Substance & Provision | Sunday, January 18, 2026

Amen. Praise the Lord. Thank you, Anthony and the worship team. Good morning, Cross Connection Church. It is so good to see you all. You can have a seat.

If I can, for a moment, just be a little bit of a proud dad, my oldest son is up here leading worship with Anthony. He sounded pretty good. He makes me look really old at this point, with the mustache and everything. My goodness gracious! I'll tell you, when I was in high school, I could not grow a mustache like that. I don't know; that's just not cool. In fact, a couple of weeks ago, he had a full-on beard going on. I told him he should keep it up, but he said he looked a little weird at high school like that. I don't know. If you can do it, I say go for it.

It is so good to see you all here this morning. Thank you to those of you who are praying for me. My voice is a little bit better this week than it was last week. If you are under the weather, we are praying for you as well. Make sure you fill out your prayer requests if you have a prayer need. We want to be lifting you up to the Lord. Those prayer requests that you turn in get prayed for every single week. We have a group of people that pray for them on Wednesdays, and our pastoral staff team also prays for them. We count it a privilege to be able to intercede on your behalf.

It is so good to see you this week as we continue together, hopefully, in our growth in the Lord. That is what we want to see happen when we gather together: that we would continue to grow in the Lord. Last week, after one of the services, I spoke with a gentleman who is relatively new to the church. He has probably been here for just the last six or eight weeks. He asked me if we, at this church, go book by book through the Bible. The question made sense to me because he came during the time of the year when we pause our normal project of going book by book through the Bible. During the season of Christmas and right at the beginning of the year, we take some time to do more topical messages.

But it is our typical way of approaching the Scriptures to go line upon line, book upon book, through the whole Bible. I told him that yes, we definitely do that and that we would be getting back to it. I assured him that during the holidays, we spend some time talking about Advent at the beginning of the year and some of the New Year things that are going on. But today, we are going to be getting back to our studies. Last year, we started a series going through the Gospel of Luke. We spent most of 2025 in the Gospel of Luke, and we got so far that we only reached the end of Chapter 7. We are going to pick it up today in just a few minutes in Chapter 8.

I wanted to make a note before we get into the scriptures that this series in the Gospel of Luke is called "Meet Jesus." I think that’s an appropriate title for the series, and I also believe it’s a really important goal for us to meet Jesus as we go through the scriptures.

First, it’s an appropriate title for our series because that’s exactly what you are doing when you come to the Gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. This is where you meet Jesus. This is where you get to know who Jesus is and what Jesus is like.

On that point, I want to give you some encouragement as we are still at the very beginning of a new year. If you’ve never read through the Gospels—Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John—maybe make that a goal for yourself here in 2026. To make that easy, one of the tools we built about ten years ago is a website called thelisteningplan.com.

Paul, in Romans, says in Romans Chapter 10, "Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God." Notice it doesn’t say faith comes by reading and reading by the Word of God; it says by hearing. I know that for a lot of people, reading is not something they do on a regular basis, other than reading the things they have to read, like road signs and that sort of stuff. It may not be a part of your habitual practice or a hobby of yours to read, so reading might be a challenge for you.

We want to make it easy for you to hear the Word of God and allow the Word of God to be a part of your life. If you go to thelisteningplan.com—simple, all one word, no spaces, like a good German word, just keep removing the spaces and make it longer—you can subscribe with your email. Every single weekday, you will receive an email that leads you through the New Testament.

It just so happens that there are as many chapters in the New Testament, 260, as there are weekdays in a year. You can listen through the whole New Testament, from Matthew to Revelation, by just listening to a chapter a day. It only takes about five minutes of your morning to listen through that.

So if you go to thelisteningplan.com, you can do that, and I think you’d be really encouraged. You’re not very far behind; tomorrow starts with Matthew Chapter 13. It’s good to allow the Gospels to become a part of your heart and your mind because this is the story of Jesus.

This is where you meet Jesus. The author of the Gospel of Luke, which we have chosen to go through right now during this season, also wrote the Book of Acts. It's like part one, the Gospel of Luke, and part two, the Book of Acts. At the beginning of the Book of Acts, Luke, the author of the Gospel, says this in Acts chapter 1, verse 1: "The former account I made, O Theophilus."

