Join us for Easter! We have a special sunrise worship service at First Magnitude at 7:30am as well as services at 9am and 11am in our sanctuary. Full children's programming is available during the 9am service (infants and toddlers only during 11am). Important parking information is available here.

Are You Rich?

This Sunday's sermon ("Are You Rich?" - part 7 of 10 of our "Follow Me" series in Luke) will focus on covetousness and greed as we compare worldly treasure and eternal treasure. In order to prepare for this sermon, I encourage you to look ahead at Luke 12:13-34.

As we will discuss on Sunday, greed is a particularly deceptive sin. There are many reasons why greed is so deceptive, but I'll mention two:

1. We tend to misdefine greed, often with realizing our error, which leads us to believe that we aren't greedy. We often think that greed means "being excessively wealthy" (however we may describe that). In other words, if someone has more money/possessions than we think they should, that person must be greedy. However, greed has to do with trusting in money and possessions for security and satisfaction rather than trusting in the Lord. This can afflict both the wealthy and the poor.

Because we misdefine greed, and because that misdefinition enables us to compare ourselves favorably to people who have more than us, we tend to believe that we don't struggle with greed.

2. Greed tends to masquerade as a virtue. For example, there is a fine line between saving money wisely and just being stingy. The former honors the Lord, the latter is merely selfish. In order to determine which side of the line we are on, we should ask ourselves questions like this: how does saving this dollar glorify God and help me love others better?

If you're trying to discern whether or not greed may be an issue in your life, consider these diagnostic questions as you prepare for Sunday morning:

1. Do you criticize others privately for how they make and spend their money?

2. Is your thought life dominated by concerns about money and possessions (regardless of your personal wealth)?

3. Are you thrifty to the point that you are selfish and hoard money and possessions?

4. Do you spend money in order to feel happy or to comfort yourself?

5. Do you save money without prayerful discernment or a godly purpose for your savings?

See you Sunday!