Abundance

It would surprise many Americans, regardless of their race, to know that 2.5 million American Black men are in the financial upper class, according to an exhaustive report produced by the Institute for Family Studies (IFS):

Our new report, Black Men Making It in America, finds that despite the burdens they face—from residential segregation to workplace discrimination to over incarceration—more than one-half of Black men have made it into the middle or upper class as adults. This means that millions of Black men are flourishing financially in America. We find that slightly more than one-in-five (or about 2.5 million) Black men ages 18 to 64 have made it into the upper-third of the income distribution.

In fact, Black men have made marked progress over the last half-century in reaching the upper ranks of the income ladder. The share of Black men who are in the upper-income bracket rose from 13% in 1960 to 23% in 2016. Moreover, poverty among Black men has dropped dramatically over the same time, with the share of Black men in poverty falling from 41% to 18% since 1960. A majority of upper-income Black men in their fifties today were from low-income homes. Half grew up in one-parent families. How did they succeed?

We identified three major factors that are linked to the financial success of Black men in midlife today: education, work, and marriage. Black men who have a college degree, a full-time job, or a spouse are much more likely than their peers to end up in the upper-income bracket as fifty-something men. Included in this group are Black men who attended church regularly as young adults or served in the military. Having a sense of "personal agency" and believing they are responsible for their lives were also major indicators of success.

When the media only focuses on the negative, rather than revealing the facts and stories of accomplishments and prosperity, real harm is done. "First, it renders millions of successful Black men, and the paths they have taken to the American Dream, invisible. Second, it can lead to a sense of hopelessness for young Black men. With so much talk of 'Black failure' today, Black boys may start to feel 'why even bother when the odds are stacked against you?'”

Pets these days are living more luxurious lives than ever as humans increasingly pour money into making their properties fetching for nonhuman family members. For instance, Robbie Timmers went all-out adding a contemporary-style house on his property in Thailand. White with chic black trim, the two-story, air-conditioned abode has security cameras, smart lighting, and a sliding door to the porch. Mr. Timmers would have added a swimming pool, too, but his wife objected. Her reasoning? It seemed unnecessary for the home’s intended occupants: the couple’s five dogs.

Mr. Timmers love his dogs’ house, but he adds, “I have to be honest, my dogs never set foot in the house,” says Mr. Timmers, who spent about $10,000 on it. The mini-house mostly sits empty. “It has everything,” he adds. “Just no dogs.”

Then there’s Doug the Pug, a lovable pooch whose penchant for wearing elaborate costumes has earned him over one billion viewers across social-media platforms. At the Nashville, Tennessee home Doug shares with his owners, the pug has his own 15-foot closet for his outfits, including tiny cowboy hats, cashmere sweaters, a rainbow of sunglasses, custom harnesses from London, and a Boda Skins leather jacket.

Among other perks, Doug also only drinks purified water at home and routinely sees a canine herbalist and acupuncturist.

Possible Preaching Angles:

This is extreme, but are we excessively spending on the things that don’t ultimately matter?

Advertising is big business today. There are over 350,995 billboard signs throughout the US (more than any other country.) Google holds about 28% of the online market share, and Facebook controls 24.5%. Enormous amounts of money are spent annually on advertising, YouTube made over $28.8 billion in revenue in 2021.

In the 1970s, the average American saw anywhere between 500 and 1600 ads per day; by 2017, the number increased to 4000-10000 ads daily. Even though we see thousands of ads daily, we notice less than 100 and only remember a handful of ads. There are a lot of messages that are reaching our attention.

Possible Preaching Angle:

While we don’t “advertise” the gospel, Jesus commissioned us to preach the gospel, the most needed message today! We have been commanded to spread the message (Matt. 28:19-20).

When Disney CEO Bob Chapek was fired and replaced by his predecessor Bob Iger, many of Disney’s most vocal fans rejoiced. One of them is Len Testa, a computer scientist who once did a master’s thesis using math to optimize his ability to see as many Disney theme park rides as possible.

Testa wrote a column in the NY Times about why he felt Chapek was unfit for his previous leadership position. In the column, Testa claimed that Chapek violated the spirit of founder Walt Disney, his penchant for hospitality, and his appreciation of childlike wonder.