There is discussion among Bible students and scholars about who Theophilus is. We don't know who this person was in history. Some people think he was an individual who may have been the benefactor or the funder of Luke's ministry. However, others believe it is just a reference to the church, because Theophilus means "lover of God."

Luke continues, "The former account I made, O Theophilus," and he refers to the Gospel of Luke as the account of all that Jesus began to do and teach until the day that he was taken up, until he ascended into heaven, after he, through the Holy Spirit, had given commandments to the apostles whom he had chosen.

So, what is the Gospel of Luke? According to its author, it is the account of all that Jesus began to do and teach. The opening words of the Gospel of Luke, in Luke chapter 1, which we looked at the beginning of last year, state: "Inasmuch as many have taken in hand to set in order a narrative of those things which have been fulfilled among us." There were other Gospel writers, probably Matthew and Mark, who were writing at the time that Luke wrote this.

Luke continues, "Just as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word delivered them to us, it seemed good to me also, having had perfect understanding of all things from the very first, to write an orderly account, most excellent Theophilus, lover of God, that you may know the certainty of those things of which you have been instructed."

What we have when we open the Gospel of Luke is an orderly account of all that Jesus began to do and teach. That is its purpose. Why did Luke record these things? He states it right there at the end of verse 4 in Luke chapter 1: "That you may know the certainty of those things in which you have been instructed."

I think this is so key because there are those in our culture today who want to put forward the idea that the story of Jesus is just a well-constructed myth.

The man Jesus of Nazareth, who is spoken of in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, is often dismissed by some as a fictional character. However, I want to encourage you that even the most skeptical scholarly historians, who truly understand history, would argue that Jesus of Nazareth existed and that many of the stories found in the Gospels are indeed true.

Probably the most well-known American scholarly historian and New Testament scholar is Bart Ehrman. He is not a believing Christian and is very emphatic about that. He wrote a book arguing against those who claim the Jesus story is a myth. Ehrman asserts that history supports the existence of a man named Jesus of Nazareth, who lived in and around what we now call Israel. He grew up in the region of Galilee, specifically in the city of Nazareth.

The aspects that Bart Ehrman and others are skeptical about are the miracles of Jesus and his resurrection. They express doubt about those events, but they acknowledge that the other stories seem to be validated. There is certainty in these accounts, and we are instructed to seek them out.

When we come to the Scriptures to meet Jesus, we find that this is the best place to get to know Him. It is important to strive to meet Jesus in the pages of the Bible, as this is where we can learn who He is, what He did, and what He said. If you want to know about Jesus, where should you go for that information? The answer is the historic accounts of Jesus in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. That is the best place to start.

In my more than 25 years of ministry as a pastor, I have discovered that many people I interact with are not necessarily churchgoers or Bible readers. They often have strong opinions about Jesus that they have never validated in Scripture. They hold various ideas and opinions about Him, but they do not truly know who He is because they have never examined the primary sources. Instead, they rely on secondary sources, which include cultural narratives, traditions, popular assumptions, and hearsay.

I have had conversations with people who say, "Well, don't you know, Jesus said..." and then they quote something that I do not recall reading in the Bible. For instance, someone once told me, "Well, Jesus said God helps those who help themselves."

My general answer when someone says something like that is, "That's interesting. Can you show me where?" Because they won't be able to. That's not there. There are a lot of things like that where people say, "Well, don't you know, the Bible says" or "Jesus said." I respond, "Well, maybe not so much."

There are many opinions and ideas about Jesus that don't have any basis in the Bible. It's important to really get to know who Jesus is as He is revealed to us in the pages of Scripture. I do want to say that it's not necessarily a terrible thing that there are people around us—those we live next door to, work with, or are part of our families—who have wrong ideas, misconceptions, or misunderstandings about Jesus. While it's not a great thing, it's not a terrible thing either.

I'll say it's not a terrible thing for this reason: at least they know something about Jesus. I'm glad that we live in a place and in a culture where the name Jesus brings a lot of recall to things that are connected to the Bible. Do you realize there are places in the world today where they don't know the name of Jesus and they don't have the Gospels to turn to and read? We are blessed to live in a time and place where there is a basic knowledge, even if it's not the best knowledge, about who Jesus is. I would rather live in a place where there's a basic understanding of who He is.

