Pastor Mark Batterson has often said these words. He said change of place plus change of pace often equals a change in perspective. And these last two weeks here getting away with family, we were able to experience that. So a change of pace, change of place and really gaining a new perspective and just a refreshed spirit for ministry coming into it. And, and I can think of nothing better in terms of representing that change of perspective when we literally got a complete change of perspective. And we, we drove up to the summit of Mount Haka or I can never pronounce the words correctly. And so, uh and it was incredible, the summit was over 10,000 ft high and the island of Maui there in Hawaii. And actually I learned this afterwards that some say that. So the mountain above the sea is 10,000 ft, but actually under the sea, the mountain extends another 19,000 ft. So in terms of the size of mountain, it's actually the same size, if not a little bit bigger than Mount Everest. And so pretty crazy and you can drive to it and you're literally just driving pretty much straight up for an hour, hour and a half zigzagging back and forth and driving through the clouds is a crazy experience is that it's cloudy and you're going through it and then you're in the cloud and then you're above the cloud. And so we took the kiddos up there for the sunset because I'm not getting up for sunrise and, uh going through. And so it's such a cool experience to be on what feels like the top of the world and you see the sun setting below the clouds and the town below you. And then when the, when the sun went down, the stars came out, and I can say that I've never seen so many stars in my life. And when you talk about getting above the noise, you are literally above the noise of the world below you. And so it was just a reminder of the bigness of God and the goodness of God. And then you cannot help but feel small in that moment. And so experiencing that is really a change in perspective and really, that's my hope for, for you and for me in these next couple of weeks, as we're jumping into the series entitled The Stories of the Kingdom. You see, we're in a change of place because we're now in this new building and we're going to change the pace a little bit as we're going to take a deeper dive into the short stories of Jesus. And because I want us to have a new perspective, a refreshed perspective on the meaning of life, the power of God and the identity within ourselves. Because when you take a look at the words of Jesus, it makes sense to say, ok, what did Jesus speak about? What was his most common theme? And then what was his method to deliver that message? And the reality is the most commonly taught themed of Jesus is the Kingdom of God. He spoke about it more than anything else. In fact, it was really seen one central message in everything he spoke about was about the Kingdom. And the way he did that was through telling stories called parables. Now, as Americans in this democracy, we don't really understand from a practical sense. What is a kingdom outside of watching movies and reading books? OK. Who am I kidding? Watching movies. And uh and so we go through here, but the Kingdom of God was seen as something very realistic for the people of the day because the Kingdom actually represented power. But at that current time, in the current context, it represented oppression. And so religiously, there were the Pharisees that were oppressing the faith of those below them. And then politically, there was the Roman Empire that was enslaving the people. And so this promise of kingdom, they thought that Jesus was coming to physically reign and they got excited. And in fact, it's partly why Jesus was killed, he was killed because he claimed to be God. But then also because he spoke about bringing about a new kingdom. And so they were threatened by that. And what Jesus was actually doing was preparing them for a new perspective, a better way. And that one day Jesus would rule in a new heaven, new earth, but he was also currently ruling. And so the question is, what is the Kingdom of God? And I would define the Kingdom of God this way that the Kingdom of God is the power of God working through the people of God. It's the power of God working through the people of God. And the reason I like that is because it's, it's valuable right now in present tense one day Jesus will come back. But today right now, God is still in charge and there is an alternative way of living that then you can actually live out and be a part of the Kingdom of God right here. And it works in every setting. It works in every culture. It works with every ethnicity, race, gender. It doesn't matter how much money you have or don't have is that you can actually usher in the kingdom of God with how you live because it's God's power working through God's people. David Platt put it this way. He said the Kingdom of God is really about the rule and the reign of Christ is that God is in charge and is leading the way and that He is sustaining our very existence. Uh Matt Chandler, another pastor put it in really three categories that the kingdom of God is about dwelling Dominion and then dynasty. It's about dwelling because the name of God means God with us. And that's seen all throughout the scripture as we know it. When God created the world, he spoke it into existence. He created Adam and Eve. He was then walking in the garden with them. And then we see that again with the people and Moses and they were wandering through the wilderness and that they were led by the ark of the covenant, the presence of God. And then when they built the temple, the holy of Holies was marked with the presence of God. And then when Jesus came down, he was given the name Emmanuel, which means God with us. And then when they started the church, he said, I'm gonna give you the Holy Spirit, which means that