Well, good morning. It is lovely to be back at Brunsfield. I got the same butterflies
as I walked down Leamington Terrace. It's great to see many faces I know.
It's not even greater, but it is also good to see many faces I don't know. I've always
suspected there's something in the water at Brunsfield where the older people are looking
younger and the young people are looking so old. Some of them were little boys when I
left and know the hulking bruises of human flesh. I am super nervous, so let me pray
and then we'll get to work.
Father God, of all the 336 half-hour slots in our week, what lies before us now is the most
important by far. Please, Lord, speak to us. Our greatest need is to be nourished by your
word, changed by your truth, and be captivated again by your Son. We not only need your truth
penetrating our ears, but also inscribed by your Spirit on our hearts. Please, Lord, give
us open ears, soft hearts, attentive minds, malleable wills, and transform lives. And we
have the audacity to pray this before you, our Father, simply because of Jesus who died, that
we might live. Amen. I wonder, what are you investing in? What are you investing your
life in today? So much of our culture is obsessed with investment. I was down in London and so
much of London works on this idea of putting something in now to reap a great reward in the
future. What seeds are you sowing that might yield a great harvest down the line? What are you
thinking about buying a house? You want a house that not only fulfills your needs now, but when it
comes to selling it in a few years' time, will propel you along the property ladder. Which degree
are you pursuing in order to offer the best possible chance for a vocation once you graduate? Which
friendships are you pouring yourself into, thinking that they're going to provide support
and companionship for many years to come? Where are your savings? In the bank earning less
than 2% or somewhere else, maybe taking a punt on stocks and shares. What are you investing in?
What are you pouring yourself into? There are lots of good things to pour yourself into. The Apple
computing company in 1980 would have been a good thing to pour your savings into. One share worth $22
at the time would now be worth $28,197. That would do you for a while. Or Jeff Bezos and Amazon in 1997, if you
bought one share for $18 and held on to it, that share once it had been diluted a few times and
multiplied would now be worth $42,120. A really good investment. Or if in 2009 you'd bought one Bitcoin
Bitcoin for $0.000 for $0.000 and had held on to it for the subsequent 12 years, that Bitcoin
would now be worth $59,262.20.
Investment in Bitcoin would have been very lucrative. If you'd have spent all of a dollar
on 1,250 Bitcoins, just imagine how much wealth you would have accrued. We spent so much time
thinking about investment. So much time deciding where we're going to put our stuff in order to get
more stuff. During my time down in London, I got to hang out with a gentleman who is the longest
serving hedge fund manager in the city of London history. He's been there through boom and bust.
His portfolio is incredibly successful. If he'd have invested one pound with him in 1953 when he started,
that pound would now be worth £1,680. He's been there through boom and bust. Very long and distinguished
career. He is a legend of the city of London. And before he left, he shared the one overarching
investment principle that will serve you a lifetime. It is top secret. And I'm going to share it with
you now. It is the fail-safe way of investing in a way that will yield nothing but dividends,
nothing but reward and sizable profits along the way. This is very lucrative information. If you've
got a pen and paper, I would get them out. Priceless information. His advice is that the number one
thing to invest in is this. Godliness with contentment. Godliness with contentment.
Godliness with contentment. To be honest, this advice is not his. It's not new. It's not original to him. In
fact, it is very old indeed and comes from the letter of 1 Timothy that you've been studying
for the last few weeks. It is right in the middle of our passage this morning in 1 Timothy 6, so please
turn there with me. 1 Timothy 6 and halfway through verse 2. Paul writes this,
teach and urge these things. If anyone teaches a different doctrine and does not agree with the sound
words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the teaching that accords with godliness, he is puffed up
with conceit and understands nothing. He has an unhealthy craving for controversy and for quarrels
about words which produce envy, dissension, slander, evil suspicions, and constant friction among people
who are depraved in mind and deprived of the truth. Imagining that godliness is a means of gain.
Verse 6. But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world and we can
take nothing out of the world. But if we have food and clothing with these, we will be content.
But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires
that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil.
It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the face and pierced themselves with many pangs.
The time of writing, the church in Ephesus is thoroughly disordered. There was asceticism being promoted.
There was punch-ups at the prayer meeting. I guess that's one of the reasons to do it on Zoom. There's less chance of a punch-up on Zoom.
Sunday mornings had become a fashion show. Wayward elders and deacons were bringing scandal on the church.
There was drunkenness. Other people were dishonestly sponging off the church.
Gossip was rife. Accusations were flying.
