This Just Got Real | The God Who Can’t Be Ignored | Pastor Earl McClellan

people in the world are willing to hustle for material things but I don't know why people of the light aren't willing to hustle for Spiritual things we have been in a series called The God Who can't be ignored it's been all around the fear of the Lord I don't know about you but I have been very very challenged uh in this series uh doing the the study on this has pushed me forward uh we have been in I don't even know it's like week number six something like that and I think I got a couple

I think we got a couple more weeks still in this but today I want to give us a little bit of a refresher going back to the beginning the very first week uh we shared a quote from Charles Spurgeon uh that talked about how the fear of God is uh is is a mighty powerful thing because it chases away all other fears it's like a mighty lion that that stance intimidating is what Charles Spurgeon is trying to communicate in this quote trying to let every other fear no you cannot have this person so the fear

of God is not something that just is good like for the Bible theologically but but this thing has the ability to impact all these other things that we're navigating these other fears that we have in our lives we we talked about this you might remember if the god you serve Can Be Tamed then it's not the god of the the Bible anybody remember this may maybe you remember uh the the big swan that I brought out does anybody remember this the big swan okay I think I got a picture of the Swan uh so we

we had the big swan and and we're talking about going down a lazy river as compared to white water rafting and many of us in our walk with God it's like he's you know we're on a lazy river you can control it you can get in and out of it whenever you want to and many of us in our walk with God are treating God like that I'll jump in if things are going bad but if they're going good I'll leave my walk with God go do what I want to go do for a while

and we just kind of we wrestling through talking through all of that I I want to give this definition of the fear of the Lord I wrote it down I'll put it on the screen for us too look at this definition here uh real quick this is important because we're going to be using this later the fear the Lord refers to a profound respect reverence and awe for God recognizing his supreme authority power and Holiness this type of fear is not about being scared or anxious but about acknowledging God's greatness and aligning one's life in

accordance with his will this is a really robust definition we gave some shorter ones but this robust definition is really really important for us because we're about to talk today about another God who can't be ignored we've got the God who can't be ignored that's the big G but today we're going to talk about another God who can't be ignored it's a little G and this little G God who can't be ignored is the god of money try to ignore it this God shows up everywhere this little G God is messing with so many different

areas of Our Lives this little G God is uh trying to run us and Rule our minds and I want you to see in the definition I just gave of the fear of the Lord I want to replace fear of the Lord with the fear of money let me put it on the screen for us the fear of money refers to a profound respect reverence and awe for money recognizing its supreme authority power and Holiness this type of fear is about being scared or anxious and about acknowledging money's greatness and aligning one's life in accordance

with its will I don't know about y'all but I I read that and I was like oh shoot because I want to say I fear of the Lord right yeah and I read that definition I'm like yeah I want this but then when I was being challenged with this particular text and this other little G God who can't be ignored this thought popped into my head what if I what if I read this definition differently and I'm sad to say there have been many times in my life that the fear of money has been greater

in my life than the fear of the Lord now there is no shame that we have to throw no shade to put on anybody and at the end of this we're not asking you for anything but I am believing today is going to be a day of freedom I have been on my knees crying out for my own heart and crying out for our Church's heart that we would not be a people that are enslaved to the fear of money I've been asking that this parasite that has been living in a sucking life from us

and many times even living dormant and we would think it's not even there would be something that the spirit of God today in Frisco online and in this room would be broken off of our lives and I'm praying this for teenagers and I'm praying this for single people and married people I'm praying this for people who are engaged I'm praying this for all of us because God is calling us to be rooted and established and to go to a higher level in him and something is trying to hold us back and keep us in prison

but today I'm believing chains are going to fall off of us that is my hope and my prayer how do I know this fear of money is a real thing because pretty much every single thing we do we ask the question how can I afford it come on E everything don't don't be don't pretend like you don't know what I'm talking about this is I'm you in this when I was reading this I was like man Lord I don't want to preach this this is me I want to preach things that I'm free from that