I am gonna be with you to the end of the age. And that when there is a forever heaven, a new heaven, new earth, the best part about that is that we will be face to face with our creator and savior. And so this idea of dwelling with God and God dwelling with us is what it means to be in the kingdom of God. But then there's Dominion as well. So Dominion again is to rule or to steward that when God created the world, he also invited us into his story and he gave us a job. So God gives Adam and Eve a job in Genesis one and two. And sin doesn't enter the Bible until Genesis chapter three. That means that work is not sinful, but actually ordained by God. And then when it talks about heaven, it still includes working. And, and so there isn't like this some retirement that we get to sit on our own little cloud property and play cloud pickleball with our friends and family in heaven with. Although I bet Peter's sweet at pickleball, you know, like Peter's been practicing, right? He's ready for you up there anyway. I'm sorry, I'm weird. Anyway, um, like we think about this retirement thing. No, there's gonna be working in heaven. The difference is, is that we get to work re and roll with these without any of the negativity that comes from work. And so too often we hear people like, oh, we got the case of the Mondays, right? Like it's because we don't like certain aspects. We don't like the weight of it. We don't like the relationship. We don't like the responsibility or the betrayal or the frustrating things that come that you work so hard after something and you don't get to see the response to it. And so we get to work alongside God and to steward what he is given in our hands. Whether that's a relationship or responsibility that we get to actually rule with him. And then the last thing is you got dwelling, you got Dominion, but then you have dynasty because it'll actually outlast any other kingdom of this world. It will actually last forever. Because where is the Roman Empire today? Right? Where is the Greek empire today? Or the Persian Empire? Like every empire that has tried to squash Christianity has ceased to exist. And Christianity has actually grown as a result of it. And so it's kind of a crazy thing to think that the Kingdom of God is going to last forever. You know, Jesus himself repeatedly talked about the kingdom. It was his message when he was preaching to the disciples and the crowds of the first century. And he said things like this. For example, Matthew chapter six verse nine, he says, pray then like this, our father in heaven hallowed be the be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. In other words, we are not meant to live culture up but heaven down there, our identity and responsibility and relationships and concepts and approach to truth comes from the kingdom mindset and not the worldly mindset. Another example, Jesus said this in Matthew 633 he says, but seek first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things will be added to you. Now, there's a guy named Paul who was actually persecuting Christians gets saved on the road to Damascus starts actually preaching about the Kingdom of God and the gospel of God that it's actually available to all people. And he writes this in a letter to the church in Colossus. So Colossians chapter one verses 13 and 14, it says God has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved son in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. Same author, different letter to a different church. He writes to the church in Rome and Romans 1417, he says, for the Kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. So what he's saying there is because again, people in that original context viewed a kingdom as oppression. And so they were looking for physical relief when what they needed was a spiritual renewal. And so Paul says, it's not about the physical, it is deeper than that. It's not just about what you want, it's about what you need and what you really need is redemption and forgiveness and love and purpose because those things will outlast any oppression against you and that you can actually overcome all obstacles when you understand and you are a part of the Kingdom of God. Now, that's a strange concept and, and Jesus knew that. And so how do you teach a spiritual truth to a physical group of people. And so he did so through storytelling and we do this all the time, don't we? Like if you think about the conversations you have with your spouse or your friends, you ever try to describe somebody who, who hasn't met? What do you do you say? Well, oh, let me tell you about, uh, Susie over here. You know, she's remember Sally from accounting over there. She's a lot like Sally. Oh Yeah. Oh And we, and we take something unknown and we attach it to something known. That's why as teachers, you have so many students there aren't. And this is true. If you ask them the same thing as a youth pastor, there are names that I could not name my Children because I associated it with somebody else. I knew, you know what I'm talking about. All right, we do that and you're like, oh not naming my kid Tom, I tell you that, right? Like cause why? Cause we associate unknown with known and so you have this spiritual truth about the kingdom of God and people living in a physical world. And so the best way to preach that to share that to connect the two was through story. That's why we connect to still to this day through movies and, and writing and, and music. Why? Because we connect to the emotion and the reality of a story. We remember story and Jesus knows this is why he taught through story. And that's what a parable is. A parable is a story. Jesus tells um really of a practical reality to describe or illustrate a spiritual truth. Usually it's focused on one point. It's not point for point. Like it's like sometimes people, I find people trying