Exploring The Value Of Earthly Treasures Vs. Heavenly Treasures

Life Bible - Treasure Hunting
Intro: [00:00:00] Hey there. Thanks so much for checking out one of our messages here at Life Bible Fellowship Church. And we know there are two great ways you can connect with us. You can visit our website at LBF.church to learn more about all of our ministries and what we believe. And also, you can subscribe to us on YouTube to make sure that you don't miss one of our future videos.

Amelia Vargas: [00:00:19] Good morning. My name is Amelia Vargas. I am one of the boat captains with Exit83, and Rock The Boat is happening next week. And yeah, so we're hoping for some warmer weather and just keep the staff and the kids in your prayers, thank you. Today's reading is from Matthew 6:19-24, "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. 22“The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy, your whole body will be full of light. 23But if your eyes are unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness! 24“No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money." This is God's Word.

Kevin Garcia: [00:01:44] Well, good morning and welcome to Life Bible Fellowship Church, we're glad that you're here. My name is Kevin Garcia, I'm glad to be with you this morning. Brave of you to get through the weather, this harsh Southern California weather we had to make it to church today. Some of you are already a little bit nervous, I don't know if you noticed, but today's passage is about money, and Dan's conveniently out of the country, so that leaves it up to you guys are stuck with me today to talk about this.

Kevin Garcia: [00:02:15] So the first thing I just want to say, a misnomer to kind of put you at ease a little bit, as you look at this passage. And Jesus is not saying you can't have possessions, we all have possessions, whether you want to admit it or not, you all have possessions, right? We'd all be naked if we didn't have possessions. Right? So I'm glad that you have possessions, and you're probably glad that I have possessions, right? We all have possessions, this is not a thing of whether or not we're going to own things, we're going to own things. This is not also a passage about not having money, we all have money, right? You have some money. Most of you think you don't have enough money, but you have some money, you wouldn't be able to eat, you wouldn't have a roof over your head, and you wouldn't have certain things if you didn't have the means to exchange for those items. This is part of the world that we live in, and Jesus knows this. This is part of the reality of being here.

Kevin Garcia: [00:03:08] This is more a question about what should we invest in. Because Jesus is big on investing, in one of his parables, right, even Jesus brings up and says to one of the servants that he's given the bags of gold to. He says you should have put this money at least in the bank so it could have earned interest, right? So Jesus is aware of banks, he's aware of interest, and he's aware about how a financial system goes. This is not made to us to make us feel bad about having money or having possessions, it's what's the best thing that we can invest our time, energy, and resources in.

Kevin Garcia: [00:03:47] In 1972, an investor decided to buy a California chocolate company for $25 million, and in 1972 money, that's a lot of green, $25 million. And any investment that you take is a risk, some people will tell you 0% risk. No, every investment has a risk, right? Or at least an exchange, you're getting or giving up something to get something that you hope will be of greater value. So the investor bought this chocolate company for $25 million, fast forward to today, and the investment has earned him an 8,000% return of over $2 billion, the chocolate company was See's Candy, and the investor was Warren Buffett. And most of us, if we could get the insider track right on where to put our money, we would put our money there. And Jesus here is not telling you that you can't have money, but he's telling you that there are some things that you spend your money on that aren't worthwhile and aren't a good investment.

Kevin Garcia: [00:04:55] And the first one that he mentions is right here in verse 19, right? “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." And so for most of us, we look at the things that we spend, the things and the possessions that we have, and Jesus is saying, look, that's just not a good investment, that's not a good place to put your money.

Kevin Garcia: [00:05:35] I remember, look, I'll admit I've made some bad investments in my lifetime. Some of you may remember this is, we'll call it the late 90s, this thing came out called Beanie Babies. Now I'm a 20-something-year-old man, right, I have no interest in these, they were cute, cute little stuffed animals. Right? But we were all told that they would grow in value, right? So I would stand with my then girlfriend who is now my wife in a line outside of Hallmark in a shopping mall, I know these are all dating me, to get a Beanie Baby. And the plan, I think at least at one point, was to put them on this thing called eBay. I don't know, the Internet was new, it was scary. And that was the plan. Let me tell you, today, we didn't sell one Beanie Baby, and we have a lot of them, we have a lot of them. For some reason, I think we both bought one, I think she was just like, well, if this relationship doesn't work out, at least I got my own set. So we got duplicates of a lot of these Beanie Babies and we didn't sell any of them, and now they're just in a big tub and we're like, here, children, please play with these. And they look at them in disinterest, right, they're like, we don't even want to touch these. And it was a bad investment that I made.

