New Horizons Christian Church
Our weekly time of combined worship, honoring and proclaiming God's Great Name!
Thanks so much for worshiping with us today ... please feel free to contact our ministers should you have any questions about the church, our ministry and opportunities to serve here at NHCC
407.654.5050
info@nhcchome.org
Luke 12:16-21 CEV
James 5:1 ESV
I. WARNING: Don’t define your life by possessions
Your riches have rotted and your garments are moth-eaten. Your gold and silver have corroded, and their corrosion will be evidence against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have laid up treasure in the last days.
—James 5:2-3 (ESV)
A. That which is new, doesn’t stay new
“Sell your possessions and give to those in need. This will store up treasure for you in heaven! And the purses of heaven never get old or develop holes. Your treasure will be safe; no thief can steal it and no moth can destroy it. —Luke 12:33 (NLT)
B. Physical deterioration of your treasures often mirror the inward decay of your moral and spiritual life
Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be.
—Luke 12:34 (NLT)
1 Timothy 6:17-19 NLT
A SPIRITUAL CONTRAST
>Be HUMBLE about what you have
>Recognize God as GENEROUS to you
>Use things to do GOOD and to show generosity
>ALWAYS be ready to share
II. WARNING: Don’t demonstrate your greed by exploitation
Behold, the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, are crying out against you, and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts. —James 5:4 (ESV)
A. Profiting from unfair compensation
Never take advantage of poor and destitute laborers, whether they are fellow Israelites or foreigners living in your towns. You must pay them their wages each day before sunset because they are poor and are counting on it. If you don’t, they might cry out to the Lord against you, and it would be counted against you as sin. —Deuteronomy 24:14-15 (NLT)
‘We have fasted before you!’ they say. ‘Why aren’t you impressed? We have been very hard on ourselves, and you don’t even notice it!’
“I will tell you why!” I respond. “It’s because you are fasting to please yourselves. Even while you fast, you keep oppressing your workers.
—Isaiah 58:3 (NLT)
B. Capitalizing on unjust procedures
Zechariah 7:9-10 NLT
A SPIRITUAL CONTRAST
>Judge and treat others FAIRLY (give to others what is right)
>Show COMPASSION for those in need
>Choose to ENCOURAGE others through your actions
>ALWAYS be ready to be generous without an agenda
III.WARNING: Don’t designate success by extravagance
You have lived on the earth in luxury and in self-indulgence. You have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter. You have condemned and murdered the righteous person. He does not resist you. —James 5:5-6 (ESV)
A. Self-indulgent luxury is waste and waste is sinful
A man had two sons. The younger son told his father, “I want my share of your estate now before you die.” So his father agreed to divide his wealth between his sons.
“A few days later this younger son packed all his belongings and moved to a distant land, and there he wasted all his money in wild living. —Luke 15:11-13 (NLT)
“There was a certain rich man who was splendidly clothed in purple and fine linen and who lived each day in luxury. At his gate lay a poor man named Lazarus who was covered with sores. As Lazarus lay there longing for scraps from the rich man’s table, the dogs would come and lick his open sores. —Luke 16:20-21 (NLT)
B. Self-indulgent luxury has a way of ruining character
Before I confessed my sins, my bones felt limp, and I groaned all day long.
Night and day your hand weighed heavily on me, and my strength was gone as in the summer heat. —Psalm 32:3-4 (CEV)
So I confessed my sins and told them all to you. I said, “I'll tell the Lord each one of my sins.” Then you forgave me and took away my guilt.
—Psalm 32:5 (CEV)
Acts of the Apostles 2:42-47 NLT
A SPIRITUAL CONTRAST
>ADMIT your sinful choices
>Be DEVOTED to the things of God
>Be UNSELFISH with what you have
>Be SACRIFICIAL to those who need help
>BUILD a legacy of joy and generosity