were set on datingsomeone.
I thought I needed arelationship to complete me and
to make me happy, and because Ithought that I needed it, I was
afraid to lose it.
And so I would get into thisrelationship and I'd have this
constant anxiety Like what ifthey leave?
(09:28):
Like what if they lose feelings?
What if they don't care aboutme anymore?
And that anxiety would thenlead to this kind of bitter
jealousy and possessiveness.
Where I've got to protectwhat's mine, I got to, nobody's
going to take this from me.
They're not going to encroachon my territory.
Where I've got to protectwhat's mine, nobody's going to
take this from me.
They're not going to encroachon my territory.
And the reality is that persondidn't owe me anything and they
definitely didn't belong to me.
And I'll side note on dating,like that's something that some
(09:51):
people need to hear tonight.
But that jealousy, thatpossessiveness all came from me
chasing after this thing, makingit the center of my heart.
And the worst part is when Iwould self-sabotage a
relationship and ultimately itwould end.
Then I would like it was.
The sky was falling right.
I hated being single.
I thought my world was over.
I'd mope around, tell myself Iwas depressed, all just to
repeat the entire cycle nextmonth.
(10:12):
What I was pursuing to findsatisfaction in my life was
actually giving me slavery.
Let me ask you, does that soundfamiliar for you tonight?
Because maybe for you it's notrelationships, but you can plug
in any earthly treasure intothat story and probably we've
(10:33):
had some sort of experiencesimilar to that in our lives.
Because whatever earthlytreasure you set your heart and
your mind on, it's eventuallygoing to end you up in the same
exact spot.
Earthly treasure you set yourheart and your mind on, it's
eventually going to end you upin the same exact spot.
And many of you came in heretonight feeling the weight of
that slavery, of feeling likeyou have to perform, feeling
like you have to measure up,trying to chase something that
you never quite get, whetherit's the approval of people, the
(10:54):
approval of parents, theapproval of a relationship,
actual money, success, whateverall those things I just listed.
My offer to you tonight is thatyou can stop.
You can get off that hamsterwheel.
You can stop chasing thosethings that are killing you.
That well, that promises waterbut just keeps running dry.
That thing that promises youlife but keeps giving you death.
(11:14):
Jesus is offering you somethingbetter, a different way of life,
free from the striving, freefrom the worry, free from the
anxiety.
So what is it?
Well, thankfully, that's wherewe go in verse 20.
Let's jump back into the text,but store up for yourself
treasures in heaven where mothsand vermin do not destroy and
where thieves do not break inand steal.
(11:35):
For where your treasure isthere, your heart will be also,
and so the alternative tostoring up earthly treasures is
to store up heavenly treasures,which again poses the question
what in the world is he talkingabout when he says heavenly
treasures?
Well, scripture is never reallyspecific about what these
things are, but scripture isclear that when we get to heaven
one day, we will receiverewards, eternal rewards, and I
(11:58):
don't know what it's going to bespecifically, but it sounds
pretty sick Like I'm in, likethat's something to be desired.
But the emphasis that Jesus hashere is not so much on the what
the reward is, but how you getit.
He's telling you what to do,not to hey, fixate on this thing
, but instead here's how youearn, or this is what you should
do.
You should try to store upthese treasures in heaven.
(12:18):
And so then the question iswell then, how do I store up
treasures in heaven?
And when we hear that question,a lot of us, our answer is well,
I've got to do great things forGod.
Like I need to go like cornerevangelism, lead a bunch of
people to the Lord.
I need to go like start anorphanage in Africa.
Like I need to do amazingthings Like Jesus is going to.
(12:39):
We're going to get to heavenone day and we're going to stand
before him and he's going toread off like the stat sheet you
know the stat sheets you see atthe end of video games.
It's like, uh, three people ledto Christ, five mission trips
attended, that's pretty good.
Two Bible studies led, uh, 25sermons slept through and 10
cups of water spilled duringworship and you're going to get
like a midsize house, like babyhouse.
You know, three max.
(12:59):
And we think that it's all about.
We need to do theseextraordinary things because in
our culture a lot of times wemeasure success by celebrity,
right that we think the peoplewith the platform, the podcast,
those are the ones being used byGod.
If they're famous, then Godlikes them a whole lot, like
they're the ones that reallyhave an impact.
What can I do?
And who knows those?
(13:21):
You know well-known pastors,well-known ministries.
Maybe they are doing things forthe Lord.
That's not my place to judge.
Depending on your motive, it'snot necessarily bad to want to
do great things for God, butthat's not the answer that the
Bible gives when it comes tostoring up treasures in heaven.
Look at Colossians 3, 23-24.
Whatever you do, work heartilyas for the Lord and not for men,
(13:43):
knowing that from the Lord youwill receive inheritance as your
reward.
You are serving the Lord Christ.
So Paul doesn't say build anorphanage or go be a foreign
missionary Again not that he'snot saying those things, but
that's not the emphasis here.
What Paul says is that whateveryou do, do it for the Lord and
you will receive a reward.
Paul is saying that your rewardin heaven doesn't necessarily
(14:05):
come from being extraordinary.
