Sunday Service - 2026-10-18

Welcome to the Lansdale Life Church podcast.

If you're seeking a closer relationship with Jesus Christ, this podcast is for you.

Thank you for joining us today.

I know you're thinking, oh, I need to turn to Acts chapter 15,

but we're going to take a little hiatus from the book of Acts,

and we're just going to do a topical study today, okay, about socialism.

I mean, it just seems to be the hot topic, doesn't it?

I don't know if you're hearing it day in and day out.

It's just, oh, it's just over and over again.

And a couple months ago, you know, sorting through,

because there's a lot of different passages of Scripture that,

you know, makes you realize that God cares about everyone,

and he's fair, and he wants equality.

You know, we're all made in God's image, and he cares about everyone.

And so there are aspects of Christianity that we can connect with in terms of

wanting, you know, everyone to not go without what they need.

And so that's important.

And yet, then there's other passages of Scripture

that seem to almost reconcile that and say different.

So we're just going to look at those passages today

so that we can get a grasp on what does God think about socialism?

What is his perspective?

This isn't, by the way, going to be political.

I'm not going to be talking about people and the squad and this and that.

We're not doing any of that.

We're just looking at what does God think about socialism,

because you can really sort it out through Scriptures,

both Old and New Testament.

So we're going to do that.

But first, we're going to pray,

because we really need the hand of God and his mind

and his anointing on this message

so that, you know, we can realize that there's no division here.

And it doesn't matter what party you're in.

It really doesn't matter.

It matters what God thinks about this particular subject.

And so we should think the same way.

That's the bottom line.

So, Father God, we ask you to open up our minds,

give us wisdom, transform our thinking

so that we can view this issue with clarity.

And so we ask this in Jesus' name. Amen.

So let's start with a definition, shouldn't we?

You know, what is socialism?

And that's a horrible backdrop I chose for that letter.

But anyway, I couldn't find a good one.

So, but socialism is, yeah, I'm going to look at this one,

a political and economic theory of social organization,

which advocates that the means of production, distribution,

and exchange should be owned or regulated by the community as a whole.

That's what Oxford Languages says about that.

In Merriam-Webster's, you know, they said that

a stage of society in Marxist theory

that is transitional between capitalism and communism.

So it's like a bridge, if you will, you know, bridging the gap.

And so that's what the world considers socialism.

So when we're talking about this,

you realize what we're saying, it's not helping people,

it's really the community at large owning everything

and distributing everything.

What can go wrong with that, right?

So first of all, as a Christian, as a believer,

it's right for us to think that we should be benevolent, right?

We should make sure that there are no people

that go in great need.

And if you've ever been to a third world country,

which we've been to several,

and you see people that are just begging

and you see just the real need out there

and people living in squalor conditions

and your heart breaks and you realize,

you know, this should not be, you know?

And so it's right for us as believers

to care about the least of these.

In fact, Jesus even said, you know, he said,

the righteous, they saw me hungry and fed me.

Thirsty gave me something to drink.

Naked gave me clothes.

A stranger, they brought me in.

Sick, they visited me.

A prisoner, they visited me.

And like, wait, whoa, whoa, whoa,

when did we ever see you like that?

Well, when you did it for the least of these,

my brethren, you did it for me.

So Christ cares about those who are in need.

And we can see that throughout scripture.

And so that's important.

And also, in the early church,

you see almost socialistic culture

in the early church.

In fact, we read through those chapters

earlier in the year.

Acts chapter two,

if you could put that verse up there, JT.

Acts chapter two verse 44,

when they're all coming together,

and there's that koinonia,

and the Holy Spirit bring unity.

Everyone is just loving each other, right?

And we read that now,

all who believe we're together

and had all things in common

and sold their possessions and goods

and divided them among all

as anyone had need.

I mean, that's an isolated

socialistic situation, isn't it?

Because people just, what do you need?

They sold what was theirs and gave to others.

Later on in Acts chapter four,

verses 34 to 35,

we read,

nor was there anyone among them who lacked,

for all who were possessors of lands

or houses sold them and brought

the proceeds of the things

that were sold and laid them

at the apostles' feet.

And they distributed to each

as anyone had need.