At the same time, we need to recognize that many people have a lot of wrong ideas about who Jesus is and what He did because they've never actually met Him in the Bible. My goal as we go through the Gospel of Luke is to introduce you to Jesus as He is revealed in the Scriptures so that we might meet Him.

With that as a reminder, we're going to be in Luke chapter 8 today. You can take out your Bible if you have it. If you don't have a Bible, feel free to raise your hand, and an usher will bring you one in a moment. I'm going to ask you to stand, and we'll read a section of Scripture together. It might not surprise you that we're not going to get very far. In fact, we're only going to get three verses into chapter 8—75 words into chapter 8. I had planned on going much further this week because chapter 8 opens the parable ministry of Jesus, where He tells these great stories. Jesus was a wonderful storyteller, and one of His most well-known stories, which becomes a type or standard for many of His other stories, is called the Parable of the Sower.

Some of you know that Jesus speaks about the sower who sowed seed. In this story, the seed represents the Word of God, which is planted in soils that are representative of the hearts. The hearts bring forth fruit; some produce a lot of fruit, while others are choked out by the cares of this world. We will delve into that more next week.

I had initially thought to focus on that text until I started reading this passage. There was something in the opening 75 words, the first three verses, that stopped me like a speed bump. Unfortunately, it's one of those things that's easy to skip over, and it becomes even easier to overlook the longer you spend reading the Bible. One of the occupational hazards I face as a pastor is that, because I am so familiar with these texts, I sometimes start reading and think, "Oh, I've read this before." I might feel inclined to jump to the next section because I already know this part.

This tendency is dangerous because there are things we often skip over that God wants to speak to us about—those overlooked passages. If you believe, as I do, that this is inspired scripture and that God inspired Luke to record these words, then nothing is included by accident. Even the parts that are easy to skip over are there for a reason.

So, we are going to look at one of these things that is easy to overlook but is still inspired by God. If you would, open to Luke chapter 8. Open about the middle of your Bible and turn to the right; you will find it. Matthew, Mark, Luke—Luke chapter 8. Let's stand together. We will pick it up at verse 1. This is where we left off in November. We finished chapter 7, verse 50, and now we are at chapter 8, verse 1.

Now it came to pass afterward that He—He here is Jesus—went through every city and village, preaching and bringing glad tidings of the kingdom of God. The twelve were with Him, along with certain women who had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities. Mary, called Magdalene, out of whom had come seven demons, Joanna, the wife of Husa, Herod's steward, Susanna, and many others—many other women—who provided for Him from their substance.

God, I pray as we stand here today with open Bibles and hopefully open hearts, that by Your Spirit, You would speak to us. Lord, help us to hear what the Spirit is saying to us, Your people, Your church. Continue the work that You are seeking to do in me and in my brothers and sisters. Continue the work of transformation, of sanctification, and remove any part of our lives that is like an unfruitful branch; prune it away.

That we would be able to bear more fruit, much fruit, for Your glory. God, use Your Word that is living and powerful, sharper than any two-edged sword, to cut deep, to be able to divide between joint and marrow and soul and spirit, that it would be a discerner of our hearts, God. Our time spent here in Your Word would be well spent because we believe Your Word will not return void. It will accomplish what You sent it forth to do. So I pray that You'd do a work in me and do a work in my brothers and sisters here today. We ask this in Jesus' name. And all those that agreed said, Amen. You can be seated.

Not a huge section of Scripture indicates to you this morning that it's probably going to take us ten years to get through the 24 chapters of Luke. It could be a while, so buckle up. Although it's a short passage of Scripture, there are some important things here to consider. As I was thinking about it, four main things stood out to me in these three verses. I'm just going to give all four to you now, and then we'll backtrack and go through them.

First, the movement of Jesus' ministry. Second, the mission of His kingdom and message. Third, the method of His discipleship. And fourth, the means of His ministry and message. There in these three verses are those four things.

