Everyday Miracles | Jesus and the Money You Want | Judah Smith

Hey, church home. Happy Mother's Day to moms everywhere. Uh, literally, what would we do without you? None of us would be here. Happy most important person to the human species day. How about that? Moms everywhere, we love you here in the USA. It is Mother's Day and I will be calling my mom today and telling her how much I love her.

I love my mom. So, Virginia Renee Smith, I love you. Happy Mother's Day to the mother of my children, Chelsea Renee Smith. Fun fact, my mom has the same middle name as my wife, and my wife has the same middle name as my mom. All right, Judah, we get it.

Uh, but I love you, Chelsea Renee, and um, you are such an incredible mom. Happy Mother's Day. And I'm actually thinking about people whose moms are no longer here. They have graduated into um the afterlife into eternity. Um thinking about you today. If you're watching this and maybe Mother's Day has rolled around and uh you miss mom and you're feeling that.

Um we love you. Thinking about you. Hey, you can jump on pastor chat and let us know. We would love to pray with you. Yesterday I took a few minutes with a friend whose grandmother just passed, the mother of his mom, and we shared an emotional moment and it was beautiful.

Uh, Father's Day, I'm always thinking about dad and missing my dad who's no longer here. So, I'm thinking about each and every one of you who miss mom today. Um, there is nobody like mom. And that leads us to today's topic, money. You know, like a mom and money, like they go hand in hand.

Mom, I need money. And the title of my talk here on Mother's Day is Jesus and the money you want. That's right. Jesus and the money you want. Now, if you're just jumping in and this is the first sermon you've ever heard me preach. I'm so glad you're here.

I'm Judah, married to Chelsea. We gave birth. We gave birth. What an arrogant thing to say. Uh we have three children 2018 16 Zion Elliot and Grace and we love you and as a Smith family we love Jesus. He's the superhero of the world and we are talking this month about miracles.

So here's the big idea. What if May was a miraculous month for you? What if in the month of May you received, experienced, were gifted a miracle from God? He truly works miracles. Seemingly small and insignificant things we desire, want, or need, or large and daunting and almost insurmountable, insurmountable miracles that we need.

He can do them all. We're looking at four miracles that Jesus did. These are some of my favorite stories in the whole world. And today we're looking at money. Money is an interesting topic. It's one of those taboo topics as I do this. It's such a such a dad thing to do.

Um, money is one of those things they say in some cultures like ours. Uh, we don't talk politics and we don't talk money. Money and politics they say in a lot of surroundings are the things you can't talk about. how much money people have, how much they have in their 401k, how much they have saved, how much money they bring in every year.

Let's not talk about it. It's it's taboo. And often times, I think we conclude that some of these taboo, uncomfortable topics, God doesn't want to talk about. But I got news for you. Not only does he want to talk about it with you, he cares about it deeply because he cares about you.

Money is one of those things that is a practical element of life that is in fact undeniable. And I got news for you. God is not mad at your money. God does not see money as evil. Money is neither good nor bad. It is what you do with it. and your money can have a mission.

Now, we don't serve money. Money serves us. These are opening statements I like to make. And if if you can be imagine, this is how the Smith family rolls. This is how Chelsea and I have raised our kids to think about money. Money serves you. You don't serve money.

We follow Jesus as we follow Jesus. Believe that money's going to follow us. That he's going to make a way. He's going to provide for us. He's going to do the supernatural. Now, the moment I brought up money, there are people maybe even by the thousands watching this and even the word m o n y has you uncomfortable.

And maybe the reason it's uncomfortable is because it is one of the sticky points of your life, one of the pain points of your life. Now in my journey 46 years old you know I like to say how old I am all the time but at 46 years old I have met two kinds of people particularly that money is paramount prevalent or in some cases is a dominant topic or point of their existence. two kinds of people.

Those who don't have a lot of money and those who have a lot of money. Ironic, I know. But in my experience, those two people, I think King Solomon speaks about this. In fact, it was King David. He he ends up pinning a prayer for us in the Psalms that he says, "God, don't give me too little money that I curse you because I don't have any, but don't give me too much money so that I ignore you and think I don't need you."

