Change

got debated back and forth whether I should uh step out of the series for today being the last day that Caleb and Jensen and their family are here and whether I Su stay in the series I'm going to do a little both in Philippians chapter 4: 7-9 is a series been pre preaching on called deposit these things the Bible says in the peace of God which passes all understanding shall keep your hearts and Minds through Christ Jesus finally Brethren what sort of things are true what sort of things are honest what sort of things are just what sort of things are pure what sort of things are lovely what sort of things are good report if there be any virtue and if there be any praise think on these things

those things which you have both learned and received and heard and seen me do and the God of Peace shall be with you that last phrase of verse number eight to think on these things can literally be translated to deposit these things and just like you go down to the bank and you open an account you can open an account for free at any Bank here in Hawaii but in order to take money out of that account you got to put money into the account you've got to deposit before you can withdraw if you want to draw upon the peace and the power of God you got to be depositing into your spiritual account these things that we've been going through and so today I want to come away from the list for just a

moment today I want to talk about change I want to talk about change and I wonder how many of you right now have some change we're talking about Pocket Change dimes quarters nickels pennies and so on how many of you right now have some change either in your pocket or you're in purse on you right now raise your hand how many of you got that all right a lot of you do and and uh we you know the the the thing about Chang is this let's turn over to Matthew chapter 25 Matthew chapter 25 the only thing about change is this is that change never is about change that never changes that it's always changing the only thing about change that that never changes is that change is always changing you know

the amount of change I have in my pocket will be one number on Monday it'll be another number maybe on Wednesday another number yet on Friday because I'm buying things and sometimes I'll take the CH change out and put a little jar my shelf or whatever but it's constantly changing and that's the way that life is as well in Matthew chapter 25 and beginning with verse number 24 it says then he which had received the one Talent came and said Lord I Know Thee that thou art a hard man reaping where thou Hast not sown and Gathering where thou Hast not straw and I was afraid and went and hid thy talent in the earth Lo there that here there thou Hast that is thine his lord said unto him thou Wicked

and slothful servant thou knowest that reaped where I SED not and gathered where I have not straw and he said thou oughtest therefore to put my money to the exchangers and that my coming I should receive my own with your Usery he said the least you could have done with your change is is deposit it and earned interest on it you could have gotten some some return of some kind on it and I wonder how much change do you have how much change do you have in 1 Thessalonians chapter 5 turn over there if you would 1 Thessalonians chapter 5 and verses 5-10 1 Thessalonians chap 5 and veres 5-10 says ye are all the children of the light and the children of day we are not of the night but nor of the

darkness therefore let us not sleep as do others but let us watch and be sober for they that sleep in the night and they that be drunken are are I'm sorry I'm reading chapter 5 let's go to chapter 1 veres 5-10 first thians chapter 1 veres 5-10 for Our Gospel came not unto word only but also in power in the Holy Ghost and in much Assurance as you know what manner of men we were among you for your sake and you became followers of us and of the Lord having received the word in much Affliction with joy of the Holy Ghost so you are examples to all that believe in Macedonia accacia for from you sounded out the word of the Lord not only Macedonia ccia but also in every place your faith to God were

spread abroad so that we need not to speak anything for they themselves show us of what manner of entering in we had unto you and how you turn to God from Idols to serve the living and true God and wait for his son from Heaven whom he raised from the dead even Jesus which delivers from the Wrath to come you see I wonder how much change do you have on you now I'm not talking about the change in your pocket or the change in your purse but I'm talking about the change in your life people all around could see how these Thessalonians had changed they could see how the word of God had changed them and who they are and what they're doing and you know we also need to change and the thing about

change is this the change in your pocket or your purse changes es on almost a daily basis and it's the same way with our spiritual change uh some days I'm more spiritual there's more change in my life some days there's less change in my life some days there's good change and some days there's bad change and we need to be careful that every day that there's change for the good and not for the bad in 2 Timothy chapter 4 and verse number 10 it says for Deus hath forsaken me having Lov this present world and has departed onto thessal chrishna to glaa Titus unto dtia Deus who was very much uh uh involved in the ministry was very much a part of what what uh what sa Paul was doing uh he he forsook