Kevin Garcia: [00:07:00] But, you know, most of us, we just have to look at things earnestly and look at where we're putting money. So let's dive in and look at us as Americans here. The average US household holds more than 300,000 items. If you don't believe me, go home and count and come back to me, tell me if you're over under more. More than 10% of us have storage units, right, and for the other 90, you're like, well, that's not me, right? But that's because 25% of us have a garage. Okay, you guys know. See, back in the day, let me tell you a story kids, back in the day, people used to put their cars in the garage. I know it's confusing because, you know, but anyways. So we don't have to buy those off-site, those silly off-site storage units, right, because we have a more convenient on-site storage unit that we pack full of stuff. There are five times more storage facilities in the United States than there are Starbucks. And now that you're aware of it, you'll see them driving by, right? Just like you saw the Starbucks, now you'll see where we put all of our stuff, our excess stuff, the stuff that we don't need right now, but we may need someday, and we're willing to pay money to store our depreciating valuables, and that's where we put that. There is enough space, square footage in storage, that every person, man, woman, and child in America could live in the storage that we have. You may not be comfortable, but there's enough square footage there for that. And you probably wouldn't be comfortable because the American home has tripled in size in the last 50 years. So we have more room to put our stuff, and then we have our garages to put our stuff, and then we have other places to put our stuff.

Kevin Garcia: [00:09:01] We spend over $1,700 a year on clothes and over $8,000 a year on non-essential goods per household, and we throw away about on average, 65 pounds of clothing each year. We have in our homes more televisions than we have people, go ahead, and do a head count, I won't ask you to raise your hands. But nearly half of us households don't save any money. A lot of us could be like, yeah, you know, like we're not rich, right, we spend our money. Like we look at our bank account and we're like, we don't have a lot of money, it's because we spend a lot of money, Right? I don't know if you know, you were reminded back when the NBA was on strike because all the players wanted more money, and they were trying to get us to feel bad for them and feel like this was the cause of the people. And one of the players made the mistake of going on the media and going, look, I know we make a lot of money, but you don't understand, we also spend a lot of money. And that's funny until you realize he's talking about all Americans, right, all of us. And if people everywhere else in the world look at and saw your income, they would be shocked, and they just think, man, you must be living high off the hog. But the truth of the matter is, most of us, if not all of us, are making some really bad investments with our money that are giving us no return, sometimes zero satisfaction or very short-lived satisfaction, and then we have nothing to show for it.

Kevin Garcia: [00:10:39] I remember when my dad was younger and naive because there was a point when we all were young and naive, right? He had just gotten out of the Army; the Vietnam War had just ended and he was newly married and he realized he needed a car. And so he went down to the lot, and I think his thinking, all the research that went into this, was I need a car. And so he went down there, and he came back to the apartment and my mom could tell he was distraught. She was like, what's wrong? And he was like, I just bought a car and I hate it, it's ugly. And he tried to take the car back and return the car to the car lot. Nowadays they're nicer, but back then if you drove it home, this is your car, right? And it depreciates as soon as you drive it away.

Kevin Garcia: [00:11:26] Most of us spend money on things that we don't need. But there's a reason, and like I said, this is not to beat any of us up. There are definite reasons why we have the behavior that we have. And some of you may come up with some different reasons as you're looking at your own lifestyle and looking over your own budget, but here are three things that I came up with and see if any of these resonate with you.

Kevin Garcia: [00:11:50] Number one, we spend money on possessions for safety because we want to feel safe. And one of the things that makes us feel safe is having a home, right? That's why when on the news we hear about a break-in or a robbery or if any of you have ever experienced that, it is more than the loss of the stuff, right, it is an intrusion or a violation of your safe space, and you feel more than just the loss of stuff. You're suddenly aware of what Jesus just said, that here on earth, the safe places that you think you have, thieves break in and steal, and so they're not as safe as you think that they are. But that's one of the reasons why we do it, stuff makes us feel safe.

