Making Change, Part 4—Tomorrow Matters, by Justin Renton
May 17, 2022
Sermon summary:
Justin Renton — Tomorrow Matters
Proverbs 6:6–8 God calls us to learn from the ant. The ant knows tomorrow matters.
Proverbs 21:20 The wise store up, the fools gulp theirs down.
The parable of the talents/money. Matthew 25: 19–21
When God gives you resources he expects you to use it wisely.
- Don't invest in things you don't understand. Proverbs 24:3–4 Wisdom, knowledge and understanding is important in investments. Do research, ask questions.
- Don't put all your eggs in one basket. Ecclesiastes 11:2 Diversify your investments. There's no one good thing.
- Don't try get rich quick. 1 Timothy 6:9 When greed enters your life it can destroy your soul. Consider using the 10:10:80 principle—Give to God, Save, and Live on the rest. Don't live beyond your means.
Proverbs 13:11 Wealth from get-rich schemes disappear quickly. Wealth from hard work grows over time.
Watch the service in full (the sermon starts at 41 mins) here.
Because Jesus reconciled us to God through the cross, we are called to pursue reconciliation with God, one another, and the world around us.
Jesus reconciles us to the Father and teaches us to extend his grace, helping us forgive one another, heal relationships, and walk together in peace.
The physics of the pendulum Picture an old grandfather clock in a quiet hallway. Its long brass pendulum swings steadily: tick, tock, tick, tock. Now give that pendulum a hard shove to the right. It does not simply glide back to the center and stop. It races right past the middle and sways just as far to the left. Left to its own momentum, a pendulum never rests at either extreme; it finds peace only when it hangs still at the center, held by gravity and its fixed point. The church behaves in much the same way. Push her too far toward one side of a truth and she does not gently settle into balance, she swings. Often for a whole generation toward the opposite error, and then back again, wounding people at both ends of the arc. And here is the crucial thing the clock teaches us: the pendulum comes to rest not by being frozen in place, but by being held. Balance is not the absence of force; it is the fixed point that keeps opposing pulls in tension so that the weight can finally hang still.