I'm that I I I've got everything all together I'm strong man this one I'm like oh shoot I didn't realize some of this was still attached to me how can I afford it how can I afford let me talk to our smallest population currently our smallest population here at Shoreline City Church not the most not not a population we don't care about one we have been praying for and that's the old heads okay we've been praying for more unks in this church we have been praying for more grandmas and grandpas come on give it up

for the old heads come on give it up for we've been praying for receding hairlines comb overs we've been [Applause] praying older people come to the church they like man there's a there's nobody here like me like hey we've been praying for you stay just stay just stay a little while longer we're all going to get there so if if you are at that stage stage of life you're asking yourself questions how can I afford retirement how can I afford it because a social security check from what I understand doesn't usually cover retirement you are

you're asking yourself and for a quick side note you know the whole 65 retirement age it's like from 1881 you know that right so I don't even love the idea of us like stopping doing anything you know at 65 I think 65 is still young and you still got a lot on in the tank you might not have to work at the current job but you're still working for the kingdom of God I think there's still more on the inside of you and more things for you to do and lies for you to touch and

and and Ministry that you can accomplish but with that being said you're like man how can I afford how can I afford retirement but I know a lot of us live in like how can I I want to go out to eat how can I afford that because guac is extra if guac is extra I'm so glad Chipotle stopped asking that qu you you know it's extra right yeah I know it's extra I've seen the meme put it on there I I want to go out to eat do I have the money to afford that

I want to get engaged can I afford a ring I want to get married can I afford a venue florist uh dress uh reception uh go down honeymoon I I want to have kids can I afford diapers I want to have another kid can I afford this in my marriage cuz we ain't talked for about two and a half years and we're going to bring another human being into this thing I C can I can I afford it can I afford it can I afford I want can oh man I want a house God would

you bless me with a house can I afford it down payment closing cost Furniture there everything that you and I turned to like oh I I want oh I want a new car tires maintenance insurance man this insurance I can't stand that whole insurance thing I should get some of this money back at some point in time I feel like you go down the line vacation plane ticket Hotel Airbnb wait I got a friend that lives there maybe they'll let me stay on their couch but I'm going have to give them a little something $75

$75 good you got all every single thing you and I want to do we are asking the question do can I afford it do I have the money to do this thing no it it escapes I'll say none of us some of us you know you're like actually I don't never asked that question I want you to know we're glad you're here at this church too we've been praying for you too we've been praying that God would bring you and he would use you for his glory in this church but but most of us we're

like man can I can I can I but the reality is no matter really what level you are at there's always somebody kind of a little bit ahead of you and you have to ask yourself that question can I can I I want to um I talked about Nate Whitley louder uh who are who are here and uh they were Nate was an engineer I guess once an engineer always an engineer Nate I don't know what they say in engineering world uh but he he was engineer where'd you graduate from was it Texas Tech yeah

Texas Texas Tech uh is that right what is it how does it go is it like this okay like I I don't even know uh Texas Tech uh Whitney was a nurse where'd you go to school Whitney University of Wyoming wow okay so I didn't even know they had a school so University of Wyoming sounds amazing she was a she was a uh a nursing major and uh we met these guys right before they were even engaged they came to the church we were meeting at the Angelica movie theater uh here in Dallas I mean

there was probably maybe maybe 120 people in the church at this time maybe and I remember having them uh stand up like hey Nan Whitney just got engaged and they were so embarrassed they like they stood up and then they were part of the serve team and went through join and and just it was beautiful to see what God was doing in their life and then one day they came uh to us and they were saying hey we have been trying to uh we we feel called to the mission field so we have been setting

up our lives financially to get rid of all of our debt so that when God calls us we can go I had heard people talk about stuff like this before I had never met anybody that had actually done that because here they have a call on their heart that they feel is from the Lord and what I have discovered is whether it's a call to leave Voca to leave um you know the marketplace and go to vocational Ministry or you are in the marketplace and you feel called to go start something do something people we

