Episode Transcript
[00:00:01] Well, good morning. Village Church east. It's good to see you this morning. My name is Craig Jarvis. I'm the lead pastor here at Village Church East. And today's a very special day. Some of you already know that we're going to be having some of our first responders in fire and police. They're going to be joining us hopefully in a little while here. Some of them are going to be coming in during their shift, so hopefully they'll be able to stay with us for a little length of time. We'll get to shake their hands and just thank them face to face for all that they do for us. And then we have a cake afterwards that we're going to be sharing with them and with you. So hopefully you'll be able to stick around for that afterwards. For those of you that are at home, you're going to miss it today. Sorry about that. And we are not saving any cake for you, so just come next week, all right? Next week, every week's. Fun week to be here.
[00:00:47] This Sunday is unique Sunday, because we're still in the Book of Leviticus.
[00:00:53] But if you thought that last week was a little bit out there, this week is going to be a little bit of a reprieve.
[00:01:03] How many of you know the story of The Lord of the Rings? Have you ever read that book or seen the movie? Seen the movie? Okay, so you kind of know some of the basic premise of what's going on with Lord of the Rings. It's one of my favorite stories written by Tolkien, who actually was a believer and wrote this book with a lot of spiritual themes in it. One guy that can carry the ring, and the ring symbolizes sin, and he's the only guy that can carry it. Nobody else can carry it because it tempts him too much, and he's a picture of Christ.
[00:01:33] If you haven't read any of that in the book, you're definitely missing it because it's all over the place.
[00:01:39] But there's one scene that I always remember, and it deals with this subject of stewardship. There's a city that is called the City of Men, and the City of Men has been abandoned by the king. The king actually has been gone for a while. If you're tracking with me, you know this is the section of Lord of the Rings that's called Return of the King.
[00:02:01] This king has been absent for a little while, and he's been displaced by a steward named Danathor. Danathor has been overseeing this City of Men. As the king has been away, he's occupied the throne. His job as a steward is to manage the city and care for what belongs to the king until the line of the king is restored. The problem is this the throne has been empty for so long that the steward, Denethor has begun to believe the city belongs to him.
[00:02:35] He believes he actually is the ruler of the city because the king has been absent for so long. Even when he heard the joyous rumors that the king had returned. Thus the name of the book, Return of the King, he doesn't believe it. He chooses not to believe it, and he doesn't yield his throne. He's unyielding in the fact that he's going to be king of this kingdom even though they have found the real king and that he would return. And instead of rejoicing, Denethor defends his own right to rule.
[00:03:13] Gandalf. You remember Gandalf. Gandalf is appalled when he hears this. And so the enemy is closing in and the city of Men is under attack, and Denethor ignores everything that's going on. Gandalf is so angry that he shows up at the doorstep of the King of the City of Men and he addresses Denethor and he says this the enemy is at your doorstep. As a steward, you are charged with the defense of this city. Denethor realizes Gandalf is speaking on behalf of the returning king, and his face hardens. He looks at Gandalf with disdain and he scoffs. And he says this I will not bow to this ranger from the north. Bereft of lordship.
[00:04:07] Pretty drastic words for somebody that's just watching over a city until the real king returns. Gandalf can't believe what he hears, cannot believe his ears. And appalled, he responds to this guest of the great king, who is a steward overseeing the city. He responds with these words, and these are the words that I love. He says, Authority is not given to you to deny the return of the king.
[00:04:35] Steward, I love that steward.
[00:04:39] With one word, the guest of the king, the guest of the rightful owner is put into his place. And that word is steward.
[00:04:52] The role of a steward is as follows stewardship is the careful and responsible management of something entrusted to one's care.
[00:05:06] In other words, when it comes to steward, there is simply no aspect of ownership at all. They are overseeing what somebody else owns. And the Apostle Paul, by the way, would agree with Gandalf. I'm not saying they're the same person, but I'm saying the Apostle Paul would agree with Gandalf. How do I know that? Because in one Corinthians four, the Apostle Paul writes to the church at Corinth and says these words, which sound a lot like what Gandalf said. He said, now, this is how one should regard us as what is the next word? Church. Oh, it's not up there.