Kevin Garcia: [00:12:42] Does anyone here ever have a baby? I don't have babies anymore. I mean, I still, they're just teenagers, I still have them, they're just not babies anymore. But I had three babies, and all three of them had at one point, and we even have, everyone knows the word, right, a security blanket. They had a blanket that when things went bad, oh, dear Lord, you better hope that mom and dad can find this blanket because we are no comfort to the child, right? The only thing that, for whatever reason, is going to make this child feel safe is a square of cloth that we don't even know where we got from, right? And so we'll run around frantically, like, where is the blanket? Where is the blanket? And we have to find the blanket because this blanket makes this small, tiny human feel better about their hard and difficult life. Right? I just want to look at my wife sometimes and go, like I feel undervalued, underappreciated here, right, like this blanket holds more comfort to this child than the fact that he is in a home with a mother and father who love him. And that's funny, too, until you realize that that's pretty much all of us, too, that we take more comfort in the things that are provided to us than the provider who gave them to us.

Kevin Garcia: [00:14:05] One time with my money, again, I was a young parent, and I was watching, this will date me too, an infomercial on TV with both of those I know are weird words. First of all, there was a time, and you young people, where you didn't just get to start a show when you wanted to, it started at a time and you had to be there or you missed part of it, and that's how we lived our life, by being on time. No. And if you stayed too long, then infomercials started rolling around, right? No, I mean, I never turned on to watch an infomercial, but there was this infomercial for a steamer, and I was a young father, and they were like, it cleans, and it disinfects. And it was like, oh, man, I was like, I'm going to have these little gob monsters in my house, you know? And I could use this to try to make it clean, and so I sent away for this steamer or whatever, and it came. To this day, still in the box, never came out of the box. It's probably in my garage, somewhere that steamer is. A lot of us spend money on stuff that we don't need, and Jesus is simply saying there's probably a better way or a better place for you to invest.

Kevin Garcia: [00:15:19] He goes on in verse 22 to say, “The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy, c your whole body will be full of light. 23But if your eyes are unhealthy, d your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!" This seems to be a left turn, right? I don't know, we were just talking about possessions, and now all of a sudden, most of you are like, I think I need to make an appointment for my optometrist. So what is Jesus talking about here when he's talking about our eyes? And what he's basically saying is, the reason that you're not making smarter investments is you don't even see the investment, it's like you're blind to even where to put your money. And when it comes to investment, I don't know if there are any financial gurus out here, but most of us are blind. We are like, hey, I would probably invest in something if I thought it would give me a great return, right? If I even knew where to start. It all seems a little risky. I'm afraid of making a mistake. I don't know where to put my money at all. I guess I'll just buy some more stocks. Right? At the end of the day, is how it ends up. Most of us, if we're even able to see where the investment of value is, we would invest in that.

Kevin Garcia: [00:16:41] I remember here, it was a college student at this church who had just graduated from college. I was doing college ministry, and he was definitely overqualified for the job. He just got his degree and was waiting to get that job that would fit him in and it hadn't materialized. And he was like, can I work with you for the summer? He had like a master's in business, I don't know, something big and important. And I was like, you can paint, and so I'm sorry, that's what we need. So he's like, great, I just want to do something, and so he goes with me to paint the house. I felt like he was overqualified for the job, right, and I checked his references, he feels good. And so I was like, okay, we're going to paint this room. And anybody who has ever walked into most of our houses, most of our interiors deal in subtleties of white, right? And so I gave him a paintbrush and I said, look, you're going to paint this room and I'm going to go over here and paint this room. I'll come and check with you a little bit later. So that was the plan. I came back a little bit later and I said, how are we doing? He said, I think pretty good, I think we're done. And I said, okay, and I said, pretty good, which is what I say when I'm trying not to be condescending, right? And I said, we missed a couple of spots. You know, I always say we because it makes the person feel better. And so I said, here we missed, and over here we missed, and maybe a little bit over here and over here. There was a little bit of a pause, and then he finally said, I feel like now is a good time to tell you I'm color blind. And I said, now is a great time for you to tell me that you're color blind. I will lower my expectations significantly, and I'll walk you through this and we will get through this together, right? For most of us, Jesus is just saying that the reason that we don't see where to put our money, or our time, or our energy, is because we don't even see the investment to be made.

Kevin Garcia: [00:18:33] He goes on to say in verse 24, right, “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money." So three things here that he's telling us, you know, I'm asserting are the reasons that we look at things. Number one is safety, and the second one is identity. And we had a little bit of discussion about this during the week, I don't know if you guys know this, but before they allow me to come out here and speak to you all, I go and they pick some people on staff and they have me do the message there, that way I'm not stoned for heresy or anything like that, and so everyone can be happy, right?