There you go again.

Just people selling what belonged to them,

they owned it,

but they sold it and distributed it.

I know a lot of times when you talk,

depending on the congregation,

you talk about these verses

and some people say,

yeah, yeah, yeah.

And other people are saying,

yeah, I don't like this.

Can we move on from here?

Depending on what status you are in life,

you either like that passage

or you don't, right?

But really,

it's we see that type of giving

and so forth,

and people really caring for one another.

And you know,

it's not just, of course,

in the New Testament,

but the Old Testament.

Because when God brought his people,

Israel, into the Promised Land,

there were a lot of other people with them.

And he was telling them

to be generous with what they have.

In fact,

I wanted to show you

a couple of the verses

in Leviticus 19,

verses 9 to 10.

He said,

when you reap the harvest of your land,

you shall not wholly reap

the corners of your field,

nor shall you gather

the gleanings of your harvest,

and you shall not glean your vineyard,

nor shall you gather

every grape of your vineyard.

You shall leave them

for the poor and the stranger.

I am the Lord your God.

So we could see if the Lord was saying,

oh, you don't have to like,

make sure you pick everything up

and spend it on yourself.

Let some be high,

because there's needy people

that are just watching

and hungry and needy

and leave it for them.

We read again in Deuteronomy 24, 19 to 22.

He said,

when you reap your harvest in your field

and forget a sheath in the field,

you shall not go back to get it.

It shall be for the stranger,

the fatherless, and the widow,

that the Lord your God

may bless you in all the work

of your hands.

When you beat your olive trees,

you shall not go over the bows again.

It shall be for the stranger,

the fatherless, and the widow.

When you gather the grapes

of your vineyard,

you shall not glean it afterward.

It shall be for the stranger,

the fatherless, and the widow,

and you shall remember

that you were a slave

in the land of Egypt.

Therefore, I command you to do this thing.

So remember where you came from

because you were very needy

and went without

and be generous to others.

So it's right for us as believers

to see this concept

of making sure

no one's left behind

is a good thing.

We even read in the book of Ruth.

Remember, that's how she met

her kinsmen redeemer, Boaz,

that she was told by Naomi,

go in the field

and see what you can find.

Actually, she said,

I'm going to go to the field

and see what I can find.

And there she is just gleaning.

And we read that.

Then she left and went and gleaned

in the field after the Reapers.

And she happened to come

to the part of the field

belonging to Boaz,

who was of the family Alimelech.

So that's where she ended up

marrying Boaz, of course.

And so all these things

are a picture of God's heart

towards people who do without

and have not.

And so that's important

for us to connect with that

and recognize that, right?

But it doesn't really stop there

because there's other areas

where Jesus talks about giving,

but it's even a higher purpose.

It's a spiritual or eternal thing.

And let me just tell you what I mean.

Remember when the rich young ruler

came to Jesus, he comes up,

he falls down on his knees

and says, tell me,

what must I do to have eternal life?

And Jesus, knowing

that he was a religious guy,

he said, well, you know,

the commandments, you know,

do not commit adultery.

Do not murder.

Don't steal.

Don't lie.

Honor your father or mother.

All these things I've done.

All these things I've done.

And then we read in Matthew 10,

verse 21 to 22.

And Jesus looked at him and loved him

and said to him, one thing you lack,

go your way, sell whatever you have

and give to the poor

and you will have treasure in heaven

and come take up the cross

and follow me.

But he was sad at this word

and went away sorrowful,

for he had great possessions.

Now, you can read that one way

and say, so if he sold everything

and gave to the poor,

then he would have eternal life.

And some people actually see

righteousness in heaven

connected with doing good works on earth.

And so they see it that way.

But really, what it was

was Jesus looked at him

and he loved them,

but he realized what was holding him back

from surrendering his life,

because the word also says,

love me with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength.

In other words, give me you.

It's not about the stuff.

Give me you.

And so as he's looking at this rich young ruler

and realizing, he has an idol

and it's his stuff.

And then he goes on

and tells the disciples,

it's really hard for rich people

to enter heaven.

Well, then who can be saved?

Well, with man, it's impossible.

With God, all things are possible.

