One of the greatest sources of conflict in marriage is finances.
Money isn’t the root of evil. The love of money is the root of evil (1 Tim. 6:10). Money alters the way people think and act. People think, say, and do unexpected things when it comes to the increasing accumulation of wealth.
Welcome to Christmas. Tis the season to be broke. In the midst of the holiday pressures, I wanted to make sure that you don’t start the upcoming year in a bad, indebted way. Here are some financial tips to survive the Christmas season: Make a Christmas budget. Here’s how we do it. We establish how much money we have saved …
It’s a new month and that means it’s time for a new focus for the leadership at Rocky Creek. Each month, we are focusing on a specific area to really develop as a church body. Just to catch you up, here’s what we have been focusing on at Rocky Creek: January: Pastor – I am so thankful you allowed me …
Every church has to prepare a church budget every year. Before the congregation receives it, a substantial amount of time and a significant amount of people have prayed, talked, and worked hard to prepare it. So, how should the process work? While there are many logistical tasks to be done, this endeavor is truly a spiritual exercise. In preparing a …
With the economy reeling in the wake of the recent recession, many people are experiencing such financial challenges as credit card debt, downsizing, dead-end jobs, and inadequate or depleted savings. With these challenges come others as well. Recent studies confirm that more than half of all divorces are the result of financial pressures at home. And spiritually, many people are …
As newlyweds, we read The Total Money Makeover to understand the newfound responsibilities and opportunities concerning personal finances. I honestly was clueless, and so I bought this book so that my bride didn’t think I would remain clueless. It was a complete game-changing eye-opener for us during our first year of marriage. I am currently taking some guys through some …
Want to get out of debt? Here is a principle that can help you do just that. Enjoy this video? Check out the growing collection of Family Alter videos!
I’ve had the privilege to officiate many weddings. I tried to count the other day, and I have led almost 40 weddings so far. With those weddings, I have also counseled about 40 couples as they embark upon marriage. One of the greatest sources of conflict in marriage is finances. It doesn’t matter concerning family backgrounds, experiences, or amount of …
As Christmas shopping begins, don’t go into debt trying to please people with temporal trinkets. Here are 5 steps to help you spend wisely this year. Main Points Come up with a budget. Make a list. Determine spending amount. Get creative. Give what lasts. Every spending decision is a spiritual decision.
Services started out with baptisms this morning! So wonderful watching these folks getting baptized and being reminded of how God is transforming lives around here! We sang “Doxology” with a little instrumental intro. After that, we introduced a new song from “The Word” project entitled “Amazed.” The song focuses on the ministry of Jesus and people’s reaction to him. I …
Spending temptations are everywhere. With the click of a “Buy” button, you can easily get all your favorite music on iTunes and simultaneously run up a bill of a hundred dollars. Ultimately we spend and borrow, and we begin to develop a method of spending that is self-destructive. Unwise financial decisions will cost you more than what you ever …
As we continue through our “Church Matters” series, we come to week 8 – “The Stewardship of the Church.” As far as the planning of the service goes, we focused on finding our satisfaction in God and not in our stuff. The worship time was intended to lead people to realize that all of our contentment can be found in our relationship with God.
Jeff’s message was so legit. I loved how he started it sharing how oftentimes money sermons go in a church and how he promised not to do that. He said something to the tune of “I can preach on tithing here at this church or anywhere and the offering will go up for about 2 months and then go back to the regular amount…I’m just gonna be honest with you. I refuse to preach the Word of God so that we will get more money. My job as one of the pastors of this flock is not to get more money out of you but my job is to help you become greater worshipers of the Almighty.” It was the best sermon I have ever heard on what stewardship truly is.
Today, we worshiped to:
Making money is not an evil thing and can be a thing that God uses to meets the needs of others. But an overly-ambitious heart can lead to greed and the downfall of a man’s wealth and integrity.
Take a moment and read Proverbs 28:21-22:
“Men work. Men provide. And when those men are children of God who call on Him as their Father, they can be sure that God will always meet their needs” (From The Resolution, page 160).
Sometimes, even the hardest working man comes upon financial challenges. Families grow, bills increase, unexpected expenses occur, salaries shift, and yet in the middle of all of these circumstances, God provides.
Take a moment to read Psalm 37:25-29:
Money is a tool. Money is not moral or immoral. It is amoral. It can be used for good or bad. Money in of itself is not evil. The love of money is the root of all types of evil (1 Timothy 6:10).
In fact, God is not against you making more money. It’s actually a good thing. Read Ephesians 4:28 and find out why:
Thanksgiving is this week and what does that mean for America? We are already focused on Christmas consumerism. We are getting ready to honor the incarnation of God himself by going into debt up to our eyeballs. Dangerous stampedes will happen all over our country on Friday to obtain gadgets before others do on the cusp of a day to celebrate gratefulness to what we already have.
Maybe there is a different way.
Before going shopping on Black Friday, I want to offer you a few tips:
I will never forget that conversation this year. I talked with a guy who said every time he came to church, the preacher was always talking about money. That revealed two things: 1) He had been to one of our church services twice within the last year, and 2) money had become his god. And we cannot serve two masters. …
We started a new sermon series today entitled “A Pastor’s Wish List.” Finances are an important part of life and they are given to achieve the same purpose as all other resources: to bring glory to God. If we obey God’s teaching in the area of finances, His church will be able to accomplish more in ministry and we will …
Tuesday through Thursday, I went to Hickory Knob State Park with North Side’s leadership team to strategize and to simplify. We worked on the year’s upcoming budget and calendar and also tweaked a few things that needed improving. While there is no way to include everything we worked through, I can give you a few topics so you can be …
I have a rule about spending: unless it is a house, car, or education, I don’t borrow money. I do not have a credit card. Once I got a job, I decided to save money for any spending that I needed to do, but I never borrowed money. I definitely never borrowed money from family because that leads to scrutiny …
Here’s a snippet from Chapter 10: The Budget: Besides food and lodging, there are plenty of other spending temptations. Maybe you have the honest desire to dress like the most popular students on campus. You don’t want to drive your mom’s minivan when other students are driving sports cars. With the click of a “Buy” button, you can easily get …
Our college group at my church was traveling to invest in some children at a missions project during the summer, and I was driving one of the vans full of students. I had just finished reading Dave Ramsey’s, The Total Money Makeover, and I was befuddled at some of the stats I read. I polled those riding on the van …
While the United States is still working on how to appropriate the funds for our national bailout, we are still unaware of when or if this financial crisis will be averted. If you watch the news at all (or gaze at your retirement), you feel the pain and realize that this national crisis is affecting everyone. I believe that the …
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