[00:05:49] The verse one corinthians four. Do I not have that up there? Okay, here we go. Here we go. One more time. This is how one should regard us, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. Moreover, it is required of stewards let's say this together, because this one is just good to memorize. Here we go. Start with the word moreover. Here we go. Ready? Moreover, it is required of stewards that they be found faithful.
[00:06:19] The requirement of a steward is that they be found faithful. And Paul, the apostle, is know, you all look at me like I'm some sort of a great leader in this new testament church. And most of the new testament inspired by the holy Spirit was through the hand of Paul, paul the apostle. And yet Paul calls himself a steward. And then he says, it is required of stewards that they be found faithful.
[00:06:47] It's easy to lose your way from tending to taking.
[00:06:53] Stewards tend people who aren't stewards. Take Denethor was not a steward. He was not a tender. He was a taker. And now you're all going to go home and watch this. But the scene is incredible because I can just picture in my head in the movie, he's eating this big plate of food, and he sticks a grape in his mouth and the juice just falls down his chin. And he looks at Gandalf and he says, who am I to respect this king of the north?
[00:07:24] Great scene.
[00:07:27] Our culture is almost founded on Darwinistic thought. And Darwinistic thought is, the strong survive. Take what you can, when you can, get what you can. Might makes right, get ahead in order to thrive. And because of that, in most areas, we have an incredible temptation inside of us to be takers and not tenders.
[00:07:56] We actually have this incredible tendency to take in ways that we even sometimes are not given the authority to take. I mean, look around the world today on the brink of world war three, because people are reverting to Darwinistic thought.
[00:08:13] The one who is mightiest is the one who is rightiest. Might makes right. Strong survive.
[00:08:22] We have not been authorized to take in order to get ahead. God is saying to these children of Israel, and this is where we're going to pick up in Leviticus, god is saying to these children of Israel as they walk through the wilderness and prepare to go into the promised land, he's saying to them, you are to be tenders, not takers.
[00:08:43] When you go into this land, you are going to live differently than the people you see around you. Canaanites. They are takers. Don't be like them. When you go into this land, you're going to live differently than anything you saw before in the land of Egypt. That's all you have to compare anything to. Don't be like that. People in Egypt are takers. They're not tenders. You are going to be different when you come into the promised land. You're going to be tenders, not takers. And here's the way that he says it in Leviticus 19, verse one and the lord spoke to Moses, saying, speak to all the congregation of the people of Israel and say to them, you shall be holy, for I the Lord your God, am holy for the first time, competition will not be the name of the game.
[00:09:31] For the first time, competition will not define this land, but instead, holiness will define you. It's not a matter of who's strongest. It's not a matter of who's got more money. It's not a matter of who's born the right way. It's a matter of you are going to be my people. You are going to be set apart. You are going to be holy. Competition doesn't define you. It doesn't identify you. Holiness identifies you. You're going to be different from who you see in Canaan. You're going to be different from who you saw in Egypt. You are going to be completely set apart.
[00:10:11] Last week, you remember these verses. These were some of the ones that stuck out in my head the most last week from Leviticus 18. Verse three says, you shall not do as they did in the land of Egypt where you lived, and you shall not do as they do in the land of Canaan where I'm bringing you. So what do they do?
[00:10:29] Don't do what you knew and don't do what you will see. I want you to be set apart. I want you to be different. Okay? How should we be different? And then he says, you shall not walk in their statutes. Instead, you shall follow my rules and keep my statutes and walk in them. Why? Because I am the Lord. Your God.