In his August 2022 earnings call, Mr. Chapek reported that Disney’s theme park, experiences, and products division had generated $7.4 billion in revenue in the third quarter, up 72 percent from the same time a year prior. He could have acknowledged Disney’s theme park guests for the stunning results.

Instead, a news release suggested that earnings would have been greater but for an “unfavorable attendance mix” at Disneyland. The company was essentially saying that too many annual passholders were visiting from nearby instead of out-of-towners, who stay at Disney hotels and eat at Disney restaurants more often. Some fans responded by creating T-shirts emblazoned with the phrase “Unfavorable attendance mix” and wearing them in the parks as in-jokes to other fans.

Testa says that fans interpret a recent uptick in extra theme park fees and surcharges as a lack of appreciation for generations of fans whose loyalty helped to build Disney into the corporate behemoth it is today. Furthermore, he says that influencers and freelance writers have made a cottage industry out of providing tips for people going through the process of booking a Disney trip because of how byzantine, confusing, and expensive it has become.

Testa ends his piece by suggesting that if Mr. Iger wants to experience the park from the perspective of one of the fans, he should try navigating Disney’s reservation system to book a theme park stay on a middle-class salary. Testa said, “When he’s overwhelmed by the cost and complexity, I know many fans who’d be happy to talk him through it. No charge.”

The first Thanksgiving tells of survival against imponderably difficult odds and the celebration of Native Americans and English settlers alike around a common table. With delicious food before them, they thanked God for being alive to enjoy all of God's good gifts.

Thanksgiving has always struck (many) as a profoundly religious observance. Therefore, (they are) dismayed at the backward encroachment of Black Friday—the busiest shopping day of the year—into Thanksgiving Day itself.

Stores have been opening early—say, at 6 a.m.—on the day after Thanksgiving for years. But extremely early openings (4 a.m. or 5 a.m.) have gradually become more common. Target, Best Buy, Macy's, and others caused a stir in 2011 by opening at midnight. Wal-Mart went further the next year and opened in the evening on Thanksgiving Day. (Now) nearly a dozen stores—including Macy's, Target, Best Buy, and Kohl's—will be open at least as early as that … meeting our perceived need to be able to buy what we want when we want it … and at huge discounts.

Our national holidays gradually erode with every wave of unending commerce. It's a regrettable move that suggests what we value most is not family, religion, history, or even the cherished notion that God has blessed America. Instead, for us there is no day so sacred that it would keep us from standing in long lines to get a flat-screen TV.

It is significant that President Abraham Lincoln established a regular date for a nationally observed day of Thanksgiving while the Civil War was still raging. ... In his Proclamation of Thanksgiving, Lincoln urged people to consider that even amid the ravages of war, God had blessed America with "fruitful fields and healthful skies," and that, even in the nation's suffering, God had "nevertheless remembered mercy."

(Now) he might regard the stories of the shrieking mobs surging in a blind rush for holiday bargains and trampling a Wal-Mart employee to death in the process as falling somewhat short of both American and religious ideals. ... Nor does it sound like something that our God—who commanded his people to give even their servants and animals rest on the seventh day—smiles upon.

Starbucks first turned regular drip coffee into a $5 half-caff, extra whipped cream mocha latte. Now they’re producing dozens of bizarre concoctions dreamed up by social-media stars. These complex drinks include a Triple Caramel Threat––cold brew with caramel syrup, vanilla sweet cold foam blended with dark caramel and caramel drizzle––and a Matcha Pink Drink featuring the chain’s Strawberry Açaí Refreshers Beverage with green tea powder and sweet cold foam added. Their complexity is lengthening lines and driving baristas nuts.

“It is a bit exhausting,” said a Starbucks barista in Buffalo, N.Y. The drinks treat Starbucks’s menu less like a lineup of drinks and more like a buffet of ingredients to be mixed together in crazy ways to create off-menu drinks that may list 10 separate customizations on the side of the cup.

The customized beverages center on a Starbucks mainstay––customers’ ability to tailor any drink to their tastes––and take it to the extreme. Starbucks says in addition to the beverage options listed on its menu boards, there are 170,000-plus ways baristas can customize beverages.

American society suffers from a plague of things that are far too complicated

Tech companies often make public statements in favor of affordable housing in the context of public acts of philanthropy. But the sincerity of these pronouncements can be tested by examining responses from the same executives confronted with actual affordable housing developments in their neighborhoods. And right now, many of them are failing this simple test.