And then he says,

well, we've given up everything to follow you.

You'll be repaid,

but not in material things,

in spiritual things,

in heavenly things,

a hundred fold.

So a lot of times when Jesus

is talking about sustenance,

he's talking about that,

but he's actually talking about

a much higher level of issues

and that spiritual and kingdom mindedness.

Remember the parable

about the landowner and the workers.

And I read that and in my flesh,

I never liked that parable

because it seems so unfair to me.

Okay.

Because Jesus said,

the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner.

Okay.

So everything has to do with the landowner.

Okay.

And he says,

and he went out in the morning

and his, I guess his vineyard

was plump and ready to be harvested.

And he went out and he saw some workers.

He goes, I'll pay a denarius

if you work for the day.

Okay.

And so they went out and they're working.

And the third hour of the day,

he's going around.

He sees some people sitting idle

in the marketplace and like,

hey, go work for me in my vineyard.

I'll pay you what seems right to me.

He didn't make a wage.

He said, I'll pay you what seems right to me.

So they went later on.

The sixth hour goes out.

Same thing.

I'll pay you what seems right to me.

The ninth hour,

the last hour of the day,

he's seeing some people just sitting around.

You go out and work in my vineyard.

Now, think about this.

You know, if I were just sitting there

and I heard this guy paid a denarius

to go out in the field and work for the day,

there's only one hour left

and he wants me to go and get dirty

and sweaty and cruddy

and all that kind of stuff.

Do I, for an hour?

But they went.

You see, all the other people he invited,

it had to do with faith and trust

that he was a righteous landowner.

The first people were working for wages

and all that was again,

a picture really of working

just like the rich young ruler

for the law, working to get to heaven.

Working, trying to earn heaven

by what we do on earth,

even by giving things to the poor

and so forth.

And so Jesus is saying,

it's not really about that.

It's about me.

It's all about me, Jesus Christ.

You need me.

That's how you get to heaven.

With man, it is impossible.

With me, all things are possible.

So that's where the bridge,

that's where all of a sudden,

these things start to like,

kind of like, well,

is he talking really about

like, giving as a way of

building the kingdom of God,

giving things,

or is he really talking about,

you know, doing things in my name.

Now, if you notice,

all these things,

as God talks about being generous,

you know, it's better,

better to give than to receive

and giving of ourselves freely,

freely have received,

not freely give.

All these things,

you know, there are accountability

factors in what he's sharing.

He always has accountability

built into the equation.

And I'll give you an example.

When he fed the 5,000th,

by the way, did Jesus said,

I came to feed the poor?

He didn't.

He said, I came to give

the gospel to the poor.

Think about that.

So I'm not saying

he doesn't want the poor fed

because he says that again and again,

you know, do this

for the least of these.

But his purpose on earth

was not to feed the poor.

It was to give the path of salvation

because he is salvation.

So anyway, I just thought

I threw that out there.

So Jesus is out there

and people are following him

for a full day.

And he says, they're really hungry.

We can't send them home now.

So he multiplies the fish and loaves

and feeds the 5,000.

Okay.

They're all happy and everything.

And some time passes.

And now they're following

for three days.

And he looks around.

They're hungry.

Same thing, but feeds the 4,000.

Probably many more.

That's just men, right?

So it was women and children as well.

And he feeds them both times.

So now they're like looking for him.

Where's the guy with the bread

and the loaves?

I mean, the loaves and the fish.

Like, we're hungry.

You know, they're looking all over for him.

And then they finally find him.

And he says this to them

in John chapter 6 verse 26.

Jesus answered them.

Most assuredly, I say to you,

you seek me not because you saw the signs,

but because you ate of the loaves

and were filled.

In other words, all you want is to eat.

Like, so he's calling them out.

You know, I can connect with this a little bit.

Back when we first started the church,

we were in a Korean church

over on Mount Vernon Street.

And we used to have M&M nights, okay?

On Friday nights, meals, no, Sunday nights,

whatever it was, I forget.

But meals and music, okay?

Meals and music.

And we'd call them M&M nights

and we'd go out on the street

and invite people.

And people would come.

And we would actually go out and find bands.

And we would actually pay them a few dollars

to come out there, a Christian band.