It comes from being faithful.
What did you do with what youhad, whatever that might be?
So Christine and I went on acruise this last week and we had
a chance to unplug and unwindand we didn't get the internet
package, and so we had twosailing days at the end and I
was trying to do some readingand I picked up this book that I
(14:27):
had never really heard aboutuntil I saw it on Instagram a
while back and so bought it,started reading it.
It was really really good, andin it this author is writing
about how he went to thisministry conference.
It's like this for pastors andchurch leaders, and he goes and
they're doing that networkingthing where they're all talking
to each other and getting phonenumbers or whatever, and he asks
, because this conversationcomes up, that they start
(14:48):
talking about legacy you knowI'm going to leave a legacy like
this or I'm going to leave alegacy like that and he asks
well, how do you measure legacy?
And the answers that they allgave him were the things you
normally hear from somebusinessman or if you've ever
seen those, like motivationalself-help videos on Instagram or
TikTok.
Like you know, you've got tohave buy-in and numbers and
longevity and cultural impact.
(15:09):
And it caused this author hewrites, it caused him to ask the
question, because he's hearingthese answers in a church
setting.
Like these are pastors.
This is not the answer youwould think they would give.
And he asks like is everybodyjust waiting to make it big?
Like is everybody just waitingto become the next big thing?
And in a way, it created adesire in him to chase this sort
of celebrity.
That success in life was reallyonly measured like box office
(15:33):
numbers, by spectators andstatus.
And so he finally talks.
When he's talking about his ownpersonal testimony, he comes to
this conclusion when he reallyrealized okay, I think I have
this whole thing wrong.
And so I'm actually going toread this quote.
I've edited a little bitbecause it's a you know it's a
book so it doesn't really workwell to read it, but it'll also
(15:54):
be on the screen so that you canfollow along with it, because
it's a little bit long.
But he says this the myth ofthe ordinary Christian is
basically gone.
Everybody's trying to besomething so that they can be
someone.
It feels like the kingdom isbuilt on hype and followers like
your walk with God only countsif people are watching.
(16:15):
Main character syndrome, it'sthat quiet belief that if we
really give our lives to Jesusit should lead to attention,
recognition or at least a littleclout.
And if it doesn't, if there'sno stage, no spotlight, no one
cheering us on, then we start towonder am I even doing this
right?
But that's not how it works.
We're not the main character inthe story of life, and that's
(16:37):
an important lesson.
And so he continues to developthis train of thought over a few
chapters and then he reachesreally this big conclusion at
the end.
And again, I've edited thisquote.
If you really want to read it,go back and read the original
one, because it doesn't do itjustice.
But he says this we're told thatsuccess and fame and a big
platform will satisfy us that ifenough people see and celebrate
(17:00):
us, we'll finally feel lovedand all of our pain will
disappear.
But the truth is very different.
Most people who've ever livedare forgotten.
Maybe we'll be remembered byour kids or our grandkids, but
eventually even our stories fade, and that sounds depressing.
But there's a twist.
Jesus said those who lose theirlives will find them, and I
(17:22):
think he meant this.
When we live how we were madeto live, even if it costs us
everything, we find real life.
And so here's the invitation Letgo of the need to be famous or
noticed.
Stop chasing the lie that youhave to be extraordinary.
Instead, pay attention to thelife that's right in front of
(17:43):
you your family, your school,your church, your neighborhood.
People don't need a celebrity.
They need you right where youare.
God wants to work through youreveryday life, your place, your
story, to show the world who heis.
Real change doesn't come throughinfluencers, programs or
(18:05):
popularity.
It comes through ordinarypeople doing faithful, local
work.
Most revivals, they don't starton a stage.
They start in secret places, inliving rooms, classrooms and
quiet conversations.
So that's a lot.
Let me get to the point.
How do you store up treasuresin heaven?
Be faithful.
(18:25):
To put it another way give theordinary parts of your life to
God, not just the Wednesday, notjust the Sunday, not just the
five-second interview after agame when you win.
Every single part, every momentof every day is an opportunity
to be used by God in the livesof people around you.
(18:46):
So, with strangers, listen tothem, hear their story.
Don't just pass by, don't comewith your agenda of how I'm
going to perform this rehearsedthing.
Hear their story.
How is the gospel good news tothem?
Are they dealing with asickness?
Talk about how Jesus offershealing, and not just physical,
spiritual, true healing.
Are they poor?
Talk about how Jesus says that,hey, true healing.
(19:07):
Are they poor?
Talk about how Jesus says that,hey, contentment and
satisfaction and fulfillment inlife has nothing to do with real
wealth.
How is the gospel good news forthem?
In your school guys?
This is for all of you.
Let your life be an example.
Be different and not different,weird, different, bad, different
, good.
Look different than everybodyelse and that's gonna put you on
(19:28):
the outside looking in good.
That's the history of thechurch.
That's Christianity.
That's what it means.
Jesus got killed for it.
Invite others into your Jesuscommunity.
Invite them to church, invitethem to your small group.