And Christians were even slacking off their work because they worked for Christian bosses and thought that it didn't matter.
1 Timothy is therefore a crisis letter written by the Apostle Paul to his troubleshooting protégé, Timothy.
Paul has charged Timothy with bringing health back to the church.
He wants them to, he wants Timothy to close down the distorted leaders who were not teaching the truth.
These people were distorting the truth, disturbing believers and ultimately destroying the church.
Paul envisioned this happening back in Acts chapter 20 when he says to the Ephesian elders,
from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things,
to draw away disciples after them, not making disciples of the Lord Jesus, but making disciples of themselves.
These false teachers are everywhere in the letter.
So 1 Timothy 1 verse 3, we introduced to them.
As I urged you when I was going to Macedonia, remain at Ephesus so that you may charge certain persons not to teach any different doctrine.
Nor to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies which promote speculation,
rather than the stewardship from God which is by faith.
And verse 6, certain persons by swerving from these have wandered away into vain discussion.
And then down in verse 19 of chapter 1.
By rejecting this, some have made shipwreck of their faith,
among whom are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have handed over to Satan,
that they may learn not to blaspheme.
They crop up again in chapter 4 verse 1.
Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith
by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons,
through the insincerity of liars whose consciences are seared,
who forbid marriage and abstinence from foods,
that God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth.
They're everywhere.
But now in chapter 6 he attacks them head on.
He has them in his sights.
These dodgy preachers are leading a distorted church.
Because they're not preaching the gospel, there's no power in it.
And therefore the church has just devolved into an unholy group of sinners
playing pretend at being church.
And no wonder there's divisions.
No wonder it's divisive.
No wonder it's disintegrating.
And amidst the chaos of Ephesus,
Timothy's overarching task is to teach and urge the congregation in sound doctrine
and to set an example for the church in sound living.
That is how our passage starts.
Look with me halfway through verse 2.
Teach and urge these things, Paul writes.
Now these things are definitely all that he's been teaching since chapter 5 verse 1.
All the ways that the interpersonal relationships are to happen in the church.
But the things he's to teach and urge also are what follows in our passage.
The headline for this morning is this.
Godliness with contentment is great gain.
Godliness for gain is destructive.
Godliness with contentment is great gain.
The letter of 1 Timothy has had two big things already to say about godliness in the letter.
The first is in chapter 3 verse 16.
This is what it says.
Great indeed, we confess, is the mystery of godliness.
He was manifested in the flesh.
Paul's teaching is that the mystery of godliness is not a list of rules and regulations.
It's not a list of do's and don'ts.
It's not about pulling your socks up and trying a little bit harder.
The key to godliness is the person and work of the Lord Jesus.
Great indeed is the mystery of godliness.
He was manifest in the flesh.
He was incarnated, what we learned in Matthew 1.21, with Peter.
He was vindicated by the Spirit.
He not only died, but he rose from the dead.
He ascended.
He was seen by angels.
He was proclaimed among the nations.
He was proclaimed.
The gospel went out.
And there were conversions because people believed.
And not only that, but it's all coming to a glorious end
when the Lord Jesus returns and all his people are glorified.
This is so important when we think about godliness.
Godliness with contentment is great gain.
What is godliness?
Well, it flows from the person of the Lord Jesus.
Philip Jensen says our greatest problem when we think about godliness
is that we spell it wrong.
And we add an extra O.
That we think godliness is goodliness and it's about behaving well.
When that's always going to shortchange you,
the key to godliness is being obsessed with the Lord Jesus.
And as we focus on him, he rubs off on us.
You want to be godly?
Don't make New Year's resolutions.
Have better personal devotions.
Godliness flows from the person of the Lord Jesus.
The second thing we've learnt is in 1 Timothy 4 verse 8.
This is a great verse if you're a gym buff.
1 Timothy 4 verse 8.
For while bodily training is of some value,
godliness is of value in every way.
As it holds promise for the present life.
And also for the life to come.
Yes, hit the gym, says Paul.
Yes, don't be afraid of a protein shake or a bicep curl.
Or a few squats as you watch Joe Wicks.
Do it.
It's of some value.
But don't confuse something of some value with something that's of ultimate value.
And the thing of ultimate value is training yourself in godliness.
Godliness is the most precious commodity in all of the world.
So invest in that, says Paul.
Because it will last you a lifetime and on into eternity.
Which is not quite true of your rippling six-pack.
To invest in godliness is of immeasurable value.
And eternally so.
