Winning in the Arena of Balance

Sermon by Dr. Robert Lewis

9/24/2000

Our opponent is prosperity.

• The danger prosperity brings:
  • Pride - the complete anti-God state of mind.
  • Forgetfulness - forget about God.
  • Deceit - makes temporal and eternal things look the same.
  • Fruitlessness
  • Hoarding - the more we have, the less we give.
  • Pain - people who hurt aren't happy.
• The call to balance
  • Imbalance perspectives:
    • Become Poor - voluntary self-imposed
    • Get Rich - don't let the wealth replace Jesus.
  • A balanced perspective is staying focused and cultivate generosity.
• How to maintain balance and "win gold":
  • Recognize that prosperity makes godly living harder, not easier.
  • Know that discipline must replace what desperation once demanded.
  • Invest in good works and expect life's best. 
  • Always have an accountability system.
  • Keep thinking about meeting God for an accounting of all you've been give, because one day you will.

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