And some of them were really great, you know?

Some of them were putting things together.

But nonetheless, it's free music, free food.

We actually went to, like, Main Street

and other places and had, you know,

gourmet food there for them on these evenings.

And they would come out and so forth.

But then one thing we notice is

they wouldn't come for the music.

They would just wait for the meal, okay?

So they skipped the beginning.

Now notice, Jesus always taught,

then you receive, okay?

Because the focus was what?

The gospel, salvation.

He didn't focus on the sustenance, okay?

And so I can kick this

because after a while we realized

they weren't even coming

for the main point we're having.

So we actually over time just ended it

because it went off track, you know?

That's what I really appreciate

about the City Hall ministry in Philly

that we are connected with.

Jerry Dover back there.

Give a little wave, Jerry.

You in the front can't see him,

but he's back there.

If you ever want to, you know,

connect and go down there at City Hall.

But they have the right priorities.

They teach the gospel.

They give the message.

Then they give clothes

and then they give food.

And right now we're in Socktober.

If you have some extra new socks

or old ones, will you take some old ones or?

No. No old socks.

Especially not freshly worn, okay?

We're collecting for socks.

But anyway, but they have the right priorities.

They give the important things.

Then they take care of their needs,

their physical needs.

And so we see this so that, you know,

Christ shows us through demonstration

what's the most important thing, doesn't he?

You know?

And so as we look at all of this,

so then what is the other side of the coin?

We look through how God cares about people.

He believes in fairness, okay?

He demonstrates that.

He cares about the poor, the widow, the fatherless,

the orphan, all that.

He cares about all these things.

He cares about the hungry.

Again and again, he demonstrates that.

But there's another side of this

that rewards effort both on earth and in heaven, right?

And it's a reward system.

We're not all equal in terms of the outcome.

I'm just saying we're not.

We're equal in terms of our standing in Christ

and we're all the righteousness of Christ.

But there will be different levels

of whatever happens in the future.

Because he says, you know,

work for the rewards that are in heaven,

you know, where the malls don't eat,

the rust don't contaminate and seal over.

And also the thieves don't steal.

And so we see this picture in Matthew 25, 15.

Again, the kingdom of God is like someone

who goes away, a landowner.

He gave to one five talents,

to another two and to another one,

to each according to his own ability.

And immediately he went on a journey.

Now notice, there's some inequality there.

He gave five to one person.

He gave two to another

and he gave one to another person.

So there's that, okay?

And then he goes away and he comes back

and the one guy comes up, look,

I had five, I invested them for your,

and now I got 10.

Now, oh, this is a picture really of our lives, isn't it?

It's all a picture of the kingdom of God, okay?

He's talking about sustenance.

He's talking about harvest,

but he's really talking about our souls

and rewards in heaven

and our living in the kingdom of God, right?

And so he's saying, God bless you.

You could keep those five.

So, and wait, you see what happens?

You're even gonna be rewarded more.

I will put you in charge of even more things.

So there's this reward system

for doing more than the one that had two came up.

Look, I got four.

Keep them.

They're yours.

And guess what?

Even more things are coming your way.

I'm paraphrasing, right?

And then the one comes and says,

you know what?

I know what you're like.

You're harsh.

You're mean.

The things you have you didn't even earn.

I'm paraphrasing.

And so I buried it.

But here it is.

You can get it.

It's right there.

It doesn't even say, here it is.

You can get it.

It's right there.

Buried in the ground.

And then he responded, you wicked and evil servant.

And then, you know what he says the next verse?

He said, so take the talent from him

and give it to him who has 10 talents.

For to everyone who has more will be given.

And he will have an abundance.

But from the one who has not even what he has

will be taken away.

And that sounds harsh, doesn't it?

It's Jesus Christ.

Like, whatever he says goes.

Whatever you think is, oh, that's mean.

You're not aligned with him.

Because he has the final word.

He is the word.

And so we see this.

Now it's suddenly shifting.

And almost seems like a capitalistic kind of,

but it's not about government and earthly systems.

But it's a mindset of God towards these things.

There's always accountability built in to the process.

There always is.

When early on we read about the issue with widows

who were going without and they set up a system.