Paul then gives a wonderful illustration.
Verse 7 of chapter 6.
For we brought nothing into the world.
And we cannot take anything out of the world.
I remember being at St. Thomas' Hospital on the 3rd of September 2020.
And after a very sleepless night, at 11 o'clock in the morning,
the midwife handed me Isaac Judson Gemmel.
Though he wasn't called Isaac Judson Gemmel at the time.
That was a few hours later before we decided on that.
And there he was.
A little squidgy pink mass of flesh with a very serious look on his face.
She handed him to me and that was it.
He didn't come with a suitcase or a rucksack.
He didn't have a wallet or a mobile phone.
He didn't have house keys or car keys.
That was him in his entirety.
Of course he had very strong genes and boyish good looks, as you would expect.
But he came into the world with nothing.
And that's going to be exactly the same as when he goes out.
What he's placed in the cradle with is exactly the same thing he's going to be placed in the coffin with.
Nothing.
And that's really got to orientate our thinking, I think.
That if we can invest our lives now in something that will last forever, then godliness is your only bet.
Go for godliness.
Godliness with contentment is great gain.
As godliness is the only thing of ultimate value that will last.
You see, investing life in Jesus, the source of godliness, is the only shrewd decision.
At the end of the game, all the chess pieces go in the same box.
Whether you are a prince or a pauper, a hedge fund manager or a hedge trimmer.
All goes to the same place.
What Isaac Judson Gemmel came out with is the best it's going to get for him at the end.
So it is idiocy to focus all your attention on temporal treasure.
Which will last for this brief moment.
And then you'll leave it behind.
What do we actually need?
Verse 8.
But if we have food and clothing with these, we will be content.
That's all you need.
For these three score years and ten, I'm very thankful that all of you have checked the second box.
I know if you have turned up to be naked worshippers this morning, we've all got clothes.
And I dare say the struggle for most of us is not too few calories, but too many.
And so we have all that we need to be content.
We have food and clothing.
And with those two boxes tick, let's go for godliness with contentment.
Think how much simpler and more straightforward life would be is if our only goal every day was to tick clothing and to tick food.
And then spend the rest of our energy left once those priorities are in place,
forging a stronger and deeper and more intimate relationship with the Lord Jesus.
That would be life transforming.
But yet we all spend so much of our life accumulating trinkets,
polishing things that will only rust and be destroyed.
If you get up every morning and having had a shower and got dressed and your breakfast,
and you say these three things to yourself.
Am I naked? No. Hallelujah.
Am I hungry? No. Hallelujah.
Hallelujah.
Jesus, help me today to live for you and love you more than I did yesterday.
Godliness with contentment is great gain.
Now, I'm not saying don't be lazy.
I'm not saying lack ambition.
I'm not saying don't enjoy all the good things that God gives us.
But I'm saying let all the stuff in your life
find its position behind your relationship with the Lord Jesus.
Because godliness with contentment is great gain.
And everything else is a bonus to be enjoyed with thankfulness.
And to be shared and held very lightly.
Use your treasure to show that your treasure isn't your treasure,
but that Jesus is your treasure.
That investment principle, says my friend Andrew Green,
it'll last you a lifetime.
Because godliness with contentment is great gain.
But this clear teaching is sandwiched between the two enemies
that will so readily impinge on that simplicity.
So look with me at verses 3 to 5.
Godliness for gain is destructive.
Verse 3.
If anyone teaches a different doctrine
and does not agree with the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ
and the teaching that accords with godliness,
he is puffed up with conceit and understands nothing.
He has an unhealthy craving for controversy and for quarrels about words
which produce envy, dissension, slander, evil suspicions,
and constant friction among people
who are depraved in mind and deprived of the truth,
imagining that godliness is a means of gain.
If the source of godliness is the Lord Jesus,
then anything that is communicated to you
that doesn't tell the truth of the Lord Jesus
is incredibly toxic, incredibly erosive.
It should be avoided like the plague.
That cliche has a lot more traction these days
than it ever used to.
This whole passage uses four different phrases to describe
the true teaching about Jesus.
See?
The sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ.
The teaching that accords with doctrine,
with godliness.
They're both in verse 3.
And then verse 5 we have mention of the truth.
And then in verse 10 the same synonym, the faith.
Departure from the gospel will lead to a distortion of your priorities.
That is definitely the case in Ephesus.
Do you see what he says in verse 4?
If anyone teaches, well they do,
that's why Timothy is there to shut these guys down,
then there is great loss.
