Kingdom Economics/Community with Grit
Notes
Transcript
At Bridge of Faith our vision is to transform generations that transform communities.
We do this by living out
5 And whoever welcomes one child like this in My name welcomes Me.
We believe that when we welcome a child in the name of Jesus we Welcome Jesus himself into our community.
Amy and I visited Surfing the Nations in November of 2021.
God has done some amazing things in Rockaway Beach, MO since coming here
April the Mercantile building 75,000 Facebook marketplace.
Ministry Building CL Carr
6,000 sq ft warehouse for food distributions
When I thought we were done, The local pub who July 3rd of this year the Hells Angels were there and fired some shots in the air went for sale.
In November we started discussing buying it.
The owner wanted 110,000 for it.
We talked and had a gift come in for 46,000
I then called a friend and told them I call them when God is up to crazy things and they said really tell me about it. I told them about the bar and they said my brother and I were just praying this morning and felt like we needed to give our tithe from our business to Bridge of Faith. That was 15,000. Other gifts came in.
January 16th we closed on the pub with $110,000 in 8 weeks or less.
God used surfing the nations to move us to move forward in developing our town of 841 people.
These buildings add to what God is already doing. Every Wednesday night we bus kids in feed them a hot meal. about 130 under the age of 18 every Wednesday night. We are raising our own mentors.
Grit
The Power of passion and perseverance
Two of my favorite quotes
Subversive Jesus
I have never prayed and asked God to move a mountain and the next morning woke up next to a shovel.
Dave Ramsey
I worked my tail off for over 39 years for the media to deem me an overnight success.
In Rockaway Beach it has taken Jesus and Grit, Passion and Perseverance.
Someone asked my wife why you have never quit and her response was we have never wanted to quit on the same day.
We do know how blessed we are to get to do the Lord’s work in Rockaway Beach.
Rockaway struggled with poverty, drug addiction, and alcoholism. Parents dropped kids off in the park on a Friday night and picked them back up on Sunday morning. We had a rough reputation and we had earned.
Let’s talk Economy for a bit
Economics:
The science that deals with the production, distribution, and consumption of commodities
Rockaway Beach’s economy was struggling.
In community development if you circulate a dollar 3 times you develop a community. This was not happening. A water dam completed in 1958, a riot in 1965 and a proposed casino in 2005 had hurt our economy.
1 Kings 18 we see the Lord moving in the Economics to declare that he alone is Lord and the provider of all things.
20 So Ahab summoned all the Israelites and gathered the prophets at Mount Carmel.
21 Then Elijah approached all the people and said, “How long will you hesitate between two opinions? If Yahweh is God, follow Him. But if Baal, follow him.” But the people didn’t answer him a word.
22 Then Elijah said to the people, “I am the only remaining prophet of the Lord, but Baal’s prophets are 450 men.
23 Let two bulls be given to us. They are to choose one bull for themselves, cut it in pieces, and place it on the wood but not light the fire. I will prepare the other bull and place it on the wood but not light the fire.
24 Then you call on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of Yahweh. The God who answers with fire, He is God.” All the people answered, “That sounds good.”
I want us to understand this passage and so let’s take a look at the economics of what is happening here.
Several Kings have reigned over Israel and then we meet King Ahab and scripture tells us he did evil in the Lord’s sight more than all who were before him.
We must understand a little about this god little “g” Baal in order to understand the economics of the passage.
Baal
Was said to appoint the season of rains
Clouds were thought to be his entourage
Lightening was his weapon and thought to be his invention
The windows of Baal’s palace were thought to correspond with the clouds in which the rain would pour through. When the clouds would open up it was as if the Baal’s palace windows were opening to bring rain
He was thought to be the god of fertility
Baal’s battles that he supposedly fought and won causes him to rank first
Asherah
She who treads on the Sea
She is the partner of Baal
Notice the connection of these two as we continue to move forward in this passage. They both are associated with water. This is important when we look at the economics of this passage.
So we need to think about the importance of water when it comes to producing crops and agriculture. They did not have a Wal-Mart during this time period in which their produce came from. They had to have someone producing it. Just like we have to have someone producing it. In order to produce the food they had to have water. They could not run out and turn on the spigot to get water. The water that caused the food to grow was rain. They did not have huge irrigation systems in order to grow the food.
So we ask ourselves what is going on economically at this point?