It's an interesting phenomenon because oftent times people with too little or people with, as we'd say, too much, some would argue, can you have too much? you know would say excuse me I would say those individuals often times money becomes paramount. I want to say this about money when money becomes the point we have a problem but when money becomes a means to do enjoyable fun meaningful significant things.

Money can be a true asset and can be a true additive to your life. So, how ironic is this? Telling you about Jesus and money. And yet, I'm urging you, not so subtly, don't make your life about money. Don't work for money. Work for purpose and passion and let money work for you.

I believe one of the most dominant aspects of the human existence is income, cash, gold, resource, money. And that's why I love Jesus because he goes, "Hey, look, this is a fact of life. You got to eat, you got to live, you got to function, you got to move, you got to sleep.

So, he cares about you. Therefore, he cares about your money." And what I want to do is I want to take you to two stories. two stories that almost mirror each other and yet they're in incredibly different times. The first is in Luke chapter 5. The second is in John 21.

And I'll quote these things and I'll go between the stories and you can look them up for yourself. In Luke chapter 5, I think it's the first 10 verses in uh John chapter 21. I think it's the first 14 verses. And we have two stories about money, two stories about work, two stories about income, two stories about resources, two stories about fishing.

In Luke chapter 5, Jesus is just starting his public ministry, if you will. And by John 21, Jesus has died by crucifixion. He's now resurrected on the third day. and he is appearing to his disciples who are disheveled, disillusioned, and downright dejected. Luke 5 is at the beginning.

John 21 is at the end of the beginning of a whole new era. And both of these stories have very similar characteristics. We have some guys who are going to hang with Jesus who are professional fishermen. They don't catch a lot of fish and then they do catch a lot of fish.

Same happens in Luke 5. Same happens in John 21. Now I want to remind you it's never about money. Even when we talk about money, it's not about money. It's always about him. It's always about the mission. It's always about the purpose. It's always about people. It's never about money.

Now, some people speak of the law of attraction. If you don't make it about money, money will be attracted to you. I just want to remind you that if you are fearful and worried about money, welcome to the party, welcome to the pain. Welcome to life. Welcome to humanity.

It is a fact of life. It is challenging. It is difficult. But somehow someway, I am hoping in the few minutes we have left that we share here on this broadcast that somehow by talking about money, you and I can entrust it to God. let go of the control we think we have, the the the power we think we have over money.

We let it go, trust God with it, and ironically have far more peace, maybe even see supernatural income and increase in our life while making our life not about money, but about people, purpose, passion, and Jesus himself and living in love. That would be a big part of my dream for you.

That would be a big part about the characteristics of our community. That around the world if church home people, people who find a meaning and connection and community here that it would not be about money. Now, this is my warning and I'm going to tell you the truth.

If you don't make your life about money, then God supernaturally provides you with money. Not everybody's going to like you for that. Not everybody's going to celebrate that you're not anxious, stressed out, fearful, worried, striving about money. And yet, money keeps showing up in your life. Not everybody's going to like that.

So, you've got to prepare according to say, "My goal in life isn't to make everybody happy, but my goal in life is to trust Jesus and celebrate and receive his blessings and provision and surplus in our life." Um, I'm so excited to talk more about this with you.

Luke chapter 5, John 21. Yes, they're about a miracle. Yes, they're about Jesus, but they're also about income. They're also about paychecks. They're also about food on the table, clothes on your back, and a roof over your head. Luke chapter 5, Jesus is teaching. The story says that he's teaching people and the crowd got so big he needed amplification.

So he asked Simon Peter, "Can I sit in your boat? If you push out a little bit, we'll use the water as amplification and more people will be able to hear my voice." Now something very interesting happens here because Jesus attaches amplification ministry teaching and very closely attaches income, resource, and money as if he's not intimidated.

It's not too carnal or fleshly or earthy or humanly humanly. I'm not sure that's a word, but it's not too much to God to talk about the wonderful ways of Jesus and your need for money and income. He says at the end of his teaching, he's been teaching in this boat using it for amplification.

And he says in Luke chapter 5 to Simon, he says, "Let's move out to some deeper water and let's down let's, you know, put the nets down and and get some fish." Peter lets him in on his income problem. Lets him in on his money problem. He says, "Uh, and don't get it twisted.