have a dream for something and we might even have the discipline for it but a lot of times we don't have the dollars for it so God is asking me to do something that I can't do not because I don't want to do it I can't afford it I can't afford to go on the mission field I can't afford to invite this homeless person in I can't afford to help insex trafficking I can't afford fill in the blank I've got the desire to do it I want to I can't afford it and here is this

fear of money standing there intimidating us looking over your shoulder every time you pull up your Bank of America or your Chase app while you're in the line I'll be yeah I'll be there in just a second y'all I'll be there in just a second yeah beep W thank you God I'm talking what real people live can I afford it you can't do it you can't take that step of Faith why would you trust God like that you're going to look like a fool you're going to look like an idiot I thought God's the provider

giving lad my behind I ain't giving lad nothing nothing I'm trying to stay here and stay afloat how can I afford it now some of us I like our church I like our church a whole bunch actually I love y'all but I actually like you too I have to love you I don't have to like you and I I love you and I like you I like I like this church I like the people that God brings because God brings a lot of drivers here drivers like not like car drivers I want to make something

happen I want to do something and and I I I I like that cuz I like that think I'm built the same way it's like let's move forward you're moving too slow let's go let's go faster no not not fast enough faster faster faster faster faster it's like let's go take ground let's move forward let's make things happen I like that now that can be a problem and it can become an idol for sure but I like to think God made us like this so God thank you so much for giving us a drive to

want to do something in our generation I do not take steps back that God wired us to kick down the gates of hell and make it on Earth as it is in heaven I I want him to purify us yes and cleanse us but I'm not trying to sit back and chill and just wait for God to do everything when God's like hey I put you on the earth to do something on my behalf I love how we run I love it I love it I love it now with that being said sometimes we can

say things we can pray prayers like this God I don't want much I just need enough for me and my family that's really it God how am I asking asking for too much and I know that prayer sounds good but that prayer is selfish I don't think you ought to just pray just for me and my family to be good I think it's okay to pray it I'm not trying to throw any shame or shade on anybody but I think God wants you to pray bigger prayers than that I think God wants you to pray

prayers like Lord yes I want you to take care of me and yes I want you to take care of my family but Lord would you bless me in such a way that if there is someone broken down on the side of the road I don't have to walk past them but instead God I can pick them up and put them in my car and I can bring them to the hotel and I can pay for their stay and if it goes even longer then I can cover that too just like the Good Samaritan story

that Jesus shared in the Bible God would you do something so miraculous in my family that my family is not the one that's always asking for help I want to be the F that's able to give help Lord we have been on the bottom side of this for Generation after generation after generation I want that curse broken in my family I don't want to live like this anymore I'm not asking to be rich I'm asking to be generous to be able to obey you every time you move on my heart I can do what you're

calling me to do that's the prayers I want us praying go go with me back back to Gospel of Luke back you all still with me this too much okay uh Gospel of Luke Chapter uh Gospel of Luke chapter 16 go go go to the end here real quick go to verse number 13 we read this earlier we read this earlier no one can serve two masters either either you will hate the one and love the other or you will be devoted to the one and despised is the other you cannot serve both God and

money how many of y'all watch the gold or Bachelor Bachelorette and are willing to admit it yeah y'all ain't raising your hand on that that is I haven't seen the show okay I have not seen it what's the lady's name who's doing it yep Joan yeah I KN I knew y'all would know I was like Joan um she's in her 60s and if you don't know what the golden Bachelorette is this is someone wonderful lady in her 60s and she's you know she's looking for love and there's all these guys you know the Bachelor and

in The Bachelor I I do not watch this show not because you know I'm against it or whatever maybe I should be I don't know but I uh this show I've heard I've got some friends that have been a part of it and God has used that show to to minister and help a whole lot of people in different way we had a connect group around uh The Bachelor one year I don't even know the Lord blessed it somehow some way and people are growing in their walk with Christ watching the show then talking through

