Trust Brings Blessings

Introduction:

The title of today message is Trust Brings blessings and is part two of my sermon series on the Lord’s Promises.

In week one my message was there is a promise in the land and I spoke about how we must have faith over fear to inherit our promised land blessings. You see the Lord can promise us good things and prepare us to inherit those good things but if we focus on the challenges instead of trusting the Lord we will delay or block our blessings altogether.

As some of you already know the Lord has blessed me with a word for the church in 2024 and that word is to trust. While I didn’t realize it at the time the Lord was speaking to me a couple of weeks ago on a Wednesday night, then leading me to this sermon series on the promises of God, then last week during Sunday worship he used sister Janice to confirm the word and as I was going to preach God gave me the word trust again and while the Spirit was moving and I didn’t preach those words were what I was given to share. Then again the word was confirmed by sister Cathy Jo on Monday morning through a Facebook post she made and I was certain that the Lord was making it obvious to me that the word for All Church this year is trust.

You see this is a beautiful church with a wonderful group of people that Angel and I love very much. You are in fact our church family and you love the Lord. But I believe we are now in a season where the Lord is restoring and healing us as a body to lead us to a place of spiritual depth and blessings like we have never seen before or have or at least not experienced for a very long time. I am beyond honored to be your Pastor during this special time and am excited to continue to see the blessings which God is already begun to pour out and will continue to pour out on us both as individuals and as a church family.

And for us to walk into the blessings and promises that the Lord has for us at All Church it all begins with renewed trust and faith in the Lord.

Scripture Reference:

Jeremiah 17:7–8 ESV

7 “Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose trust is the Lord. 8 He is like a tree planted by water, that sends out its roots by the stream, and does not fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green, and is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit.”

Prayer

Trusting God Brings Blessings

Verse seven tells us that people who trust God will be blessed. And goes on to clarify that trusting the Lord means He is our hope and confidence.

This blessing is another promise of God. He is saying clearly that if we trust Him than He will bless us. That is a conditional blessings meaning a blessing in which the Lord say if we do something then He will do something. If you are like me than you want as many blessings from the Lord as we can get amen!

So how do we make the Lord our hope and confidence? Well I am glad you asked.

1 Peter 1:3 ESV

3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,

We make the Lord our hope and confidence by putting our faith in Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior! This means as we just read that we not only have hope through faith but a living hope that guides us and comforts us at all times.

So no matter what comes our way we don’t need to search and wonder what to do or if everything is going to be ok because we have a confident hope through in Christ that is living inside of us. Furthermore, we we trust God and operate in faith then He blesses us with not only eternal life and love but blesses us in countless ways. Somebody give Him praise!

Like Trees We Are Planted

Verse 8 tells us that when we trust the Lord we will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream.

What the Bible is saying is that God wants us to be planted in His presence.

Where we decide to plant ourselves is a very important decision. A friend of mine says show me your friends and I’ll show you your future. Meaning where we go and who we are with has a major influence on your life’s path. In this verse God is telling us to plant ourselves near Him. Ask yourself where are you planted today?

Also, God calls people to be planted in His presence and not only to do a work but He also calls people to a specific place for a time or season to fulfill His plans and purposes.

I might suggest that if you are here today listening to this sermon that it is likely not by coincidence and perhaps the Lord wants to plant you at All Church to be a part of what He is doing in our lives and in the lives of the community we serve.

This idea of planting, taking membership or being consistent in our serving or attendance is not popular to many but the reason the Lord calls us to a place as well as a work is because while we can worship the Lord alone as a community of Christ centered people we can all grow more together and we can make a bigger impact to reach others with the love of Jesus. Said simply the whole is more than the sum of its parts and what we do together as a church is more than just the individual impact of each of us but is blessed by the Lord.

Roots By the Stream

Verse 8 also says that the planted tree sends out its roots by the stream.

Planted things have roots with typically search for water mostly in the soil in which their seed was placed. Water is essential for the survival and growth of life on earth.

And while moist soil is an excellent way for a tree to obtain its needed water it is no match for the stream. Because while the soil will provide nourishment in a certain amount for a certain period of time under certain conditions the stream is an endless supply of life giving water to the plant.

Similarly a person who become thirsty can get some water to drink but they will again become thirsty. Spiritually speaking people can invest in many different beliefs or actions trying to find peace but all of those roads are dead ends however only with Jesus can someone have hope and peace that never ends.

Jesus provides an example of this fact when speaking with the women at the well.

John 4:13–14 ESV

13 Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”

Jesus is teaching the woman and us as well that He offers us so much more than just a temporary solution. By trusting Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, He provides us with salvation from the penalty of our sins so that we can have a right relationship with God and that heaven will be our home.

Also, through our faith in Jesus we are given the gift of the Holy Spirit. The living water that Jesus is referring to is the Holy Spirit. Water represents the Holy Spirit’s ability to refresh us, quench our spiritual thirst, cleanse us, and bring forth life where He flows. The Holy Spirit is part of the trinity meaning God existing in three persons named God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. It is one God in three persons and only by putting our faith in God the Son who is Jesus Christ can we receive the gift of God the Holy Spirit living inside of us. So the flowing water living inside of us is symbolic of being filled with the Holy Spirit of God.

Said simply this means that when we trust Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior that through His sacrifice on Calvary’s cross and by His raising from the Dead on the third day our sins are forgiven and we receive salvation. Then because we receive salvation we are given the gift of the Holy Spirit dwelling inside of us to empower us, give us peace, help us understand the scriptures and change our character to be more Christlike.

Trust Brings Peace and Prosperity

Verse 8 goes on to tell us that because we are planted like a tree whose roots go to the stream that we don’ t have to fear when heat comes because our leaves will remain green. It goes on to say that we do not have to be anxious during the drought because we will continue to bear fruit.

As we know life will have challenging season sometimes but we do not have to fear when we trust Jesus. Because we have a confident hope that He will never leave us or forsake us and that hope is living inside us through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.

Like the tree in today’s text when the heat comes we do not have to fear because the promise of God is when we trust Him though the heat comes our leaves remain green and healthy. When we see the world around us in chaos with right being called wrong and wrong being called right, wars and rumors of wars, natural disasters and many other serious issues than we do not need to be anxious life the world. Because the Bible says when we trust God not only will our leaves remain green and healthy but we will still keep bearing fruit. Said differently we are too blessed to be stressed and even in an upside world we still get to experience and share the love and hope of Jesus Christ and that is the best fruit anyone could ever bear! Let’s give God praise!

Closing

In closing let us be encouraged and reminded that through our faith and trust in Jesus Christ we will be blessed. Not only will we be blessed with eternal life in paradise but we are blessed in our lives today as well.

Apart from Jesus there is no hope but when we trust Him with our whole heart we will be saved, sanctified, filled with the Holy Spirit and receive the living water that brings forth the blessing in all seasons.

So as we begin to pray and the worship team begins to lead us in one more song I want to ask you as your Pastor to take a moment, relax and let go of anything that is a roadblock from you trusting God 100 percent. Perhaps you have been hurt before but I can assure you that God isn’t the one who hurt you. Perhaps you have tried in the past only to be let down by people. I can promise that the Lord is not the one who let you down. Perhaps you can’t see clearly the vision of where God is taking you or this church, don’t worry He will lead us to good pastures flowing with living water. As we just heard today when trust in the Lord we are a blessed people. I know many in this room do trust and love Jesus. But what I am saying is that God is so much bigger than we can possibly imagine and let us trust Him to lead us into a season of deeper worship and growth both personally and together as a Church family. And at All Church may we declare this morning that we do in fact trust in God and are a blessed people!

Prayer