This is Peter going, I don't have enough money to cover my bills." He says, "Um, funny you asked to go out there and let down our nets." First of all, anyone knows on this particular body of water, the best time of fishing, like most bodies of water, is at night time when the fish come up to the surface to eat.

This is not nighttime. This isn't the time for fishing. And Jesus says, "Hey, now that I'm done teaching, let's go out there and let's get some fish." Peter says, "Well, here's the reality. We fished during the fishing time all last night and we caught nothing. Now, if you do some research, you'll discover that most of these fishermen who fished on this body of water literally lived paycheck to paycheck.

Literally lived catch to catch. So, Peter's letting Jesus in on a fact, and that is, I need to catch fish essentially every day, and I didn't. I don't know how I'm going to pay my bills. Now, if you are in that spot right now, this story is for you.

Hey, I I don't feel like I can pay my bills. Maybe you just got your dream house. Maybe you just signed up for a mortgage. Maybe you just got a loan and now you're like, I can't make the payments. I don't know what I'm going to do. Jesus says, "Okay, let's basically let's still go."

And Peter's like, "Yeah, all right, because you said so. Let's do it." So, they go out, they drop the nets. Sure enough, a lot of income, a lot of money, i.e. fish to sell to the market. Something phenomenal happens in this story that I think is so real and so relatable.

It says they get the boat back and there's just so much fish. It's they're not even their their boats weren't even built for catches like this. It's it's a Jesus catch. It's a supernatural catch. It's more than enough. It's prosperous. It's ridiculous. It's not fair. It's not logical.

Jesus providing income and money for Peter and Peter does what people do when the topic of money or generosity or someone does something so nice and pays a bill so big or grants you a gift or gives you a car gives you a house you're like Judah what friends do you have cars and houses that's amazing but have you ever been gifted have you ever been blessed to the point of embarrassment Peter now looks at the income Um, he looks at the money that is realized in front of him and the story says he he literally gets on his knees in the sand on the shore and he says, "You got to leave me alone, man.

I am not your guy. I can't do this." Now, what's happening to Peter? What's happening to Peter is called cause and effect. It's called a law we live by on earth and that is if I do good I'll get good. Yesterday I told a friend about something new that I got in my life and he text you deserve it.

I text back being silly. I deserve hell. And he goes haha. It's true. We all do. But man, God's good. D whatever. Because as far as what I deserve, I don't like that topic at all. Because what I deserve is nothing. What I deserve is I know who I am.

My selfish, selfserving, maniacal person that I can be. But Jesus changing my appetites, changing my desires, changing my wants, directing me, helping me walk a path to protect and preserve my family so that I can live the life that I truly want, not the life that I impulsively think I want. at times.

So when you want to talk about what I deserve, I do not deserve the forgiveness of Jesus. I do not deserve this life. I do not deserve to be telling you about Jesus and telling stories and cameras to be recording me. I don't deserve to be the pastor here at church home.

I don't deserve to be married to Chelsea for 25 years. I don't deserve that 2018 and 16 year old I have. I don't deserve the friends I have. I haven't earned or warranted any of it. And the moment you go down that path, the moment your brain goes down that trail, what happens to Peter happens to you and me.

Jesus, I can't live up to this. What is Peter saying? Peter is saying, "You've given me so much. I can't keep this life up. I think you think that I'm like a good guy, so you gave me all this." Nope. That's not how God works. I think you think that I'm so good that I can handle this.

That's not how God works. I think you think that I'm going to be this great guy, but I'm not this great guy and I That's not how God works. That's not how grace works. Grace is not do good, get good. It's not earned, deserve, and warrant. It's unearned, unmmerited, unwarranted favor and blessing from God that eventually in the story book of the Bible tells us we can go ahead and ask, we can go ahead and expect, we can go ahead and look for provision like this.

Now, when it doesn't come, we don't have any ground to stand on and say, "Where is my money?" Because it's all unearned. It's all un unwarranted and undeserved. But God is gracious. Peter says, "Jesus, you literally have to get away from me." And Jesus essentially says, "Nah." In fact, he says to Peter, "Don't let fear take over here.