[00:10:48] You are going to be different from everything you've seen around you and everything you will see. You are going to live as stewards of the land that I am giving to you. And I'm going to write the standards of living, of how you care for the land and how you care for your families and how you care for your children and how you care for society and how you care. For those in the justice system and how you care for the oppressed and how you care for the Sojourners. God gives rules for all of these things because he doesn't want them to do what they saw. And he doesn't want them to do what they will see. He wants them to do something absolutely different. And why does he have the right to say this? Because he says, I am the lord your God. Now, if you've read through Leviticus 18, it's all over the place in Leviticus 18, but you ain't seen nothing yet, because in Leviticus 19, I am the Lord your God occurs 15 times. It is the most consolidated use of I am the Lord your God in the entire Bible. It's used it 15 times in verse 34, 10, 12, 14, 16, 18, 25, 28, 303-132-3436, and 37. Leviticus 19 is full of this phrase, and it's full of this phrase because God is saying to the stewards, I am the king.
[00:12:13] You are looking over my stuff.
[00:12:20] You're going to steward this land and the life that you live as though I gave it to you.
[00:12:29] Verse three, every one of you shall revere his father and mother, and you shall keep my Sabbaths. Here we go. I am the Lord, your god. Do not turn to idols or make for yourself any gods of cast metal. I am the Lord, your god.
[00:12:45] Each of the commandments in the next few verses line up directly with the Ten Commandments. Now, God has already given the Ten Commandments, and it is interesting that in this context, when he says, you're going into the land, he reiterates all of the Ten Commandments.
[00:13:03] Why does he do this? Why does he look, you can see it right there. Don't worship the idols that are around you. Don't make any idols. Don't keep my Sabbaths, revere your father and mother. I mean, those are all Ten commandments. Number five, no idols. Number five is honor your father and mother. Honor Sabbath. Number four, all of these things he reiterates. And why does he do this? Because he's underscoring the fact that when they get into the land, they need to live and do and steward like he would.
[00:13:37] The Ten Commandments is not a list of things we check off so that we feel good about ourselves. The Ten Commandments are a revelation of who God is and who we should be as stewards of who he is. You've heard me say this many times. We are his hands, his feet, his eyes, and his heart. To those around us, that means when people see our actions, they should say, that reminds me of what Jesus would do. In fact, do you know what the word Christian means?
[00:14:09] They were called Christians first in Antioch. In the New Testament, it says, because nobody came up with this word saying, oh, yeah, let's just call all those people Christians. Christians actually means like Christ or Christ follower.
[00:14:26] When people looked at the Christians in the New Testament, the followers of Jesus, they looked at them and they said, your actions remind me of somebody. They kind of remind me of Jesus because the way that they steward reminded them of Jesus.
[00:14:43] In Leviticus 19, we hit on all the Ten Commandments because every one of the Ten Commandments is about stopping us from taking what is not ours to take.
[00:14:54] Think about the Ten Commandments.
[00:14:56] They're all about taking stuff that's not ours to take.
[00:15:01] No adultery, no lying, no bearing false witness, no lying, no bearing false witness, no coveting.
[00:15:09] It's all there.
[00:15:11] Don't take what's yours not to take because you're a steward. You are a tender, not a taker. Verse nine. Let's keep going. When you reap the harvest of the land, you shall not reap your field right up to the edge. Neither shall you gather the gleanings of your harvest or your vineyard. You shall leave them for the poor and for the sojourner. I am the Lord, your god. This is the only passage in the Bible where it literally says, I want you to be lazy when you go out to work.
[00:15:40] Why?
[00:15:42] He says, when you go out to harvest, leave some stuff laying around. When you go out to collect grapes, leave a bunch hanging on there. Do a poor job of collection. Why? Because the goal is not to take and to store up in barns so that your future can be secure. The goal is to take what you need, that can supply for your family, that you can share with others, and leave a little for the people that can't afford anything else.
[00:16:09] Leave a little bit out on the field. When Ruth and Boaz are introduced to us, this is why we get to know who Ruth is at all. Ruth is out there getting grain that the people Boaz employed left shodily laying around on the ground. It's the only way she could provide for her mother in law.
[00:16:32] This is a practice of Israel because they wanted to make sure that they were stewards of the land, that they were not takers, but tenders of what God had.
[00:16:45] He is saying this world is so built on taking.