Guys, do you realize thathealthy relationships are one of
the most impactful things thatwe can offer as Christians?
How many of your friends atschool are miserable because
(19:49):
they have nobody they think theycan trust or talk to or who
cares about them?
You can show them somethingelse At work or in your activity
or extracurricular, in yoursport.
Work harder than anybody else.
Just do a good job, and not togain attention or not to climb
the ladder, not to benefityourself, but just to benefit
(20:10):
others, to bless other people.
Pick up people's shifts.
Help people understandsomething when they're missing.
Take ownership when you mess upIn your family.
Strive to be the most loving,encouraging, generous person
that your family has ever met.
You're not always going to beperfect, but aim for it, strive
for it, serve them, buildbridges.
If you have a family thatdoesn't believe, they're going
(20:32):
to be looking for every littleinconsistency and everything
that you preach.
But don't do to try and pickand poke and prod.
And again, you're not going tobe perfect, but how do you
respond when you aren't Right?
Show them that what you believeis real and not just lip
service.
Show them that what you believeis real and not just lip
service, every day, in and out.
Ultimately, let the example ofyour life and the connection
(20:54):
that you have with people aroundyou open the door to share the
gospel.
Evangelizing, sharing your faith, is so much more than just
rehearsing a 25-second speech.
It's building bridges, it'sgetting to know people.
That's what opens the door.
And so if you do that, you willhave treasure in heaven.
And I don't know exactly whatthat looks like, but it's
treasure that won't fade, itwon't let you down, it won't
(21:15):
turn on you, it won't break upwith you and it certainly won't
enslave you.
It's real treasure.
And so, in summary, ask yourselfwhere are you storing your
treasure?
Where's your heart?
Because in Jesus, in verse 21,says are you storing your
treasure?
Where's your heart?
Because in Jesus, in verse 21,says for where your treasure is
there, your heart will be also.
And at the end of this passageyou'll notice I've kind of
(21:35):
skipped over two big chunks oftext and it's really two images
that Jesus has used to hammerhis point home and we don't have
time to cover all of it, butthe first one's about a lamp and
he says that our eye is like alamp for our body, and what he's
really talking about is muchmore than eyesight.
He's talking about your heart,your focus, your attitude, what
you're living for, and he'ssaying if those things are off,
(21:57):
then everything else about yourlife is going to be off.
What you shape your or what youset your heart on will shape
your life and your character.
You set your heart on God andyou get life.
You set your heart on the worldand you get death.
And at the end he says that youcan't serve both God and money,
and that word for money is theword mammon and it talks about
possessions, wealth.
(22:17):
It's much more than just money.
It's the things of the worldreally like what we've been
talking about.
He says you can't serve both ofthem.
You got to pick one to set yourheart on, and so you see he's
getting this point home.
At the end of the day, it allboils down to one question when
is your heart?
Be honest with yourself.
When you walked in here tonight, where is your heart?
What are you chasing?
(22:38):
Is it the world or the God whomade it?
Because the good news for youtonight if you walked in here
exhausted from chasingeverything that the world has to
offer, just for it to leave youdisappointed or feeling like
your life has been spent onmeaningless, just pointlessness,
junk.
Jesus has something better.
Hear me, I'm not lying to you.
(22:58):
I'm not selling you snake oil.
That satisfaction, thatfulfillment that you've been
running to guys or money orstatus or image to try and give
you, it's actually found inJesus, the one you were made to
know, the one you were made tohave a relationship with.
He is the treasure above alltreasures.
He gives your life meaning, hegives you purpose.
(23:19):
He died so that he could makeyou his.
That on the cross, he becameour sin.
God punished him for our sins,so that Jesus doesn't just sweep
our sin under the rug to forgetabout it.
No, it was looked in the faceand all of its filth and all of
its grossness and all of itsmessiness.
And he says I forgive youbecause I choose you so that you
would become his child.
(23:40):
And if you become his child,you're not getting kicked out of
the family.
If you're truly in the faith,then it's no longer you trying
to hold on to Jesus, it's Jesusholding on to you.
And so when we talk about atreasure that won't rust, a
treasure that won't fade.
We're talking about Jesus, theoffer that you can have him.
Nobody can take you away fromhim.
(24:00):
No suffering, no death, notrials.
Nothing you can go through inthis life can put a dent on the
fact that the God of theuniverse loves you and calls you
his kid.
And it all starts with makingthe decision to follow him.
Saying Jesus, I'm done tryingto run my own life.
I'm done trying to make my owndecisions.
I'm done chasing aftereverything that this world has
to offer, because it's left menothing but dark and depressed
(24:23):
and hurt and broken.
I want you, and if you need tomake that decision tonight, I
would encourage you to find aleader.
After this, before we go tosmall groups, find me.
I usually hang around the stageup front for a little bit to
talk afterwards, because laterin Matthew, jesus himself says
verse 25, for whoever wants tosave their life will lose it,
(24:44):
but whoever loses their life forme will find it.
So don't waste your lifechasing things that won't last.
Give it to the one who offersyou life to the fullest, the one
who gave his life for you.
We pray with me.
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Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.