Beyond Sunday: Our Treasure Exposes Our Heart
Catch up: this week’s Sunday morning message.
As we walk with Jesus on this journey we can be confronted with areas of our life we have mis-possessed or over-valued. Jesus invites us to keep our focus on Him and His Kingdom.
Catch up: this week’s Sunday morning message.
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[Music] Hey guys, welcome to the Beyond Sunday podcast where we uh desire to take the conversation beyond Sunday. And on this episode uh we have Pastor Shay and Pastor Aaron who this last Sunday brought the word at Nextstep and at C3. And so we look forward to where God is leading us in this conversation. But before we do that, take a look at this video. Heat. Heat. [Music] [Music] [Music] All right, welcome Welcome back. Uh as we uh dive into this conversation, let's uh what was the big idea for this last
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Sunday? What was the main text or text that we were uh reading and looking into uh this last Sunday? >> Um yeah, I spent a lot of time in Psalm 50 and also in Isaiah 1. Um looking at how our treasure exposes our hearts was kind of like the big theme. um we got to to pay attention to the places that we've offered um offered things instead of our hearts to the Lord. >> Yeah. Yeah. I was in the same place and also Luke 12 um and this idea that yeah your our uh wherever our treasure is the
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desire of our heart is. So the treasure exposing our hearts. Um and then the the continuing of that thought was to um how that affects what I'm sacrificing or offering to God. Um so if there's places that I've overvalued things or given them a position they don't deserve um how that might also influence or impact the way I'm sacrificing or offering to God. >> Yeah. And so in from Sunday uh into this uh week, what is it that still rises to the surface uh for you? Not necessarily. I
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mean, we'll get to Chyros at the end, but what still rises to the surface about things that God is still stirring in you from this last Sunday? >> I think for me, it's been really thinking about how my like how how am I positioning the Lord um in my life? And I think it goes along with my chyros that we talk like we'll talk about, but um when when we're coming with these things like how are we offer like what are we offering to the Lord? Um what is the treasure? And so just a
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lot of like self-evaluation for myself of okay, so where am I um positioning and where am I treasuring things? Um and it's it's been cool. Similarly, like I had somebody text me um early in the week and they were like trying to be on my phone less because I want to like pay more attention to Jesus. Like it was shorter than that, but um just the idea of like um it we're the three of us aren't the only ones thinking about this. Um it's an opportunity for all of us to be evaluating like where our
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treasures are and where we're aligning our hearts. >> Yeah. >> Yeah. Uh for me there was also a piece of um that that I I didn't have going into the message on Sunday, but as I was preaching um this idea or this this recognition of um part of the reason that things feel part of the reason that it matters where my treasure is and that it matters that I've prioritized things well um is because of the way that God's designed us. And so we're designed for God to sit in first place. Um and and so
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even this idea of tove, which I feel like we talk about on the podcast a lot, but um to being the goodness that comes when something's functioning in the way it's designed to function and and when you're existing in that space, there's this kind of goodness that um doesn't exist otherwise. And so, uh, talking about advertising and the way that advertisers, um, I mean, the the psychology behind advertisement and the way that everything is designed to like make us, um, essentially people spend
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hundreds of billions of dollars to tell us what it is we're supposed to treasure. Like, here's what you should treasure and hold dear and put in in first place. Um, but all of that falls flat if it's not the God that was designed to sit in first place in my life. Um, and so that idea of like what we're all really looking for and what advertisers tell us we can find is this goodness, this tove kind of goodness, but that actually can only exist um if God sits in the right place. Um, because
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that's that's just the design, the like literal design in nature of how how we are supposed to operate. Um, and so that piece was like not something that I I hadn't made that connection before I started to preach, which is funny because again, TOEV is not a new, this is something that's consistently coming up for me. Um, but in that space, it was like, yeah, that's what it is. Like the happiness that we're all trying to find or like you'll be satisfied if you just and God's like, no, actually, like
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here's how I designed this to be. Um, and so that being the like the reason that he deserves that spot is because that's that's who he is. That's what comes out of Psalm 50 is like here's why I I deserve this place, but also like um that reminder of like this is this is good because it's how it's designed to be. >> Yeah. And it it does draw me back to Isaiah, not Isaiah, but Psalm 50, uh which you had um had it read in in service um with the lights out and the pictures going of God's creation. uh but
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within that scripture of you know like I don't want your I don't want I don't want your your traditions. I don't want your sacrifices. I don't I I want your I want your heart. And um so for all of time we have been uh trying to make up for the thing that um uh we could give to God. We for all of time in human history have been trying to offer something else in place of that. Right? If I don't have to give you all of me but I can give you this much or I can give offer you this sacrifice
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or I can follow this kind of way. Uh then is that enough? >> Is that is that is that hit the quota? is I hit the limit of like, okay, I can still have my way, >> right? >> But I also want some of the goodness because it's good. I mean, is it is that if we go if I go back to Cain and Abel, they're offering us they're offering first fruits. Mhm. >> Um you know um Cain the the fruits of the of the trees in the fields and and Abel the fruits of the animals and uh then out of out of jealousy out
