God's Plan for Financial Fitness: A Commitment

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" colspan=2 height=50 BGCOLOR="#333366" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <B>God's Plan for Financial Fitness: A Commitment</B></div> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" width=165 BGCOLOR="#CCCC99" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <B> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="132" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="VOID" RULES="NONE" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 35 ><NOBR><div> <A HREF="id462.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Planning Your Life (Part Two)"><U><B><IMG SRC="007151d0.gif" border=0 width="21" height="29" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></U></A></div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP><NOBR><div> <A HREF="id464.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Gods Plan for Financial Fitness: A Writt"><U><B><IMG SRC="008151d0.gif" border=0 width="21" height="29" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></U></A></div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="20"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="35" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="20" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP><NOBR><div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="29" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" WIDTH="13"></div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP><NOBR><div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="29" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" WIDTH="27"></div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> </TABLE></B></div> <div> Previous/Next Sermon</div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="www.stanbaker.org"><U><B>Home</B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id2.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Biblical and Theological Studies"><U><B>Biblical and Theological Studies</B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id3.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Church Ministry"><U><B>Church Ministry</B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id15.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Sermon Notes"><U>Sermon Notes</U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id4.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Links"><U><B>Links</B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id5.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Personal"><U><B>Personal</B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> www.stanbaker.org</div> <div> <A HREF="mailto:stan@stanbaker.org" TARGET="_top" TITLE="mailto:stan@stanbaker.org"><U>stan@stanbaker.org</U></A></div> </td> <td valign="top" height=430 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <B>"God's Plan for Financial Fitness: A Commitment"</B></div> <div> <B>Berean Bible Church, July 18, 2004</B></div> <bR> <div>      Consider a recent New York Times article, "Families, Deep in Debt, Facing Pain of Growing Interest Rates" (Lancaster, Pa., June 25): "With the Federal Reserve about to raise interest rates for the first time in four years, Joyce Diffenderfer is beginning to wonder how she and her husband, Curtis, will deflect the growing cost of their $16,000 in credit card debt. / Not that her concern is a pressing issue yet; it is more like a fire drill in anticipation of a fire that she is still not convinced will occur. The Diffenderfers figure that a modest rate increase would initially add only $35 to their monthly card payments, which now total more than $600. Still, they have run out of ways to sidestep the cost of borrowing, and if the rates keep rising, as the Fed's leaders suggest they will, then the only alternative, Mrs. Diffenderfer said, will be to seriously cut family spending. The Diffenderfers are among the millions of American families who rode the recent wave of low interest rates to home ownership and the rapid accumulation of debt, and now they must cope as rates begin to swing upward." </div> <div>      Is that "the American Dream"? I believe their concern should be a pressing issue, and that they should get serious right now about cutting family spending - why wait for things to get worse, when they are already bad? What is your situation like? What would Jesus say about the debt-driven consumerism of American society (which most Christians freely take part in)? I want to answer that and discuss how to begin to develop financial fitness, according to God's standards.</div> <bR> <div>      Read<B> </B><A HREF="http://www.biblegateway.com/bible?passage=Luke+16:1-14" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.biblegateway.com/bible?passag"><U>Luke 16:1-14</U></A><B> </B>- The wasteful manger decided to use what was coming to him now (in commissions) to prepare instead for the future (vss. 1-8). Two princples: </div> <div>      1) Use your resources to honor God and benefit others, and you will receive the benefits, both in this life and in eternity (vs. 9). Proverbs 11:25 says, "The generous prosper and are satisfied; those who refresh others will themselves be refreshed." </div> <div>      2) Your loyalty to God, or lack of it, is expressed in your handling of money (vss. 10-13). Your perspective of getting and handling money is an intensely spiritual issue. Faithfulness in finances reveals your level of faithfulness to God. The way we are with money is the way we are - generous or cheap; wise or wasteful; focused on God and others or focused on ourselves; mindful of eternity or all about the here and now. Whether you have a lot or a little, if you are a slave to money, you are not a servant of God, because you cannot serve both. Choose to use your money to serve God. 1 Timothy 6:10 says, "For the love of money is at the root of all kinds of evil." On the other hand, the love of God is the root of all that is good.</div> <div>      Some people love money so much that they are willing to do anything to get it. Others love it so much that they are unwilling to part with it, even for worthy causes. Their biggest value is having lots of money, having a big safety net, because their security comes from having money in the bank. Nothing wrong with having savings, but God's goal is not that you will die with a lot of money in the bank or a lot of toys in the garage, or a massive accumulation of debt. His goal is that you use your money well; use it to live your life so that you can live to serve Jesus and other people. Money is a <I>tool</I> that is to be put to use for a worthy cause - the cause of Jesus. It's like a carpenter who is mainly concerned with collecting, maintaining and polishing his tools, rather than using the tools to build something. Use the tool of money in a life of serving God.</div> <bR> <div> Three-step Strategy for financial fitness (part 1):</div> <div> <B>I. Commit to getting out of debt and getting financially fit.</B></div> <div>      Financially fit does not merely mean, "I can afford all my debt payments." It means getting out of debt, saving regularly, having money set aside for emergencies, and having money to give generously. It means seeing money as a tool to be used to live out the will of God. </div> <div>      The counsel of the Proverbs is clear. <A HREF="http://www.biblegateway.com/bible?passage=Prov+6:1-5" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.biblegateway.com/bible?passag"><U>Proverbs 6:1-5</U></A> tells us to <U>get out of debt</U> (with the intensity of a deer running for its life from the hunter). Proverbs 22:7 says, "Just as the rich rule the poor, so the borrower is servant to the lender." <A HREF="http://www.biblegateway.com/bible?passage=Prov+6:6-8" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.biblegateway.com/bible?passag"><U>Proverbs 6:6-8</U></A> says to <U>save and prepare for the future</U>.</div> <div>      We have this idea that debt is OK as long as I can afford the payments. A pool ad on Route 12 says, "you <I>can</I> afford a pool" - can you? Only if you can pay cash for it. Paying on debt prevents you from saving as much as you can for the future. A typical family might be paying $1850 a month in debt payments. If they were able to invest that money instead, they would be cash mutual fund millionaires in fifteen years, and they'd have $2 million in another five years, on a household income of $40,000 (Dave Ramsey, <I>Total Money Makeover</I>, p. 110). Every dollar you pay in debt [for the past] is one less dollar you could have saved and invested [for the future]. It is hard to <I>earn</I> interest on your money when you are <I>paying</I> interest on it. Stop living your financial life based on the amount of money you can afford to borrow. Commit to getting out of debt and getting financially fit.</div> <bR> <div> In coming weeks, we will discuss parts 2 and 3:</div> <div> II. Develop and follow a written spending plan.</div> <div> III. Live contentedly within your means.</div> <bR> <div> <B>Questions for Thought and Discussion:</B></div> <div> 1. What is your current attitude toward debt and borrowing? Has it been beneficial or detrimental to your overall life and relationships? What are some things that drive the debt-driven consumerism of American society?</div> <bR> <div> 2. Take the time to add up your current debt. Do you have much of anything to show for it? Consider what you <I>have paid</I> in debt and dream about what you <I>could have had</I>, had you saved and invested that money. Is it time to make some serious changes? If not, why not? If so, where are you going to start?</div> <bR> <div> 3. What does your current financial situation and attitudes say about your loyalty to God and his values? Subject your answers to a trusted friend or group.</div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> copyright, 2004, Stanley Baker</div> <div> www.stanbaker.org</div> </td> </tr></table></body>