Scriptures: Luke 12:15-21

You are among the richest people in the world. Even if you make minimum wage in the United States, it still puts you among the top 12% of all people in the world in terms of wealth. While most of the people on the planet are consumed with the necessities of food, shelter and clothing, we have closets filled with clothes, attics and basements filled with things we purchased and enough food to make us the most obese nation on the planet. Against this backdrop, we'll learn how to better steward our wealth according to God's principles. How do you live without becoming greedy, constantly looking to gain more and spend more? Jesus told a parable in the book of Luke that gives us a simple and practical answer.

"I want to warn you, the message of this parable goes against the way we think, the way we act, the way we live, and the way we handle our wealth as much as anything that Jesus ever told. Because of who we are and where we live, this will be one of the most difficult messages to apply, but it will be one of the most important that you do. We are rich people, relatively speaking, living in the richest nation in the world. How we relate to our riches determines how we relate to God. Your net worth is not what you are worth. Your worth is never determined by your wealth. Life is more than bank accounts, stocks and bonds and real estate. Logically, we all know that is true, but practically and pragmatically we live as if it is not." --Dr. Merritt

Keywords: possessions, wealth, saving, giving, stewardship, collection, offering, master, manager, need, riches, management, statistics, rich, estate, covet, guard, wants, needs, John D. Rockefeller, Standard Oil, greed, contentment, plentiful, fool, treasure