We got to take care of the widows.

And it's important, right?

Well, as time went on, like, there were a lot of widows.

And so when Paul was writing to Timothy,

he wrote about the widows.

And he said in 1 Timothy 5, 9 to 10,

he says, no widow may be put on the list,

in other words, of receiving, unless she is over 60,

has been faithful to her husband,

and is well known for her good deeds,

such as bringing up children, showing hospitality,

washing the feet of the Lord's people,

helping those in trouble,

and devoting herself to all kinds of good deeds.

I mean, that's a checklist.

I mean, that's a resume of good living.

Now, I'm not saying we're called to do a checklist

of everyone we give things to,

because we just can't, wouldn't, and shouldn't.

But I'm saying there's a process of accountability,

isn't there?

Because the Lord cares about where our resources are going.

He's entrusting us.

We are his stewards of what we have, right?

And then he goes on from there in the same letter,

or he actually said this before that,

he said in verse 8, 1 Timothy 5, 8,

anyone who does not provide for their own relatives,

and especially for their own household,

has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.

Boom, I mean, ouch.

You know, it hurt me, but I had to share that with somebody.

This year, as they're complaining, no one's helping them.

No one's helping him.

And we did, again and again and again and again.

And kept quitting jobs, family, big family, kids, everything.

And started texting me scriptures of why we're not loving,

why we do, do, do, do, do, do.

And I texted him that.

You know, grow up, your responsibility,

it's your responsibility to take care of your family.

It's not all of us, it's you.

Why do you keep quitting these jobs?

Like, so it hurts, but at a certain point,

you just, some tough love.

You need to hear what the word says.

How about when Paul says those who don't work don't eat?

You know, I mean, come on.

This is like, it's, wow, I don't hear this stuff.

Well, we don't hear this stuff,

but it's scriptural, it's biblical,

and it's Jesus Christ, right?

This is how he feels about things.

And so, you know, there is this shifting

that we have to realize that accountability

is involved in everything.

Now, we're just going to take a brief break on this

and say, you know, there's a practical side of this, too,

because it just doesn't work.

It's never worked socialism.

It's never worked anywhere.

Well, maybe this time we'll get it right.

No, you won't.

And you know why?

Because mankind is corrupt.

You could just think, well, the people in charge

who are going to make sure we all own the same amount

and that people are in charge

who make sure that everyone gets the same things,

that they won't keep any extra for themselves.

Here comes the headlights, dumb deer.

You know, it's like, you're just asking to be run over, okay?

It just doesn't happen because all mankind are unrighteous, right?

The church could be socialistic in their little community.

Because why?

The Holy Spirit was keeping them accountable.

I mean, what happened to Ananias and Sapphira?

When they like sold, hey, that's how everything I sold.

No, no, boom, you're out, right?

I mean, you know, the Lord dealt with things

because it was accountability in the church.

The government doesn't have any accountability for anything.

In fact, they're anti-God, right?

I mean, can you name any socialistic state

that promotes Christianity or God?

None.

They are the God.

You're looking at them.

They are God to you.

How dare you think otherwise, right?

They're in charge, right?

Which really takes me to this final point.

Not that it is...

And you know, I want to show this slide real quick.

John Kratz made this slide for me.

And after I told him, in fact, he knocked this out

in probably like 10 minutes.

You know, there could be wealth under that ground.

There could be materials.

There could be all kinds of things.

It gets squandered and misused.

And it just doesn't work.

And they fail in all these areas.

And the outcomes are all of these outcomes here.

But you know what the worst is?

Religious suppression.

They don't allow you to worship.

And I still don't know.

If religion is the opioid of the masses,

did you ever hear that?

I don't even know who said it.

It just came to mind.

You ever hear that?

So why wouldn't you want people to believe

in something they can't see?

Just go to your God.

It's fine.

You're going to be fine.

Just pray to your God.

And let us keep stealing from you

and suppressing you

and just wiping you into the ground.

But worship your God.

It's like an opioid.

Just be happy.

You would think they would want,

but because it's an antiChrist thing.

It's an evil system.

It's wickedness.

And of course, it leads to dictatorship

and people owning you.

So thank you, John, for that slide.

