The country now possesses 1.9 billion square feet of storage space outside of the home.

2. The country now possesses 1.9 billion square feet of storage space outside of the home.

3. The country now possesses 1.9 billion square feet of storage space outside of the home. • The owners of 1 out of ever 11 homes owns storage space.

4. The country now possesses 1.9 billion square feet of storage space outside of the home. • The owners of 1 out of ever 11 homes owns storage space. • Most operators of storage space report 90% occupancy.

5. The country now possesses 1.9 billion square feet of storage space outside of the home. • The owners of 1 out of ever 11 homes owns storage space. • Most operators of storage space report 90% occupancy. • But, as storage space grows, so does the size of the average home.

6. The country now possesses 1.9 billion square feet of storage space outside of the home. • The owners of 1 out of ever 11 homes owns storage space. • Most operators of storage space report 90% occupancy. • But, as storage space grows, so does the size of the average home—1,600 sq ft in 1973 vs. 2,400 sq feet in 2004.

7. The country now possesses 1.9 billion square feet of storage space outside of the home. • The owners of 1 out of ever 11 homes owns storage space. • Most operators of storage space report 90% occupancy. • But, as storage space grows, so does the size of the average home—1,600 sq ft in 1973 vs. 2,400 sq feet in 2004. • Clearly, Americans have bought into a culture where we have to have “stuff.”

8. There isn’t anything wrong with “stuff.”

9. There isn’t anything wrong with “stuff.” The problem is that we often misuse money to get “stuff.”

11. We often think of money as an area outside of Scripture.

12. We often think of money as an area outside of Scripture. • But, God has much to say about money.

13. We often think of money as an area outside of Scripture. • But, God has much to say about money. • Tonight, we wish to think about what God says about money.

14. Number one: it’s not yours.

15. We often hear that God owns the cattle on a thousand hills.

16. We often hear that God owns the cattle on a thousand hills. • He does: “Every beast of the forest is mine, the cattle on a thousand hills. I know all the birds of the hills, and all that moves in the field is mine” (Ps 50:10-11, ESV).

17. We often hear that God owns the cattle on a thousand hills. • He does: “Every beast of the forest is mine, the cattle on a thousand hills. I know all the birds of the hills, and all that moves in the field is mine” (Ps 50:10-11, ESV). • BUT, God owns those hills & everything else!

18. God owns everything, for it is he who made everything.

19. God owns everything, for it is he who made everything. • “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth” (Gn 1:1, ESV).

20. God owns everything, for it is he who made everything. • “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth” (Gn 1:1, ESV). • “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was with God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made” (Jn 1:1-3, ESV).

21. God owns everything, for it is he who made everything. • Whatever anyone makes, he/she owns.

22. God owns everything, for it is he who made everything. • Whatever anyone makes, he/she owns. • The Constitution of the United States gives power to the Congress “to promote the progress of science and useful arts, by securing for limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries” (Article One, Section Eight).

23. God owns everything, for it is he who made everything. • Whatever anyone makes, he/she owns. • The Constitution of the United States gives power to the Congress “to promote the progress of science and useful arts, by securing for limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries” (Article One, Section Eight). • Because God made this world, he owns this world.

24. God owns everything, for it is he who made everything. • Whatever anyone makes, he/she owns. • The Constitution of the United States gives power to the Congress “to promote the progress of science and useful arts, by securing for limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries” (Article One, Section Eight). • Because God made this world, he owns this world. • “The earth is the LORD’s and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein” (Ps 24:1, ESV).

25. God owns everything, for it is he who made everything. • Whatever anyone makes, he/she owns. • The Constitution of the United States gives power to the Congress “to promote the progress of science and useful arts, by securing for limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries” (Article One, Section Eight). • Because God made this world, he owns this world. • “The earth is the LORD’s and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein” (Ps 24:1, ESV). • God has placed his “patent” on the earth.

26. What does this mean practically?

27. We need to be thankful for what we have.

28. We need to be thankful for what we have. • God gives me everything I have.

29. We need to be thankful for what we have. • God gives me everything I have. • “He makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust” (Mt 5:45, ESV).

30. We need to be thankful for what we have. • God gives me everything I have. • “He makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust” (Mt 5:45, ESV). • Therefore, I need to give thanks.

31. We need to be thankful for what we have. • God gives me everything I have. • “He makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust” (Mt 5:45, ESV). • Therefore, I need to give thanks. “‘I urge you to take some food. It will give you strength, for not a hair is to perish from the head of any of you.’ And when he had said these things, he took bread, and giving thanks to God in the presence of all he broke it and began to eat” (Acts 27:34-35, ESV).

32. Do we offer thanks for what God has given us?

33. We are simply stewards of the things that we have.

34. We are simply stewards of the things that we have. • In the biblical era, stewards were managers of someone else’s account.

35. We are simply stewards of the things that we have. • In the biblical era, stewards were managers of someone else’s account. • About spiritual gifts: “Calling ten of his servants, he gave them ten minas, and said to them, ‘Engage in business until I come’” (Lk 18:13, ESV).

36. We are simply stewards of the things that we have. • In the biblical era, stewards were managers of someone else’s account. • About spiritual gifts: “Calling ten of his servants, he gave them ten minas, and said to them, ‘Engage in business until I come’” (Lk 18:13, ESV). • The servants didn’t own the minas, but they received them with clear instructions on how to use them.

37. We are simply stewards of the things that we have. • In the biblical era, stewards were managers of someone else’s account. • About spiritual gifts: “Calling ten of his servants, he gave them ten minas, and said to them, ‘Engage in business until I come’” (Lk 18:13, ESV). • The servants didn’t own the minas, but they received them with clear instructions on how to use them. • God has given us clear instructions on how to use money, also.

38. Number two: this life is act I in a three-act play.

39. This life is going to be followed by Judgment (Act II) & Eternity (Act III).

40. This life is going to be followed by Judgment (Act II) & Eternity (Act III). • God, as the author of this play, doesn’t feel any obligation to work everything out in the first act.

41. This life is going to be followed by Judgment (Act II) & Eternity (Act III). • God, as the author of this play, doesn’t feel any obligation to work everything out in the first act. • Only when we grasp that life is not about money & things can we truly understand what Scripture says about money!

42. This life is going to be followed by Judgment (Act II) & Eternity (Act III). • God, as the author of this play, doesn’t feel any obligation to work everything out in the first act. • Only when we grasp that life is not about money & things can we truly understand what Scripture says about money! • The Bible teaches that the things of this world are not nearly as important as the things of the next world.

43. “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Mt 6:19-21, ESV).

44. Mt 6:19-21. • “Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions, and give to the needy. Provide yourselves with moneybags that do not grow old, with a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys” (Lk 12:32-33, ESV).

45. The reason that Jesus instructs us on the proper use of money is that we are going to live forever.

46. The reason that Jesus instructs us on the proper use of money is that we are going to live forever. • “Everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands, for my name’s sake, will receive a hundredfold and will inherit eternal life” (Mt 19:29, ESV).

47. Give 10% of your income to good works (of course, most of it is to go to Robertson!) & God will reward you richly!

48. Robertson had some things exactly right.

49. Robertson had some things exactly right. • God will richly reward us.

50. Robertson had some things exactly right. • God will richly reward us. • “Whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully” (2 Cor 9:6, ESV).