him he went back to his old ways he went back to the world and and his change was changed for the bad you know it's ironic that he departed to thess where these people had changed for the better but Deus at this point in his life even though he was saved even though he'd been serving the lord there was change but the change was for the bad you go down in that next verse there verse number 11 it says only Luke is with me take Mark and bring him with thee for he's profitly for the ministry now this was changed for the good John Mark had gone with Paul and and Barnabas on their original missionary journey uh they had taken it was uh barnabas' nephew and he went along as their gopher you know go

for this and go for that and just a helper whatever way he could and and kind of a summer intern whatever you want to call it and he went on this missionary journey with him but he got homesick and uh he got being tired of doing all the hard work and so he he left and he went back home later on when they went back uh to their home City uh Barnabas wanted to take Mark with him again and Paul said no I I don't take quitters I I don't deal with it he he had his chance and he didn't do the job and I'm not going to take them along in fact the dissension was so much between them they end up going their separate ways but now Paul says bring Mark for his propit ministry there was a change in his

life at one point he wasn't Living For for God he wasn't serving the lord he had kind of given up on God but yet uh he changed his life and got back right with the Lord you go down a little further in verses 10 and 12 in verse 10 it says for Deus ha forsaken me having L this present world and is Departed the nah but it says Christians to galatia Titus unto Dalmatia in verse 12 it says tius have I sent to Ephesus now the there wasn't a chang for the good or bad and those their lives like tickus and and Christians and Titus they were just changed they were going to a different place uh Pastor Caleb's not backsliding by going into law uh although I am a little concerned lawyers you know there's

something wrong with him but he's not backsliding by going to law he's not backsliding by leaving the ministry here this is God's call in his life and and sometimes change happens not for the good not for the bad but it's time for change God says there there's a new direction that I have for you a new place that I want you to be new things that are going to happen in your life and change can be good and change can be bad and we want to make sure that our change is always for the good and when we change it's always with God's Direction in our life because the thing about change is this is change adds up in Matthew chapter 18 and verse number 20 it says for where two or three are gathered

together my name there am I in the midst of them now you put two or three coins together you got a little bit of money you put a lot of coins together you got a lot of money you might have noticed this jar up here we got our jar like many of you do where we collect our change in this jar and this adds up every time we add more money to it add up and there's literally hundreds of dollars in that jar right now and and that's the way the spiritual life works is is it's little changes from day to day to day that add up sometimes there are big changes uh we had some kids get saved to camp this week and what a big change that is in their life we praise God for that we had other kids at camp this

week made a decision a major decision in their life to give up sin or to serve the Lord and we praise God for that and sometimes the decisions are big decisions but most of our life are little decisions that continue to add up in 2 Thessalonians 1: 11- 12 looking over there again 2 Thessalonians chapter 1: 11- 12 it says wherefore also we pray always for you that our God would count you worthy of this calling and fulfill all the good pleasure of his goodness and the work of Faith with power that the name of our Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified in you and ye in him according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ you see listen we want you to fulfill all the good pleasure of God

in your life uh we want to make sure it all comes together you know often we don't count the pennies uh or even the change you know sometimes I'll ask my wife how much money you have she says well I have $5 is some odd sense uh we kind of think that those little things don't really count but we realize that it's the little decisions the decisions to read my Bible today the decisions to spend time in prayer it's the decisions to to to show Grace towards somebody and not anger and bitterness it's decisions it's those little decisions that add up and count in our lives go over to Luke chapter 15 Luke chapter 15 and look at verses 8-10 Luke chap 15 and veres 8 through1 says either what woman

having 10 pieces of silver if she lose one piece that not light a candle and sweep the house and seek diligently till she find it and when she had found it she called her friends and her neighbors together saying Rejoice with me for I have for I have found the the peace which I had lost likewise I say unto you there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth we need to count the value of each individual who gets saved each individual that you invite the church that you give a track that you tell about Jesus that that that comes to know the Lord what a blessing that is I know there's one of our young people that invited another young person to camp this week

