Centennial  Park Baptist Church – Sunday April 11th, 2010 – 10:30 am

 

WHO’S YOUR FINANCIAL ADVISOR?

 

Let’s ask the most famous wealthy man who ever lived to give us some advice:

 

Name?  SOLOMON

 

Net Worth: I Kings 10:14 –

 

 Now the weight of gold which came in to Solomon in one year was 666 talents of gold,

 

ACCOUNTABILITY

 

            We need to realize 2 things:

 

            * Everything comes from God – I Corinthians 4:7 ; John 3:27 ; Ecc 5: 19

 

            * We are STEWARDS, not owners – I Corinthians 4:2

 

            * Requirement is Faithfulness

 

BLESSINGS OF WORK

 

Proverbs 10:5 –

He who gathers in summer is a son who acts wisely, But he who sleeps in harvest is a son who acts shamefully

 

Work is not a CURSE.  God gave Adam work to do in the Garden of Eden even before sin entered the scene. – Genesis 2:15

 

Before he began His public ministry, Jesus worked as a carpenter – Mark 6:3

The Apostle Paul was a tentmaker – Acts 18: 1-3 

 

When we engage in honorable employment, we are cooperating with God in caring for and using His creation, we’re helping to provide for others, we’re growing in character.  One of the blessings of diligent labor is the joy of developing the kind of ability and character that others can trust, thereby fitting ourselves for the next responsibility God has prepared for us. 

 

Psalm 78: 70-72 - 70He also chose David His servant And took him from the sheepfolds;  71From the care of the ewes with suckling lambs He brought him To shepherd Jacob His people, And Israel His inheritance. 72So he shepherded them according to the integrity of his heart, And guided them with his skillful hands.

 

CAUTIONS About What Money Can’t Do

 

            3 things people are looking for in Accumulating Wealth:

           

1. SATISFACTION

 

Ecc. 4:8 - There was a certain man without a dependent, having neither a son nor a brother, yet there was no end to all his labor. Indeed, his eyes were not satisfied with riches and he never asked, "And for whom am I laboring and depriving myself of pleasure?" This too is vanity and it is a grievous task.

 

Problem – Your YEARNING power is always greater than your EARNING  power!

 

2. SIGNIFICANCE

 

Ecc 2: 11 - 11Thus I considered all my activities which my hands had done and the labor which I had exerted, and behold all was vanity and striving after wind and there was no profit under the sun.

 

3. SECURITY

Ecc. 5: 13-15 - 13There is a grievous evil which I have seen under the sun: riches being hoarded by their owner to his hurt. 14When those riches were lost through a bad investment and he had fathered a son, then there was nothing to support him. 15As he had come naked from his mother's womb, so will he return as he came He will take nothing from the fruit of his labor that he can carry in his hand.

It’s not wrong to be secure.  All of us want that.  But wherever you find security, that’s where your god is. People let money get between them and God, and miss out on the blessings God wanted them to have.  I Timothy 6:10

 

DANGERS OF DEBT - Proverbs 22:7

 

7The rich rules over the poor, And the borrower becomes the lender's slave.

 

We are not to assume debts larger that we can pay.  Proverbs 30: 7-9

 

ENJOYMENT

 

Ecc 7: 14  - 14In the day of prosperity be happy, But in the day of adversity consider--God has made the one as well as the other So that man will not discover anything that will be after him.

 

            Rejoice in God’s blessings!

 

            God loves to watch His children enjoy the things He gives them. 

Matthew 7:11; Romans 8: 32; I Timothy 6:17

 

Key = CONTENTMENT - Philippians 4:11

 

FUNNEL or SPONGE?

 

            Acts 20:35;  Proverbs 22: 9

 

He who is generous will be Blessed.