Top executives at Netflix, Apple, Google, Facebook parent-company Meta, and others, have publicly opposed a recent housing development plan in Atherton, California, a wealthy Silicon Valley enclave just north of Stanford University. It’s a trend that housing analysts call NIMBYism, which stands for “Not In My Back Yard.”

Jeremy Levine, of the Housing Leadership Council of San Mateo County said, “Atherton talks about multifamily housing as if it was a Martian invasion or something.” Atherton, like many wealthy towns its size, is zoned almost exclusively for single-family dwellings. But the meteoric rise in tech-related jobs has put the state of California on an unsustainable housing trajectory. Simply put, there are far too many people with too few affordable places to live.

To ameliorate this issue, the state of California requires cities to submit housing plans that account for the projected growth in their communities. In Atherton, that meant carving out a zoning exception for several multifamily townhouse sites. Almost immediately, many town residents saw this potential development as a threat to their way of life. One resident said that having more than one residence on a single acre of land would “MASSIVELY decrease our home values, the quality of life of ourselves and our neighbors, and IMMENSELY increase the noise pollution and traffic.”

Atherton mayor Rick DeGolia is sympathetic and said, “Everybody who buys into Atherton spent a huge amount of money to get in.” Urban Planner Ralph Robinson was blunter saying, “People are less sympathetic.”

Possible Preaching Angle:

In contrast to this attitude, the family of God is to be open to everyone, and not exclusively reserved for a wealthy few.

Many Americans struggle with clutter. This is one reason for the popularity of the simplicity movement. And it’s why books like Marie Kondo’s, The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up, become popular bestsellers.

Researchers from UCLA visited the homes of 32 typical American families. They wanted to look at how people interacted with their environments, at how they used space. They went through each room, closet, and shelf in the home and systematically documented the stuff people own.

Researcher Jeanne Arnold said, “Contemporary US households have more possessions per household than any society in global history.” Her colleague Anthony Graesch notes that our homes reflect this material abundance. “Hyper-consumerism is evident in many spaces, like garages, corners of home offices, and even sometimes in the corners of living rooms and bedrooms.”

The researchers continued, “We have lots of stuff. We have many (ways in) which we accumulate possessions in our home, but we have few processes for getting rid of them … The United States has 3.1% of the world’s children but consumes 40% of the world’s toys.” Children’s toys and objects spill out of their bedrooms into living areas, kitchens, and bathrooms. The push to become consumers, to value stuff, starts at an early age.

Why do modern kids have so many toys? It may be because there are so many playthings available, so cheaply. There’s more stuff available for kids than there was fifty years ago, and that stuff costs less. Plus, priorities seem to have shifted. Modern parents see spending on kids as a priority; parents fifty years ago did not.

You can watch the video here.

Possible Preaching Angle:

Is clutter a uniquely American problem? Probably not. But because of our sheer material abundance, more of us struggle with clutter than folks in other countries. But this is an area in which we can take charge of our lives. As we purge stuff from our lives, and take control of our spending, we can gain a sense of satisfaction and self-control.

The rich talk a good game but often don’t live up to their convictions. Many affluent Americans whose politics are on the liberal left are being exposed as hypocrites in regards to housing, taxation, and education. The New York Times, which in many cases is the flag-bearer for the left, is displaying integrity and courage in criticizing and exposing their own.

Just one example given is the San Francisco area adding 676,000 jobs in the last eight years but only having 176,000 housing units. The City Council attempted to re-zone a certain area to allow for the construction of a 60-unit affordable housing complex. The overwhelmingly liberal residents of Palo Alto voted to repeal the decision, eventually resulting in the construction of a few $5 million single-family homes.

The New York Times lead writer on business and economics, Binyamin Appelbaum, comments:

I think people aren’t living their values. You go to these meetings in these neighborhoods where they’re talking about a new housing project, and it’s always the same song. And it goes like this. “I am very in favor of affordable housing. We need more of it in this community. However, I have some concerns about this project. We have the hearts to do this. But we’re doing it wrong. And we’re dictating harm onto the neighborhoods.”

And then off we go with the concerns. And then nothing ever gets built. This is happening all over California. And the result is that these neighborhoods are so expensive that they keep anyone out who isn’t a part of this small group of superrich residents, many of whom bought their properties decades ago and who spend their time fighting vigorously to keep the value of their real estate assets superhigh.