and that young person got saved and and what a great blessing that is and we need to count the value of every person to get saved and every person to come to know the Lord go over to Acts chapter 4 acts chap 4: 13 and 14 Acts chapter 4 and verses 13- 14 I I wonder what are you changing what are you changing in the time that Caleb has been here and Jens been here there's a lot of things that have changed and uh and I wonder in your life what is it that you are changing in Acts 4: 13- 14 now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men they marveled and they took knowledge of them that they' been with Jesus and beholding the man which was

healed standing with them they could say nothing against it you see they saw the changes in that man's life they saw the changes that that Peter and John had brought and I wonder can people see the change in your life can see people see things changing on a regular basis but what we need to do is we need to give all of our change to the Lord go over to 2 Corinthians chapter 8 2 Corinthians chapter 8 you know sometimes we think that that change doesn't matter much and I want to remind you again that all of your changes add up with God and all the little changes that we make when we're in church and we hear a message when we're in Sunday school and we're challenged by the lesson when we open

our Bible and we read something all of those changes add up and they make a difference in 2 Corinthians chapter 8: 1-5 it says moreover brethren we do to wit of the grace of God bestowed on the churches of Macedonia how that in great trial of Affliction the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty abounded onto the riches of their liberality for to their power I bear record yay and beyond their power they were willing to themselves praying us with much in treaty that we receive the gift and take upon us the fellowship of ministry to the Saints and this they did not as we hop but first gave their own selves to the Lord unto us by the will of God here were people that were willing to give

their change out of their poverty they were willing to give in order to make a difference and we need to give our lives to God and we need to be willing to give to the Lord in order to make a difference this week at Camp our preacher for Camp is familiar to a lot of you brother Mike aelf he's a missionary in the 1040 window window over uh working with people that have never heard the gospel he's up in a very mountainous region of the country and and uh a very remote area helping to build a school to train people for the ministry and uh when he was here last time uh we took a special offering to help build some uh some sanitary restrooms and showers for those young people and that made a

difference in their lives it it may not seem like much but it made a difference and and I want to remind you that everything that you do makes a difference in somebody life whether you're giving or whether you're serving or whatever else is that you do it makes a difference in someone's life and and and we need to be reminded of that so what we're going to do right now is we're going to ask the ushers to help us out we're going to take a special offering and this is just a change offering uh I don't want any bills in there all I want you to do is if you're willing to is to take all the change that you have in your purse or in your pocket and take it out and give it in this special offering

right now and all of that is going to go to that project that mic self is doing because we need to remember that even our little changes even the the little things that we have can add to make a difference so if you have that that money right now just as I'll continue preaching and you take that change out and they'll bring that basket by for you as as they get a chance all right now offering is not an opportunity to talk folks here right all right Mark 12: 41-41 the Bible says and Jesus sat over against the treasury and behold how the people cast money into the treasury and many that were Rich cast in money and there came a certain poor Widow and she threw in two mites which make a farthing

and he called unto him his disciples and saith unto them verily I say un you that this poor Widow hath cast more in than all which had cast in the treasury for they all did cast of their abundance but she of her want did cast in all that she had even all her living God wants to remind us that you may think I don't have much to give but even your change can make a difference for the Lord he doesn't need our money but we need him and the power of God can take even little change and make it go a long way and I want to challenge you not only in in your giving but in your own life to realize that every week the Christian life is not just about making big decisions I praise God when we have