Godliness with contentment is great gain.
Then anything that erodes godliness is great loss.
And let me show you how terrible these people are.
Do you see they're errant?
Verse 4, these people are errant.
They teach different doctrine.
They teach falsehoods that are in disagreement
with the sound words of the Lord Jesus.
They don't promote godliness.
These teachers are corrupt.
They are errant.
But see also, they are arrogant.
They are puffed up with conceit.
A particular pitfall for the new convert
who becomes an elder in chapter 3 verse 6.
They're like the puffer fish.
Just full of air.
Looks scary and impressive,
but then all too quickly deflate
and show that there's no substance.
They're just windbags.
Not only are they arrogant,
they're also ignorant.
It's so emphatic.
They understand nothing.
Rather than singing,
tell me the old, old story
of Jesus and his love,
they like singing the song,
let me give you the new, new insights.
And it's no insight at all
because they know nothing.
Behind the facade,
there is absolute ignorance.
They're just making it up out of their head.
Not only are they errant,
arrogant and ignorant,
they're also belligerent.
They care more about arguments
than they do about the truth.
Do you see it there?
They have an unhealthy craving for controversy.
Any teaching that doesn't humble you under grace
will always result
in error
and problems
and pride.
without the gospel of grace,
there's always arguments to be won
and factions
to be formed.
And they produce
terrible things
amongst their hearers.
They produce envy
that all of a sudden
these people teaching
false doctrine
gather a few disciples
after themselves
and there's a split
in the church.
That leads to dissension.
There is now a chasm building
between the seeming haves
and the have-nots.
The people who have been inducted
into this new teaching
and those that are still
in the kindergarten
seemingly just clinging to Jesus
and trusting the gospel.
After this dissension
and factionalism,
this then manifests itself
in talking past each other.
Slander,
trash talk,
lies,
all kinds of falsehood.
That manifests into
evil suspicions
that this is now just words
but this is
heartfelt motives
that are espoused
on other people.
And before you know it,
a great chasm
has erupted.
There's now going to be
a church plant.
A split disguised
as a church plant.
So the false teachers
contaminate
and corrupt their hearers.
It's not a nice place to be.
constant friction
among people.
The members meeting,
the hymn books fly
and no wonder
there's punch-ups
at the prayer meeting.
This is,
if you like,
the complete antithesis
of the fruit of the Spirit.
Rather than love,
joy,
peace,
patience,
kindness,
goodness,
faithfulness,
gentleness,
and self-control,
there is instead
from this teaching
the fruit of
conceit,
ignorance,
quarrelling,
envy,
dissension,
slander,
evil suspicions,
and constant friction.
it's not a good option,
is it?
False teaching from the front
leads to terrible things
in the pew,
all germinating from the falsehood
of these conceited teachers.
Rather than pointing people
to be happy and holy
in Jesus,
this teaching only drives people
to greater and greater levels
of depravity
as their worldly mind
is kept focused
on worldly things.
It's a terrifying couplet
that Paul finishes with.
Depraved in mind
and deprived
of the truth.
The truth has been usurped
and their lives
are not godly,
they're depraved.
See how verse 5 finishes?
They imagine
that godliness
is a means of gain.
Scary truth.
Leave revelation
and all you have
is speculation
and imagination.
This is where it ends up,
godliness
as a means of gain.
This is an infection
that is still
in our churches today.
You'll find it in this city
on many corners.
Even, I dare say,
it crouches
in our own hearts.
But we have twisted
the truth
and godliness
has become
a means of getting
rather than
an end in itself.
Where Jesus
is not our fulfillment
but Jesus
is our way
of finding fulfillment
in something else.
It is subtle
and absolutely pernicious.
Godliness
of a means of gain
is the prosperity gospel
in a nutshell.
You're poor,
you want to be rich,
come to Jesus
as the means
and the ends will be
you are rich.
Godliness
as a means of gain.
The therapeutic gospel,
you feel dissatisfied
and incomplete.
You don't like
how your life
has turned out.
Come to Jesus
and you'll find
yourself happier,
healthier,
more fulfilled
and with real purpose
in your life.
Godliness
as a means of gain.
Not Jesus
in and of himself
but Jesus
as a way
of getting something
for yourself.
This is the gospel
of me-ism
in a nutshell.
You feel like
you've been overlooked
for most of your life
and yet coming
to Jesus
gives you power.
People will listen
to you.
People will honor
and value you
and see you
for the tremendous
individual
that you've always been.
