Giving

What’s Your Number?

Good morning! This is a culmination of a lot of prayer and fasting! I fully believe with all of my heart that what God is going to show us today is that when we are about His business and we are trusting Him that He will handle the lack we have in our own right. You see in my own agenda and plan I can give so much. If I had a dollar bill in my pocket and the offering plate is being passed then I can tall my hand reach into my pocket and pull out that one dollar bill and put it in the plate and I have done what I need to do and can feel good about it. However I know that besides that 1 dollar I have a 100 dollar bill. I as I reach into my pocket to grab the 1 dollar bill my heart is stirred to grab the 100 but I know that giving the 1 dollar satisfies my feel good moment. However the “pond of my heart” is troubled. I don’t feel settled so i grab the 100 and all the sudden the pond goes silent. That is trusting God and not myself. I could use that 100 I could buy things needed things. I have found a verse that is kind of odd but it is a step of faith. Haggai 2:19 “Is the seed yet in the barn? Indeed, the vine, the fig tree, the pomegranate, and the olive tree have yielded nothing. But from this day on I will bless you.”” Is the seed yet in the barn? Do we have things stored up that we are to have planted. We are not in the business of growing churches. We are in the business of planting seeds and gathering the harvest. Faith is not good works, faith is not a hope in something that is mystical but it is substance, its does require work. We have dealt with foundations of our hearts. What part we play, getting our hearts right with God and then we looked at our priority of prayer. We found ourselves to be people of prayer in all things. We are seeking God and asking Him to lead our every step. We then last week looked at the transforming power of God’s word in our lives. It was a powerful time of worship and God’s word. We had 30+ people sign up for the 30 day devotional challenge. If you would like to join us today and you didn’t last week or you were not here to join. The sign up sheet is in the lobby and we will add you to the group. There is something that changes when you and I are praying and reading God’s word. We find our faith growing in ways we didn’t realize it needed to grow. Today we are going to be dealing with faith and the mission of God. Faith that he will cover any lack that we have and the faith that says I trust His resources not mine. The true mark of genuine faith and growth is God is growth in our generosity. Proverbs 21:26 “All day long he craves and craves, but the righteous gives and does not hold back.” The NLT Version says it like this.

Proverbs 21:26 Some people are always greedy for more, but the godly love to give!

One of the mandates the Lord laid on my heart was that growth in Christ translates to growth in generosity. This scripture shows that the Godly or those who are righteous do not hold back they give. How can we give when we don’t have. How can we say that we are going to missionaries of supply if we do not have. Its a step of faith. Let me illustrate it like this. In Arizona there is a portion of the grand canyon. At the West Rim. They have what is called the skywalk. Here are some photos of the skywalk.

In your mind you struggle with stepping out on that because well you are pretty much stepping out onto thin air. There is glass uunderneath you but you have to force your brain to say go. Why because you don’t walk on glass. You don’t step out over nothing on glass and hope it holds up. You may “understand” that you could put an elephant out there and it would not bend yet something says if i step out there it will fall apart and we will all die. Its like that when we step out in faith. We step onto the proverbial nothingness and trust we can keep walking. Its the story of Peter in the boat. Matthew 14:28-31

Matthew 14:28–31 NLT

Then Peter called to him, “Lord, if it’s really you, tell me to come to you, walking on the water.” “Yes, come,” Jesus said. So Peter went over the side of the boat and walked on the water toward Jesus. But when he saw the strong wind and the waves, he was terrified and began to sink. “Save me, Lord!” he shouted. Jesus immediately reached out and grabbed him. “You have so little faith,” Jesus said. “Why did you doubt me?”

So peter went over the boat and walked on the water toward Jesus! That is a step of faith. That is saying I can not do this in my own strength but by the power of the Lord I will get to him. We all can have moments of great faith. Where we believe God for something but there will be moments when that faith is tested. There will be moments when we struggle with the onslaught of the waves and wind. You have to understand this squall was not pretty the wind and waves were there when Peter stepped out of the boat. It was not calm and cool and then the waves unleashed a flurry of wind. Nope it was still there and yet he had great faith. But the moment that He sees the wind and waves he realizes that He has bitten off more that he can chew and he begins to sink. As he is sinking he calls out Lord Help!!!! and Jesus was there. You must understnad something that I believe will change the way we look at faith. Jesus was always there. He never left! In the moments of the wind and waves Jesus is still there. I love the line of Jesus You have so little faith. What do you mean Jesus He just stepped out of the boat in the midst of the storm of the century. Yet Jesus says you have little faith. Because you doubted me. God never let that be said of us that we have little faith because we doubted. It is doubt that kills faith. It is doubt that keeps us from reaching the point we are destined to get to. It was doubt that stopped Peter from reaching Jesus. Faith and doubt can not live together and prosper. One will win out and one will lose. I am looking at something that will forever change the way we live our lives and that is faith to say that God said it so we believe it. We find a few things in scripture that make this point very powerfully.

Proverbs 19:3 NLT

People ruin their lives by their own foolishness and then are angry at the Lord.

I absolutely love this verse by Solomon the wisest man to ever live. It is so plain and so powerful. People ruin their lives then are angry at God. Thats a lack of faith to trust God then people get mad because of their own lack of faith. Its very simple…Trust God in all things. Proverbs 3:5-6

Proverbs 3:5–6 NLT

Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take.