things and bringing in the Bible I God use whatever you want to use For Your Glory that's what that that's what I say so so this show the the golden Bachelorette is this woman and there are multiple options for guys and she's got to figure out you know which one am I going to be with and you you have you got the Roses right you got the roses and you want the final Rose am I getting this right am I messing this up you get the final Rose only one person gets a rose at the

end only one person so even the golden Bachelorette nose you can't give a rose to everyone at some point you've got to decide who gets the final Rose the show does not work by saying hey golden back Joan what you can do is you get to keep two guys and the guys go hey yeah you want a shareer we all know that's gross that's cringe it's weird you know those other TV shows are out there it's like I got four wives it's like bro why why would you do that to yourself and ladies why would

you allow this man to do that to you the golden Bachelorette is coming to a culmination where we know there might be two guys left but only one is getting the rose Jesus here says you can't serve two masters you can't marry both men you can't marry both ladies ladies you've got to give one a rose and I was asking myself the question man who' I give the rose to I mean I want to say I gave it to God that's what I want to say God's got my rose Love You Lord I'm a pastor

of course he has my look I mean I'm a man of the cloth of course God ha has my rose of course I mean how could he not I'm I'm doing Ministry I serve people for a living that that's my my life doesn't even belong to me it has been given over to God and to serve people this is not for me Lord this is for for your kids in your church but I had to ask myself huh because you kind of know who you're serving based on who you obey you know who you're serving

based on who you sacrifice for I mean look at you look at me if you had the chance you had to work every day 10 hours a day but you knew if you did that for one year you couldn't go to church you wouldn't be able to be at family dinners you'd Miss some games you wouldn't be at at a connect group but for one year you had to do that and you had to work all those hours and you knew all your bills would be taken care of I think every single one of us

in here everyone at fris go everybody online would be like I'll take that deal so you and I would be willing to exchange spiritual health mental health emotional health for financial strength wow why cuz we think money solves all of our problems because we got the fear of money that's running our lives again I don't want anybody wearing any guilt I'm in this with you because money is sneaky sneaky well not not just money money is amoral it's not money in and of itself it's just what the Bible call Love of Money I just kind

of switched it around call it the fear of money but the same idea that it becomes this thing that we think we put our trust in in order for our lives to be whole and complete and Jesus here says Jesus says it this trip be out why would Jesus talk about money I mean he's the Savior why would he talk about money why would a why would a parable like this even be in the Bible I mean this does this shouldn't be in the Bible why why would this even matter because Jesus knew all the

way back in his day and they weren't even a capitalist capitalist society and here they are back in his day and money is still running religious people and money is still running church people and running money is still R running political people and money is still running all different types of society all the way back in Jesus's day because there was an exchange that happened here and we said God I don't know if you're really enough for me so what I want to do is I'm going to put my hope and my trust in something

else so I have to ask myself you have to ask yourself who you riding with is it the fear of God or the fear of money and you can know and I can know based on who I'm willing to sacrifice for if God asked you to sacrifice some things some money things so you can have some Eternal things would you think you were getting the raw end of the deal but none of us think I'll say it this way most most of us think it's right to sacrifice spiritual things for material things cuz we do

it all the time and Society does not even bat an eye at it so we think it's normal I'm not talking here about you succeeding I want you to succeed I'm not here talking about you uh not you can have a second home shoot you can have a third home I don't care how many homes you have that that's not what I'm talking about here what I'm talking about is you and I understanding that the fear of the Lord is more important to us than the fear of money because I know even rich people who

are bound having more of it doesn't make you free doesn't make you free it makes you more of what you already are let's keep on going here Luke Luke 16 oh man this too heavy this too heavy for y'all okay we're trying to grow here we're trying to grow we got some surgery Happening Here woo Luke chapter 16 verse number one there was a rich man whose manager was accused of wasting his possession so you got a rich man who's who he had he had a manager who was accused of wasting his possession so I