Kevin Garcia: [00:19:22] So we went and did this pre-meeting and we talked about what it was about. And one of the things that came up and we had a little bit of discussion about is branding, the idea that especially in America, but usually in a lot of places in the Western world there are these brands that become very desirable. Some of them are because they're reliable, or well-made, right? But a lot of them are because of a status symbol. And when we look at this, the reason that people chase these things, and if we're being honest, right, and especially life outside of God, right? Most of us don't feel valuable, most of us don't feel worthy, there's a lot of times, I don't know if you've been out there in the big wild world out there, that you may have felt criticized, or not enough, not seen or recognized, and not feel like you have worth.

Kevin Garcia: [00:20:26] And so what a lot of us do, whether you realize it or not, is we use brands to ascribe to ourselves some sort of value that we don't feel that we have. And some of us do this even with our stuff and even with safety, right? You look at what's going on in the world and the future is always uncertain because nobody knows what's going to happen outside of God, right? And we say, wow, what if this happens? What if the market takes a downturn? What if I lose my job? What if? And usually what helps us go to sleep at night is we think, okay, but we have this house, right? Or we have this much money in the bank. Or we have these assets, and we feel better, and we feel more safe because of the possessions that we have, because we feel like that will help us ride out the storm.

Kevin Garcia: [00:21:21] And when it comes to our identity, a lot of times we're looking at the things that we own, and this is the thought process behind it, right? Well, certainly I have value because this brand has value, and if I'm wearing it, then I, by association, have value. And a lot of times, if you've ever tried this, if you've ever had a nice thing, you'll notice what? That people notice you more because they notice what you're wearing or what kind of purse you have or what kind of car you're driving. And it feels good, right, you feel all the things that you feel like you wanted to feel. You feel valued, people look at you, and it's like, oh, well, they must be really important because they have this or they have that, or they must be a very wealthy person because look at the things that they have are able to possess and they may even look up to you and say, I want to be like that. And for you, you're getting this sense of identity, you feel seen, you feel valued. But at the end of the day, you realize that it's not you that is being seen or valued, it's the things that you hold on to or that you possess. And with our identity, this all goes great until the things that we are using to associate with ourselves take a hit.

Kevin Garcia: [00:22:44] Has anybody ever been ashamed of the sports team things that they are wearing? Right? You're really proud when they're in the World Series or when they're going to the Super Bowl, right, that's when it all comes out. That's when people you didn't even know were a fan, I didn't even know you were a fan, I didn't know you watch sports. And you're like, yes, this is my team, right? But when it gets tough, when the team's not doing so well and you look in the closet and you just go, am I brave enough, right? Am I brave enough to make this...because it feels personal, right? It feels like you personally are not doing good because of this team that you're wearing.

Kevin Garcia: [00:23:23] I don't know if you're aware of this, but some things have been happening in our own economic market here in the US. The people that we put in charge, the government really were struggling to agree with each other, right, on whether or not we should have a budget. I know it seems silly, but that's what they were doing. And I don't know if you were aware of this, but what was happening behind the scenes, and even if something seems inevitable and like truly, surely, they're going to figure this out, right? People got nervous and trillions of dollars exited the US financial market and moved to other markets because they were nervous about what was happening with the passing of the budget. So, everyone, everyone's loyal to the brand, until the brand starts losing value and then everyone starts to feel personally like they're losing value and so they want to move it somewhere else. It turns out everything was fine, they signed the deal, right, and what happened? Trillions of dollars came back to the US market because people want to put their dollars where there is value. We put identity in our possessions, we put identity in our wealth.

Kevin Garcia: [00:24:37] Most of you are aware, right, of the Forbes list. Where we rank people based on their net worth. We rank people based on their net worth, right? And it would be hard for us to not look at that and go, well, that person, like they're telling us this person is more valuable than this person, right, is what they're telling us. It's what the market is telling us, this person is more valuable than this person. And if you want to know where you sit, well, I haven't done a great scan of the room, but I don't think any of us made the list, right? None of us made the list of the most valuable people, and if you look at it from a financial point of view, you take that personally.

