Dollars & Sense - Part 4 [Notes]

Money touches almost every part of our lives—and for many of us, it’s a source of stress, guilt, or fear. Whether it’s debt, past mistakes, or pressure to keep up, the world’s way of handling money isn’t really working. We’re diving into Dollars & Sense, a four-week series on how to view and use money God’s way. This isn’t about getting something from you—it’s about giving you peace, freedom, and joy in an area of life that so often brings stress. We’ll explore big questions: Are we owners or stewards? What does it really mean to give? How can we live within our means? And ultimately, can we trust God with our finances like we trust Him with our eternity?

Takeaway:  Faith-filled or Fearful? We can trust God to take care of our needs.

“Don’t collect for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal. ²⁰But collect for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves don’t break in and steal. ²¹ For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."
 – Matthew 6:19-21 (HCSB)

[The Greek word used here for “accumulate”] refers to the activity of stockpiling for reserve or later use.
— J. Nolland

The root [of the word “mammon”] in both Aramaic and Hebrew indicates that in which one has confidence.
– D.A.Carson

“For which of you, wanting to build a tower, doesn’t first sit down and calculate the cost to see if he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, after he has laid the foundation and cannot finish it, all the onlookers will begin to ridicule him, saying, ‘This man started to build and wasn’t able to finish.’”
– Luke 14:28–30 (CSB)  

The Pharisees believed the Lord materially blessed all He loved. They were intent on building great treasures on earth. But treasures built here are subject to decay (moth destroys cloth and rust destroys metal…or theft, whereas treasures deposited in heaven can never be lost.
– L.A. Barbieri

“Don’t collect for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal. ²⁰ But collect for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves don’t break in and steal. ²¹ For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."
– Matthew 6:19-21 (HCSB)

This word can refer to paying back a loan, paying wages to hired workers, or repaying people for their deeds, whether good or bad. 
– J.A. Crutchfield

For the Son of Man is going to come with His angels in the glory of His Father, and then He will reward each according to what he has done.
— Matthew 16:27 (HCSB)

“The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light. ²³ But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. So if the light within you is darkness—how deep is that darkness!"
– Matthew 6:22-23

Jesus is therefore saying either (1) that the man who “divides his interest and tries to focus on both God and possessions … has no clear vision…or (2) that the man who is stingy and selfish cannot really see where he is going; he is morally and spiritually blind.
— D.A. Carson

“No one can be a slave of two masters, since either he will hate one and love the other, or be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot be slaves of God and of money."
— Matthew 6:24 (HCSB)

But those who want to be rich fall into temptation, a trap, and many foolish and harmful desires, which plunge people into ruin and destruction. ¹⁰ For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, and by craving it, some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pains. ¹¹ But you, man of God, run from these things, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, and gentleness.
— 1 Timothy 6:9-11 (HCSB)

“This is why I tell you: Don’t worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Isn’t life more than food and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds of the sky: They don’t sow or reap or gather into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Aren’t you worth more than they? ²⁷ Can any of you add a single cubit to his height by worrying? ²⁸ And why do you worry about clothes? Learn how the wildflowers of the field grow: they don’t labor or spin thread. ²⁹ Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was adorned like one of these! ³⁰ If that’s how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and thrown into the furnace tomorrow, won’t He do much more for you—you of little faith?
– Matthew 6:25-30 (HCSB)

With the illustration of the birds we get to the main thrust of this section: anxiety is wrong because it represents a failure to trust God as provider
— J.Nolland

The Lord Will Provide // Trust In God // It Is Finished // Firm Foundation (He Won't)

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