like this Parable because this is like this is work stuff this is like business you got a guy he's running a company he's got a man manager and the manager is embezzling money you can read it later he's not handling the the funds correctly rich guy owns the company he's like hey I own the company I'mma put you in charge you deal with the vendors so you got vendors in this you the customers maybe not might not be in this but you got owner you got vendors you got managers this is where most of us

live right here and this manager is not stewarding well what this guy has tasked him to do he's not doing his job appropriately and and then the guy comes in the rich man says hey I heard what you've been doing it ain't right I'm about to fire you behind the guy goes you read it later he says well shoot if he's gonna fire me I'm not strong enough to dig and I'm too prideful to beg this so funny he's like uh I'm I'm used to sitting in my office I can't do this other thing so

then he decides I'm going to go and talk to all these other vendors and if they owe a th000 I'm going to make them pay 800 if they owe 500 I'm going to make them pay 300 and then they he does this whole thing and his boss comes back to him the the rich man comes back and goes man you're smart well done I I'm still about to fire you but man you act really shrewdly and then Jesus starts saying some interesting things he says people in the world they act more shrewdly than the people

of the light he one one thing he is saying here is people in the world are willing to hustle for material things but I don't know why people of the light aren't willing to hustle for Spiritual things why is it let me say it this way I want to say thank you to so many individuals who know they go above and beyond because you have caught this revelation you have got the gotten the understanding that I'm not just living for myself you've gotten the understanding that my life is temporary and that there's something Eternal that's

going to be happening one day and because of that whether you're willing to serve or give or pray or be kind and loving or take your Marketplace job and make sure you remember that that is your Pulpit that is your ministry that is the place where you are the preacher and you are serving and leading people in a way that points them not just to you but to the King of Kings and the Lord of lords I want to say you're seeing it correctly but so many people not seeing it right so now keep on

going with me keep on going with me keep on going with me cuz I got to get man I got more stuff to get to he told uh the the master uh go to verse number nine for me verse number nine when you read it in the NIV it sounds weird little unique I tell you use your worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves sounds weird so when it is gone you will be welcomed in into Eternal dwellings so I I want to read it out of the Amplified version I think I have this here

for you I think it will help us understand it a little bit more and I tell you learn from this make friends for yourselves for eternity by means of the wealth of unrighteousness money that is use material resources as a way to further the work of God God so that when it runs out they will welcome you into the Eternal dwellings I'm going to put it like this this shrewd manager who was embezzling money Jesus is actually highlighting him saying he started um he started going to the vendors asking them for less money because he

knew if he got less money from them that they would like him so when he lost his job he'd be able to go back out there and he'd have a place to stay what the what the shrewd manager was doing is he was doing something here and now that would help him in the then and there so Jesus is trying to help us understand you can do something in the Here and Now now that will impact then and there that if you can learn to manage your Here and Now properly then you will impact the

there and then for eternity but what the fear of money wants to make you and I do is not ever think about the then and there just want you you to think about the here and now here's the big question for all of us is God enough that's the question is God enough we talked this talked about this in our connect group on Thursday our in Bible study I know we got one in Frisco uh too got one here in Dallas we get together at 7 o'clock in the morning and we have been really diving

into Genesis chapter 3 verse number 6 for a number of weeks right now it says the this piece of fruit was desirable for gaining wisdom it was pleasing to the eye Adam and Eve they thought God was holding out on them Adam and Eve lived in a garden built for them and they still felt like they did not have enough I'll submit to you what I felt God speak to my heart if God isn't enough nothing else will ever be enough I don't know how you get here how you and I get to the place

where we're the fear of money is being stripped off of us and we're operating more in the fear of the Lord than the fear of money but I do know we at least got to deal with some truth and the truth is Jesus and what he did on the cross does matter and the grave is empty and God is enough I got to pay my bills I'm not saying you don't have to pay your bills I'm saying it's God enough what about retirement I'm saying it's God enough in movies we love when the hero uh