Jesus not the ends
but a means
to an ends.
Jesus not a destination
but the delivery boy
who will get you
what you've always wanted.
This is the gospel
we so easily believe
in our own
sinful hearts.
Godliness
of a means of gain.
Jesus I went to church
you now owe me
I would like this.
Or I've served you
so faithfully
for all these years
and I get this diagnosis
are you kidding me?
That is godliness
as a means of gain.
Jesus as a means
of getting
rather than a glorious
ends in himself.
What is pictured here
is the dipolar opposite
of godliness
with contentment.
It's godliness
as a means
to greater levels
of consumption.
So I was thinking
about this this week
I think a key diagnostic
of whether we're
going down this
terrible track
is in our prayer life.
I don't think
it's any wonder
that 1 Timothy 2
starts with the prayer meeting
because I think
it's in the prayer meeting
we diagnose
whether we are errant
and arrogant
and ignorant
and belligerent.
When I think
about my prayers
are they consumed
with God's glory
and his purposes
in the world
or are they consumed
with little old me
and what's going on
in my life?
is Jesus the gravitational
center of my life
or am I the gravitational
center of my life?
Am I praying
for God's glory
in the world
or am I praying
for my own
personal
benefit?
if I had a friend
who was obsessed
with his goldfish
called Dipper
and every time
we spoke
all he did
was tell me
about Dipper
the goldfish
the weight
he'd put on
the number
of laps
he'd done
of his tank
let me tell you
we're not going
to be friends
for very long
because that is
really dull
and boring
if your life
is completely
subsumed
by your goldfish
called Dipper
and then I wonder
how much of my
prayer life
is taken up
with my little
goldfish life
coming to God
with my own
little complaints
and my own
little things
and me at the
center
do my prayers
portray a certainty
that godliness
with contentment
is great gain
or do I think
my godliness
and my prayer life
is only a means
of me getting
for myself
so destructive
stems from a
corrupted view
of the gospel
from the front
falsehood is taught
and in your own
heart grows the
unfruit of the
unspirit
it's destructive
it's the cul-de-sac
of stupidity
I don't have
enough stuff
doesn't satisfy me
so I'll get
some more stuff
thinking that a
little bit more
of something
that doesn't
satisfy will
satisfy
and it's
ridiculous
godliness
as a means
of gain
is destructive
and secondly
imagining
that godliness
greediness
for more
brings ruin
do you see
how it finishes
in verse 9
but those
who desire
to be rich
fall into
temptation
into a snare
into many
senseless
and harmful
desires
that plunge
people into
ruin
and destruction
if the first
enemy
is from the
front
to your
heart
leading to
ruin
then this
is from
your heart
to your
life
and it
leads to
ruin
it's a terrible
thing that
not a conceited
mind is driving
this but a
covetous heart
an insatiable
desire for
more
I must be
rich
at any
cost
the picture
painted
draws so
many images
as it charts
the downward
wandering
spiral away
from the
church
away from
the eternal
worth of
godliness
with contentment
do you see
what it says
but those
who desire
to be rich
fall into
temptation
a sudden
departure
from truth
a sudden
not pursuing
Jesus
but pursuing
stuff
they fall
into
temptation
and once
they've fallen
into temptation
and gone
after stuff
they become
ensnared by
their stuff
the things
they own
end up
owning
them
I now
have a
mortgage
I can't
afford
so I've
got to
be all
in
I've
now
got to
follow
good money
after bad
to keep
the stuff
that I've
accumulated
I now
become one
who takes
riskier and
riskier
decisions
to keep
the stuff
that I
have
and to
afford
the
repayments
that I've
accrued
I need
to be
rich
therefore
a little
bit of
embezzling
funds from
my work
doesn't
matter
I need
to be
rich
therefore
lying
about
people
to get
a promotion
before them
is fine
I need
to be
rich
therefore
I'll
steal
and borrow
this
I need
to be
rich
I'll
invest
in that
shady
enterprise
or this
shady
enterprise
and it
ends
after being
entrapped
with people
having bigger
and bigger
imaginations
bigger and
bigger dreams
and writing
checks that
they can never
afford to
cash
and after the
imagination of
riches
they think
will satisfy
we end up
being plunged
literally
shipwrecked
the exact same
thing of
Hymenaeus and
Alexander in
chapter 1
verse 19
shipwrecked
by their
internal
desires
decoupling
them from
Jesus
and capsizing
their whole
lives
resulting in
eternal
loss
so Paul
comes into
land with
this
it is the
love of
money
that is
the root
of all
evil
notice
it's the
love of
money
not money
itself
money's
quite useful
if you need
to buy
clothes and
food
it turns
out