But as we get into these final moments of this,

I just want to ask a couple questions

that we could talk about.

Is one, why is it so evil?

Why is socialism so wicked?

Okay.

And the question is,

if you could put that next question up,

because there's two questions we're going to ask.

Who is your provider, God or man?

Because so many people just just take care of us.

Okay.

I need someone to take care of me.

Then I won't have to work so hard.

Well, humanity has always worked hard.

Just the way it is.

We probably work less now

than we ever did in humanity, right?

We think we work a lot,

but it's not by the sweat of our brow.

It's instead in front of a computer.

I forgot my Blu-ray glasses.

Oh, I'm good now.

The modern day dilemma

compared to days of antiquity, right?

But who is our provider?

And God enables us to work.

Ecclesiastes 2, 24, when Solomon wrote this,

nothing is better for a man

than that he should eat and drink

and that his soul should enjoy good in his labor.

This also I saw was from the hand of God.

You know, work is a gift.

Seeing the rewards and the outcome of our work is a gift.

It's a pleasure to be able to work,

you know, to serve others and serve humanity.

And so this is the idea.

In fact, Solomon also said in Ecclesiastes

that work is our portion and our heritage.

When Israel was led by kings

and Samuel was the last king

and his sons did not follow in his footsteps, unfortunately,

and they sought after greed and so forth.

And so finally, Israel came and said,

you know what?

We've had enough.

We need a king.

Well, you need a king.

Yeah, we need a king like every other nation.

We need a king.

We need someone to take care of us.

And Samuel's like, you know,

God told him what to say.

But to summarize,

we show you at 1 Samuel 8, 6, 7,

but when they said,

give us a king to lead us,

it displeased Samuel.

So he prayed to the Lord

and the Lord told him,

listen to all that the people are saying to you.

It is not you they have rejected,

but they have rejected me as their king.

So give me a king.

Give me a leader.

Give me a government

that will take care of me.

Take care of all of us.

It's wanting a king.

You know, it's funny.

These no king rallies.

I mean, they got it reversed, you know, really.

It's like, I want big government

to take care of me.

I want them to be my provider.

And you see, that's what's so evil about it.

So who is your provider?

And then the second question is,

how are you storing

what God has provided you?

Because, you know, it's funny.

We always want other people

to give what they have, you know.

And when we have things,

it's like, well, yeah,

but this is special.

I read this funny little thing about,

you know, this pastor said to his church,

how many want to share things

what they have with others?

Yeah, I, to measure,

probably all of us would raise our hands.

I'm not going to ask you to

because your hands

might be coming down soon, right?

But how many, you know,

all of us would share.

I mean, you're very giving, right?

Okay, that's great.

Well, the pastor said, awesome.

And he says, okay, you know,

well, then how many people

would share their car?

Okay.

And the hands went all the way down

to just a few.

Okay.

How about your house?

Who, how many people

would open up your house

to let people come in

and stay when needed a couple?

I know there's a lot of you

who haven't do.

And then he says, that's so great.

All right.

How many people today

will give up half of their wealth

to someone else,

to people in need?

And one old guy lifted up his hand

and the preacher said, wow, really?

Like, you'll do that.

You'll give up.

What made you agree

to give up half of your wealth?

Well, because I don't have anything.

You know, it's easy

to give up somebody else's stuff.

But when it's our stuff,

I might be using that next week,

next month.

You know, it's so funny

the things we hang on to.

It's so silly.

I remember we had these paintball guns

our kids were always in it.

Air saw, paintball,

that kind of stuff, you know.

And so I had all these guns

and the kids were getting older

and they hadn't done paintball

in years and all that.

And so I forget who it was,

but it came across

that like I saw an opportunity

to give these these guns away.

And yes, some of them

weren't even living at home anymore,

if not all.

But anyway, I'm like,

and they're sitting in this drawer.

And I'm like, you know,

I call them all.

Hey, guys, can I give these

airsoft guns away,

these paintball guns away?

No.

We might play again.

So I never did.

And that whole opportunity

came and went.

And I still I just felt like

that's so cheap.

So then another opportunity

came along that we used to

they all the kids used to wrestle

and I had this amazing

double thick wrestling mat

in the basement.