kind of takes the guy or the girl and they're like hey hey everything's crazy all around like hey just look at me I got this we love in the movies when the hero takes charge like hey I know it's all crazy I got you we don't like this in life but I want you to see today Jesus looking at you eyeball to eyeball saying I got you I got you I've got you Jesus it doesn't feel like you have me I got you do you see all these letters and phone calls that I'm getting I

got you you know how much pressure I have on my shoulders right now Jesus I don't know how I'm going to pay my employees I got you at some point in time we've got to believe these words of Jesus I'm I'm going to be all done here I'm I'm going to read this last I'm going to read this text and we're going to be all done we're going to read read read this we're going to be all done then Jesus said to his disciples Luke 12: 22 therefore I tell you do not worry about your

life what you will eat or about your body what you will wear for life is more than food and the body more than clothes consider the Ravens they do not seow or reap they have no store room or barns yet God feeds them and how much more valuable you are than Birds who of You by worrying can add a single hour to your life since you cannot do this very little thing why do you worry about the rest consider the wild flow cons consider how the wild flowers grow they do not labor or spin yet

I tell you not even Solomon in all his Splendor was dressed like one of these if that is how God clothed the grass of the field which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire how much more will he clothe you you of little faith and do not set your heart on what you will eat or drink do not worry about it I know guac is extra don't worry about it for the Pagan world runs after all such things and your father knows that you need them he knows but seek his kingdom and

these things will be given to you as well do not be afraid little flock for your father has been pleased to give you the kingdom sell your possessions and give to the poor provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out a treasure in heaven that will never fail where no thief comes near and no moth destroys for where your treasure is there your heart will be also yeah may God add a blessing to his word bow your heads friends if you would mind bow your heads just for a moment woo man I sense the

grace of God Jesus over every one of our hearts over every one of our hearts may we see you staring into our souls speaking these words of life and I'm praying today for a transformation to happen in our souls I pray for a breaking to happen I pray for the things that have been tried they've been holding us it's been holding us in bondage it's been in our sleep it's been at our dinner table this fear of money has been in our minds this fear of money dries with us everywhere we go we can't get

away from it in the name ofes Jesus over Frisco online and in this room over every person under the sound of my voice I am asking for you Lord God to step in and to break the back of the enemy I pray that this chain would be off of our necks I pray that you would heal us and restore us you would even forgive us you would help us and Empower us I ask that today would be a day of change and transformation in the name of Jesus we look at this ugly Giant and we

declare that you cannot stand against the armies of the Living God we declare that this giant Must Fall In The Name of Jesus our hope is not in money our hope is not in the economy our hope is not in our job our hope is not in our 401k or 403b our hope is in you and in you alone so in the name of Jesus would an open Heaven be over this church would there be breakthrough over every heart and mind God we need this we ask you for it we believe you for it in

the name in the name of Jesus in the name of Jesus in the name of Jesus in the name of Jesus do it Lord as your heads are bowed just for a moment longer if you're under the sound of my voice and you've never given your heart and your life to Christ you never made him first you never made him number one I I want to give you an opportunity today to respond to the grace of God because he's calling you closer if that's you you've never given your heart in your life to Christ at

one point in time you did you slipped away and today you're saying I'm going to rededicate my life to serving Jesus on the count of three I just want you to throw your hand in the air and say yes that's me ready 1 2 3 just throw your hand up in the air you're saying yep that's me I want to give my heart I want to give my life to Christ This Is Beautiful got friends all over the room online you're saying yep that's me that's me friends at Frisco you're saying yep that's me in

the theater you're saying yep that's me I'm going to give my heart and my life to Christ I'm going to ask everyone to put your hand over your heart if you would not mind repeat this prayer out loud after me say dear Jesus I ask you to forgive me of all my sins I admit I've made mistakes and today I give you my heart I give you my life give me the power to live for you in Jesus name amen and amen can we lift our heads up clap our hands