to really break down the parable or the SIM or the metaphor, you're like, well, this is gonna be this or this is gonna be this. really, it's meant for one thing. It's meant to connect one point or idea. And it's about the Kingdom of God, the author or the one who started this program called the Bible project. Highly recommend that by the way, if you wanna learn stuff online on youtube, you can visit and watch videos by the Bible project. His name is Tim Mackey. He described parables this way. He said, Jesus didn't tell parables to make everything clear. Rather he wanted to provoke the imagination and invite people to see what God is doing in the world from a new perspective. You see there's that word again, Jesus spoke in story and spoke of the kingdom because he wanted people to have a new perspective. And that's my hope for you too because we get so caught up in the day to day, don't we like it? It, it all our to do list all the responsibilities and things. And I can tell you when I was standing on a literal mountain top above the noise of the world. Everything seems so small and you're just reminded, like, wow, like, and that's what Jesus does when he tells stories is that he's saying, hey, just pause your life for just a moment and just think about the Kingdom of God. And I want to offer you an, an a new perspective, the imagination to run free. And so sometimes these parables are not very clear, but they invoke emotion and response and all of them require action of some kind. And so our parable today is really going to be found in Matthew chapter 13 verses 44 to 46. It's actually two of them, but they're so short, which by the way, I love that they're short. Um And then they actually go together and so we're gonna go through two parables this morning. He says the Kingdom of Heaven, same thing as Kingdom of God. The Kingdom of Heaven is like a treasure hidden in a field which a man found and covered up and in his joy, he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. Again. The Kingdom of Heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls who on finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it. So you got a treasure and you got a pearl. This morning's message is entitled Treasure hunting because it's really about value. It is a parable about perspective and then priority. And so if you're taking notes, I encourage you to write this down that Jesus is worth great sacrifice because he will give you the greatest joy. Jesus is worth great sacrifice because he will give you the greatest joy. It will cost you something. I think too often in churches in general or in spirituality, we like to think of Christianity or religion in general as like a self help. Just do this. You'll be better be you. It's great. Now it's gonna cost you something. It will, in fact, it will cost you everything, but it's worth it because Jesus already paid the ultimate price because what you value determines what you do. They're like, well, John, how do you know what you value? Well, just flip it because what you do then demonstrates what you value. And what's interesting about these stories is that they are two very different approaches to God and one, the guy stumbled across it, he stumbled into treasure and in the other, he was searching for it. And I think, and there are times that people approach the approach God this way, there are some people who, it's not so much that they were searching for God, but rather God was searching for them. Right? And they kind of bump into God. Some of you have no idea why you're even here this morning. Oh, I guess I'll go or after weeks or months of that neighbor or friend bugging, you to come, you just kind of can't and you're here. I want you to know that's ok. The first story is that when someone bumps in the treasure, that's not a bad thing. The question is, what will you do when you see it? And the question for you is what will you do with the message of Jesus when you hear it? Because the flip side as someone who went searching. And I think there are stories even in this room, I think of Taylor, a friend here that who we talked. Like I we had conversations, right? Where you were searching, you're like, I'm gonna find the truth, right? You were researching and reading like I'm gonna read every religion. I'm gonna read every book. I'm gonna watch every video and be searching. And there are people that find God in that way because when you experience Jesus, when you encounter Jesus, the truth of the Gospel truly sets you free. And so the question is not, how did you come to God? Because some will come by accident, some will come as a result of searching. The question then is what will you do when you encounter Jesus for the first time? How will you respond? Because in this case, in this story, it reveals as do all parables, the heart of Jesus and the mission of Jesus and the character of who he is. And so he's equated to great value, really value of all eternity. And in response to seeing something of great value, they turned around and they sold all that. They had to buy that. Why? Because it was worth it, that the treasure was greater. They did so with joy. Now, it might look foolish to those on the outside that might not know the treasure or see it. But when you recognize the value of who God is and the kingdom that God offers, that there's nothing short that we would do to receive that because He already paid the ultimate price. And so that we can respond with joy and he gives us eternity. He describes it this way. He says, I am the way of the truth in the life. John 14 6, he talks about in John 1010 that I will offer you. I came to give you life and life abundantly. He says this here in Matthew 619 to 21. He says, do not lay up for yourself. Treasures on earth where Moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal for where your treasure is there, your heart