[00:16:49] And when we take take, you know who suffers in the world? Those who have nothing.
[00:16:56] Those who are passing through. Sojourners the poor who get stuff taken from them. The sojourner who has no country and no home. And God is constantly talking about taking care, tending to the poor, tending to the Sojourner, tending to the people that aren't even from our area. Ruth wasn't even Israelite.
[00:17:19] Ruth was from Moab. She was a Moabitess. And they were not looked highly upon in the Jewish system, but they were allowed to come onto the field and gather what the harvesters had left over.
[00:17:34] God is teaching us that everything that we see around us isn't ours, it's his. And we are stewards of what belongs to Him. And we need to tend to the people around us, not seeing them as a threat to how much we could get, but we see them as images of God, who we need to care for, watch over, provide for.
[00:17:59] Our job is not to take all we can. Our job is to leave some behind and trust God's provision for us that that will be enough and to give some to those who are suffering.
[00:18:12] He keeps on going. In verse eleven, you shall not steal, you shall not deal falsely. Do these sound familiar? These are Ten Commandments. You shall not lie to one another. You shall not swear by My name falsely and so profane the name of the Lord your God. I am the Lord. Why does somebody steal? Why would somebody steal something? Give me some ideas. What do you think?
[00:18:35] What's that need? Okay, what else?
[00:18:41] Jealousy. Yeah. I should have it. You don't deserve it. Yeah.
[00:18:45] Any other reasons people would steal?
[00:18:48] Pride, greed.
[00:18:51] A thrill. That's right. Yeah. A dare that somebody gives them.
[00:18:56] Stealing is an interesting thing because it's almost like I will steal it. So that I don't get any further behind than I already am. No matter what. You fill in that blank like somebody dares you. Well, I got to stand up to the dare because I can't look like I'm less than I am, so I got to steal or I steal because you don't deserve it and I do. There's an aspect of taking when you steal. There's a taking that if you dive deep enough, there's an aspect of it that is all about you and not about trusting the Lord.
[00:19:28] Maybe you're trying to get by something you think that you deserve. This is the way the world operates.
[00:19:35] But you know what you cannot get in a society that steals and lies?
[00:19:41] If you build your society on that kind of thing, you can't trust anyone.
[00:19:48] You lose trust. You suspect everybody around you, especially when those things are not held accountable. And you live in a society where those things are acceptable and even done on a regular basis, trust will crumble. And guys, I got to tell you, I think we're getting there today. We don't feel we can trust anybody because there is no justice system punishing people for being takers, whether they're rich and they're just taking or they're poor and they're taking because nobody's giving them anything or they're not reaching out for help. Whatever it is, all we see is a breakdown of the Ten Commandments, which is ultimately I'm taking for myself. And when that happens, trust breaks down.
[00:20:32] The opposite of that is simply this god says, if you trust me, I will take care of you.
[00:20:40] I just talked to somebody recently and their family is going through a time of loss. And I said to them, I said, is this person involved in a church?
[00:20:50] Because in a church you should find people that care for you, that watch over you. Our community groups are founded on this principle. We are meant to do life with one another. So when one of us hurts, the rest of us rally. When one of us breaks, the rest of us lift them up. That's what it is meant to be. Because in a church, we have to be Christ. And I got to tell you, I think that's what Jesus would do. And if that's what Jesus would do, that's what we as stewards should do. These people have been entrusted to us and we need to take care of them. Not like Darwinism. The strongest survive, which is largely what the world is built on.
[00:21:31] They're used to taking. I'm entitled to this thing to keep from falling behind. And God is telling his people in Israel to change their thinking toward tending. I will thrive when I faithfully steward. What I have now, I will get further ahead if I treat the things that I have and the people that are around me as Jesus would treat them Himself.
