"Jesus Doesn't Want Your Money. He Wants Your Heart." Sermon Sept. 13, 2026 Thrive Church Manchester

JESUS WINS: YOUR MONEY Week 1 - The Throne Question Money isn't ultimately a money problem. It's a throne problem. MEMORY VERSE "But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it." 1 Timothy 6:6-7 (NIV) KEY POINTS 1. MONEY REVEALS THE HEART - Matthew 6:21 Jesus doesn't want your money. He wants your heart. And notice the direction: where the treasure goes, the heart follows it and moves in. Your spending isn't just a report on your heart. It's a rope tied to it. 2. WE ARE NOT ALL STANDING IN THE SAME WATER The same decision, made by two people, produces two different results. Your financial situation is not a scoreboard of your spiritual maturity. 3. NOT MONEY - THE LOVE OF MONEY - 1 Timothy 6:10 The most misquoted verse on this subject. Money doesn't make you anything. It reveals what you already were. The dollar amount is not the character. It's the X-ray. 4. HE GOT THE MATH RIGHT - Luke 12:16-21 The rich fool had a surplus, built capacity, and made a plan. Any financial advisor would have signed off on it. Count the pronouns in that story and you'll find about a dozen I's and my's - and not one other person. He got the math right and the ownership wrong. 5. EVERY YES IS ALSO A NO We're good at seeing what we say yes to. We're terrible at seeing what we're saying no to - because you don't meet that no for eleven months, on a Tuesday, when you can't do something you wanted to do. 6. CONTENTMENT IS LEARNED - Philippians 4:11-13 Paul wrote this from a prison cell. He says twice that he LEARNED contentment - in plenty and in want, well fed and hungry. Which makes it the one thing available in exactly the same form to the person with the paid-off house and the person three payments behind. 7. MONEY MAKES A TERRIBLE MASTER - Matthew 6:24 Jesus doesn't say serving both is hard. He says it cannot be done. The contest was never over your money. It was always over the throne. ONE NEXT STEP What is my money revealing about my heart? What am I asking money to do that only Jesus can do? What is one next step that puts Jesus back in His rightful place? Pick one. Start giving or step up from where you are. Make the budget. Attack one debt. Open the thing you've been avoiding. Have the conversation. Ask for help. The goal isn't to do everything. The goal is to take the next faithful step.