First, we see the movement of Jesus' ministry. Notice the opening words of Luke chapter 8, verse 1: "Now it came to pass." This phrase, "it came to pass," is something that you probably have heard and maybe even used before. The idea behind it is that something occurred, something happened. It came to pass; it happened; it occurred. In the original language, there are two Greek words here, and "it came to pass." This phrase is used repeatedly by Luke; it's actually used 28 times in the Gospel of Luke. "Now it happened" and "it came to pass"—over and over again, Luke keeps telling us, "And it happened." "Now it came to pass." In this phrase is the implied movement of Jesus' ministry.

Now, the Gospel of Mark uses a different phrase. If you ever read the 16 chapters of Mark, you will notice that the word frequently used by Mark is "immediately." Immediately, Jesus did this. Immediately, Jesus went here. Immediately, Jesus said this.

These ideas are put forward by Mark and by Luke. The word "immediately" and phrases like "and it came to pass" and "and it happened" picture the movement of Jesus. Jesus is on the move for His ministry. He is always on the move, accomplishing the work that He came to do, the purpose that He came to accomplish. As you go through the Gospels, you will see His purpose statements: "I have come for this purpose." We will see some of that today.

When you see the phrase "and it came to pass" used 28 times, it implies movement. It portrays an individual who was not idle. There is no idleness with Jesus. However, this is not to say that Jesus didn't rest. There are places in the Gospels where He will even say to His disciples, "Hey, let's come aside over here for a moment and we'll rest a while." Jesus knew how to rest. He certainly understood the Sabbath and its importance, and He lived with Sabbath rest.

But one thing you could never say about Jesus is that He was idle or that He was lazy. Jesus was not slack. In fact, one of His disciples, Peter, writes later, "The Lord is not slack as some men count slackness." He is not slothful, to use an old King James word that we don't use so much anymore. The ideas of idleness, laziness, slackness, and slothfulness are not associated with Jesus. He was not lazy; He was on a mission. He had a purpose. His days and ministry were purposeful, and this is a good lesson for us to learn.

The great wise King of Israel, Solomon, wrote a list of sayings known as Proverbs. In Proverbs, Solomon warns against idleness, sloth, slackness, and laziness. He says things like this: "Proverbs 10, verse 4: Lazy people are soon poor; hard workers become wealthy." This theme continues in Proverbs 12, verse 24.

Work hard and become a leader. Be lazy and become a slave. There are parts of me that really likes Solomon. He says in Proverbs, chapter 6, verse 6, "Go and consider the ant." Have you ever considered an ant before? Maybe you have. Perhaps you're sitting outside camping somewhere and you see a little line of ants. There aren't too many idle ants; they seem to be just going and going and working. Solomon continues in Proverbs 6, verse 6, "Go to the ant, you sluggard, you lazy person. Consider her ways and be wise." If you want to be wise, Solomon says you can learn a lot from an ant. You probably never thought about that before, but it's something to consider now. You will never see an ant the same way again.

Jesus was not slack; He was not lazy. Part of the reason there was no idleness with Jesus, even though He did know how to rest, is that He understood His time was short. He wanted to make wise use of His time. I think one of the things that causes us sometimes to fall back, or backslide, and be lazy in the work that God has called us to is that we lose sight of the fact that our time is short. That's especially easy to do when you're young. When you're young, the older years seem far away, don't they?

Think back to when you were a teenager in your early 20s. It was hard to imagine then that someday you'd be middle-aged. It was hard to imagine that someday you would be of retirement age. But the closer you get to those things—now I am officially middle-aged—I would feel a lot better if I knew more people who were well into their 90s. As you reach this point and cross over the threshold where you're more on the downhill run than the uphill run of life, you start to realize more and more that time is short, and you want to make effective use of your time.

Jesus knew His time was short. He understood He had a very brief window in which to accomplish the work He was doing. I mentioned it a few weeks ago, and it's a good thing to meditate upon: the words of Moses from Psalm 90, where Moses says, "The days of our lives are 70 years, and if by reason of strength, they're 80 years. So teach us to number our days that we may gain a heart of wisdom."

It's a wise thing to keep in your mind the reality that time is short. Life is not guaranteed to anyone for tomorrow. The time that we have is limited. Therefore, remembering the shortness of our time, we should be careful to observe Paul's exhortation to the church at Ephesus. In Ephesians chapter 5, it says, "See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, redeeming the time because the days are evil."

