Matthew 13:44-46

Good morning, Saylorville! Happy New Year! It’s good to be with you this morning. And I’m glad to be back…

And I have a question. Have you ever… what is your process when you try to discover something? — when you go on a family vacation, you go somewhere, you’re trying to discover something. Do you have a process? Do you use a map? How do you go about this?

Well, when I grew up, my dad was a long haul truck driver. So he would go cross country up to 3,000 miles a week. He’d be driving in the semi, and he would use… he would use an Atlas. Some of you don’t know what this is! This is before your iMAP, your Google map, all of that. This is what he would use in his semi to get around. So you would flip it. It’s a book of maps, and it would take you from state to state, and you would figure out where to go. Well, on one of these trips that he was making, he would use this map to get to all these destinations and back home, get back home in time to see me play football on a Friday night or whatever it was. He would get to these destinations.

And so this one time, I got to go ride with him. I was homeschooled at the time so I got to go ride with my dad, and we went to Winston-Salem, North Carolina. And what’s in Winston-Salem, North Carolina? I’ll tell you what it is. Oh, treasure‘s there! The Krispy Kreme donut factory is in Winston-Salem, North Carolina! – was in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. And so we got there and, yes, there were donuts! And some of you are now putting together why I might have become a cop or what influenced me to become a cop before becoming a church planner! (Steve, you understand, right?) So we get there and we get to this Krispy Kreme and the map, the Atlas took us to the treasure. It showed us the way to the treasure. And that’s what an Atlas is. It’s a book of maps.

And the local church is like an Atlas that helps people discover and delight in Jesus. And so the name of the church… Maybe by now you figured out what the name of the church is going to be in Waukee, Iowa… Atlas Church. Atlas Church! (clapping) Yeah! We want to help people discover and delight in Jesus Christ. And I’m sure… and I know, having been part of Saylorville, that that’s what you do here at Saylorville, as well.

The last time that we met together wasn’t too long ago, and at that point in time I was going through Proverbs 16:9 and how God was leading in our lives, and I ended with our house being up for sale, and we were in this process of trying to sell our house. Well, this Wednesday, we are going to close on our house, selling our house and moving! Yeah! Praise the Lord! We’re moving to Waukee, and so we’re excited about that! That’s all happening this Wednesday, and God just keeps continuing to make the path clear along the way.

So this morning, the passage that God has laid on my heart for a driving passage for Atlas Church is Matthew 13 44-46. If you have your Bible or you want to read it from the screen, you can.

Matthew 13:44-46

44 “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.

45 Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls,

46 who, on finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it.”

So the bottom line, the local church is God’s way of helping people discover and delight in Jesus. When you think about getting to treasure, you usually need a map, right? — X marks the spot. Any good treasure hunting movie you need a map, and that’s kind of how I landed with “Atlas.”

In the beginning of [Matthew] chapter 13, to give you a little bit of context of what’s going on, you have a number of parables. It starts with the Sower and the Seed, and that parable stresses the need for the seed to be sewn. Part of the fruit, the seed, bears, if genuine, is a desire for authentic salvation and spiritual experience as illustrated in the parables that follow. For example, no one will ever discover the true priceless treasure unless God opens their eyes, which is God’s sovereign hand in salvation. So whether you are looking for God or not, I’m glad you’re here this morning. When God opens your eyes to discover the kingdom of heaven, you have found the treasure of treasures worth giving everything else up for, and you do it with joy. The kingdom of heaven is something you can actually lay hold of. You can actually be part of now. The kingdom of heaven is where King Jesus is. If your trust is in Jesus Christ, the Word of God would tell us that Jesus rules and reigns in our hearts, not perfectly because… our hearts are the roadblock, right? But He’s also ruling in heaven right now seated at the right hand of the Father, and someday He will come back and He will rule and reign. And so the Kingdom of Heaven is what is being talked about here, and the treasure is Jesus Christ. My prayer is that Atlas Church in Waukee will exist to help people discover and delight in Jesus, who is ruling and reigning right now.

