Sermons on Wealth
Job 1:1-5
SERIES: The Book of Job Man of Perseverance, Man of Piety SPEAKER: Michael P. Andrus Introduction: Have you heard of the perseverance of Job? The Apostle James assumes you have, for in the last chapter of his NT epistle he is recounting the blessings that come through endurance and says, “You have heard of Job’s perseverance and have seen what the Lord finally brought about. The Lord is full of compassion and mercy.” Whenever we think of Job, certain word associations immediately enter our minds—not just…
Psalm 49
SERIES: Psalms, Cries of the Heart The Cry for Riches SCRIPTURE: Psalm 49 SPEAKER: Michael P. Andrus Introduction: There are no rich people here at First Free—at least not filthy rich. You used to be rich if you were a millionaire, but a mere millionaire is a nobody today. There are nearly 4 million of them in the U.S. alone. Back in 1982 when Forbes compiled its first list of the 400 richest Americans, it took a minimum of $100 million to make…
Matthew 13:1-23
The Parable of the Sower Introduction: Spirituality is much in vogue today. I Googled the term on Wednesday and discovered there were 82,100,000 entries. After checking each one I am convinced that the term “spirituality” can mean just about anything you want it to mean. And the people who talk about it the most seem to be the most confused. Spirituality is a regular topic on Oprah and on Dr. Phil. Political candidates feel compelled to let the voters know how spiritual they are, and sometimes…
Matt 19:16-30
The Rich Young Ruler Introduction: Turn with me, please, to Matthew 19:16-22. While you’re turning there, you perhaps will notice that I have skipped several paragraphs in chapters 18 and 19. That is because we dealt with those topics in other series the past few years. In 18:15-20 the issue of resolving conflict in the church is discussed, which was the topic of our series entitled Great Church Fights last fall.[i] The Parable of the Unmerciful Servant was preached in our series on parables a…
Luke 12:13-21
The Rich Fool Last Fall we examined a very strange parable from the mouth of Jesus as found in Luke 16:1-9–the story of a man who used his money to buy friends. While the man himself was a scoundrel, Jesus presents him as a positive example of what Christians should do in one area of their lives–invest their money in friends. The particular kind of friends Jesus is concerned about are those who will welcome us into Heaven, i.e., people who have become…
James 5:1-6
A Word to the Wealthy “Now listen, you rich people, weep and wail because of the misery that is coming upon you. Your wealth has rotted, and moths have eaten your clothes. Your gold and silver are corroded. Their corrosion will testify against you and eat your flesh like fire. You have hoarded wealth in the last days.” Surely James isn’t speaking to us – we who have eaten at least three meals in the last 24 hours, who enjoyed…
Ecclesiastes 5:8-6:12
Satisfaction Sold Separately I’m not guilty of divulging any state secrets when I suggest that many Americans live as though their life verse were Ecclesiastes 10:19, where we read these rather startling words, “Money is the answer for everything.” That attitude is not only common in our culture; it is even common among Christians. Now it’s not my purpose this morning to wrestle with the interpretation of Eccl. 10:19, because Solomon’s actual view of riches, as revealed here in chapters 5 & 6, is far different. And that is…