[00:21:53] Do I have a field? Then some of these resources need to be given to the poor. Do I have time? Every 7th day I will use it as a time of rest and give it to the Lord. Do I have influence when I speak? I will ensure that I tell the truth so that those are listening can hear the truth. Did you hear about the latest thing this week? This woman, that was all she was, was a reporter for a sports team, for sports teams. And because she wasn't getting the press that she needed or the time that she needed with the coaches, she admitted she made up stories of what happened in between the plays. And you're listening to this, you're going, yeah, that sounds about right. I can understand that. No, it's not. This is why our society is crumbling. Because we think we need to do whatever we can so that we can get acknowledged. And she even said it herself if I don't have something important to say, nobody's going to listen to me. Duh.
[00:22:51] But it's amazing what we'll do when we are takers and not tenders.
[00:22:58] Even when we speak. We need to be ensure that we tell the truth and tend to the truth. If we testify in court, we're supposed to be telling the truth.
[00:23:09] I will tend to my neighbor's reputation by sharing only what I am sure of. The taking heart sees people as objects or obstacles, but the tending heart sees people as images of God. That's a good one. You should take a picture of that.
[00:23:27] The taking heart sees people as obstacles or objects, and the tending heart sees people as images of God.
[00:23:34] Verse 18 you shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against the sons of your own people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord. Does that sound familiar to anybody? Love your neighbor as yourself? It should, because Jesus reiterated this in the New Testament, but in a different way. Here's what he said in Mark Twelve, verse 28 one of the scribes came up to him and heard him disputing with somebody else.
[00:23:57] And seeing that he answered them well, he said to him all right, Jesus, what commandment is the most important of all?
[00:24:06] Jesus answered verse 29 the most important is Hero, Israel, the Lord our God. The Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. And the second greatest commandment is like it. You shall love your neighbor as church, love your neighbor as yourself.
[00:24:32] There is no other commandment greater than these. Our world is trapped in the ideals of demons, and the first one obstacle they come to is I need to make my own way and I need to take what I can to get there.
[00:24:54] It's no surprise because Satan is the father of lies and the chief one, the chief lie that he can tell us is the only way I can survive and thrive is in competition with my neighbor. I have to be bigger, stronger, better.
[00:25:09] I need to say more. I need to be more. I need to do more than my neighbor. Only the strong survive. Might makes right. Be the Lord over your castle. Take what you can because the days are short. And God says not so for you.
[00:25:25] Not so for you. He takes a wrecking ball to our heart's desire for me first.
[00:25:32] And he helps us understand that the definition of getting ahead is not to thrive on what makes my life easier or stronger or better or richer or more secure for the future.
[00:25:45] Instead, God says, getting ahead means trusting me and loving your neighbor.
[00:25:52] Trusting me and loving your neighbor. And that's tough, isn't it?
[00:25:57] Some of our neighbors don't deserve to be loved. Some of them treat us poorly.
[00:26:02] I had a guy this past week that almost ran me off the road on purpose because I wasn't going fast enough. So he went around me and he actually shoved me into the side of the road. I didn't do anything to him, but he decided that that's how he was going to show his might over my slowness. Believe it or not, apparently I was driving too slow for this guy.
[00:26:26] We live in a world that and I don't know about you, but it just seems to be getting more and more angry. Don't you think?
[00:26:34] People are just more angry. And the bottom line, the crux of all of that is they are not getting what they think they deserve.
[00:26:44] We are building a society on takers. We are not learning people how to be tenders.
[00:26:51] And God says to us, god says to children of Israel, when you get to the land, you're not going to do as people around you, you're going to do something completely different. Because I'm the Lord, your god, not anything else. You got to listen to me. And if you build your society this way, it will thrive. You have to be tenders. Tend the land that I give you, tend the children that I give you. Tend the time that I give you. Tend the spouse that I give you. Tend your Hobies and your habits the way that I would. Those are things that I give you, the love that I give you. Enjoy it, but use it as I would. Because like Gandalf walks into the throne room and the juice is dripping down the chin of this fat ruler, I don't ever want Jesus to come up to me and say, it is not yours to take, steward.
[00:27:42] Because I have a feeling if he's like that, he's going to be a little different from Gandalf. He might just rip away whatever I'm not tending, well, take it away from me.