So here’s how we plan to help people discover and delight in Jesus. So #1 — discover Jesus. How do people discover Jesus? So there are those that aren’t searching for Jesus that end up discovering Jesus, right? So in [verse] 44,

Matthew 13:44,”the Kingdom of Heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up…”

So during the time of this parable, people would have understood this right away. They would have understood that, yes, you could be out in a field, and you could maybe be plowing a field and stumble across a treasure that was buried in a field, because there weren’t banks. They wouldn’t have had a bank to go to. If you had a lot of money, you had a lot of stuff, you might have buried it in case you got robbed or raided. And so this would have been common, and there would have been stories of people finding treasure and things like that. And so this guy, maybe he’s not necessarily searching for the treasure, but he finds it… Maybe plowing the field and up comes this treasure. And it’s one way that people discover Jesus is when they aren’t even looking for the treasure. The man who was not even looking for the treasure found it. And it’s just what exactly God declares in Isaiah 65:1.

Isaiah 65:1, “I was ready to be sought by those who did not ask for Me; I was ready to be found by those who did not seek Me…”

There’s a number of people in Waukee, Iowa right now that have a lot of other types of treasure, but they don’t have the treasure of Jesus, and they aren’t looking for Jesus. The man in the field stumbled upon the treasure, maybe turned it up, and Atlas Church needs to look like Jesus in the community. And with that, people… that have earthly treasure can stumble onto the lasting treasure of Jesus Christ. People can stumble onto the treasure of Jesus by Atlas Church being active… active in the community. Active in Waukee is what we want to do… show people through the church that there is a treasure. There is a greater treasure than anything that you’re finding here and now on the earth. Those who aren’t searching for Jesus might discover him through Atlas Church.

I know that’s happening here at Saylorville. I know that, because I remember the stories of what was going on here at Saylorville, how people were meeting their neighbors, and co-workers and those kind of things. And through the church, people were coming to know Jesus Christ. Through those natural connections that you have with people, Atlas Church being in the community, the people of Waukee might discover the treasure of Jesus Christ, natural connections like those directly around your place of residence, those that God has put in your life because you share the block with them.

Maybe that’s been a little bit of a challenge to me. I’ve been reading a book about neighboring, and it challenged me to find like my eight neighbors that are directly around my house and… know information about them. Not in a weird way, right? — But like know stuff! Like… know your neighbors. Be personal with your neighbors, right? Know who they are, and let them know who you are. Maybe your kids play on the same team as somebody else and you get to know people. You work together and then maybe through that your neighbors might stumble across who Jesus is, the real treasure. You invite them over for a barbecue. You shovel their snow, hold block parties, celebrate together, work on cars, bake for them, be with them when they’re hurting, when their marriage isn’t working, hang with them when they don’t like you, but from a distance… otherwise that’s harassment! (Laughter)— and when you don’t feel like it, right?

Atlas Church can help people discover Jesus. And while the church is naturally connecting with those that are not searching for Jesus in these interactions, we will have the opportunity to share the hope that we have inside of us. That’s what first Peter 3:15 says, right?

[1 Peter 3:15, “but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect…“]

Lord willing, making the treasure visible. Those who aren’t searching for Jesus might discover Him. And then inside of the church… so that’s the going out.

And then there’s inside of the church, your visible love for one another inside of the church. John 13:35 says:

John 13:35, “By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

People can stumble into the treasure of Jesus when they see how well the people of Atlas Church love one another. That happens here at Saylorville. I’ve seen it. Keep doing it. It’s countercultural for a group of people with different preferences, opinions, and backgrounds to love one another, to hang with one another and to walk in unity. It’s weird, right? That’s a weird thing, but that is what the church looks like…  is all of us from different backgrounds… like the son of a trucker is up here talking to you who’s in Ankeny, Iowa, basically, right? That’s a little weird! We want to love the people of Atlas Church well. We want to disciple people, to train parents, to train their children, and how to discover and delight in Jesus. That maybe those who aren’t searching for the kingdom will find it. Those who aren’t searching for Jesus will stumble upon the people of Atlas Church like the man of the field and find the treasure with giving everything else up for it.