Those words, "redeeming the time," in the New Living Translation say, "make the most of every opportunity." It continues, "Don't act thoughtlessly, but understand what the Lord wants you to do." When you look at the teaching of Solomon, the teaching of the Apostle Paul, and the example of Jesus as we see here in this passage, it becomes clear—point number one, if you're taking notes: wise disciples redeem the time because time is a stewardship. The time that you have has been given to you by God, and it is a stewardship.

How are you managing and stewarding your time? Do you realize that the wealthiest people on the planet—Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos—have the same minutes in the day that you and I do? How are we managing the time that we have? Are we using it effectively? I think that Jesus is an example of someone who used His time effectively.

We read here in this passage, "Now it came to pass," and the next word is "afterward." This is the only time, even though Luke uses the phrase "Now it came to pass" or "it happened" 28 times, that this word "afterward" is connected to that phrase. It is the same word "afterward," just a different translation of the word that is used earlier in the book where Luke talked about giving an orderly account.

So what Luke is giving us here is the events, happenings, and works of Jesus's life in order. That is what the word "afterward" implies. Luke is giving an orderly account of the life of Jesus. And do you realize that you and I will give an orderly account to the Lord for how we used our time and the resources that God has given to us? Luke is telling the story of what happened in Jesus's life and ministry, one event after another. In this, we see that Jesus was always on the move.

So that is the first thing: Jesus's movement. He was always on the move.

The second thing we see in this passage is Jesus's mission, and his focus was the kingdom message. What was Jesus focused on? There are a lot of things that Jesus did as he traveled around Galilee and Judea and went to Jerusalem. Many people like to talk about the miraculous ministry of Jesus—him feeding the multitudes, raising the dead, healing the sick, casting out demons, or walking on water. All these things that Jesus did are great and important, but what was his primary focus?

Early in the Gospel of Mark, Jesus is ministering, healing people, and casting demons out of individuals. As you can imagine, when he is doing this, a whole bunch of multitudes show up because they are all interested in seeing this spectacular event. They wake up in the morning, and no one can find Jesus, so his earliest followers go looking for him. When they find him, they say, "Jesus, everybody is looking for you." He responds, as recorded in Mark 1:35, when Simon and those who were with him searched for him and said, "Everyone is looking for you." But he said to them, in Mark 1:38, "Let us go to the next towns that I may preach there also, because, note this, for this purpose I have come forth."

Jesus never lost sight of his primary purpose. His primary focus was the mission of the message of the kingdom. He stated, "I must preach the Gospel." If the message of the kingdom was of the utmost importance to Jesus, and I am a follower of Jesus, should not the message of the kingdom also be important to me?

Point number two, if you are taking notes this morning: wise stewards embrace his mission and message as their own. It is wisdom. If my Lord had a certain focus—the message of the kingdom—then I, as his follower, would do well to embrace the same mission and purpose.

In these opening three verses, we see that Jesus's ministry was always on the move. We see that his mission and message, the kingdom, were primary; that was his focus. The third thing we see in this passage is his method of in-motion discipleship. What is that? Well, look at the text. We read...

Jesus went through every city and village, preaching and bringing glad tidings of the kingdom of God. The twelve were with him, along with certain women. Everywhere Jesus went, his followers, whom we would call disciples, were closely with him. When we talk about his disciples, certain names come to mind: Peter, of course, James, John, Bartholomew, Andrew, Thomas, and so forth. We are told the twelve were with him, but included in that group, among the followers who were with Jesus, were certain women. This is remarkable, especially for the time and culture in which this was written.

Among Peter, James, John, Thomas, Andrew, Bartholomew, and others, three women are named: Mary, called Magdalene; Joanna, the wife of Chuza; and Susanna. Many other women were also part of the group that was with Jesus, learning from him. Jesus was on a mission, and his focus was the kingdom of God. While he was in motion, he was discipling and training his followers who were with him.

A great book came out several decades ago, often recommended by Billy Graham, the great evangelist. It is a book on evangelism called The Master Plan of Evangelism by Robert Coleman. It is a small book that you could read in one sitting very easily. Coleman says in chapter two of his book that having called his men, Jesus made a practice of being with them. This was the essence of his training program—just letting his disciples follow him.