will be also. Now, we like to live the reverse of that last statement. We like to say where our heart is there, our treasure will be. But again, what you value determines what you do and what you do demonstrates what you value. And so if you wanna show me what you value, you're gonna see it in your checkbook and bank account on your calendar and on your smart device and in your conversations and in your mind, what do you think about? What are you talking about? What are your actions show? Because what you do is a reflection of who you are and who you are is a reflection of what you treasure. And so when you think through that, you want to think through, OK, what do I value? There's a story of a San Diego uh bank Robber who took off with some money. Make, hired an investigator to go find this guy. They crossed the border into Mexico. He realized he doesn't speak Spanish. And so he hired a translator to go with him. They tracked down the guy and they find the guy and through the translator, he says, tell me where the money is and the guy through the translator back says, I don't know what you're talking about. And so he pulls out the, the investigator pulls out a gun and says, tell him if he doesn't tell me where the money is, I'm gonna shoot him right here. And the guy responds back that it's through the translator. It's hidden in coffee cans on the fourth floor of the men's room in the hotel la Plaza down the street. So then the investigator turned to the interpreter and say, So what did he say? And the interpreter said, he said, he's willing to die when you know, where treasure is, it changes what you do when you have information that other people don't have, that changes your life and adds wealth to you. That's even seen illegal. In some cases, it's called insider trading, right? When you get a tip that, that you know where something is going and you act on that and they say that's not fair, but we have the ultimate insider tip except it's available for everyone that the Kingdom of God will last forever. And it's so much greater than anything you could want because it's everything that you need forgiveness, purpose, meaning joy, love, identity. So much of this world is centered around ideas about finding your identity in gender and sexuality, in politics and different things. But the truth is is that your identity, your true identity and freedom comes in Christ and it was pa pa uh paid for by Jesus himself. And so there is nothing greater than the Kingdom of God. And the Kingdom of God is not something that you will experience someday, but rather the power of God that you can experience today right now because God is with you. God is here. Forgiveness is possible. Light is possible. Joy is possible because it's not based on your circumstances. It's not based on your difficulty. We are reminded on a regular basis of the brevity of life writer Randy Alcorn put it this way. He said, Jesus warns us not to store up treasures on earth because wealth, it's not that wealth might be lost. It's because wealth will always be lost. Either it leaves us while we are alive or we leave it when we die. The reality is all the pieces go back in the box when the game is over. And so the question you have to ask yourself is knowing the brevity of life, knowing that the difficulties of what's going on, whom or what do you value most? Where do you place your value? Who do you put your trust in? Because if you put it in your health, what happens when you get sick? If you put it in finances? What happens when there's a crash? If you put it in one relationship or the next, what happen when there's betrayal? The world's gonna tell you over and over again that you need blank to be fulfilled. And I say blank because it's, it's a car, it's technology, it's a house, it's a promotion, it's whatever. What happens is that if you keep going after that thing, that treasure that you think is so valuable that really ends up being like tickets at Peter Piper's Pizza, right? Like I had so many tickets. It's amazing. Cool. And you get this plastic trinket that breaks before you get home, we need to stop playing for tickets when eternity is at stake, you know, they say things like, you know, oh my keys. I found them. They were in the last place I looked. I hope so because if you find them and then keep looking, that doesn't seem like the smartest thing to do, does it? I found the keys. They were over there. But I'm gonna keep looking anyway. Don't we do that with God though? We come to God, we come on a Sunday, we hear the message, we hear this thing. We find our meaning and purpose and joy and then we keep searching elsewhere. I say no, I'm right here. I'm a treasure of eternity, eternal value. And I will change everything in your life. I will change your perspective. I will change your priorities and I give you value. Jesus is the ultimate treasure. So in our joy, we should be willing to give everything we have to Him. Because in the Kingdom of God, there's a better way. There's a new perspective that's of eternal value because you have eternal value and that freedom and that purpose and that meaning is ultimately found in Him. Let's pray dear heavenly Father, we love you. God. You are the treasure. We give everything we have to you because you gave everything you have for us that you died on the cross, for our sins, that when you rose again, you defeated death and you made forgiveness possible eternity possible. And so God, we want to treasure you together we give you our hearts, we give you our lives. May we be generous? Because you were generous and we would be forgiving because you forgave. Would we be loving because you loved us? And we be may we be your people as your agents, your ambassadors of this greater, the spiritual reality living in your power. We love you God. We give our lives up to you. It's in your son's name. We pray Amen.