Kevin Garcia: [00:25:28] And most of us look to our stuff for comfort because we want to be comforted by our stuff. For most of us, that is a safe place. And for most of you, whether you realize it or not, there is a good deal of possessions of material things that come into making you comfortable. I'll name a couple of my own, I'm with you guys, I'm an American, I live here, right? My couch is a great place of comfort, I go there at the end of the day and that feels great to put up my feet and be on the couch, right? My TV, I use it as a great sense of comfort, I use that and I turn it on, sometimes I don't even know what's going on in my brain, I'm not even paying attention. It's just I don't know, it feels good to have strangers talk about things I don't care about, it's just, you know, I use these things. My bed is a great place of comfort, right? And we take great comfort in the things that we have. And Jesus is challenging all the things that we take for granted and asks us if this is the best investment for us to make in our things. Now, obviously, certain possessions, I'm not saying, look, I'm going to have a bed, I'm going to have a roof over my head, at the end of the day I need rest because I'm a human.

Kevin Garcia: [00:26:40] But as we look at the story of Jesus and what he's calling us to do, it's interesting to look at the juxtaposition of the two. Because no one can argue that Jesus was in a safe place, right, seated at the right hand of God. There is no safer place for him to be than right next to God Himself, the creator of heaven and earth, the life breather, nothing is going to happen to Jesus when he's seated right there next to his all-powerful, all-knowing Father, he has safety. Does he have an identity? He's the one and only Son of God, seated at the right hand, he has identity in who he is and where he is found. He doesn't need to wear a brand label, that's not going to add anything to Jesus, right, to be wearing Nike or to have a Louis Vuitton, I guess it would be a handbag for men, right? It doesn't add anything to the value of Jesus to be associated with some lesser brand, he already has the greatest brand, he has the identity of being the Son of God.

Kevin Garcia: [00:27:57] Does he have comfort? Well, we know, right, that's why we're all excited to be there, no more crying, no more tears, no more pain, no more suffering. And Jesus as he's sitting there with all of these things, considered all of these things not a thing to be held on to, but willingly gave them up, right? And not for any reason, not just on a whim, but because he saw the opportunity to make a great investment. He saw the opportunity to trade something in temporarily for something that would be greater in the long term. And he humbled himself and he took the form of a man and came to Earth, even to the point of being crucified so that you and I could be redeemed out of the great debt that we had put ourselves in and washed our slates clean and give us an identity that we previously had forgotten about, and call us sons and daughters of the Most High King and heirs to the eternal Kingdom. And he did it because he is a wise investor who puts his time and his energy and his resources into things that matter and not into things that are fading away.

Kevin Garcia: [00:29:36] And most of us, and you should invest, you should save up for retirement. Retirement is something that most of us want to be a part of, right, and look forward to. I want to be retired someday, right? Today would be great, that would be great if I could afford it, right, we want to. A lot of us fail to realize that retirement is the middle ground, there's this whole other side after death. And no matter what you do, no matter how wealthy you become, no matter how many possessions you have, no matter how many famous brands or labels you are associated with, even if you're number one on the Forbes 500 list, none of that is going to get you through to the other side of eternity, all of that will be left behind to rust and rot, or to be divided among other people, and it will not belong to you, and it will not be your value, and it will not be your inheritance, and it will not bring you eternal safety and comfort. Only trusting in God can do that.

Kevin Garcia: [00:30:50] And so Jesus tells us, look, I want to offer you an exchange. I want you to take the things that are cheap and whether or not you realize it, are losing value every day, and I want you to trade those in for something that is lasting and cannot be taken from you. He says nothing can separate you from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus, our Lord, not heights, nor depth, nor things present, nor the future, not governments, not world powers, not angels or demons, life or even death, can separate you from Me. Do you want safety? Jesus is saying, I will give you safety, that no one can break in and steal. I will give you a place to be, and feel loved, and be comfortable that no one can ever take from you, that's more valuable than any temporary shelter that you have set up on an earth that is passing away. He says, do you want to know your identity? Your identity is not the car that you drive. Your identity is not the neighborhood that you live in. Your identity is not the brand of sneakers or purse that you have adorned on your body. Your identity is being a son and a daughter of the Most High King, and that is something that will never lose value, and that is something that will always be more precious.

Kevin Garcia: [00:32:42] We sang the songs today, and I'm in the same place you are, we're all imperfect, I know. And I'll be honest, this is not an easy message for anybody living in this country. And it begs the question, do we believe the things that we hear in church, or do we believe the songs that we sing? We sing graves into gardens today, right? I searched the world, but it couldn't fill me, man's empty praise or treasures that fade, because, Lord, there's nothing better than you. And if that's true, then it's time for us to align, right, our pocketbooks, our schedules, where we're putting our time and our focus with the things that we proclaim in song in church. Because if that is true, all areas of our life should reflect that, our investments should be in the Kingdom of God.