You can watch the video here.

When Russia invaded Ukraine in February, US relief agencies began ramping up fundraising efforts to assist in helping out refugees. But many Americans found another way to provide direct relief to struggling Ukrainians, people like Volodymyr Bondarenko.

Bondarenko had a one-bedroom apartment in the capital city of Kyiv, and in the first several days of March he and several others like him were inundated with bookings via Airbnb from people who wanted to donate but had no intention of actually staying there.

The idea came from a social media campaign, which urged benefactors to book trips at properties that are owned by individuals, rather than property management corporations. Bondarenko said, “More than 10 bookings came in today. This was surprising, it's very supportive at the moment. I told many of my relatives and friends that I plan to use this money to help our people who need it at this time.”

Careyann Deyo of New York City is one of many who stepped up to donate via Airbnb during such a critical time of need. She said, “I donated to larger organizations as well. But [I] felt this had a more immediate impact.” Her Ukrainian recipient’s response was humbling. "I'm crying. You are my heroes.”

Possible Preaching Angle:

When we use our resources to tangibly help and show compassion to those in need, we model the life and way of Jesus.

Broadway actor Claybourne Elder has a tradition that he loves to enact, most recently during the run of his current show, the musical comedy Company. It starts with food. Once a month, he and his four-year-old son Bo make a special trip to a diner. Once there, Bo selects a person and Elder pays for their food. They like to call it “special breakfast.” Elder says, “I think exposing him to that sort of generosity from an early age is very important,”

Elder is committed to paying generosity forward because at a young age, he too was blessed by a stranger’s generosity. Elder was a 23-year-old aspiring actor who had just finished watching a play, when a stranger came up to him in the back of the theater. The man said, “You look like you were enjoying that show more than people in the expensive seats.” He then gave Elder $200, and told him to buy good seats to see the musical Sweeney Todd. He added, “It’ll change your life.” Against what felt like his better judgment, Elder took the man’s money and followed his instructions, but not before taking a quick photo with him.

Turns out, that stranger was right. That version of Sweeney Todd, which starred Patti LuPone, further ignited Elder’s passion for theater, and motivated him to continue chasing his dream. Now his role in Company has him sharing a stage with LuPone herself.

Elder recently decided to level up his gratitude game by giving away two free tickets to Company. In an Instagram post, he explained that he wanted the tickets to go to someone who couldn’t normally afford to go, and he included the photo he took with that anonymous benefactor all those years ago.

Several strangers saw his post and sent him enough additional money to give away 10 free tickets instead of two. In addition, one of his Instagram followers recognized the man in the picture, and put them in touch.

The two shared a FaceTime call days later. Mark Howell was the man who met Elder that day. “I wanted to be an actor when I was his age,” said Howell. “I saw some of my enthusiasm and passion for theater in him.” Elder says, “He gave me this gift 15 years ago, and I feel like, in a way, I got to give him a gift back.”

Possible Preaching Angle:

When we are generous with strangers, we are modeling the unconditional love that God offers to each of us.

John de Graaf and his co-authors report in their book, Affluenza: The All-Consuming Epidemic, that four million pounds of raw material, such as mined metals and oil, are necessary to provide for one average American family’s annual consumption. Americans spend more on trash bags in a year than 90 of the world’s 210 countries spend for everything.

Consumption is a major component of the gross domestic product. So, it seems undeniable that Americans, including Christians, will eventually have to learn to live with less. We will have to treat our gifts from God—whether natural resources or material well-being—with reverence rather than abandon.

Beauty and Sabbath go hand in hand. Both are extravagant. Unproductive. Unnecessary. Both are reflections of God's abundance and reminders that the world is chiefly a gift to receive, not a prize to be earned. Beauty doesn't have to exist. The fact that humans delight in sunsets, symphonies … and pecan pie cannot be explained by the Darwinian account of human existence.