I had a young guy in youth group… I was a youth pastor at Living Waters… and Brayden Sithonnorath, he was dating a girl in our youth group… Unsaved guy. He would wear a Buddha necklace and he had no interest in Jesus. He was not searching for Jesus in any way. He was searching for the girl! — and so he started going, he started coming to, he came to church camp with us because that’s where she was going. So that’s where he wanted to go. And as he was at camp and he’s around other, around believers and he’s seeing a glimpse of the kingdom of God, He said this. He said:

“I could feel God’s presence, the Holy Spirit and everybody, you could feel it. Everyone was inclusive, very nice, very caring.” Brayden Sithonnorath

He got a glimpse of the kingdom. And by the end of the week, he had, by faith, received the treasure that is Jesus Christ.

Maybe we can look, we can look like Jesus and people that aren’t searching for Jesus will find Him. I’m praying the kingdom of heaven will be discovered through the people of Atlas Church while doing the things that people do in Waukee.

I’ve got some pictures up here of some of the things that you can do in Waukee. You’ve got the Vibrant Music Hall. You could be going with your neighbor, your friends, your family, and pointing them to Jesus. You’ve got all the connective bike trails. I’m not a bicyclist. I’ve tried it. I don’t like it! (audience laughing) — but some people do! There’s connective bike trails, right? Like, you can connect with people that way. You’ve got football stadiums, all the different stadiums. So you’ve got sports, sports, and more sports. That basketball court area there is one of two ten court facilities that are in the area that a ton of just youth basketball goes on at. You’ve got a lot of places to connect in Waukee to be a picture of the kingdom of God that those who aren’t looking for Jesus could find Him. You could be in the uptown area. It’s kind of cool, the uptown area of Waukee, sitting at the ice cream shop that they have there, and maybe point somebody to Christ.

Recently while going through the process to sell our house, the inspector asked, “Where’re you moving to?” and I said, “Waukee,” and he said, “You and everybody else!” Right? Like so many people are going to Waukee, because there’s a lot of things that people want in Waukee. You’ve got safety. Like, you know, their CALEA Police Department. They’ve got all … kinds of stuff going on… great schools. There’s… great facilities. Treasure that the world would be looking for, right? And, while we’re there as a church, maybe we can have the opportunity to point them to the real treasure. And then you have those that are searching for God and find Him. You get on into Matthew 13:45-46:

Matthew 13:45-46

45 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls,

46 who, on finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it.”

Pearls in those times were something of great possession. Again, it’s something else that’s of great value worth selling everything else for to go and buy. And in this case, this person is searching for the treasure… different than the last one.

Many have already found that the treasures they do have are not fulfilling. I’m sure you see that. Maybe you’ve experienced that. You start to think, or they start to think there has to be something more in this life. There has to be something better, something fulfilling, and there’s searching in effort to discover real treasure.

You might think of the Ethiopian Eunuch in Acts 8. It’s the illustration of a man who was searching for God and found him. The Eunuch, who was the court official for the queen of the Ethiopians, was reading Isaiah and the Holy Spirit sent Philip to him. In Acts 8:30-31:

Acts 8:30-31

30 So Philip ran to him and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet and asked, “Do you understand what you are reading?”

31 And he said, “How can I, unless someone guides me?”  (Guides me… You might think of an Atlas) And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him.”

So then Philip starts telling him about the Good News of Jesus and the Eunuch find the treasure, and receives Jesus Christ, and is baptized. He was searching for the treasure and he found it.

Maybe you’re here this morning or listening online because you’re searching for God. Everything that you found in this life has not been fulfilling. And it’s not! it’s not fulfilling! So you’re searching, but let me encourage you with this. If you’re sitting here and you’re thinking, you’ve been searching for God, you’ve been searching for that treasure, and you’re trying to find Him, Matthew 7:7 through 8 says:

Matthew 7:7-8,

7 “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.