Don't let fear ruin this moment. I don't want you to be afraid. Has God ever blessed you so much you got scared? Has God ever blessed you so much you thought to yourself, I can't keep this up, man. I can't keep this up. Early on as a preacher, I would have whole nights where I would just be terrified at the thought that if people keep listening to me, what if I do something so selfish and so bad and so wrong that I hurt the people who have trusted me? and listened to my preaching and I'd get overwhelmed.

I can't keep this up. And the answer is, you're right, but his grace, his goodness compels us, transforms us, changes us. Peter was a cussing fisherman. Peter was a downright selfish fisherman. He was like, I am not this guy. And Jesus says, "I know. Didn't give it to you because you earned it, deserved it.

Gave it to you because I love you. I want to bless you and I'm going to change you and I'm going to transform you." Now, that fast forwards us to John chapter 21. Same characters, same dudes, same Peter. This time, Jesus has been dead for three days. You know, the the miracle man, Jesus, he's now been dead.

And Peter says, "I'm going back to fishing because at least I know how to do that." And the scripture says in John 21 that while he's fishing, he's not catching nothing. This sounds familiar. And a figure off in the distance on the shore of the body of water says, "Have you caught anything?"

Peter yells back, "No." And the voice from the shore says, "Try the other side." The starboard, star, you know, you know the terms the boats. Just the other side. Okay. Starboard side, I think it's called. Something like that. Starburst side. All right. Starburst. And he throws the net.

What is that? 10 feet 7 feet over the other side. That don't change nothing. They they fished all night in Luke 5. In the middle of the day, they go out and they catch an a record catch. That's just God being God. He says, "Cashing net on the other side."

The guys get curious. They do it. 153 fish, the story tells us. Peter dives in the water and swims to shore. And Jesus takes some of the fish and fix them breakfast. And it's a whole thing. And it happens again. The beginning of his ministry, the beginning of a whole new era after the resurrection.

Jesus creates income for the disciples. Jesus cares about your money because he cares about you. He cares about your income because he cares about you. It shouldn't seem strange to us that at the beginning of his earthly ministry and at the beginning of the new resurrection era, Jesus reminds the guys again.

I'm your source. I can create income that's not there in an instant. You got money problems. You got money pain. And I really mean this and it might sound hard to hear, but do you have too little money that you're in pain? Do you have too much money and you're in pain?

Yeah, it's a real thing. God wants to do a miracle for you. I don't think the miracle in these two stories is all the fish. And I think that's where we get it twisted. I don't think it's in the fish. I think the miracle, the real miracle is the mindset, the transformed thinking of those men who went from empty nets to filled nets doing the ridiculous.

What do you mean the ridiculous? It's ridiculous to launch out into the deeper water in the middle of the day and expect that you're going to get fish at all, let alone a record catch. You do that at night and they had tried and caught nothing. It's ridiculous.

But they did it. Even maybe more ridiculous to think that you've been fishing again all night, caught nothing, and some dude on the shore says, "Try seven feet over if you will." and they do in another record catch. It's a mindset shift. What if you believed that God was in charge of your money?

What if you believed all the money, pain, problems, and angst you feel, God's actually in control. Yeah, I know. I know. I know what your brain is telling you. I mean, I think I know. And that is, man, this God don't pay your bills. Yes, he does. Yes, he does.

Yes, he does. Early on in our marriage, Chelsea and I had a very specific number we owed in our taxes, and we'll talk about that in the fourth sermon in this series. Like, I got a check from a man I had never met, and it was for the exact dollar number that we owed on our taxes.

I never forgot that. It changed my mindset. And that's the miracle forever. God, well, God can provide for you. You know what occurs to me in both of these stories? Ultimately, what comes to the surface in our fishing stories is Jesus. He wants to be trusted. What if the miracle for you in May is for the first time in your whole life, you started trusting God with your money.

You said, Judah, how do I do that? Well, if I can be honest with you, there is one primary way you trust God with your money. You give it to him. How do I do that? Matthew 23:23. You can look it up for yourself. Look it up at the New Living Translation.