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of like you know whatever other emotions were existing in the moment there um for for Cain that somehow it's not good enough or I want more. or I want what Abel has and I what I'm offering doesn't seem to be enough. And then it's like the reminder from God, be careful. Sin is crouching at the door and desires to devour you. Um but also that I I I read in that passage an invitation from God to Cain of like I I just want you. >> I want I want to be in relationship with you. Well, that's something that I've I've
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started realizing that it's an echo um of how many times I've read various passages throughout scripture. And it keeps coming back to this. I want your heart. I want your heart. I want your heart. I want your heart. And that's also like a terrifying thing. Like it's really scary to be like, "Hey God, here's all all of me." And being willing to offer all of that. And it's a it's a lot easier to not to say like, "Hey, here's the biggest baddest thing that's not the the
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quietest baddest thing." Um because it's a lot scarier to be like offering the Lord everything. Like that's a v that's a vulnerability thing >> that might also call for a change and a shift that might not be the easiest change or shift. Um, I was talking to somebody the other day and I was thinking about um the the day that I realized um what people mean by like therapy is hard because I was always like talking about feelings like that's no big deal. And it was this time
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>> for some of us that's a big deal. So don't just breeze >> for me that doesn't feel like a big deal cuz like I am a very emotive person. Um >> Shay's like give me a punching bag. I don't take care of these. >> Yeah, I'll do that. >> That way. >> Yeah. Right. Danielle noted that I didn't cry while I was preaching on Sunday and like that was significant like that we were were proud of myself for that. >> There you go. >> Um
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>> um but the day that I realized what they mean by therapy is hard is like I was in this really hard season, really hard space and um I spent time journaling and I wrote some of the meanest things about myself that I had ever like that I had written. And um and as I was writing it, I was like, I know that this isn't true, but this feels like the truth right now. Like this feels like where I'm at. And I realized the the like therapy is hard is like choosing to actually apply the things that I've been
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taught or encountered or offered of like, no, I'm going to choose to believe the truth. And so the the opportunity to like, hey God, here's these things that are horrible that I'm going to say about myself that are mean and I would never say about anybody else and you're still going to wait. You still want me? Like you still want my heart? You still want that? Um, and so choosing to trust that like there are like there are sacrifices that will come out of offering my whole self to God. Um, there's there's tithes and
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festivals and celebrations and like there's things that will come out of that. But if I'm just offering that and not offering my heart, then what are we doing? >> Yeah. Then we sit in that place where Isaiah talks about where Psalms talks about. So, but it's still that coming back to what do we what's the pull to continue offering? >> Yeah. Well, and what I that I guess that's the that was the piece going into this for me was that connection between what I offer comes out of what I value. So, if that's
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misaligned, if my if what I value is misaligned, then what I'm actually offering God, that's where we land with the like that's not actually what I want from you. And I wonder um like part of that um Erin you had used a a William Blake quote that I also used that where he says we become like what we behold right and so this idea of the things that I spend the most time and energy on the things I'm looking at the most or giving my attention to um or which which would indicate the thing I
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value um that's the thing I'm going to start to reflect or look like. But if I'm designed to be made in the image of God, um, again, that's the like this is how I'm designed. And so that's that piece. And I even wonder like Devon, you just brought up Cain and Abel. Um, and part of that part of God's response in that is like if you do what is right, will you not be accepted? Right? Cain's like, why? Like why didn't you take this? But I I wonder and I I would have
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to like you're going to make fun of me, but I'd have to look at the Hebrew here, but I wonder what that if you do what is right, peace. Because um I wonder if God's not saying like if you follow the rules the right way, but I wonder if he's like if you actually live right the way I designed you to live, then won't you be accepted in this? And that idea of like if God's the thing I behold, then I continue to look like him. I continue to look like the image of the creator. Um and that means that then my
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values are all aligned. And then what I am offering is like what you just said, Erin, it's me. Um it's it's the me he's asking. And that was one of the things I had shared on Sunday. One of the times um one of the times I heard God the loudest um not audibly but like very clearly God is saying something um was at like a conference where very rarely I actually was like in a hotel room by myself um and getting ready for the conference or whatever and the song um set a fire was on uh was playing and it
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repeats this refrain of like um I want more of you God. the the singer singing like, "I want more of you. I want more of you." And I felt like God was speaking over me like, "Hey, you keep trying to give me more from you, but I just want more of you." And it's that idea of like that that difference where like, "Okay, God, I'll offer you all of these things I can do um or these things I can earn or these whatever." And he's like, "I just actually want more of
