Simple Living
by Raymond Sloan
November 17, 2022 · Cornerstone Apostolic Church
Kind: teaching
Scripture: Deuteronomy 26:1-11, Matthew 6:25-33

Source: https://acts238.life/repository/sermons/raymond-sloan--simple-living
Published by Acts 2:38 Life from the sermon transcript on that page.
Free to copy and share with attribution.

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we are in the month of November therefore our midweek uh topic is that's that's her it's hurting my eyeballs I feel all dusted we're talking about what a life of giving thanks turn to somebody close to you and say I thank God for you some of y'all I don't think meant it we'll work on that next few minutes thank you brother Sam last week Sam taught um he did a great job of course he always does I have a lot of confidence in his and teaching um tonight we are going to continue if I can get my high Pat going foreign get that one ah Pat you guys are on it tonight aren't you let's go to the book of Deuteronomy I'm sorry Deuteronomy Sam says picking on him tonight right all right Deuteronomy that's where we are tonight but first of all let me begin tonight our topic is oh very basic in the life of giving thanks tonight we want to talk just a little bit about simple living simple living that does not mean simple-minded although I fall into that category of times my wife and I we get excited about certain like a warm cup of coffee a hot cup of coffee we're like we're so simple we just think that's good anybody else yeah you would if you had a cold cup of coffee and didn't like it all right we're just simple sitting around and just doing nothing we're like man we're just so simple Folk because there's a lot of a lot of we saw this in our kids uh there's a lot of entertainment that has to happen in our world you may notice that you gotta gotta keep people bedazzled and wild and wooed just to hold their attention what's the attention span now of an American just a few minutes I'd say we just ran out y'all went huh it just stopped right there that was a case in point I just shot it and y'all caught it uh four five six minutes used to be seven minutes that was the national average and when television began they would actually put a commercial in every seven minutes to break up the Rhythm it's on purpose because the mind could only handle that claim of babies children can handle however years old they are a minute so if they're a year old they got about a one minute span two years old two minute until they reach about age five or six and then it just kind of carries the rest of their life some of you who are uh managers or you work on a job or you have people that work with you how many you realize that a lot of the folks that work for you are challenged on time they're challenged on just doing something for distance anybody or is it just me you know it's kind of like when you go to the to the counter at or the to order your food at a at a fast food it's like they forgot by the time you ordered it and then they come back and look at you like oh that's right I'm just saying or go to Home Depot hey I'm looking for this two minutes later what was we looking for oh this is going to be a long day we have a lot of possessions we own a lot of things we have a lot of stuff that we have obtained is anybody here not have anything anybody here that simply has a chair and that's all and go ahead it's okay a lot of times I wish that I had that simple huh because a lot of things can get does it don't raise your hand please and do not look left or right you'll simply get you in trouble but just for this sake of this class is there anybody here that just owns a lot of stuff and you spend more time effort and energy keeping it clean than even using it don't answer that as we called it my Granny's house the museum plastic on the couch plastic on the floor I'd get in there and sit on the couch just to aggravate granny what are you doing in here have you do I need to Granny no I'm granting nothing in this room Katie barred the door here we go we're going down yes we have to get up and go out of granny's Museum we called him she even had a bed sheet over the door that was cool but that's where I would go and hang out and get in trouble I did that often but um tonight let's go look at look I want to look at something with you Deuteronomy 26. that's where we're headed verse verse number one do you have a cough drop I can borrow that's not used was this on the floor Deuteronomy 26 we'll begin reading at verse 1. with my well-trained voice you probably don't want me to read somebody begin to stand up and read as loud as you can who's got it come on go Seth as loud as you can in English please foreign keep going verse 3 thou shalom verse four five six seven eight nine ready Dan Thou shalt rejoice in every good thing which the Lord thy God hath given unto thee and unto thine house thou the levite The Stranger that is among you thank you Seth is anybody recognize what is happening here in this account in Deuteronomy anyone has anyone ever do you remember studying this particular story notice here that of course in Deuteronomy is where the connection is from the children of God the people of God to the blessings of God what he was giving to them notice here that they would be required from the first fruits to bring that to the place where God would tell them house of worship and they would present that basket to the priest priests was sitting on the Altar and would give thanks for it now here's the thing what the children