When one stops to think of it, this was an incredibly simple way of doing it. Jesus had no formal school, no seminaries, no outlined course of study, and no periodic membership classes in which he enrolled his followers. None of these highly organized procedures, which are considered so necessary today, entered into his ministry. Amazingly, as it may seem, all Jesus did to teach these men was to draw them close to himself. Jesus was his own school curriculum. I like that. As Jesus was on the move, fulfilling the purpose of preaching the gospel, his way of teaching other people was profoundly effective.

was to simply have them be with Him. He spent time with them. This is Jesus' what I call in-motion method of discipleship, and it produced great fruit. His earliest followers were noteworthy because they had been with Jesus. Some of the early religious leaders during the time of the early church looked at the first followers of Jesus and said, "These guys are know-nothings. They're unlearned and untrained men," but they noticed that they had been with Jesus. They hadn't gone to the formal schools of education in religion and spirituality. They didn't have all the different letters after their names, but they became noteworthy standouts because they had been with Jesus.

There's almost nothing you can do better than just spend time with the Lord in the Scriptures, in prayer, and in fellowship with His body, the church. Point number three, if you're taking notes, is that the wisest followers are found nearest to the Lord in His presence. That's where you really get to know who Jesus is. That's where you learn to be a faithful follower. A disciple is someone who spends time in the presence of the Lord.

Jesus' ministry was always on the move. His mission and His message was the kingdom of God; that was primary. He trained His disciples while they were on the way with Him.

Finally, the fourth thing to look at in this passage of Scripture this morning is the means of His ministry and mission. Look at the text again: certain women who had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities—Mary called Magdalene, out of whom had come seven demons, and Joanna, the wife of Husa, Herod's steward, and Susanna, and many other women—note this, this is key, underline it in your neighbor's Bible—who provided for Him from their substance. Those few words, that last clause of that sentence, are so easy to pass over. God inspired Luke, the author of the Gospel, to record this. It's like this little byline. You can imagine it just being like...

An asterisk in the text indicates a footnote. Here’s the footnote: Mary, Susanna, Joanna, and many other women—who were they? Well, they were with Jesus. They traveled with Peter, James, John, Bartholomew, Thomas, Andrew, and so forth. What were they about? They provided for Jesus from their substance. The word "their," when it says "their substance," is in the feminine. So these ladies were not just followers; they were funders.

It's hard to imagine that Jesus needed benefactors. I mean, this is the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords. Yet, how did He accomplish the work of ministering from village to village, town to town, and city to city, preaching the gospel of the kingdom and fulfilling the mission for which He came? It’s that aspect of the work that sometimes we overlook and oftentimes forget about until the lights don’t turn on and the doors don’t open. There’s funding behind these sorts of things.

It’s an amazing thing to consider here in this text. Luke highlights that there was a group of women followers of Jesus who provided for Him from their substance, which means they had some means. They had some substance from which to give to Him to support the work that He was doing.

Now, I realize that anytime a pastor, like myself, starts to talk about the means of the work and the resources of the ministry, some people kind of get on edge. In fact, if this is your first time attending Cross Connection Church, you might think, "Well, I knew it. They’re just going to talk about money. I knew that’s all they ever do." I want to let you know that we infrequently talk about these things. However, you should note that the Bible has a lot to say about wealth, finances, and the use of such things.

If we are going to be faithful to going through the Bible verse by verse, chapter by chapter, line upon line, precept upon precept, you can be certain that eventually we’re going to come to subjects like this. It’s wise to make sure that when we come to passages like this, we consider what the Scriptures say. These women, these followers of Jesus, were funders of the work. The means of Jesus' ministry, the resources that made it possible for Him to preach the gospel in every town and village, came through these individuals. It’s a good reminder.

The work of the ministry requires not only workers but also those who provide for the work. Wise disciples, good stewards, are good stewards of their time, as I mentioned previously, but they are also good stewards of their resources.

Point number four: wise disciples don't just follow the Lord; they partner with Him through generosity. Wise disciples understand that while the kingdom work is spiritual, it is sustained in very practical, earthly, provisional ways with material provisions. The gospel advances through proclamation, but it also advances through provision. People who support the work of the proclamation play a crucial role.