It's fascinating. Jesus is there watching, observing. He said, "You should tithe." That was a practice that still exists today of giving 10% of your income to your community of worship. He says, "But don't ignore the more important things, justice, peace, love. But you can give your money. One of the most formidable, considerable, practical, and significant, transformative things in 25 years of marriage with my wife is that every single point of income we receive, we decide ahead of time that we're going to give a portion to our community of faith.

The goal of this message is not that you give money to church home. It's that you give money is that you release money and you say, "God, I trust you with my money. It's changed my life." Um, why? God doesn't need your money. I need money. You need money.

God doesn't need money. But what he wants is your faith. What he wants is your trust. Sometimes we say we trust God, but when it comes to our money, well, God ain't going to take care of my money. Well, God's not going to save for me. God's not going to.

These two stories suggest quite the opposite, that God is in control. What if in May, this month, right now, you got set free from anxiety around your income, the lack thereof, or the significant increase that has happened in your life, and every family member you knew or didn't know is now asking you for some money.

What if you trusted God with that? What if you made a decision to set aside an amount of money every time you receive income and say, "God, this is yours and this is my act of worship to say it's yours." Some people don't like that. They say, "You shouldn't force people."

Never. Giving to God is never forced. It's not a have to. It's always a want to. And it's something that I get to do and want to do and has changed my life. Ultimately, more than anything, I want you to hear me tell you, Jesus cares about the money you want and the money you need.

And the same Jesus who can put fish in a net can put cash in your bank account. But it's the journey that he wants to take you on. Stuff like you do ridiculous things like by giving money away. The other night my son had some friends over and I saw him.

I walked in to say hi and he was giving some of his clothes away and I text him that night. Thank you for your generosity. That life of open-handed, openhearted living continues to put you in that space of saying, "God is in control of my income. God is going to supernally provide for me, and I trust him, and I trust that."

I don't know. It just honestly makes me feel giddy to think that right now perhaps God is changing mindsets. the miracle and the mindset so that you relate to your money different for the rest of your life here on earth. Let me pray for you. God, thank you for these stories.

We need them. I'm praying specifically for anyone watching who has been gripped by fear, worry, and anxiety around money for a myriad of reasons. meet us here. Please perhaps grant us the courage to shift from getting to giving that we'd think and how can we give more than even how can we get.

Help us to think like you think and to trust you like these ancient fishermen trusted you. Thank you, God. Lastly, if you're watching this and you want to follow Jesus, man, you want to receive the forgiveness that only Jesus offers, say, "That's what I want." Just say it right out loud.

That's what I want. I want him. I want to follow him. And so it begins. And so you're forgiven forever. And you can join me and many others around the world who follow the wonderful person in the wonderful ways of Jesus. Hey, this month let us know if miracles are happening in your life.

Go on pastor chat and also let us know how we can pray for you for miracles you are asking God for. He wants to be asked. He wants to be trusted. I can't wait to hear about it. Uh don't miss next week. We're going to talk about Jesus and the food you want.

I'm so excited. Love you, ((music playing)) church. I found rest in your safe refuge. Waves they toss and they turn me, breaking me down. I need you now. You're my rest and my hiding place in this place. Be exalted. Great is your love. Great is your love. Stronger than my fears.

My anchor in the darkness. Wrapped within your love here with me now. Fortress, Savior, calm in the storm. God in the shadow of your wings. Lord, I am saving you. Saving you forress. Savior, come in the storm. God in the shadow of your wings. Lord, I am saving you.

Saving you. ((music playing)) I find rest in you all my days. In this place be exalted. Great is your ((music playing)) love. Great is your ((music playing)) love. Stronger than my fears. My anchor in the darkness. crafts within your love here with me ((music playing)) now. Fortress, Savior, come in the storm. God in the shadow of your wings.

Lord, I am saving you. Saving you. for dress. A savior come in the storm. God in the shadow of your wings. Lord, I am saving you. Saving you. Saving you. I am saving you. I am saving you. safe in you. Safe in you. I'm safe in you. Safe in ((music playing)) you.

Fortress, my savior calming the storm. God in the shadow of your wings. Lord, I am saving you. Saving you. A forress, a savior, calm in the storm. God in the shadow of your wings. Lord, I'm saving you. Saving you. I'm so saving you. ((music playing)) ((music playing)) Heat. Heat. ((music playing))