12/03/2017 Debt and Saving - Simon Benham

Simon made the following comments at the beginning of his sermon.

Vision Fund Update

Last year we had an offering to start the Kerith Vision Fund, which raised the biggest single gift day amount we have ever had as a church.  This fund is to facilitate growth, by enlarging our K2 building in Bracknell, providing a mid-week venue for Sandhurst, and launching Kerith in Windsor.  We are in the process of giving away 10% of the money received to Novo in Bolivia (run by our friends Andy & Mickey Partington) and to churches in Albania, Estonia and Lithuania.

The remaining money has been used to pay off a significant amount of the mortgage on the house behind K2, and to pay for architects’ fees to plan the development of K2.  In Sandhurst there is a possibility that God is opening a door for a partnership in which to build a purpose built building for Sundays.  In Windsor, Leon has been looking at possible buildings to meet in.  A decision will soon be made with a view to initially meeting one Sunday per month.

There will be two more gift days this year aiming to raise £200,000 each to progress the work in our three sites.

Authentic Community

Simon shared that he was feeling low this week due to a few different situations that are going on in his life.  For example, last Thursday he was made redundant from his part-time electronics consultancy job, and feels a deep sense of loss concerning some 30 year-long friendships with people that he will now no longer see.

Simon encouraged us to be real about what is going in in our lives.  Emotional healing often begins when we are real with God and others about how we feel.  Many of the Psalms are songs of sadness and struggle.  We mature and grow as we learn to deal with the tough stuff in life.

Generosity Series

So far in this series we have seen that there is a huge tie up between our spirituality and our finances.  Everything we have is God’s; we are just stewards tasked with using His stuff, His way, to glorify Him.  We have looked at thankfulness, the importance of having a budget, and how to grow in giving.

Financial Debt

Proverbs 22 v 7 says “The borrower is slave to the lender”.  The minute we borrow we become a slave to the person we have borrowed from.  The further we move into debt, the further we move into slavery.

The bible does not say that it is sin to borrow.  Most of us need to borrow to be able to buy a house – that is a “secured loan” as it is against an asset that can be sold if needed to repay the debt. 

When Simon & Catrina were married they took on a mortgage to buy a flat, but they also used unsecured loans (a credit card, and a credit agreement) to pay for a honeymoon to the Lake District and a TV.  Then interest rates went up, house prices crashed, and Simon was threatened with redundancy.  They were very close to being overwhelmed by debt.

There is huge grace to anyone in this position in our community.  Get in contact with our CAP debt advice centre and ask for help.

The Debt of Sin

As Christians, we all know what it is to be overwhelmed by the debt of sin, with no ability to even begin to pay it off by our own efforts.  This is a debt that would not only ruin our lives here on earth, but for all eternity.

It cost God everything to pay off that debt for us – the death of His Son on cross, bearing the punishment we deserve.

Saved into abundance

We are not just saved to have our sins forgiven, but we are saved to a provision of abundance – becoming a child of God, an heir of the kingdom, and blessed with all of heaven’s riches.

The Lord’s Prayer uses the language of debt to refer to our sin, and also calls us to forgive others, freeing them.  God even says that if we don’t forgive others, we ourselves will not be forgiven.   When we sin, we need to quickly repent, and move back into close relationship with Jesus.

Living Debt Free

To be in debt is not sin, but our goal should be to live debt free.  We are then able to make our own financial decisions and be good stewards.

We should avoid unsecured debt, and pay it off as quickly as possible.  We should also try and reduce secured debt – not taking on more than we need, and for example repaying extra every month on a mortgage so that over the long term we can be debt free many years earlier than otherwise.  Simon and Catrina have been able to pay off their mortgage and become completely debt free.

Financial Saving

With unsecured debt, if you can’t afford it, then don’t buy it.  Rather, save up for things that you want, and you may find that when you have saved up you don’t want the thing anyway!

Proverbs 6 v 6-8 says to look at how an ant stores up food in summer for use in winter.  The reality of life is that winter comes – for example clothes, washing machines and cars wear out or breakdown.  Certain times of the year and seasons of life require more money than others e.g. holidays, Christmas, children of all ages (!), redundancy, retirement.

We should save enough so that we don’t presume on God – i.e. that we don’t ask God to do what we should be able to do ourselves if we planned wisely.

A rule of thumb guideline would be to give 10%, save 10%, and live on the remaining 80%.

Channels not Storehouses

We need to save enough for a rainy day, but not for a rainy decade!  The bible is very clear that it is wrong to hoard resources and trust in our savings rather than in God.

Jesus said “Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions” (Luke 12 v 15).  He also told the parable of the rich man who decided to build bigger barns to hoard his grain for the future.  Jesus tells us instead to be “rich towards God”.

Proverbs 11 v 28 says “Those who trust in their riches will fall, but the righteous will thrive like a green leaf”.

The Bible calls us to be channels of blessing, not storehouses!

Questions

1.  Simon talked about not going in to debt for things we want, or presuming on God when things we have wear out, but rather getting into a position where we are able to save. 

Describe a time that you saved up for something (that could be recently, or even as a child).

2.  Simon talked about avoiding getting in to debt.  Not a question, but do encourage anyone in serious debt to contact CAP, or those who do not have a budget to go on the CAP Money course.

3.  Simon mentioned that as Christians, we are not just forgiven our debt of sin, but inherit the abundance of all that Christ has won for us.  How does it impact our lives to know that we are:

a) a child of God [see 1 John 3 v 1-3]

b) an heir of the kingdom [see Romans 8 v 14-17]

c) blessed with heaven’s riches [see Ephesians 1 v 3-7]

4. Simon gave us an update on the Vision Fund (see above).  How do you imagine the Vision Fund might grow the church at your site?  Are you able to start saving now towards the next gift day?

5. Simon mentioned that he was struggling with some things in life at the moment (see above). Are there areas in your life where you are struggling at the moment?  [Spend some time praying for each other]