The only explanation that makes sense of beauty is that we are created in the image of God who relishes it; a non-utilitarian God. Just look at the ten thousand species of birds in the world, or the four hundred thousand species of flowers; each unique in color, shape, and texture. Consider the diversity of spices—from cumin to cayenne to nutmeg and turmeric. God could have created the world so that humans only needed to have a bland, gruel-like substance in order to survive, but he didn't. He created thousands of edible plants and animals, from which millions of culinary combinations could be made. He created humans with taste buds to appreciate things like salted caramel gelato, buttermilk fried chicken, and lamb tagine. Just as he is a God who not only creates but pauses to enjoy what he has created (Gen. 1:31), so he created us with the capacity to enjoy. That's why beauty exists.

When we refuse to observe the Sabbath and don't allow space for the enjoyment of beauty, we implicitly signal a mentality that doubts the goodness of God. But when we do stop to rest, to feast, to "smell the roses," we display a contentedness and calm acceptance about the world and the One who holds it together.

It started as a mistake, but ended as a sizable donation. Julian Cannan still hasn’t gotten a straight answer for why so many Amazon packages were delivered to her home. Unlike the vast majority of such shipments, it did not start with her ordering them.

It started on June 5th. Cannan thought the first round of packages were somehow connected to her business. "I thought my business partner had ordered something for our studio that we were waiting for on backorder. So I opened them up to condense the boxes and I realized they were mask brackets."

Mask brackets are a newly-engineered device that’s supposed to make the wearing of a mask more comfortable by removing the direct contact of the mask from the face. Because the package had her address but not her name, she just figured it was an honest mistake and moved on.

But then they kept coming. And coming. Over one hundred packages of mask brackets arrived over a two-week period at her house, a pile that could’ve easily eclipsed her front door and portions of her windows.

After repeated contacts with Amazon, they confirmed that the seller was aware of the mistake and would stop, but they did not request any returns. Instead, Jill convinced them to ship the packages to a local hospital, where they could do the most good.

Cannan said, “I do own a DYI studio. We do a lot of kits for kids and adults and things like that. Having multiple children myself and having them had different hospital stays, I kind of wanted to come up with something creative that would break the monotony of them being in the hospital.”

Possible Preaching Angle:

Sometimes the things that look like random mistakes are actually opportunities for us to demonstrate kindness and generosity. We shouldn't be dishonest or fraudulent, but if God gives you an unexpected blessing that might be your cue to bless someone else instead.

In a recent interview with GQ, George Clooney discusses his "charmed" life. GQ's "Icon of the Year" was married in 2014 at the age of 53. But in 2013, the celebrity had no children and no clue that this would ever change. He shared:

I thought, what I do have are these guys who've all, over a period of 35 years, helped me in one way or another. I've slept on their couches when I was broke. They loaned me money when I was broke. They helped me when I needed help over the years. And I've helped them over the years. We're all good friends. And I thought, you know, without them I don't have any of this.

In true Oceans 11 style, he located a bank in downtown Los Angeles that warehoused large sums of actual cash, borrowed a beat-up old van with the words "Florist" on the side, took the van to this undisclosed location, drove onto a freight elevator, and rode it down to a basement where pallets of cash were stored. He then loaded 14 (high-end) Tumi bags each with $1m. He called his friends to a meeting and gave each a bag of non-sequential unmarked bills.

GQ concludes:

This is a story about a charmed life. But it's also a story about a guy who is doing his best to keep it that way, to liven up the days, to give himself more stories to tell before his time is up." I'll simply paraphrase Clooney's final words, “You know, it's funny. I remember talking to one really rich [individual] who I ran into in a hotel in Vegas—certainly a lot richer than I am. And the story about the cash I gave away had come out, and he was like, “Why would you do that?” And I was like, “Why wouldn't you do that, you … (jerk)?”

While teaching at the University of Pennsylvania, Dr. Tony Campolo once turned an ordinary lecture into an unforgettable lesson. He asked an unsuspecting student sitting in the front row, "Young man, how long have you lived?" The student answered his age. Tony responded, "No, no, no. That's how long your heart has been pumping blood. That's not how long you have lived."

Tony Campolo then told the class about one of the most memorable moments of his life. In 1944, his fourth-grade class took a field trip to the top of the Empire State Building. It was the tallest building in the world at the time. When nine-year-old Tony got off the elevator and stepped onto the observation deck overlooking New York City, time stood still. He said, "In one mystical, magical moment I took in the city. If I live a million years, that moment will still be part of my consciousness, because I was fully alive when I lived it."