of Israel had done even in this moment where the priest is interacting with the individual there is a remembering that's going on it was when our forefathers those way out there were hungry didn't have anything they left where they were they went into Egypt so that they could be provided for and from that point they began to grow as a huge huge nation and they became the people of God what was identified here listen carefully at this is very plainly they would have to recognize from whom the multiplied blessings came in doing so they would be allowed to continue living in the blessings of God now it's interesting when you get into the book of Deuteronomy there's a whole lot of law there's a whole lot of things that's going on here God knew that Humanity was going to have to have specific instruction does anybody here just simply know how to do good you got to really learn don't you I have I've had this conversation recently that you know what is truth has to be identified and has to be established because you don't you can't just simply assume people know what truth is now it used to be that because our nation was a God-fearing nation and we had thinking that they prayed at school they prayed around the flagpole um most of folk went to church of some type all day's meeting dinner on the ground they interacted they spent time together there was a a holy reverence a holy fear a respect if if the man of the cloth said something the community believed in it okay but something has transpired over the last few decades that that particular respect has no longer considered to be a good thing in fact Hollywood is going out of their way to make sure that they can stop any bit of authority any bit of responsibility to Authority if they can push that away then they can cause confusion in questions I I made this statement last week I'll repeat it again tonight the Bible in 2022 the Bible is sitting on the seat of judgment right now our world is judging what the Bible says it isn't a court of law is it true is it not is it real is it not is it good is it right and many folk consider it to be Irrelevant for today when you talk about for an example the issues that were talked about in Deuteronomy do they pertain to us today in 2022 I mean the verbage in the King James version is sometimes quite challenging to understand unless you begin to study it the concepts that are within that could cause you to maybe even question why was it put there and more so listen carefully in our generation because there are less people giving an account for what the Bible says then the question just simply float in the air you know I could ask my grandparents things and better they had answers my grandfather third grade education it didn't matter he knew the word honesty integrity Hard Day's Work honest days pay family God the interaction I mean I told you before I'll tell you again when my grandfather told me when he built his house after he got married he built it on a handshake he drove down to the lumber yard the guy said get what you want when you finish bring back what you don't use and we'll settle up handshake he drove out with all the supplies built his house brought back what he did and told him I had this many two before this many blocks this many of that he said okay you owe me this much now if they deliver a lumber package to your house it has to be they have to take 20 pictures of it you got to sign for it and you got to make I mean there's just a lot of dishonesty and mistrust in our society so when we go into the book of Deuteronomy I'm talking tonight about a life of giving thanks and I want to talk about simple living because we have learned in our culture to over complicate life foreign I'll ask you this simple question does anybody here work a job come on don't be embarrassed okay what time do you have to be on the job somebody give me one we'll use it 6 a.m what do you do between whatever time and 6 A.M you wake up is that like 2 A.M or 5 49 4 o'clock then what you wake up your wife's probably already been up and had your breakfast fixed correct testing she's not you're not agreeing with me I'm Pop-Tarts on the Shelf okay besides all that okay and then you you leave the house you go to your job anybody else what time you got to be at work 10 o'clock what do you do no but what you bag groceries that's a great job I don't want to do it um if you have to be there at 10 what time do you get out of bed you don't have to embarrass yourself nah that's not bad right but then what do you do between nine and having to be at work very little as possible I understand eat there you got it no plan you wait to get to work right and get the donuts out of somebody's box that they just bought it's okay try that tomorrow and see what happens here's my point we have our routine through the day agreed but much of what wait I'll ask you this why do you have a job Bella why do you have a job why do you want money what are you gonna buy do you want to tell us details but just what are you trying to buy whatever I find like shoes with skates in them nothing wrong with that that's an item I can't do it I mean come on when you got this to carry around you don't want to put a skate under you know what I'm saying Horton why do you have a job for what can't you just go out and kill it and slay it and skin it and eat it ain't that enough and what are you working for name three things that you're working for Stuff wise utilities and Pop-Tarts make sure you got breakfast oh this is a very simple thank you