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you." Um because that's what I designed you for, to reflect my glory, to reflect my image. Um yeah. So, I don't know. I think that um we become like what we behold. And if he's not in that place, >> well, that's a good distinction of um and even shift in mindset of God not wanting more from us, but more want desiring more of us. >> Um he's created us and and desires to be in relationship with us. Like don't just come with I don't want more of your stuff. I want more of you. That's all
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all I've ever wanted was more of you, all of you. Because in offering our whole selves uh to God, he's like, "And here here's the goodness. Here's the to here's the toe of my own. Here's what I've uh designed for you in you to live." Not that we aren't going to have problems in this world, but that's the we get to be with God in that way. >> Yeah. Because also remembering that like if I'm offering him myself, I'm offering him like I I am me because he created
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me. So I'm offering this back to the creator. Like and so even what you were just saying, Erin, about the um where you're writing out horrible things that you're like, I know this isn't the truth, but it feels true right now. Offering those that kind of thing up to God is like, hey, um you made this all of this. This is what you made. and he gets to then weed through the like, nope, that piece, that's something else you put on. Um, but to offer him me is like, here God, this is what you made
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and I recognize it and I'm giving it back to you. >> Yeah. And aren't those the things that he'll sacrifice away from us, right? Those are the things that get carved away. >> Yeah. >> And what remains though then is more of the image uh that he's created us to be. >> Yeah. one of the things that um came up in my sermon that I don't think I had actually had in my notes um but coming around to like the body of Christ and how like these aren't um I I had said something
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about how like tithing isn't a bad thing, serving isn't a bad thing, going to church on Sunday isn't a bad thing. Um but it's a matter of like what are we offering? Um and so I kept coming back to the the the phrase like what is the thing like what is the thing that God's asking you to sacrifice? what is the thing that God's asking you to give up? Um or like surrender to him. And as I kept coming around to that, like it circled back around to like like if we go to church, the hope would be that as
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we're gathering with other believers and we're celebrating what God is doing in the world. Um we're being surrounded not just in church, but like in our everyday by people who are helping to edify and build up the body of Christ. And so, um, it it was just kind of a thought of, um, how much, and this is something that I easily come back to regularly, but, like how much we need each other, too, of like I to finish that that story of like I wrote these horrible things. And then, um, I think it was like the next day or
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a couple days later, I invited two of my closest friends into it and I was like, "Hey guys, I feel like I need to let you read this." Because I knew that they would speak truth and speak life into it. Um, and they were like, "That's horrible." Like, "Why would you write like not not not judgmentally, but like just like wanting to rip it out and be like, "No, no, no. This is how you were created." And so the amount that it matters too of like I'm going to offer I
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want to offer God me fully. I'm also really bad at that a lot of times. Um, and having people surrounding me who a know that that's one of my goals and knows that that know that that's something that I want to do, but also who have a different perspective where I can write these things, but like they would never say that about me. And so the people to help remind me of truth and remind me of like what God actually says. Um, and like call that out and also help to speak light in the dark places.
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>> Yeah. And isn't that what a Isn't that what it looks like to to be the the body of Christ, the bride of Christ that he is returning for? That that's what actually helps to clear away the debris, the muck. Uh yes um uh Christ in us, yes the Holy Spirit uh being our advocate and guide, but also what God has provided with people around us who who are following Jesus and like uh sh I know you get this reference but like the banks to the river, right? So the ones that just help to uh keep the
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river flowing towards towards the source uh or from the source where however the analogy needs to work. But the at the banks are what helps to collect the debris and move it out of the way so it doesn't get in the way of um what's down river which hopefully be the glory of God that we're um seeing being um washed into the rest of the world. But we do need we do need um trusted people, people who believe in Jesus to help sort of like I'm going to hold you hold you back from flowing towards God and God's
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glory. But uh I will help to like call out like actually I don't think that belongs in there, >> right? >> I don't that's a foreign object that um you know we'll trust God to remove or the you know at the banks it'll roll up on and just people to help. >> Yeah, >> that's good. Well, and I think um some of that some of what that looks like then is not just so so what you're saying about like hey um what you what you're believing about yourself or
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feeling about yourself right now isn't true. But also those people sometimes it's um sometimes it's a little bit harder to call out like hey I think you've actually overvalued this thing or I think you've prioritized this thing that doesn't belong there. um as a friend like it's a little bit easier for me to speak truth like hey what you're saying about yourself is untrue and that's not who God made you to be but there's also a level um in in a friendship where
