Saturday, January 25, 2020

The Cycle of Generosity


Pericope: 2 Cor 9: 6-11 6 The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. 7 Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. 8 And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work. 9 As it is written, “He has distributed freely, he has given to the poor; his righteousness endures forever.” 10 He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness. 11 You will be enriched in every way to be generous in every way, which through us will produce thanksgiving to God.
Sermon Text: 2 Cor 9: 6 6 The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.
Sermon Title: 2020 Vision for Living Pt 5 The Cycle of Generosity  
Eccl 11: 1 Cast your bread upon the waters, for you will find it after many days. Isaiah said God’s will not go out and return void.  Isaiah 55:11 11 so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth;  it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it. Genesis 3:19 19 By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”
Cycle 1:  The cycle of generosity is permanent. Gen 8: 22 22 While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, shall not cease.”
Cycle 2: The cycle of generosity is perpetual. Gal 6: 7-8 CEV 7 You cannot fool God, so don’t make a fool of yourself! You will harvest what you plant. 8 If you follow your selfish desires, you will harvest destruction, but if you follow the Spirit, you will harvest eternal life.
Cycle 3: The cycle of generosity is personal and determined.
2 Cor 9: 6 6 The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.
Cycle 4: The cycle of generosity produces first fruit.
(a). Gen 4: 3 3 In the course of time Cain brought to the Lord an offering of the fruit of the ground,
(b). Lev 23: 10-11 10 “Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, When you come into the land that I give you and reap its harvest, you shall bring the sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest to the priest, 11 and he shall wave the sheaf before the Lord, so that you may be accepted. On the day after the Sabbath the priest shall wave it.
(c). Ezekiel 44: 3030 And the first of all the firstfruits of all kinds, and every offering of all kinds from all your offerings, shall belong to the priests [the church]. You shall also give to the priests [the church] the first of your dough, that a blessing may rest on your house.
(d). Romans 11: 16 16 If the dough offered as firstfruits is holy, so is the whole lump, and if the root is holy, so are the branches.
Cycle 5: The cycle of generosity empowers your witness.
Proverbs 28: 27 Whoever gives to the poor will not want…
Prov 19; 17 Whoever is generous to the poor lends to the Lord, and he will repay him for his deed. Deuteronomy 15:7 7 “If among you, one of your brothers should become poor, in any of your towns within your land that the Lord your God is giving you, you shall not harden your heart or shut your hand against your poor brother,
Cycle 6: The cycle of generosity produces more than enough.
2 Chronicles 31:10 10…, “Since they began to bring the contributions into the house of the Lord, we have eaten and had enough and have plenty left, for the Lord has blessed his people, so that we have this large amount left.”
Cycle 7: The cycle of generosity pleases God and save souls.
2 Cor 9: 7c for God loves a cheerful giver
Life Application:
1. Start being generous today by giving First Fruit
2. Join a Lifegroup to learn how to budget your provision for your 2020 vision.
3. Make generosity a life style with your time, your talent, and your treasure

Saturday, January 18, 2020

Paying It Forward

Review:
Pt 1 - Write it! Speak It! Live It!
Point 1: Everybody got a vision. Ezekiel 12:22 22 
Point 2: Write your vision – Hab. 2:2-3 
        a. What is the why behind your vision?
         b. What is your walk with God like?
        c. How do you plan on paying for it?
        d. What role will your family play?
e. What role with the church play?
Point 3: Declare it over your life
-       Write It
-       Speak It
-       Live It
Pt 2 - Do You See What God Sees?
Point 1: Don’t let age or time clutter your visionVs 4
Point 2: Recalibrate your relationships. Vs 1, 4-5
Point 3: Build a better relationship with God! Vs 7-8

Pt 3 - 5 Laws of Vision
Law 1: Vision is from general to specific Genesis 12:2-3, 15:4-5a, 17:6-7, 21:2
Law 2: Default thinking diminishes your chance for success.  Gen 18: 12 
Law 3: The distance between destination and realization is; disturbancedelaydisruption and detoursGen. 12: 10, 13: 7, 14: 17, 16:1-2
Law 4: Vision is growing from the comfortable to the uncomfortableGen 18:22-23
Law 5: The size of your vision is equal to the size of your God. Gen. 12: 2

