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  DON'T BUY TO IMPRESS OTHERS BY K P YOHANNAN
  by K.P. Yohannan
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Summary: K.P. Yohannan's sermon warns against the pitfalls of
materialism and encourages finding true joy in simplicity and spiritual
fulfillment.

Duration: 3:54 Topics: "Materialism", "Spiritual Growth"
Scripture References: Matthew 6:19

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DESCRIPTION
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This sermon reflects on the speaker's experience with materialism and
the wisdom he received from his father-in-law about the true value of
possessions. It emphasizes the burden of chasing after material things
and the importance of not letting materialism hinder our walk with God,
as it can distract us from what truly matters in life.

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CONTENT
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Well, looking at me, you know, I'm wearing a pullover, which means it's
wintertime, kind of cold. But I remember my first encounter with ice and
snow. It's awful.

It was 1974 in Germany. And during those weeks there, I remember my
first conversation with my father-in-law about cars, houses, and all
kinds of material things. Of course, you know, Mr. Helmut Reichardt,
that's the name of my father-in-law, he traveled all over the world
setting up factories for mega companies in Germany.

Of course, you know, he lived in America quite a lot. And he said to me,
son, I want to give you a piece of advice. I said, father, tell me.

He said, you're going to study in America, but keep this in mind.
Americans like huge houses, but also the biggest cars they can find.
It's kind of a status symbol.

Then he said, remember, son, a car is something you use to transport
your little body from one place to the next place. It is not a house
that you live in. Don't waste a lot of money on buying cars to impress
people.

Of course, I landed in the United States later to go to college, and
sure enough, I saw cars I never saw in my entire life. Maybe in pictures
I saw, but you know, I kind of felt like a little mosquito sitting on
the top of an elephant. Well, as time went by, I too was tempted,
horribly tempted, to buy some bigger cars, and I did buy a couple of
them, just to tell you the truth.

But it didn't take very long before I found out, what am I doing? This
is not important. You see, I began to read and understand more and more
of the reality of a like half of the world will go to bed with empty
stomach and naked bodies. Millions of children roaming in the streets
without any food or care or no one to love them.

And I looked at my life and I realized, yeah, my father-in-law's advice.
It's good advice. So, I switched from bigger cars to little Volkswagen
bug.

And I'm so glad that over the years, the Lord watched over this little
creature and never had an accident. It runs well and takes my fragile
little body from one place to the next place I'm going. Well, here's a
lesson.

So much of our energy, our concentration, our resources, we give it, we
spend it on things that really don't matter. But more than that, it just
burdens us down so much. A. W. Chaucer said this, materialism without
any doubt is the worst enemy of godly life.

If you want to walk with God, if we want to be His so completely and
find peace and a sense of wholesomeness, don't let the stuff, the
material things become the reason for your joy. It's just a tyranny.
It's a burden.

My little bug, I'm happy with it. No, no, no. You don't have to buy a
bug to be happy about it.

But make your own decision as the Lord gave you direction.

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Video: https://sermonindex2.b-cdn.net/D8GGcgy2pGc.mp4
Source: https://sermonindex.net/speakers/kp-yohannan/dont-buy-to-impress-others-by-k-p-yohannan/
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