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there's a depth in that way there's a level of like hey actually I think you've given something else a place God deserves um right now and in doing that um then helps us to recognize and shift like okay you're right and so in those places where I may have put something else in his place how is that affect affected what I'm offering to him. And sometimes it is like, okay, he wants more more of me. Um, but sometimes that's in a tangible way, right? And so some of even like what was landing for
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me um was like I mean there's the obvious like if I have if I've overvalued money or finance, if I've given that a place um that it doesn't deserve, then I'm what what I might be tempted to do is say like, hey, I'm I'm giving God some of my money so I'm good. and God's like, "Actually, that's not the thing I want from you, or it's not the only thing I want from you." But also, like, if I've overvalued my schedule or my agenda, then I might be
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tempted to like, "Hey, I gave him 10 a.m. on Sunday mornings. Like, I am so good with that, right?" And like check the box. Um, and so whatever other areas that shows up in. Um, and so then recognizing that actually if my if my priority is set correctly and God sits in that place, then the way that I sacrifice is actually going to show up in the way I live my life. And that's going to look counter to the world that we live in, >> every aspect of the world. >> Correct. And so then that took me um and
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this has come up multiple times um in messages um and maybe even on the podcast, but I know this lands for you guys because then that that takes me back to spiritual practices and disciplines um and those existing and and even those we can get twisted, right? Because God calls that out in the Isaiah 1 chapter like you're fasting and you have these holy days and that's not like I don't want any of that from you. So, we can get that twisted. But I uh what I even wondered as I was like
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walking through this was like, "Okay, so I might be offering God 10% and 10:00 a.m. on Sunday morning, but God may be like, "Hey, what I actually want you to do is rest when that stands in contrast to the world around you, or what I actually want you to do is uh say yes to community when everything around you is individualistic or you know, whatever whatever any of those things may And so um there is something about like if God sits in the right place and that's who I treasure then actually my sacrifice is
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going to show up in the way my life is oriented um and that's going to look radically different from the world around me. >> Not only that but we will look radically different. In fact maybe we look more like in the image we were created >> the image of God which uh hopefully would be a light in the darkness would be an attract >> because it stands in contrast. >> Correct. Yes. And that it's goodness. There's goodness there. But that means we do have to to choose
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>> um >> well recognize what I'm valuing and then in some ways choose where the um where it be the sacrifice would be. Am I going to give up what I had intended or wanted and say yes to this invitation uh from God? Um and and and in doing so that's where we stand in in in this place of this is the goodness. This is the goodness of God. >> Yeah. >> All right. Well, as we wrap this up, uh what um Shakyros, what's God saying and how is he inviting you to respond?
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>> Um I've been thinking about treasures. Um the one that I pointed to in um while preaching was um my phone and like the time that I spent on my phone. Um but then after other conversations this week um I was thinking about like um what in in every regard like thinking about all of the different capitals um with like spiritual and relational and intellectual, financial um and physical like what what am I treasuring? Where am I treasuring? Where do I need to adjust to actually offer the Lord all of me?
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>> Yeah. Uh for me it's the sacrifice side of things I think that I've been sitting with. And so um again going back to the spiritual practices and disciplines um which has been which has become part of my my uh rhythm and and rule of life is the language we use right um but this felt like an invitation to again which probably needs to happen regularly but again an invitation or a recognition I guess summer the summer schedule is crazy and so rhythms get um shifted and it doesn't mean that things don't exist
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but it looks different and so um specifically around things like uh prayer and fasting and solitude which are part of my daily or part of my regular rhythms. Um but after Sunday I just felt this like uh an invitation to re-examine uh if th if any of those things had fallen into a space of like um obligation or checking a box. And so even on Monday, um I didn't necessarily have time, but I was like, I think that I need to Monday's a fasting day, um for me typically anyways. And um so I just
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got out on the lake and it was just me and the Lord and prayer and solitude and um just an an opportunity for some honest reflection of like, hey God, I'm sorry for the places that these things have become um habits that aren't intentional in the same way that uh you're inviting them to be. And so um I guess that I guess out of that the thing that's sticking for me is that that has to be something that I'm regularly doing. It's really easy, like Isaiah calls out, it's really easy to fall into
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uh I do these things cuz I'm supposed to or cuz I've sat them in my schedule here. Um and I just don't desire for that to be the case. I want those to be things that um that exist because God sits in the place that he's supposed to and I um wouldn't want to do anything else but be with him in those ways. So, all right guys, thank you for joining us uh for another Beyond Sunday episode um where we're taking the conversation Beyond Sunday and we we hope and pray that uh more than just something in this
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conversation that hits you that you're also having spaces to have conversations like this where you can wrestle through what God's saying um what he's speaking to you, what he's inviting you into. So, until next time, have a great day. >> Thank you. [Music]