[00:27:57] But there is one thing that I'm hoping for and praying for when I get to Heaven, I will walk into the presence of Jesus, and he will say to me, well done, good and faithful servant steward.
[00:28:14] You remembered what you have is not yours. It's mine. And you watched over it as though I would have.
[00:28:23] Leviticus 19 is full of other commands, tons of other commands. But the specific command is the heart of this. We are stewards of God, and my actions should be like his actions. God says my people will be tenders and not takers. You're going to have chicken tenders for lunch. Now, I know that's probably what you're going to do.
[00:28:44] Here's some so. What's for you.
[00:28:47] Number one, jesus was the epitome of ahead, and yet he tended to you.
[00:28:54] Jesus was the epitome of somebody who was ahead, wouldn't you say? God in human flesh. And yet he humbled Himself to tend to our needs and the needs of those around Him. Let me give you a verse that illustrates that from Philippians two. Have this mind in yourselves, which was yours in Christ Jesus, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God, a thing to be grasped. But he emptied Himself by taking the form of a what church, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men and being found in human form. He humbled Himself and become obedient to the point of death, even death on the cross. What I love about this verse is, this mind is already yours in Christ Jesus.
[00:29:40] You already have this mind, this desire to be a tender and not a taker. The only thing that can set that thing off the rails is me, my reverting to getting ahead above all things. There was nothing that Jesus had to gain by tending to me. He chose to love me.
[00:29:59] He chose to give his life for me. He chose to make my life worthwhile by giving me purpose in life. And now we have the ability to choose because of Him, because he lives in us. We have the ability to choose to live like he would. Not as takers, but as tenders. And if you're like me, you're caught in the lies of culture to some degree, like, you fight it all the time.
[00:30:24] You won't be good enough until you're better than them.
[00:30:28] You need more to matter. You don't look good enough to make an impression on anybody.
[00:30:34] You're worthless until you get better at your job. And the lies go on and on, because all of those lies, at the core, are driving you to take instead of tend. Think of what your job would be if you looked at it like, all right, how would Jesus do this job? How would he tend over what I am to tend over? How would he respond?
[00:30:56] All the things that in the world are driving us to lie and cheat, steal and. Covet, break God's law for something that benefits me more. Take God's day and make it mine instead of giving it to Him. Abuse others, risk relationships through gossip. Everything on us is like, how can I take from this area? How can I take from this area and how can I take from this area? While the whole time we need to be looking at people as images of God loaned to us by God, who we are to steward, and we need to tend to this person and tend to this person and tend to this person. Now, that's hard, especially when they are hard people to tend to. Some people are just like, not fun to tend to.
[00:31:37] That's why this whole thing is under the first so what? Jesus, who had everything tended to, you and me, and I can give you a list of reasons why I didn't deserve to be tended to.
[00:31:51] And yet he continues to do so, not just once, but through my whole life.
[00:31:57] His mercies, the Psalmist said, are new every do you know this verse?
[00:32:03] His mercies are new every morning.
[00:32:06] We get a new slate every single morning, and God tends to our needs. It says that the rain falls on the just and the unjust. I mean, there's so many verses in the Bible about how God continues to tend to us. In Israel, they talked about God like a mother hen, a mother hen that gathers her chicks around and protects them and watches over them.
[00:32:30] In the New Testament, Jesus calls himself our shepherd, the good shepherd who cares for the what? Sheep. He protects us. Sheep are not smart beings. They're pretty dumb and smelly and gross beings. But God gives us Jesus Christ, who is our good shepherd, because even when if one of us gets lost, he leaves the 99 behind so that he can tend to that one.
[00:32:59] Jesus kept all the laws of the Old Testament so that he could automatically tend to. This is the thing.
[00:33:07] If you follow the pattern that God wants you to live as a steward tending to the needs of others, it's almost like you automatically will not break the Ten Commandments.
[00:33:19] It's the weirdest thing.