8 For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.”

Each of those are verbs in the present tense, meaning the one who continually asks, continually seeks, and continually knocks, will get what they’re looking for. So if you’re seeking God this morning where you sit or where you listen online, you’re in the right place. Keep asking, keep seeking God, keep knocking, and the door will open for you. When you are in search of the treasure that is Jesus Christ, you will find Him. The door will open for you, and you can ask to receive him.

But not everybody recognizes the treasure. Somehow, the man who owned the field, the guy who owned the field originally, he didn’t go out and find the treasure, right? And the guy who had the pearls sold them. So not everybody recognizes the treasure that is Jesus Christ. Often in the world what looks like treasure isn’t, and what doesn’t look like treasure is. Jesus is the best treasure there is! You can find Him and receive Him, and He is free.

The Gospel, the Good News is this: that Jesus came and He lived a perfect life that you and I couldn’t do… You know you’re sinner. I know I’m a sinner… Lived a perfect life that you and I couldn’t do. And then He died on the cross to take the shame, the sin, the punishment that you and I couldn’t do, and then He rose again the third day so that you and I can have life and life abundantly. And if you here this morning, you’ve been searching for Jesus Christ. This is it. The Gospel. You can place your trust in Jesus Christ this morning where you sit. You can tell Him! You can speak directly to Him where you’re sitting and put your faith in Him. Repentance is… it’s not just giving things up. It’s turning from lesser treasures to the greater treasure. Turn away from the things of the world… the idol sin, all the other things that you have treasured, and receive Jesus Christ, whether you were searching for Him or not. Salvation is not something you purchase. The price of salvation was paid at the cross, and the treasure is Jesus Christ.

When talking to people about Waukee, there can sometimes be this face that people make like, ‘It’s pretty hard for people that have a lot of money to find Jesus,’ — but we know there are those who are searching and those who are not. We know Jesus Christ is the true treasure worth everything, and everything without Jesus is nothing. We know there’s a harvest of souls waiting in Waukee. And so we pray and we’re ready to be the church, to exist to help people discover and delight in Jesus Christ.

So the #2 – delighting in Jesus. if you look at verse 44:

[Matthew 13:44

44 “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.”]

“In his joy,” right? So he finds the treasure “in his joy.” He goes and sells everything that he has to buy the field. You have joy when you find the treasure! The Greek here, “chairo…” if I’m saying that right… joy, rejoicing, happiness, gladness… You have joy! In his joy, the man sold all! Everything that he bought in the field. When you discover the treasure, you don’t sell everything to buy the treasure because you have to. It’s treasure! You want to get rid of everything so you can have the treasure that’s Jesus Christ! What you held valuable before, what you treasured before, you now find to be worthless. And the treasure of Jesus Christ is worth it all, because everything without Jesus is nothing. Paul said in Philippians 3:7-8:

Philippians 3:7-8

7 But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ.

8 Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For His sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ…”

The things that you once held onto… or held onto you… you no longer do. Amen, church? This joy, I don’t follow Jesus, you don’t follow Jesus simply because you have to. It’s joy! In fact, when you found yourself treasuring or idolizing something less valuable and temporary, you find yourself in an unhappy condition, don’t you? — maybe not immediately, but eventually. In joy… in delighting in Jesus… christians obey, forgive, walk in unity, leave a job to follow a calling of Jesus Christ… enjoy!… to sell a house and move… enjoy! Enjoy… You’re putting those lesser treasures down and you’re chasing Jesus.

Those who are delighting in Jesus can deal with ridicules and trials of life in joy. You can actually find joy… joy in the lows of life… real joy… because in the treasure who is Jesus, you know who He is. You know that He’s the one that holds everything in His hands. He’s sovereign, He is good and He is in control!

This morning I was reminded of the treasure of Jesus in my own time in the Word. And it’s in Psalm four, and it says in verse seven:

Psalm 4:7, “You have put more joy in my heart than they have when their grain and wine abound.“

Amen! Man, it was so encouraging to me! I’m like, “God, I’m preaching on, like, joy this morning, and of course, like, this is what You would give me in my time with You is a verse on joy! You’ve put more joy in my heart than they have when their grain and wine abound!”