the bartering
system is
not as
prevalent in
Edinburgh
as perhaps
it once
was
the
destructive
influence is
not money
but it's
the love
of money
where it's
not godliness
with contentment
it is
greediness
for
cash
it's the
mantra of
our world
of upward
mobility
be a bit
richer
get a bit
more
do a bit
better
be a bit
more
respected
the people
who think
their luck
is a living
hell
and therefore
money becomes
their functional
saviour that
lifts them
out of the
hell
they're in
it finishes
with a grotesque
image
it is through
this craving
that some
have wandered
away from
the faith
and have
pierced
themselves
literally
impaled
themselves
with many
pangs
the stuff
the stuff that
they've accrued
has turned
out to be
incredibly
sharp
and they've
actually
impaled
themselves
they thought
it was going
to be a
long life
of leisurely
lunches
enjoying the
stuff that
they'd accrued
but instead
it tripped
them up
and they
actually impaled
themselves
on the things
that they were
storing
so the
message is
very clear
friends be
very careful
making your
life about
stuff and
money is the
way to
present and
eternal loss
it just is
making your
life about
Jesus and the
godliness that
flows from being
coupled with
him
that is a
life of
contentment
and worth
and eternal
gain
godliness
with
contentment
will do
you all
of this
present life
and will
last you
for all
eternity
as well
be clear
this is where
the investment
needs to be
made
think of this
when you go
into work
on Monday
morning
think of this
when it comes
to making
bigger purchases
and seemingly
better purchases
is the
overriding
mantra of your
life godliness
with contentment
and then if it
is make
very shrewd
decisions
but ensure
that your
treasure
isn't your
ultimate
treasure
this in a
culture is to
stick out like
a very healthy
thumb
because our
world is
materialistic
and it's
more more
me more
and it's
me me me
and so to be
somebody who
exhibits godliness
with contentment
is to be someone
who sticks out
like a healthy
thumb
somebody who's
going to be
given lots of
opportunities
to give the
reason for the
hope that
they have
the great
sickness of
our world
is not that
we have
nothing to
be thankful
for
it's that
we have
no one to
be thankful
to
and the
lord jesus
has saved
you from
that
he saved
you to be
somebody who
knows that
every good
and perfect
gift comes
down from
above
from your
father in
heaven who
does not
change like
sinking
sand
so i want
to come into
land with
this experiment
i wonder if
we all clubbed
together and
made a tv
home makeover
show
i'd like to
call it
moderate
designs
each episode
it would take
five minutes
the host would
give a guided
tour of a
family home
and then the
builders and
experts and
architects and
workmen would
say something
like this
as you can see
this home is
brimming with
potential
there were all
kinds of
renovations that
could be done
an extension that
could be erected
by folding doors
that could be
utilized
not to mention
room for a
garage with
self-contained
apartment above
however it does
the job pretty
well as it is
it is warm and
dry and
comfortable
there are no
structural problems
and it is fairly
energy efficient
i'm going to
encourage the
family to be
content and
leave it as it
is take all of
the worry and
all of the
wealth and
pour it over to
the gospel of
Jesus Christ
then we would
run the final
credits
you see this is
the truth this
morning but
godliness with
contentment is
great gain
for we brought
nothing into the
world and we
can take nothing
out of the
world
may that be true
of your life
may that be true
of my life
go for godliness
it is the only
thing of any
value that is
worth you investing
any of your life
in let me pray
father god we
confess that we
know the song
turn your eyes
upon jesus
really well
falls off our
tongue about the
things of earth
growing strangely
dim and yet in
all honesty we are
captivated by
stuff enamored by
things and more
preoccupied with
earthly bank
balances than
with heavenly
treasure father god
please assure us
of your
bounteous goodness
your loving
provision and
our glorious
future and may
these truths
reorientate us to
be those who
strive for godliness
with contentment
father this needs
a work of your
spirit to renovate
us from the inside
out and truly
captivate us with
the promise of
life
father may this
eclipse the
trinkets and
trappings of
our existence
we pray that you
would truly be we
pray that we would
be truly captivated
by jesus and
ever satisfied in
him
we are so thankful
to be given another
chance to be changed
by you
so please come and
reprioritize our
affections and
reform our desires
we pray this in the
wonderful ever
satisfying and
eternally glorious
name of jesus
christ amen