guys this is very simple explanation no neither one of them said I work because I don't have anything else to do or I work because no they have a purpose now here's here's the thing about young people learn and then you carry that as you get older is there are some things that you're going to buy that you need to save your money and buy agreed but something has happened in our culture to where I don't mind saying it there's a thing called credit now don't raise your hand but do you have credit cards and the purpose of credit cards is for what purchase things that you can't afford or that you don't have the money in your pocket because everybody in here pays off their credit cards right anyway the um here's the thing we have been in a mindset in our nation in our world that if you don't have credit you can't purchase large ticket items agreed your credit score I had no idea how important a credit score was until I had to go and they told me that I had this credit score and I said well you know it's one to a hundred I'm I'd say 100 be good right why are y'all laughing I mean brother Dan I was excited I had 103. oh I got extra credit you know I answered three of them right yeah and then I found out Tim that you got to have like 800. so I asked a silly question what's the highest 800 what 8.50 come on who did this math this is the same guy who invented tennis love love well that's okay 15 love 30 love Yeah Infamous joke let me confuses everybody 40. I'm like wait a minute yeah come on stay with me we live in a world where things have become so confused and skewed because the worth that we put on things we will work ourselves to death to obtain them I found out in fact recently on the radio that you can combine all of your bills and if you want to you don't have to pay them back I even found out you could go to college and run up a 200 000 education Bill and they would forgive it so I applied for that to happen to my house I haven't heard from them yet I'm not sure if they're going to respond or what come on you get it for those students you can do it for me right here's the point our culture is consumed with collecting things all right you don't have you can raise your hand if you'd like to does anybody have a closet in your bedroom now what do you use that closet for Seth why are you point to your wife I mean you got a closet to put your clothes in right it's a great storage unit but more than that I'll I don't mind telling you I have probably three pair of pants that I wear out of the 17 hang in there I probably got four shirts that I like I'll tell my wife babe if you wouldn't wash clothes I'd have to go find something else she said okay I won't wash clothes and never mind I'll get it myself so I washed them because that's my favorite shirt she has even attempted baby she's attempted to throw away some of my favorite stuff well you know what guess who takes out the trash dare you you ain't putting that in here wash that again come on man you know what I'm talking about got that favorite shirt here why do we need closets that hold so much stuff there's a lot of times you can go to the store and buy things only because they're on sale my I have I know somebody that's very dear to me that goes and buys it because there's a coupon and I went but we don't need it but there's a coupon but there's a coupon and you can't not use the coupon you got to use the coupon so I don't know anything I asked a question who gave you the coupon don't get any more but it's ten percent off I'm gonna spend 30 dollars to get over there to it but we got to have it We Gotta Have It why do I gotta have it not sure what is important about the things that we work for many times our forefathers are are the elders if you will they begin to trade things they begin to for an example it wasn't a farmer he was a blacksmith in order for him to get chickens to eat he would do what barter and he would blacksmith something and then they would bring him two chickens okay that's how the same with grain or feed or whatever somebody here was a merchant you know that's how the negotiations happened and quite honestly if you don't understand that system of Economics I would challenge you to study it because it's very possible we may revert back to that sometime but anyway now our economy is 100 driven by the fact that if we can get past Christmas we already know the next series of things that will be in that department store is going to be what Valentine and by the time Valentine's stuff is on sale what's next Easter's already there and then what thank you Mother's Day fathers come on y'all know them what else a Fourth of July my birthday yeah whatever things are pushed now by our culture of stuff now here's the thing you can almost buy anything you want fill out the paperwork you get approved for that car that house boat whatever it is and then you you go and you get it now here's the biggest problem a lot of times you really really don't really need it it's nice to have there's nothing wrong with having new things agreed nothing I'm thankful for new new teeth I don't want on somebody else's now maybe you're into that but not me no I'm gonna just make me one new you know right there I want to make sure nobody get out there he got it already here's the thing but there's a lot of stuff guys y'all are grossed out aren't you there's a lot of things that we buy and we don't even need it we don't even need it not even close it's stuff that we want so now let's talk of the wants the important thing that we have