[00:33:21] If your mindset and if my mindset is to look at people and say, my goal is to tend to you, there is no way I would steal your wife. There is no way I would steal your stuff. There's no way I would say something bad about you, gossip about you, which is in the Ten Commandments, bearing false witness. If I look at you and I see you as somebody that I need to tend to, the Ten Commandments are irrelevant.
[00:33:47] I don't even need them because I am looking at you and everybody around me as somebody I need to care for, even the guy that runs me off the road.
[00:34:00] Jesus showed us this.
[00:34:02] He had a busy day, and some woman touched his garment. And he could have kept on walking because he was on his way from point A to point B. He didn't want to stop. But he tended to her needs and he healed her because she was desperate. He had an agenda and 5000 people followed him. And so he looked at them and he said, these people are hungry. And the disciples said, Jesus, come on. We got no food. We don't even know what a backpack is at this point in history. Nobody's got food with them. Jesus not to feed 5000 people. And Jesus said, let's tend to these needs always. Jesus would stop when John the Baptist was beheaded. The best friend that Jesus had when he was beheaded because of some stupid leader in Israel, they told him. And he wanted nothing more than to mourn John the Baptist. And instead, a bunch of people followed him and they said, teach us, heal us, give us. We need, we need, we need. And you know what Jesus did? He met their every need. And finally, when it got so dark, everybody was tired and went home. That's when Jesus spent the whole night mourning in prayer about his loss for John the Baptist.
[00:35:14] Jesus constantly saw people not as obstacles to get through, but as sheep that he needed to tend. And church, that is our job as well.
[00:35:26] In fact, that's why Paul writes these words in Philippians two and starts off with this phrase have this mind among yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, which is yours in Christ Jesus.
[00:35:42] When I choose others over myself, I automatically become a tender as Jesus would. Second one. This is the last one. Lives change when we faithfully tend. In a world that takes, remember, we are stewards. First.
[00:36:00] Stewards tend. Stewards don't take.
[00:36:05] Every resource that God gives us is meant to be used as a means whereby we can serve somebody around us. And the role of a steward one more time on the screen. The role of a steward is the careful and responsible management of something entrusted to one's care.
[00:36:25] There's a group of people that we want to honor this morning and they're with us right now. They just walked in, which is cool to see these folks get up every day for us. They serve for us, they get paid for it. But they do it because this is a calling for their life. When there's danger around them, they run toward it. When you're in trouble, they're the first person you call.
[00:36:50] When my daughter graduated from nursing school, one of the speeches that one of the older nurses gave just kind of blew my mind. She said, what other job is there that allows somebody to be with someone in their deepest moments of need and their deepest moments of despair? The nurse. The nurse stands beside somebody when a newborn enters into the world and watches somebody exit the world on their deathbed.
[00:37:21] These folks that walk this line for us, nurses, police, fire in this world that is turning upside down, where good is bad and bad is good, are not honored as much as they should be. And so we wanted to take this Sunday and talk about stewardship and our role to tend for one another and each other's needs. And I wanted them, if they would be so kind, to show up this morning, which they are. Good to see you guys, I want to tell you about them and then I want to just give us a chance to thank them as a church. They show up when there's chaos. They walk into the burning building when everybody else is running out. They step up when somebody is being hurt. They care for the needs when somebody is dying or threatened. I mean, who do you call when you're in trouble? When no one else can help you pick up the phone and you dial 911 and they show up. And I just want to say guys, thank you for your service. We wanted to take a Sunday and not only teach our children who are being taught all kinds of weird stuff today, but we wanted just to take a moment and acknowledge to you together that this church honors the service that you give to our community. And so thank you for being with us today. And guys, if you would like to thank them, you can do so now.
[00:38:41] It do you have vehicles out there that we can play with the sirens on? Sweet.
[00:38:48] So what's that? Test drive?
[00:38:52] Sweet. Do we get little fake badges too now? I've worn those before. Mike is also with us. Are you here Mike? There he is, right there. There's Mike. Mike, put up your hand there.