Kevin Garcia: [00:33:51] And I'm not just talking about money, for some of you, money would be easy, right? You're like, is that what this is about? Is this about my tithe? I do my 10%, and I write the check, right, I'm good, can we move on? And that would be easy, right, so that's not what God is saying to you. Because for a lot of you, the most scary thing would be to actually come out of your little comfort box and go out into the big scary world and mingle with those who are lost and hurting and desperately need the Gospel of Jesus Christ in their lives. And you look at that and you go, yeah, but that sounds unsafe, that sounds uncomfortable. And who am I, that anybody would listen to me? And the answers are exactly right, you're smart cookies, it is unsafe, it is uncomfortable, and Jesus is saying, but I am giving you the long-term reward for the short-term investment in other people. And if you want to know who you are, it's me, I'm sending you, I'm sending you to preach the good news, I'm sending you to the brokenhearted, I'm sending you to those who are bound in chains to set the captives free. Because let me tell you, this is the greatest investment that we as a people of God can make because everything else that we have is losing value.

Kevin Garcia: [00:35:23] When it comes to comfort, he says, "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest." For what? "God's yoke is easy and his burden is light." He'll give you a rest that is like no other. Has anyone ever had a hard time sleeping? Has anyone ever laid down, and your body is tired, but your mind is racing? Has anyone ever just thought, or wake up, as I get older, I have this phenomenon, when I was younger, this would happen, I do all kinds of crazy things and I'd go to bed at night, of course, I'm a boy, right, covered in scratches and bruises and all messed up. I'd go to bed, and I'd wake up the next morning like a superhero, and I'm all healed and better and ready to make a whole nother days’ worth of stupid decisions. Right? That does not happen at my age anymore. I can have a normal day, and I go to bed, and I wake up and I go, that didn't work, it didn't work, we need to redo. I got the full eight hours, I lay there, I wake up, and I'm still tired. Right? Where is the artificial awakener, you know, let's have some coffee, this isn't working. For any of us, the rest that we get, and in this life is fleeting; and God is saying, I will give you rest from this world, but we have to be willing to trade it in.

Kevin Garcia: [00:36:52] There's wisdom in God, and he has the greatest wisdom to tell us where to invest our time, and our energy, and our resources, and he's calling us to be a part of something, that if you're there, is truly exciting and life changing. One of my friends invited me this past week to go to a church plant. And I met this young couple who were very excited about the church plant that they're going to do. I was listening and we were talking about what they saw as a vision, and the wife was telling me, especially, I said, you know, what made you want to do this? That was crazy, plant a church, right? I was like, this is a lot of time and energy and resources, you guys are really stepping out on faith to do this. And what makes this to you seem worthwhile? And she tells me, I tell you what, I grew up, I was in college, I wasn't a believer, and one of my friends invited me to a church plant. She said, and me and my husband, we were married, but neither one of us were believers. She said, we went to this church plant, and we both came to know Jesus through this church. And for her, and I listened to her story, it only makes sense for her to spend the rest of her life giving the same opportunity to other people who were just like her, scared and afraid, trying to figure out this dark and confusing world without the light of Jesus, and she was forever changed when someone introduced her to that.

Kevin Garcia: [00:38:36] You can look out in the media, and I know there is a certain amount, I think, of brainwashing happening to the church. And what you think is happening, is you think that anybody who's not a Christian right now, and doesn't want to know about Jesus, is hateful, hates you, hates the church, and doesn't want to have anything to do with you. And yes, there are certain people out there that are like that. But let me tell you, those are people out there that desperately need Jesus and want to hear the message and want to have someone invite them, want to have someone pray with them, want to have someone care about them or see them as enough, to see them as more valuable than running into their house and just being comfortable, stepping out into the big brave world and seeing it as an opportunity, a harvesting field, where we can share the good news of the Gospel with others.

Kevin Garcia: [00:39:27] Let's pray. Dear Lord God, we thank you for who you are, and we thank you for inviting each one of us on this journey to go with you. And, Lord, as I said, this is not about guilt or shame about having possessions or having money, it's a great opportunity for us to think about the things that we have and what would be the greatest investment that we could make. And Lord, for those of us who are believers, I pray that we would look into our hearts and hear your voice calling us and respond to say there is no greater investment that we can make than in the Kingdom of God. We pray these things in your name. Amen. Thanks for being here today. We hope to see you next week. God bless.



Recorded in Upland, California.