Revival and and a bunch of people get saved and get right with God and I I love camps where young people go and make big decisions and and and that's all good but I am found that more of the Christian life is about the little decisions it's about the daily decisions it's about the little changes that we make and today I'm going to live a little bit differently today I'm going to have a different attitude today I'm going to have a a a different walk with the Lord I'm going to change just this one thing in my life today and as we give that change to the Lord it adds up and that's really what makes a difference in our lives and so we need to understand that change is important and change adds

up so go to 2 Corinthians chapter 8 again and look at verses 11 and 12 says now therefore perform the doing of it that is there was a Readiness to will so there may be a performance also out of that which you have for be first a willing Minds accept according to man hath and not not according to he hath none you see it's about what you have to give it's not about what you don't have God says about what you have and you take what you have whatever change you have and say Lord I'm going to give give this to you to make a difference I'm going to give all of my change to the Lord every day and every week this is probably one of the most important things I'm going to say in this message and

that's this you can change today for tomorrow but you cannot change today for yesterday listen this again you can change today for tomorrow but you cannot change today for yesterday the Bible says in Hebrews 3 and: 12-15 take heed there heed Brethren lest there be any of you of an evil heart of unbelieving in departing from the Living God but exhort one another daily wall is called today lest any of you be hardened through the deceitful s of sin for we are made partakers of Christ if we hold the beginnings of our confidence steadfast Until the End W is said today if you will hear his voice Harden not your hearts as in the provocation you see folks I can make a decision today that will change

my tomorrow I can make a decision today that will change my tomorrow but I cannot go back and change yesterday now praise God God is a forgiving God and I can confess my sins he's faithful and just forgive my sins and I'm thankful for that forgiveness and for the grace and the mercy of God but I can't go back as my son and his wife are leaving my grandchildren leaving I think about all the things that I wish wish I would have done in the last nine years or I think back to when he was a child and things I wish I would have done back then but I can't change any of that and what I want to challenge you is this is to realize if you don't make that change today you can't go back and make it

tomorrow for today all you can do is change today for tomorrow and at my age as 68 years old I look back in my life and I see a lot of things I wish I could go back and do over over again a lot of things I wish I could go back and change them but I can't now that doesn't mean that I I'm discouraged because praise God I've got a future with God and I can change for tomorrow but I cannot change yesterday and I want to remind you of that and so when God convicts you and God shows you something in your life that needs to change don't wait till tomorrow because that's too late you've got to change today for tomorrow because you cannot change today for yesterday you'll regret it you can confess it

you can be forgiven of it but you can't go back and change it and we need to remember that back in Matthew chapter 25 you turn back over there you remember the story of Matthew chapter 25 how that the the Lord the master was leaving and called three of his servants and gave them talents and and to to take care of and do a vest for him and in verses 14-9 it tells us for the Kingdom of Heaven as a man traveling into a far country is called his servants and delivered unto his Goods on everyone unto one he gave two tal five talents another two and another one to every man severly according to his ability and straightway took it the journey we talked about in Su school this morning a little bit

about the gifts of spirit and and God gives us certain gifts and God gives us certain abilities and and he gives us what we can handle and he gave to these three servants these talents this investment to make and the one with five came back and made another five and the one with two invested wisely and made another two but the the one with one he just buried in the ground and did nothing with it you ever those of you with kids do you ever give your kids some money to go buy something and they come back and they give you what they bought and you stand there looking them for a couple minutes to say um where's my change and and they they were hoping you forgot about that you know and and God he

wants us to give back to him our change he saved us he bought us with a price you see we're not saved by changing in Ephesians 28:9 it says for by grace are you saved through faith then not of yourselves it's the gift of God not of Works let's sayen should boast and you're not saved by changing you're not saved by your good works you're not saved by your religion or your rituals or your righteousness it's a relationship sh with Jesus Christ and we're not saved by changing but God does expect change listen again Ephesians 289 for by grace are you saved through faith then not of yourselves it's a gift of God not of Works let's say Manos but then verse 10 says for we are his workmanship created

in Christ Jesus unto good works God said the reason I saved you is so that you can change and God expects change change back from our Salvation God wants to change our lives in 2 Corinthians 5:17 therefore If any man be in Christ he's a new creature old things are passed away behold all things are become new and when you get saved God wants to change your life he does he doesn't just want to give you eternal life in heaven one day but he wants to change your life he wants to change your marriage he wants to change your family God wants to change your life you ever heard the statement of penny saved as a penny earned listen what it says in Philippians 2: 1213 it says wherefore my beloved as