to remember is is that the more stuff we buy the more stuff we have to deal with foreign as anybody here figured out the concept of storage units Shane explain that to me but no no extra stuff am I right you can get a climate controlled so we don't you don't have to get in there and get cold or hot it's just there how many has ever used stuff out of a storage unit that you put there 19 years ago or whatever huh come on man I'm gonna let you help I'm not gonna embarrass you anyways I'll embarrass you man how many men have clothes that you can't wear no more but you're determined to get in that size hmm come on it wouldn't take much during my ride it wouldn't take much you just had to no see I could go to church with this song no you can't get in the car with that on you ain't going to church here's the problem with many things in 2022 culture listen carefully the problem is is that they over promise and they under deliver it's just stuff you want and we have a hard time giving thanks for the simple things because we have over complicated our lives and we have gotten to the point that more is required for us to feel like that we're somebody think about the last big ticket item that you purchased the last big ticket item call it what you want you know and that's more that would mean more than a loaf of bread although eggs now are a big ticket item um the last big ticket item that you purchased anybody roller skating car yeah let's go there they may never bought a car Big Ticket item had to have it wanted it anybody okay here's the question how long did that particular car give you pleasure after you bought it huh till what until the first payment came nobody could eat in that car nobody could drink it no you better not you know my wife come home one time and she said baby when you get a chance will you go clean up that coffee that I spilled in the car and I'm like yeah it was accident and that's okay I realized you didn't do it on purpose but that still don't make it okay well it's just not a lot it's not a lot you get out there you got seven towels and four vacuums later you're like um I wonder what's a lot come on you know what I'm talking about or wait when your kid spills the juice on the carpet and you're standing there going why won't women do or yeah they threw up on it that's even better that's always a great one at my house because I already know who's gonna have to clean it because my precious one um all right you go pray I'll clean you go pray I'll clean oh gee see right now y'all know what I'm talking about then you're mad Stephen am I right why because our stuff is important to us well many many years ago when I was a youth leader at church I brought in a little small canoe that somebody let me borrow I set it on the floor you've got two minutes two minutes to get everything you consider to be valuable putting this canoe that's all you get everything else is gone what would you put in that canoe what would you put in that canoe that all your family food gotta put food right you may have to sacrifice one for y'all got a lot of kids I don't know what y'all gonna do put him on his shoulder just hold him up there that's right what are you gonna what's important to you you know I I used to say I'd grab the Family Bible because it has pictures and stuff I don't know where it's at I know most of us just make sure I got my phone you know the water's all coming in the canoe and you're like okay get it wet can't get it wet you say it's because all your pictures know it ain't because you want to know what's going on I've always wondered that when you get out somewhere with no cell coverage why do they that's gonna matter right that's 18 inches makes all the difference sorry what would you put in the canoe if you had to restart your life after the whatever happened and whatever the size of that canoe is all you had to start over with what would you do I know from this Podium I've asked many times in certain Bible lessons that I've done would you even know how to start a fire but yeah you get the little clicky thing and what if you don't have that you know what I have in a drawer in my kitchen what I have box of matches they may remember those I told them I have to have a box of magic she said why and I said because the clicker thing may not work all the time but if I got a box of matches guess what I might be able to start a fire because of Mystic rubbing abilities probably next thing listen carefully Matthew let's go to Matthew believe it or not we're headed somewhere tonight guys Matthew chapter 6. this is New Testament now Matthew chapter 6. verse number 25 try to give the people in the back a few extra moments look how quickly they found him Matthew 6 25. somebody read for me please besides Seth he did such a good job while ago somebody else read Matthew 6 25 stand up with a loud voice keep going did they read keep going keep going um all the way to 33. I'd say Point okay 29. come to somebody 29 was it skipped go back to 29 please back room thank you go 30. thank you therefore take no thoughts saying what shall we eat or what shall we drink or wherewithal shall we be clothed this is a story thank you it's written in red in your King James version what's it talking about what is it it's part of well it's chapter six so yeah he's got them seated he's talking to him his whole premise here behind this particular teaching though is is basically what we need to hear more and more of in our generation why do you worry about things so much why are you trying to add