We don’t have a lot of indicators to this point. We do know that the Lord is about to impact the economics in just a moment, but we don’t have anything telling us that it is bad or drought or anything else. So perhaps things are ok and they are worshipping Baal and Asherah as a result of what is happening in their economics.
The Economy or science that deals with consumption, production and distribution of products or food relied heavily on water. Now check out what happens in chapter 17.
1 Now Elijah the Tishbite, from the Gilead settlers, said to Ahab, “As the Lord God of Israel lives, I stand before Him, and there will be no dew or rain during these years except by my command!”
2 Then a revelation from the Lord came to him:
They are worshipping the god that supposedly brings the rain and God big “G” says I will not let it rain except by my command
God still provides for His people
1 After a long time, the word of the Lord came to Elijah in the third year: “Go and present yourself to Ahab. I will send rain on the surface of the land.”
2 So Elijah went to present himself to Ahab. The famine was severe in Samaria.
Now what is happening to the economics in this passage?
Scripture tells us there was a famine. The production, distribution, and consumption of products had dried up. There was nothing to produce, distribute or consume. The lack of rain was affecting the economics and everyone was facing the consequences from it.
Elijah risk his life being obedient to the Lord by presenting himself to Ahab. Obadiah is a man who greatly fears the Lord and in charge of the Kings palace.
The King’s response to Elijah
17 When Ahab saw Elijah, Ahab said to him, “Is that you, you destroyer of Israel?”
Elijah’s response
18 He replied, “I have not destroyed Israel, but you and your father’s house have, because you have abandoned the Lord’s commands and followed the Baals.
They call on Baal
26 So they took the bull that he gave them, prepared it, and called on the name of Baal from morning until noon, saying, “Baal, answer us!” But there was no sound; no one answered. Then they danced, hobbling around the altar they had made.
27 At noon Elijah mocked them. He said, “Shout loudly, for he’s a god! Maybe he’s thinking it over; maybe he has wandered away; or maybe he’s on the road. Perhaps he’s sleeping and will wake up!”
28 They shouted loudly, and cut themselves with knives and spears, according to their custom, until blood gushed over them.
29 All afternoon they kept on raving until the offering of the evening sacrifice, but there was no sound; no one answered, no one paid attention.
Elijah Repairs the Lord’s Alter
32 and he built an altar with the stones in the name of Yahweh. Then he made a trench around the altar large enough to hold about four gallons.
33 Next, he arranged the wood, cut up the bull, and placed it on the wood. He said, “Fill four water pots with water and pour it on the offering to be burned and on the wood.”
34 Then he said, “A second time!” and they did it a second time. And then he said, “A third time!” and they did it a third time.
35 So the water ran all around the altar; he even filled the trench with water.
36 At the time for offering the evening sacrifice, Elijah the prophet approached the altar and said, “Yahweh, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, today let it be known that You are God in Israel and I am Your servant, and that at Your word I have done all these things.
37 Answer me, Lord! Answer me so that this people will know that You, Yahweh, are God and that You have turned their hearts back.”
38 Then Yahweh’s fire fell and consumed the burnt offering, the wood, the stones, and the dust, and it licked up the water that was in the trench.
39 When all the people saw it, they fell facedown and said, “Yahweh, He is God! Yahweh, He is God!”
Worship is key when it comes to Biblical economics. Israel worshipped Baal because they thought it Baal could make the crops grow and keep the cows from getting sick. God used Elijah to dry up the economics in this chapter to show that it was God who has authority over water and it is God who makes the crops grow and provide for the birds of the air.
Christians must give up their idols of money, wealth, and possessions, and anchor our economic activity in a commitment to worship and trust God alone.
It is God who provides, it is God who gives, It is God who sustains we must trust him.
We want a Kingdom Economy!
The goal for helping those in poverty is not for them to live in middle class.
The goal is for them to be in the Kingdom and experience the kingdom.
Some things in poverty represent the kingdom more than those in middle class and same for middle class more than those in upper class plus the other way around.
If it’s a part of the Kingdom then we want to be a part of it.
Kingdom food, Kingdom government, Kingdom housing, kingdom community,
Jesus prayed thy Kingdom come thy will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven.
Larry Cline story
Challenge
Grit in bringing the Kingdom of Heaven to Earth where ever God leads you.
Kingdom Economy