PericopeGen. 14: 18-19 18 And Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. (He was priest of God Most High.) 19 And he blessed him and said, “Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth;
Sermon TextGen. 14: 20b, Then Abram gave Melchizedek a tenth of everything.…
Sermon Title2020 Vision for Living Pt 4 Paying it Forward
Psalms 110: 4 The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind, “You are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.” Hand on to that biblical phrase “the order of”.  Now let read the book of Hebrews rendition of Genesis 14:19ff.  
Hebrews 7: 1-10 7 For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the Most High God, met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him, 2 and to him Abraham apportioned a tenth part of everything. 3 He [Melchizedek] is without father or mother or genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but resembling [after the order of] the Son of God he continues a priest forever. 4 See how great this man[Melchizedek]  was to whom Abraham the patriarch gave a tenth of the spoils! 6 But this man [Melchizedek] who does not have his descent from them received tithes from Abraham and blessed him who had the promises. 9 One might even say that Levi himself, who receives tithes, paid tithes through Abraham, 10 for he was still in the loins of his ancestor when Melchizedek met him.  
Principle 1:  Store up so you can sure up.
Mathew 6: 19- 19 “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, 20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.
Luke 12: 33-34 33 Sell your possessions, and give to the needy. Provide yourselves with moneybagsthat do not grow old, with a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys. 
Principle 2: Rewards are for now and later.  1 Cor 3: 12-15 — 13 each one's work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, 14 If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. 15 If anyone's work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire.
Luke 16: 9-12 9 And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of unrighteous wealth, so that when it fails they may receive you into the eternal dwellings. 10 “One who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much, and one who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much. 
Mark 10: 28-30 28 Peter began to say to him, “See, we have left everything and followed you.” 29 Jesus said, “Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands, for my sake and for the gospel, 30 who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and in the age to come eternal life.
Principle 3: Generosity gets a real time heavenly response.
Acts 10: 4 4 And he said to him, “Your prayers and your alms have ascended as a memorial before God.
Principle 4: Procrastination prevents provision for your vision.  Eccl 11: 4 NLT Farmers who wait for perfect weather never plant. If they watch every cloud, they never harvest. 

Principle 5Paying it forward accepts the reality eternity is foreverGen 14: 19b“Blessed be Abram by God Most High,    Creator of heaven and earth

Sunday, January 12, 2020

5 laws of vision

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PericopeGen. 12:1-3 - Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you. 2 And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
Sermon TextGen. 12: 2 And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.
Sermon Title2020 Vision for Living Pt 2: 5 Laws of Vision
BP: Move the hearers to enlarge their view of God.
Review: 
Pont 1: Everybody got a vision. Ezekiel 12:22 22 
Point 2: Write your vision – Hab. 2:2-3 
      a. What is the why behind your vision?
b. What is your walk with God like?
       c. How do you plan on paying for it?
       d. What role will your family play?
e. What role with the church play?
Point 3: Declare it over your life
Write It
Speak It
Live It
Do You See What God Sees?
Point 1: Don’t let age or time clutter your visionVs 4
Point 2: Recalibrate your relationships. Vs 1, 4-5
Point 3: Build a better relationship with God! Vs 7-8
Law 1: Vision is from general to specific
Genesis 12:2-3 2 And I will make you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
15:4-5a And behold, the word of the Lord came to him 5 And he brought him outside and said, “Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them
17:6-7  (6) I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make you into nations, and kings shall come from you. 7 And I will establish my covenant between me and you and your offspring after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant
21:2 - 2 And Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age at the time of which God had spoken to him.
• God works in reverse order
• God gives high level and requires faith as details emerge
• The more details we get the more we want
Law 2: Default thinking diminishes your chance for success.  
Gen 18: 12 So Sarah laughed to herself, saying, “After I am worn out, and my lord is old, shall I have pleasure?”
• Think small remain small
• Horizon determines the view
• Exposure expels
• Design your life don’t live it by default
• Only about 5% of people living the way they want at age 65
Law 3: The distance between distractionand realization is; disturbancedelaydisruption and detours
Gen. 12: 10 Now there was a famine in the land. So Abram went down to Egypt to sojourn there
13: 7 and there was strife between the herdsmen of Abram's livestock and the herdsmen of Lot's livestock
14: 17 After his return from the defeat of Chedorlaomer 
16:1-2 NLT 1Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had not been able to bear children for him... 2So Sarai said to Abram, “The LORD has prevented me from having children. Go and sleep with my servant. Perhaps I can have children through her.”
• Choose your attitude it will determine your altitude
• Take responsibility for your response to what happen
• Life is 10% what happen and 90% of how you react to it
• Only 20% of the bad you think really happens
• Playing the victim and carrying out your vision is a contradiction
Law 4: Vision is growing from the comfortable to the uncomfortableGen 18:22-23  (22) So the men turned from there and went toward Sodom, but Abraham still stood before the Lord. (23)Then Abraham drew near and said, “Will you indeed sweep away the righteous with the wicked?
• Growing is leaving what is comfortable
• Change requires a funeral and a birthday party
• Growth never stops it requires direction
Ears don’t stop growing
Waistlines don’t stop growing
• Stability can be a synonym for stagnation
Law 5: The size of your vision is equal to the size of your GodGen. 12: 2 And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.
• Don’t shrink your vision to what you make but to who made you
• Shrinking your vision for living to what you live off instead of who you are living for

Virtual Family Sunday Questions

What ways can we create community as a family? How has our viewership/church attendance enhanced or diminished our family covenant? What way...