to or take away I need somebody to help me I need a volunteer Israel thank you come here buddy Israel how tall are you buddy five two everybody say five two is that okay with you what is that height okay with you yeah it's fine right unless you want to be eight two or seven two or six two right okay this is everybody five two okay I'm gonna give you 10 seconds ready I want you to think as hard as you can wish as hard as you can that you could grow two inches and we'll watch it happen okay set go nothing no good medium glowing your tiptoes thank you that's a silly demonstration is it because we spend a whole lot of time worrying about things just like that don't even matter now you would say well man there's no way you could change things like that there's no way that you can just think yourself to be Sam you know I'm nine feet tall and stuff you know Sam is that tall because the Sunday school class needed a Goliath that's the only reason the fact is guys is again as silly as that is we do the same thing every day we worry about the silliest things we even complain about the lilies in the field we complained about the stuff we don't have and then when we have stuff that we don't need We complain about that because we don't know what to do with it um how many would like to I've been asked this a million times if you could have any car that you wanted what would it be I'm like probably just like a Ford truck or something like that what would it be 66 yeah or somebody say a Lamborghini or Corvette and I'm sitting there going okay call your insurance agent call you're in it or better yet better yet you got to have some engine work done we're gonna take it to Bob's out here under the shade tree yeah 190 000 car you mind changing the oil in it what's he going to tell you I can't get no Jack under it I'm gonna have Mama come out pick it up for me or whatever you can't work on it so why would you want it am I okay with that instead come on yeah you act like it and it it could be anything and again is there anything wrong with a Ferrari Lamborghini or 66 is there anything wrong with that stuff now what determines the worth of it is what's wrong with it because if we value it more than we value our things of God that are beneficial then we have missed the entire point of God's blessings now as a kid I don't mind telling you you know we used to sit around all time and think about man if I won a million dollars what would I do with it and I know if I ask this fine group of people right here tonight probably the majority in fact I'd give it to the Lord I'd make sure matthiasis was paid and I would it's my 10 cents would be given to the Lord that's 10 percent um you you would you would and I'd buy my family things and you'd say all of that and then what do they claim about those who win the millions of dollars of lotteries a lot of them die that one couple that won 294 whatever million few years ago Within what was like three weeks they lost all the money you know it's always like well I'd love to give it a try yeah here's the point guys here's the point I'm watching my clock do you genuinely genuinely believe that the good things that you have are gifts from God therefore they belong to him or do you feel like that you don't want to share those with others because you're selfish with them you know when I talk about winning that Lottery if you will that's exactly what it is a lottery the role of the dice the happenstance but the fact is if you genuinely believe things are from God then who owns them he does and if you really believe that living simple would be bring such peace of mind such contentment such Joy To Your Heart then why don't we as humans strive for that some of you would say well I don't want to live under a tent my whole life or you know I'd like running water and bathroom inside and I get that there's nothing wrong with those things again it's how we deal with what we have that over complicates it or or makes it if you will Ascend to us here's here's a question for you to ponder what most compels you to give of what you have to others foreign what emotion what drives you to want to give to your family to somebody on the street to a co-worker to a stranger you don't know what compels you to do that the goodness of God what else compassion why okay so you feel like you've gotten the grace and mercy and so you you give it back have you ever seen a commercial for an example about I don't know the starving kids in Africa that's what my dad used to always use it for other kids that goes starving kids in Africa look you need to be thankful what you have and eat your food in that time I got Smarter with my dad I said well box it up and send it to him yeah that's how far that got guess what Pastor learned about 30 seconds not to say that again here's the thing on those commercials you ever notice how the media people put those commercials together doesn't it no what is it and you're watching it you're like kind of like the dog gets lost dogs walking down the road and everybody's like because they were they strum the emotion guitar in your heart what if you just loved Folk he just had a heart that said you know what it is more blessed to give than to receive I'm coming coming to a close here it's right at eight o'clock listen carefully there's a lot of things in our life that God's been good to us and he's blessed us with and if you were to take a few moments of honesty in your in your night tonight or tomorrow and you were to make an inventory of what really matters