Matt Chandler - Christ Is the "More"

Hey, if you have your Bibles, go ahead and turn there. I want to say that this is kind of a jumping-off point. I want to establish the preeminence of Christ, and then I’ve got a lot of other texts I want to show you as we consider and look at. If you were here last week, we started one of what will be three sermons around generosity and money. So if this is your first time here, breathe easy—I’m not taking an offering; you don’t need to clutch anything. I’m not trying to get into your pocket. I’m saying what Jesus says: that money is actually a spiritual matter and reveals more about your heart than anything else in your life. More than your behavior, more than your background, and more than what you spend your time and money on, money reveals what you actually love most. That’s just what the book says. So we started that last week, and I want to talk a little bit more about it today. Then, two weeks from now, we’re going to look at what that looks like in practical terms. What are tithes? What are offerings? How do you operate? Even then, I’m not taking one up. I’m after what Jesus is after, which is your soul, not your money. God doesn’t need your money; I mean, He is not hemmed in by your fifty bucks, right? But He does desperately love you and wants you to have a kind of wealth that money won’t buy. Well, I’m getting ahead of myself. Before we dive into all of that, the kind of church that we want to be—and I think the kind of church that we are—is one that holds every resource imaginable with an open hand. We don’t grasp hold of staff members and think that if they leave, we fall apart, because we don’t believe that. Even dear friends of mine that I’ve walked with, we’re always saying goodbye to people. We did it with Jillian just a second ago; she’s not leaving the church, she’s just rolling off staff. But there have been a lot of instances lately where we’ve had to say, «Hey, this person has been a key piece of what makes the Village the Village, ” and God’s called them on, and praise God for that. The second we clench our fists around things, we show that we think we know better than the King, and I just think that’s a bad culture to set. Several years ago, about four years ago now, we started a strategic partnership with an organization called Launch Global. They are men and women who raise their own support and then embed themselves in the life of a church for a season to mobilize men and women toward mission. That’s what they do. So they come in—we have a large group of those men and women with us. Again, they raise their own support and then join our staff. That’s a brilliant strategic partnership for us, right? They have raised up men and women from among us who are going to the ends of the earth. But there are times when those men and women are called and leave as well. So I want to celebrate some of those individuals this morning. One is from Launch Global, and another young woman was just raised up through our sending program and is heading out too. So this is Carlos and Abby; why don’t you guys come and join me out here? Carlos is headed down to Austin, and what God has put on Carlos’s heart is to mobilize among ethnic minorities to the ends of the earth, so he’s got a great opportunity to do that down there. I couldn’t be more excited for him; he has made our church a stronger, better community of faith. Thank you! And then Abby—our devoted Abby—is heading to Japan, to Tokyo, where only one percent of the population is Christian. This means that if you’ve ever visited Japan and you’re a Christian, you’re probably the only Christian that many locals have ever encountered. Abby’s going to join a team over there and share the gospel with men and women. She’s been raised up from within and is heading out. So what I want to do is bless these two. God has funded them; they have strengthened what we want to be most here at the Village, and now they’re heading on to do what God has called them to do. I couldn’t be more excited, although I would like to have both of you a little longer. But that stuff is in the Lord’s hands. Here’s how you can partner with me in doing that: if you could just extend your hand to them—it’s not magic or anything, we’re just saying we’re with you—and God doesn’t care if that starts to burn and you switch out midway through the prayer. God just takes you as you are. We’re not all in the same athletic shape, but let’s pray here, and we’ll go from there. If you’re at home, you can extend your hand toward the TV or device. Let’s just do it. All right, Father, I bless this man and this woman in the name of Jesus. I do thank You that right now there’s a Japanese man or woman who has no idea who You are, and maybe has never heard the name of Jesus, who is going to worship with us forever because of Abby’s faithfulness.