And we used to do jujitsu

one and all that kind of stuff.

And and and it was there.

And just I heard

through the grapevine,

like these guys were getting together

and it was almost

kind of like a ministry

and they're doing jujitsu and all that.

And I'm like,

I'm not making that same mistake again.

I'm not going to trip over that mat

when I go downstairs for years,

remembering these guys had no mat.

And here it is collecting dust

on my in my base.

But like, that's what we tend to do.

I might use that something.

I'm trying to just be more like

it's being used.

Let it go.

Give it away, you know,

because you will be blessed more

just being able to let go.

Let go.

Amen.

So I have one last slide,

but as the worship team comes forward.

Again, I know this is a very practical.

It's not you aren't necessarily

having your heart

moved in a sense that like

spiritually connected

or maybe you are,

but to some heavenly thing.

But really,

it's what this is to see

all of our stuff is

we're merely stewards of it.

And in all every single passage

we looked at,

things came from God to people.

And then they had the opportunity,

the privilege

to represent Christ

to others by giving it to others.

See, if you cut out

the middle man,

now you're using the government to do it.

Guess who's not being represented?

God.

God's left totally out of the picture.

I remember

a few mayors ago of Lansdale

and I forget his last name,

but he met with the churches.

We had this little partnership

with churches

and he came and he spoke

and I could tell

where he was coming from

and he says,

you know,

there was a day

that the biggest buildings

in every town and city

were churches,

the highest buildings

with the steeples

and the next was the bank.

Now it's always

the government buildings.

This town is no different.

Nice,

beautiful,

multi,

tens of millions,

whatever cost to build.

It's probably a cheap one

in today's standards,

but it's so,

you ever drive through Washington, D.C.,

you're like,

like this is the hugest city

with the biggest buildings

and half of it

is government.

Now I'm not saying

we don't need some

or a lot of it,

but do we need all this?

And it's just growing

and growing

and growing

because they are the middleman,

they're the brokers,

you see,

of what we have.

Now just imagine

turning it all over,

you see.

I mean, that's why this is all,

even we're cutting God

out of it.

And so just this last slide

that I made,

it says,

who is the source?

God's provision

and voluntary benevolence

is on one side.

God gives,

people steward,

people freely share.

And Jesus said,

freely you have received,

now freely give.

But on the other side,

when the state takes God's place,

state controls,

state allocates,

allocates,

and people receive,

they don't have anything to give.

There's no stewardship,

they're just getting

their meager allowance

to exist.

And that's not what God wants.

He wants to bless us,

prosper us.

He wants to give us

an abundant amount,

so it's overflowing.

So like say,

I can't even deal with all this.

I got to give it

to somebody else who's in need.

That's the whole picture

of the kingdom of God,

is we are the conduit

for God's goodness to others.

Well, guess what?

You put the government

in charge of that?

You're not going to have

anything to give away.

And so let's pray.

Father God,

I just pray that we all

receive this message

with your enlightenment,

not even a tarnished opinion

from me, Lord God.

I just pray that

we would take to heart

all these things

because you are benevolent.

You do care about

the least of these.

You care about the hungry.

You care about the thirsty,

Lord God,

those who are sick,

those who are needy,

even those who are incarcerated.

You care about everyone,

Lord God,

the strangers,

the homeless.

You care about all of them, Lord.

But I believe only you

are the answer

to all that human need.

It's you, Lord.

You are the provider.

And so Lord God,

we ask you to just help us

be providers to others

in your name.

That we would be

your stewards to others.

That we would be a conduit

of your goodness

to other people

so that they would know

there is a God

who is in charge,

a God who owns the cattles

on a thousand hills.

According to your riches

in glory, Lord God,

you will provide

for all of our needs, Lord.

We can trust you.

You are the great gift giver,

the Father of Light.

So we thank you

and we praise you

in Jesus' name, amen.

Let's give the Lord

a round of applause.

And let's stand up and worship.

Thanks for joining us

at Lansdale Life Church

as we praise God

and discuss His word.

Don't forget to join us

for Worship Lives Sunday mornings

at 10 a.m. Eastern on YouTube.

Be blessed

and have a great day!