Oftentimes, we present people with the opportunity to be involved in missions and to go. However, do you realize that those who go will always be a minority in the church? The majority will be there to make it possible for the goers to go by providing them the funds to do so. This is not a bad thing; it is a good thing. That is the way God designed it to be.

These women—Mary, Joanna, Susanna, and others—provided for Jesus from their substance. They had means, and not only did they have means, but they were willing to share generously what they had to further the mission so that Jesus' ministry could continue. It is fascinating that these individuals who funded the work of the ministry were the female followers of Jesus. The only male follower of Jesus who was interested in the financial provisions was the one who carried the purse, and his name was Judas. We'll talk about him later, but he has quite a story.

As I mentioned, it is sometimes hard for us to wrap our minds around the fact that the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords, needed those who would provide for the practical purposes of the ministry during His earthly ministry. Even though we may overlook it and not think about it much, these things are important to the work that God has called us to be a part of.

Discussing these matters can be uncomfortable for pastors and churches at times. Many churches avoid talking about this sort of thing frequently because there are a small group of pastors and churches that discuss it too much. So, somewhere between talking about it...

Way too much and never talking about it at all is the right sweet spot, and that's what I'm hoping for and looking for. You just happened to pick the Sunday where we're going to talk about it, so God bless you.

It is important to recognize that the use of our resources and the governing or managing of our wealth are important discipleship issues. Some people will hear me say that the Bible has a lot to say about wealth and finances, and they'll ask, "Why is God so interested in finances?" I would object and say that the reason God speaks about these things so frequently in the Bible is not because He is focused on money, but because we are focused on money. It's a big part of who we are.

Our possessions, the things that we own and have, tend to increase as we age. Frequently, those possessions are not things that you possess, but they possess you. Anyone here today who owns a house understands this. You possess a house, but boy, does it possess you. You have to be the one to take care of all these things.

I remember a time in my life when everything I had could fit in a small bag that I took with me on a plane to fly to Germany and live there for a year. Now, that bag is wadded up in a closet, or it might be in my garage, which I can hardly park in because it's filled with a whole bunch of stuff that I own. I look at it every single time and think, "Gosh, I've got to deal with all that stuff." Does anyone else feel my pain?

You can tell an awful lot about a person's heart by the way they think about and handle their possessions and wealth. In fact, Jesus makes it clear in His teaching about wealth that how you handle your wealth tells us about your heart. Because where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

There's a lot we can learn about Mary, Joanna, and Susanna, the other women who were with Jesus, by the way they handled their wealth. They were the benefactors and backers of Jesus' ministry. They took care of the mission and made it possible.

They made it possible for Jesus to go from place to place, through every city and village, preaching because they paid the bills. I would count these ladies among the wisest of Jesus' followers. Point number five: the wisest of Jesus' disciples learned the wisdom of His teaching. It is more blessed to give than to receive.

Now, I acknowledge that anytime I start to talk about these things, there is a hesitation in my heart or in my mind. The hesitation about bringing these things up is because it seems self-seeking. It seems self-seeking because my provision, my livelihood, comes from the provision that you provide through your giving at this church. If I come here and start to talk about giving and finances, it might seem awfully self-seeking. This causes a hesitation for me to bring these things up.

However, as I said previously, the Bible has a lot to say about these matters. If we are going to be faithful to going through the Bible line upon line and precept upon precept, there will be times when we cover these subjects because the Bible has something to say about them. With the remaining time that I have, and it's not very much, I won't keep laboring this for like an hour or more, but I do want to share a few things that the Scriptures have to say about wealth, finances, and giving.

I'll start with something from the Apostle Paul. I will probably put it up on the screen. In 1 Timothy chapter 6, Paul says, "Command those who are rich in this present age that they not be haughty nor trust in uncertain riches but in the living God who gives us richly all things to enjoy. Let those rich people do good, that they may be rich in good works, ready to give, willing to share, storing up for themselves a good foundation for the time to come, that they may hold on to eternal life."