[00:39:12] Mike is one of our folks here that comes regularly and is a part of our family and Mike is a firefighter and we're grateful for you as well.
[00:39:20] I want to give you some time with them. We're going to finish with a song, we're going to have some cake and maybe if you guys could stick around, we got some gifts for you as well. Feel free to take some for your friends that weren't able to be here. I know you guys are some of you are still on the clock so we want to respect that as well. But let me just finish up and remind all of you in here that we are stewards first.
[00:39:42] We don't get paid for this. Well in actuality we do. Jesus gave his life so that we could have this responsibility, this privilege. Every resource is meant to be at our disposal, to use it as God would in this world and it's our heartbeat as a church at Village Church East to tend to the needs of others around us. And so a friend of mine, Alex Culpepper, some of you know this, we get together and we do our sermon prep together and he did a little acrostic on Bless and I'm stealing it from him. And here's what bless stands for. This is what I would love our church to enter into 2024. First and foremost in our mind, especially after this message, we want to bless others and not curse them. And here's what that means. We want to bless them first. We want to reach into their lives. We want to meet their needs. We want to set this brand new budget aside, this bucket of resources that we are going to be putting into on a regular basis and reaching into our communities to bless them on a regular basis. We are going to bless and not curse. We're going to listen to people by providing them a safe space where they can come and they can be heard and they can be known and they can share with us something and not be judged for it. And we want to expand that. So we're looking to go to somewhere that's a little bit more 24/7 in a community where we can have a building where we can actually use on a regular basis to bless people. I'd love to start an Alpha program. I'd love to start a leadership program or a parenting program or an Alanon program. I'd love to start these things so that we can start meeting the needs of those around us and listening to those who are breaking number E or letter E. We want to eat with them. Eating is a great thing. Those of you that went to the Pie party, you know we eat really well here, right? But when you put food in front of somebody, you bring them to your table, you share your time with them and you eat with them. This is an essential part of telling somebody that they're valuable. We're not just going to throw a gift card at you. We want you to have our food and eat with us. That's why we feed you every single morning. It brings you in here and gives you a chance to fellowship while you eat together. We're going to serve them.
[00:41:56] Not like we own the stuff we have, not like we're hoarding it, but we're going to use the stuff that we have to serve other people with. And we're going to share, share with them verbally the truth of Jesus Christ. Because if there's anything that's going to change the lives of the people around us, it's actually verbalizing that Jesus is the only way. It's good to live your life silently as Jesus would, but it's better to share the truth of Jesus boldly with your words.
[00:42:24] This is the kind of church we want to be. This is the kind of church we are becoming. And if you're looking for a church that is this kind of a church, VCE Village Church East should be your church. This is a place where you get to use your gifts so that all of these things can be done so you can become a part of what we're doing here and make these a priority in your life.
[00:42:45] If you're interested with that, we have lunch with a pastor coming up in December, the first Sunday in December. If you want to know anything about our church, my wife and I, we go out, we treat you to lunch, and you can ask us any questions that you want. It's an hour, hour and a half, and it gives you a chance to meet us and get to know our heartbeat as a church. If you're not in a community group, you're missing out. You are missing out because this is where life happens. This is where real sharing takes place. Real eating takes place. Real blessings occur. You need to get into a community group, and if you're interested in that, you can sign up online. Or if you want more information, this is Brent. He's our community group MD right here, and he would be glad to answer any questions that you have, get you into a group immediately.
[00:43:26] And if you don't want to do any of that but you want to do something else, start donating to the Outreach Fund. Because this money, every single dollar of it, you go to Walgreens, you go to McDonald's, you go to all these different places, and they say you want to round up to the next dollar. And you never know where that money actually goes. I'm promising you that if you give to this community Outreach Fund that we're beginning between now and Christmas, and we will dip into all of next year to bless our communities, every dollar will go to help our community. Every single one. Be sure of it. If we commit ourselves to tending to our neighbors and not taking from our neighbors, it will change people's lives and eternities.
[00:44:02] And then we become the hands and the feet of Jesus Christ.
