Sermon Extra: Giving Away What Was Never Ours

When King David launches a capital campaign to raise funds for a new temple, the haul is enormous. David himself makes the lead gift:

“In my devotion to the temple of my God I now give my personal treasures of gold and silver for the temple of my God, over and above everything I have provided for this holy temple: three thousand talents of gold (gold of Ophir) and seven thousand talents of refined silver, for the overlaying of the walls of the buildings, for the gold work and the silver work, and for all the work to be done by the craftsmen. Now, who is willing to consecrate themselves to the LORD today?”

Then the leaders of families, the officers of the tribes of Israel, the commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds, and the officials in charge of the king’s work gave willingly. They gave toward the work on the temple of God five thousand talents and ten thousand darics of gold, ten thousand talents of silver, eighteen thousand talents of bronze and a hundred thousand talents of iron. (1 Chronicles 29:3–7)

As I explained in my message on Sunday, using today’s metal prices, David gives and collects nearly $40 billion—and this is for a temple he will not even build! God has already told David that his son Solomon will be the one to build the temple:

“You are not the one to build Me a house to dwell in … When your days are over and you go to be with your ancestors, I will raise up your offspring to succeed you, one of your own sons, and I will establish his kingdom. He is the one who will build a house for Me.” (1 Chronicles 17:4, 11–12)

When God broke the news to David, he could have become bitter. He could have refused to support a project that someone else would complete. He could have complained that his name would never appear on the cornerstone. Instead, David stands in awe that God allows him to play any role at all:

“But who am I, and who are my people, that we should be able to give as generously as this?” (1 Chronicles 29:14)

David’s words here would have hit the first readers of this story in 1 Chronicles like a ton of bricks—and not the ones used to build the temple.

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Sermon Extra: A New Heart for an Old Temptation

This past weekend at Zion, we continued our message series Keeping Score, where we’ve been exploring some of the different ways we keep score in life. And we do keep score—all the time.

We tally what he said. We track what she did. We log our own guilt, calculate what we’re owed, and obsess over the hidden ledgers of our lives.

Keeping score might offer a brief sense of control, but it’s a rigged game where everyone eventually loses—even the person on top.

So, what if we stopped all that? What if we kept score no more?

In Sunday’s message, we confronted one of humanity’s most destructive scorekeeping struggles: lust.

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Sermon Extra: When the Score Says God Let You Down

This weekend at Zion, we continued our series Keeping Score, where we’ve been looking at some of the scores we’re keeping that we ought to be canceling.

We tally our superiority over others. We fixate on the slight someone committed against us. We keep a meticulous account of everything we’ve done for someone—and how they haven’t bothered to return nearly all of our fabulous favors.

Then there’s the score we talked about this weekend: the score we keep against God.

We count the prayers we’ve prayed, the weekends we’ve dragged our family to church, and the dollars we’ve dropped into the offering plate. We tally every fragment of faithfulness we can find. Then we set that total against what God has—or hasn’t—done for us. And before long, we’ve convinced ourselves that God’s account with us is overdrawn.

But what if we wiped our scoreboard against God clean? What if we kept score no more?

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Sermon Extra: The Scoreboard Never Reads “Enough”

This past weekend at Zion, we kicked off a new series called “Keeping Score.”

Scorekeeping is one of those ingrained, nearly involuntary habits of modern life. We calculate the dollars in our bank accounts, the hours we spend at work, and even the steps we take using our Apple watches. Some of the math is helpful. It can help us discern where we are and decide where we want go next.

But numbers make cruel masters.

When we demand that these scores not only inform us, but define us—to tell us whether we are winning, worthy, ahead, or enough—we become slaves to the scores we keep.

Keep score in your marriage—what she said, what he forgot, how many times you swallowed your pride and apologized first—and you aren’t merely keeping a record. You’re tallying reasons for resentment. Keep score of other people’s successes—their promotions, vacations, children, homes, or happiness—and you can turn their joy into kindling for your envy.

So, what if we stopped? What if we cleared the scoreboards that keep us trapped in resentment, envy, guilt, and exhaustion? What if we kept score no more?

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Sermon Extra: The Sword Balaam Saw, But Never Suffered

This past weekend at Zion, we wrestled with one of the oddest and liveliest stories in Scripture: Balaam and his talking donkey in Numbers 22.

Balak, king of Moab, is in a panic. Harrowing reports of Israel’s military victories have reached his throne, prompting him to defend his nation against an attack he assumes is imminent as Israel travels near his territory. Desperate to weaponize anything he can, including the supernatural, Balak sends for Balaam—a shady, but famous prophet-for-hire—to ambush Israel with a spiritual curse.

After two rounds of royal ambassadors knock at Balaam’s door requesting his spiritual services, Balaam saddles his donkey and begins the roughly 375-mile trek to Moab, eager for the big payday that awaits him on the other side of a couple of curt curses. But along the way, the angel of the Lord appears and stops him dead in his tracks.

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