As I read these words, and as you look at these words on the screen from Paul to Timothy in this passage, some of you might be thinking, "That's right, Myles, command those rich people not to be haughty." The reason you are thinking that is because you believe you are not rich. So let me pose a difficult question for you to consider: If the clothes you are wearing right now are not the only clothes...

If you came here today in an automobile that you lease or own, and you pay the bills for it, and you came from an apartment or a house that you own or rent, and you took a shower with hot running water today, then you are wealthier than most of the people who have ever lived throughout all of human history. You are wealthier than the vast majority of people in the world today. Yes, it's true. There may be some people here today who are vastly more wealthy than you. I know some people who attend our church who are extremely wealthy in earthly terms. You might feel that they are the rich, but listen, we are the rich.

If you can say yes to any of those things I mentioned—if you have more clothes than the ones you are wearing today, if you came here in a vehicle that you pay the bills for, from a place that you live and pay the bills for, and you had running hot water today—you are wealthy. Paul says, "Command those who are rich in the present age." Well, here we are. What does he say? He commands those who are rich in the present age to not be haughty.

Here’s a word for you: if it has ever crossed your mind that you have the things you have because you've worked hard for them, and if those other people would just work hard like you do, then maybe they could get ahead, Paul has a word for you. Stop it. That's arrogance. Don't be haughty in your wealth. Everything you have is not solely because of how amazing and great you are. Even if you are amazing and great today, all of that came from God. Every good and perfect gift comes from above. Deuteronomy 8:18 says that even your ability to earn wages was given to you by God. Don't be arrogant in your wealth.

Secondly, Paul would say, don't trust in uncertain riches. Everything you have today could be gone tomorrow. Remember Job. Also, remember that none of the things you have today will go with you into eternity. They don't come with you. You will leave them to some fool.

Who will totally squander them? I didn't write that; Solomon did. Make sure that you recognize that the things you have came from the Lord, and He has actually given them to you to enjoy. Paul says that right there in that passage. He gives us all things richly to enjoy.

Verse 17 of 1 Timothy 6 says, "Therefore, because God has given you these things to enjoy, let you rich people in this present age do good." Don't only have good things and enjoy good things, but do good things. Be rich in good works, ready to give, and willing to share.

Here’s the amazing and maybe even a little bit cautionary, frightful note from Paul. He says in verse 19, "storing up for themselves is a good foundation for the time to come." Note this well: your retirement account, the property you own, the possessions you have, and all the wealth that you will acquire in this life—none of it will go with you into eternity. But how you use those things now will change your experience then. Storing up for themselves in eternity a good foundation is something to consider.

How I manage, govern, and use the things that God has given me—not just the assets that I have, but the energy, the time, my talent, and my treasure—how I use those things now will influence how I will experience eternity. That’s a challenging consideration from the Apostle Paul.

So he says, "Command those who are rich these things." And Peter says that those who have received such great grace from the Lord, by all the things we’ve been given, should be good stewards of His grace, ministering, sharing, and serving other people. Each of us has wonderful resources that God has given to us: time, talents, and treasure. How we use those things for the glory of God will further His mission and make a great place for us in His kingdom. An amazing thing to consider. We see in this passage.

A short passage of Scripture reminds us that wise disciples redeem the time because time is a stewardship. Wise stewards embrace His mission because that was the mission that Jesus embraced. The wisest followers are those who are nearest to the Lord in His presence. They don't just follow the Lord; they also partner with Him through the ministry generously. They learn the great lesson that it is more blessed to give than to receive.

I would suggest to you that Mary, Susanna, Joanna, and the other ladies in Jesus's little band of ministers learned that message well. You can be certain that great is their reward in heaven.

Would you stand with me as we close in prayer? God, thank You for Your Word. It is living and powerful, sharper than any two-edged sword. In some ways, it can be deeply challenging and convicting to us. If in any way we've been convicted today, it's an opportunity to come to You and say, "God, I confess. Would You forgive me?" You have said You are always ready, willing, and faithful to forgive us and to cleanse us of any unrighteousness.

So God, make us more like You, good representatives of You and Your kingdom, lights shining in a dark place. Help us to be exemplary in the way that we understand our place, our position, and our possessions in this world. We ask this in Jesus's name, and all those that agreed said, Amen.