You can start to look around at what’s going on in the world and start to kind of want some of those things sometimes as a believer, right? — but don’t trade the joy of Jesus, of following Jesus, for lesser things. His joy is better! So you joyfully sell everything that’s of value to you. You call sin “sin,” and you repent. You joyfully walk with Jesus.

At Atlas Church, we will exist to help people discover and delight in Jesus Christ. At Atlas Church, we’ll seek to delight in Jesus ourselves. In the local church or Atlas Church, is not the treasure… but Jesus Christ is! — and we can point people to Him.

So as you think about the message this morning, have you discovered the treasure that is Jesus Christ? If you’ve been searching or not searching for Jesus, and right now you’re seeing who Jesus Christ is, I wanna read this passage from Isaiah 55:1-3:

Isaiah 55:1-3

1 “Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.

2 Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy? Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food.

3 Incline your ear, and come to me; hear, that your soul may live…“

Whether you were searching for Jesus Christ or not this morning, maybe you found Him. Maybe you found Him at Saylorville Church. That’s my prayer that somebody this morning that God will put it on their heart and that they would put their trust in Jesus Christ this morning.

Are you lacking joy right now during a high? Things are going really well in your life and really smooth? Sometimes I think that’s more dangerous. Are you lacking joy right now in that? —joy in Jesus Christ, or you’ve taken joy in something you shouldn’t be? Repent. Follow Jesus. Or maybe in the low. Things are really hard right now. I just want to remind you of who God is. He is the treasure. He’s in control. He is with you in whatever trial you’re going through right now.

And then, would you love to help people discover and delight in Jesus in Waukee, Iowa? No, it’s not everybody, but maybe God’s putting it on some people’s heart this morning. We’ve got a form, an application you can fill out. Right here, there’s a QR code. And so you can do that, or Saylorville, they’ll end up sending you a link with an email if you’re interested to fill out that, to be part of the core team, to be part of a church plant, to help people discover and delight in Jesus. Or maybe you’re like, okay, I’m not core, but I live out there. I’d love to be there on the first Sunday or something like that. I’d love to be an encouragement! — or maybe you are just willing to pray. It’s such an encouragement when I hear people say, we’re praying, we are praying. I would love that! That’s certainly an encouragement to me!

I wanted to end with a story. Just yesterday, my mother-in-law was sharing her story about how she met Jesus Christ and how she found Jesus to be the treasure when she was just a little girl. And part of her story was that her dad, because she went back to her dad and her mom, and her dad didn’t know Christ, and her dad and her mom, they liked each other but the mom, Marge, she knew Jesus, and said, “Well, Lyle, I’m not gonna date you because you don’t know Jesus Christ.” And over time Lyle would put his trust in Jesus Christ as a young man. And then he would go on this church plant in Cedar Falls, Iowa. He would go on this church plant, and he would help on the church, and he would physically help build eventually the building that they would have that’s now Cedar Heights Baptist Church. And what’s really cool is you look down through the family and you see how many people in his family have come to treasure Jesus Christ as a result of him following Jesus Christ! And being on this church plant is really cool!

But the coolest connect for me is this, that there’s this guy named Hal Miller that was also going to this church that he helped at, that he helped build, and Hal Miller would drive down to Iowa City in the 70s and lead my dad to Christ. And so when you think about the treasure that is Jesus and how the church can help people discover and delight in Jesus, whether it’s Saylorville or a church plant… be the church. Let’s pray.

God, thank You. Thank You for Your Word. Thank You for the church. Thank You for the treasure that is Jesus Christ. God, I do pray that Saylorville continues helping people discover and delight in You that people would see the treasure. God, I pray that for Atlas Church that You would bring souls. They would be ready to discover You right now. Lord, I pray for the person that’s here this morning and is discovering You right now that they would put their trust in You or they would ask questions and they would come, they would seek You and they would know You. I pray for those that already do know You, God, that we would continue to find our joy in You. Lord, we love You. In Jesus’ name, Amen. [Music]