Tony turned back to the student. "Now, let me ask you the question again. How long have you lived?” The student sheepishly said, “When you say it that way, maybe an hour; maybe a minute; maybe two minutes.”

According to psychologists Matthew Killingsworth and Daniel Gilbert, the average person spends 46.9 percent of their time thinking about something other than what they're doing in the present moment. We're half-present half the time, which means we're half-alive.

Our excessively materialistic culture has not gone unnoticed by researchers. Journalist and author Francine Russo offers a roundup of the primary research in a recent piece in Scientific American.

Material things don’t just fill basic emotional needs:

In fact, our possessions do not just make us feel secure by substituting for important people in our lives; we actually see these objects as an extension of ourselves. We believe—or perhaps act as if we believe—that in some ways our very essence permeates our things. If these things become damaged or lost, we ourselves become damaged or lost.

People can and do let us down, but not things. “That worn sweatshirt is not human. It does not show us compassion. Neither does a teddy bear or a coffee mug. But, scientists point out, these objects are utterly reliable, always present and under our control. We can count on them.” According to Professor Ian Norris, “Other people are an extension of our self-concept. When those relationships are unstable or unfulfilling, people may lack the connection they need and attach meaning to products that fill the void.”

There’s been an enormous amount of research on the widespread problem with hoarding. One of the main factors is: “The presence of disorders such as depression and anxiety, which make people emotionally vulnerable. Hoarding sufferers use their belongings to safeguard their identity, to ‘soothe their fears’ and to build ‘fortresses’ to make them feel more secure.”

At your local Starbucks you have lots of options. You could start by ordering a Tall, Non-Fat Latte With Caramel Drizzle. Or a Grande, Iced, Sugar-Free, Vanilla Latte With Soy Milk. Or how about a Decaf, Soy Latte With An Extra Shot And Cream, or a Non-Fat Frappuccino With Extra Whipped Cream And Chocolate Sauce? But don't forget the Venti Iced Skinny Hazelnut Macchiato, Sugar-Free Syrup, Extra Shot, Light Ice, No Whip.

According to Starbuck's global chief marketing officer, the company offers more than 80,000 drink combinations. And that's to say nothing of the food items you can order in addition to your drink. We've all become so accustomed to the hyper-customization Starbucks offers, but would happen if they came out one day and said, "You know what, this whole thing has gotten out of control. From now on, you'll be able to order just regular and decaf at all of our locations.' They wouldn't stay in business for very long.

A suburban Chicago woman was left stunned over the summer when one of her patrons left a combined tip of over 1,000%. Nicole Thompson, a teacher who worked a second job as a bartender to help pay the bills, received two separate tips by the same person - one for $500, and a second for $1,000. "I said, 'I can't take this,' and he said, 'Yes, you can," she related. The generous man, the boss of a friend of Thompson's, simply said he had heard that she worked two jobs and thought she deserved it. "The rest of the day I felt like different," said Thompson, "like, what just happened here. I never anticipated that." The owner of the restaurant publicly thanked the man, saying, "Although I have never met you - your act of kindness is inspiring." The surprising generosity of one man has made national news, and has likely impacted one woman's life significantly. Perhaps a good question to be asked, then, is why we don't hear more news stories about the overwhelming generosity of Christians?

Robert Morin, a cataloguer at the University of New Hampshire's library, "lived a simple, frugal life," complete with TV dinners and a car that was more than 20 years old. He read plenty of books—thousands of them over the course of his life—and "loved to talk to students," according to UNH spokeswoman Erika Mantz. Morin passed away in March 2015, but the school announced last week that upon his death, he had left his estate to the school: an estate totaling $4 million. While reading and going about his work, Morin had "quietly amassed" a fortune.

The extraordinary gift was a first for the school: "In our history, I'm not aware of anything like this," said Mantz. Morin's wish was that UNH would spend his money to fulfill whatever needs they had; he apparently told his financial adviser that the school would "figure out what to do with it."

The humble, peaceful way in which Morin went about his life—all the while storing up massive wealth—is reminiscent of Jesus' message on how believers should go about their own lives. Instead of "announcing" our good deeds and acts of charity "with trumpets…to be honored by others" (Matt. 6:2), we are to be a little more secretive about it: "when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you" (6:3-4).

Potential Preaching Angles: Humility; Secrets; Rewards; Giving; Christian Living; Christian service