you have always obeyed not as in my presence only but now much more in my absence work out your own salvation with fear and trembling for as God would work within you both the will and the do of his good pleasure now that may sound like At first reading a contradiction what we read in Ephesians chapter 2 we're not saved by our works it's saying to work out your salvation but it's God that works in you God's the one that works in you to save you and they said now I want you to work that out a penny saved is a penny earned but then we need to put that Penny to work in our lives and we need to work out our Salvation so that others can see our Salvation in Christ so God wants expects change from

us when we get saved but you have to start with salvation by trusting in Jesus Christ and him alone you're not saved by changing but if you're truly saved God wants to change you go Matthew chapter 16 Matthew chapter 16 look at verses 24- 26 Matthew 16 verse number 24 then said Jesus unto disciples If any man will come after me let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me for whosoever will save his life shall lose it and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it for what does a man profit if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul or what shall a man give and exchange for his soul so what are you willing to give in exchange for your soul let me ask you a

question I've been giving away a lot of money during this series so I've got a $5 bill to give away here somebody like to have a $5 bill anybody like to have a five you'd like to have a $5 bill Abby all right so I'm going to do but before I get a $5 bill I'm going to make you an offer instead of the $5 bill I've got this shiny quarter isn't that pretty look at how it shines in the light there and it reflects the light so which would you rather have this shiny quarter or this ugly $5 bill it's all wrinkled up and everything which would you rather have the shiny quarter or the ugly F you can have the quarter you know it worked with my grandchild Kena all the time she takes the quarter she

didn't want $5 bill the Bible say says in Hebrews 11: 24- 26 by faith Moses when he was come to years refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter choosing rather to suffer Affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season Este seeming the reproaches of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt for respect on the recompense of the W Lord Moses said I don't want the shiny things of the world I want the Great G riches that come from God and what will you give in exchange for your soul what are you willing to give don't bury your change in Matthew chapter 25 the men with one Talent went and buried it in the ground and when the master came back he

was so proud so look at I I wrapped it up in this napkin I kept it nice and clean and shiny and I'm giving you back exactly what you gave me and God said that's not what I wanted I don't know if you're like me a lot of you probably have one of these jars in your house and this is full of change we've had this jar for probably 20 years more probably most of our marriage and this money in this jar is a lot of money but it's doing nobody any good and that's the way it is for a lot of Christians is they take the things of God and they're putting away in this jar but they do nothing with it if be better for you to take it out and use it and we need to take the changes that God brings in our lives

so we need for them to make a difference in our lives go to Matthew Chapter 13 in closing Matthew Chapter 13 in verses 44- 46 says again the Kingdom of Heaven is like unto a treasure hid in the field that which when a man hath found he hideth he hideth and for Joy therefore goeth and sth all that he hath and buth that field again the kingdom of has like unto a merchant man seeking goodly pearls and when he found one pearl of great price went and sold all that he had and bought it again I I get away money this way I'm actually going to give away $20 anybody over here want $20 I'm actually going to give away $20 all right all right JJ come on up here we're going to give you $20 I pick you on

all the time so I'm going to go aad and give you $20 what your hands out JJ put your hands out all right there's your $20 JJ okay stick that in your pocket put it put it in your pockets come on J put it all in your pockets there that's a little harder isn't it it's the way a lot of us take the Christian Life it's like we got a pocket full of change I don't know it's you but that big full pocket of change boy that weighs me down and God says listen it's not about the pocket full of change it's about him the value of God as a whole in our lives a $20 bill is a lot easier to carry around than po full change isn't it JJ and we need to realize that the true change in our lives is understanding the the greatness and the goodness of God and stop your living your life a little bit here and a little bit there as a Christian because all that does is weigh you down and really start realizing that it's about God as a whole in my life and he is the one that brings about the change that I need