How does God view money? He sees it as a tool to impact people for eternity.

Galatians 5:16-23

v.16 "So I say live by the Spirit."

v.22 "The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control."

"No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money." Luke 16:13

How much easier is it for you to trust God with your sin than it is your stuff?

"But seek first my Father's kingdom and my Father's righteousness and..."

But, this is not other in exclusion of you, because:

"...and all these things, they will be given to you as well."

Matthew 6:33

When me puts me first, eventually me gets mastered by something that is not me; when that happens I lose my freedom.

The solution? You have to intentionally put someone ahead of you.

You give first.

You save for your kingdom second.

You live on the rest.

The only thing that addresses discontentment, greed and debt is management.

Jesus said more about money than Heaven.

How God view my money?

Luke 16:1-12

v.4 "I know what I'll do so that when I lose my job here people will welcome me into their houses."

v.6 "...the manager told him, 'Take your bill and sit down quickly and make it four hundred.'"

v.8 "The master commended the dishonest money manager, because he acted shrewdly. For the people of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own kind than are the people o the light."

The reason he was commended is because he took full advantage of his limited time and opportunity.

v.9 "I tell you use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves so that when it is gone you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings."

How does God view money? He sees it as a tool.

There is an infusion of joy when you see your temporary stuff as a tool that our Heavenly Father can use to impact people for eternity.

God says I'm looking for people who are trustworthy.

Who are managing it for?

This sermon series has been on DO-ing practical things to strengthen our faith.

James 5:16 shows us that Confession is really good for us!

Our first reaction is usually to cover up & hide our sin.

Confession is the much more healthy thing to do. Why? It brings healing and restoration.

If we don't confess, we experience negative consequences.

"When I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was sapped as in the heat of summer." Psalm 32:3-4

That's why our loving God instructs us to make Confession a part of our lives... because He knows it makes us healthy. It is healing.

Confession has two directions- upward to God & outward to another.

"If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness." 1 John 1:9

Upward confession is #1 coming clean with God.

"Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity. I said 'I will confess my transgressions to the LORD, and you forgave the guilt of my sin." Psalm 32:5

God knows that with confession comes relief, peace, forgiveness, and cleansing.

Outward confession is also #2 to one another.

Jesus said, "if you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven." John 20:21-22

God gives support, ongoing concern, non-judgmental acceptance, words of "you are forgiven" and healing through each other.

Confession is indeed good for us!

RJ leads us in the 4th week in our James series.

James is very concerned about what faith does. How faith lives.

v.22 Do not merely listen to the word and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.

v.23 Whoever listens to the word, but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at their face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like.

A mirror always requires a response.

In the real world, no one gets credit for just looking in the mirror.

v.25 Whoever looks intently into the perfect laws that gives freedom and continues to do what it says, not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it - they will be blessed in what they do.

Listening and doing now, reading and doing now, results in freedom later.

Joe leads us in the first week of our James series.

Joe leads us in a sermon on our Block Party Weekend.