People want to be a part of something that is happening. They want to be a part of something they can get behind. This last week we watched on the edge of our seats at times IU football complete a perfect season and when the national championship. I am not an IU fan but I was proud to be a hoosier that night. I saw a picture of Cignettis first game as head coach and then the Natty game and the crowd was different. People want to get behind something thats moving. Can I tell you that even flawed people were jumping on the IU bandwagon why because why not they are hoosiers going to the Natty….How much more can people get on board with a church moving in the right direction following after the call of God. If found something out this last week that I knew but had never put together. Pentecost which is 50 days from Passover as christians we understand 2k+ years later that this is when the Holy Spirit is poured out and the NT church is birthed. You have to understand something powerful here. The Festival that is being celebrated is the festival of weeks or the festival of harvest. It was one of 3 festivals when all jews were to make a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. So when the Holy Spirit falls on the disciples its when every jew had descended on Jerusalem for the festival of harvest. What was the festival of harvest. it was a celebration that the harvest season had been complete and they were to bring their first fruits and prepare for the next harvest. The harvest festival was to be celebrated and remember the grain offering and it was a recall to the torah being given. Now there is a lot to unpack here and if you want to discuss some of those details I will later but its way to much to unpack here so I’ll give you the cliff notes version.

Jewish teaching says that When God gave the 10 commandments to Moses not only did he inscribe them on the tables but he spoke them the word for thundering in Exodus 20:18

Exodus 20:18 NLT

When the people heard the thunder and the loud blast of the ram’s horn, and when they saw the flashes of lightning and the smoke billowing from the mountain, they stood at a distance, trembling with fear.

means sound and voices. It is jewish teaching that when God spoke the commandments that He spoke them in human languages

Rabbi Yoḥanan said: The voice would emerge and divide into seventy voices for seventy languages, so that all the nations could understand.

This is a key to looking at harvest because harvest is pentecost when the Spirit of God fell on the disciples and the 120….what does scripture tell us

Acts 2:1–4 NLT

On the day of Pentecost all the believers were meeting together in one place. Suddenly, there was a sound from heaven like the roaring of a mighty windstorm, and it filled the house where they were sitting. Then, what looked like flames or tongues of fire appeared and settled on each of them. And everyone present was filled with the Holy Spirit and began speaking in other languages, as the Holy Spirit gave them this ability.

The Spirit of God falls on them yet its the next few verse that tell the story…..

Acts 2:5–11 NLT

At that time there were devout Jews from every nation living in Jerusalem. When they heard the loud noise, everyone came running, and they were bewildered to hear their own languages being spoken by the believers. They were completely amazed. “How can this be?” they exclaimed. “These people are all from Galilee, and yet we hear them speaking in our own native languages! Here we are—Parthians, Medes, Elamites, people from Mesopotamia, Judea, Cappadocia, Pontus, the province of Asia, Phrygia, Pamphylia, Egypt, and the areas of Libya around Cyrene, visitors from Rome (both Jews and converts to Judaism), Cretans, and Arabs. And we all hear these people speaking in our own languages about the wonderful things God has done!”

We here them in our own language describing the wonderful things God has done. So Let me say this Pentecost is harvest. How can you say you are pentecostal if we are not people of harvest. The Spirit of God is given to us to go out and evangelize the world. So we must be about the fathers business and that is redemption.

2 Peter 3:9 ESV

The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.

God wants no one to perish…Guess what I have the key to eternal life. That key is Jesus. I cant go into all the word but by faith I can help send the supply to those are going. Its by faith we give and are about the business of God all should reach repentance. Can I tell you something that sinners are not busting down the door of the church. We are not a place where a sinner would just visit. But I can tell you that when you as a christian encoutner a sinner then you can show them life and bring them Jesus and bring them to repentance. You may be saying pastor I don’t have 2 pennies to rub together to give you even by faith….DOUBT KILLS FAITH. A faith promise is supernatural….its not natural. Let me tell you this story of a group of people who had nothing. They were not rich by anything. In fact they were dependent on others to supply their needs. It was such a rough work load that they were forced to build and make bricks and scripture tell us that the children of isarels lives were to rough Exodus 1:13-14

Exodus 1:13–14 NLT

So the Egyptians worked the people of Israel without mercy. They made their lives bitter, forcing them to mix mortar and make bricks and do all the work in the fields. They were ruthless in all their demands.

It was rough…I want to fast forward around 20 weeks according to most scholars and historians. To the end of the 10 plagues.

Exodus 12:31–36 NLT

Pharaoh sent for Moses and Aaron during the night. “Get out!” he ordered. “Leave my people—and take the rest of the Israelites with you! Go and worship the Lord as you have requested. Take your flocks and herds, as you said, and be gone. Go, but bless me as you leave.” All the Egyptians urged the people of Israel to get out of the land as quickly as possible, for they thought, “We will all die!” The Israelites took their bread dough before yeast was added. They wrapped their kneading boards in their cloaks and carried them on their shoulders. And the people of Israel did as Moses had instructed; they asked the Egyptians for clothing and articles of silver and gold. The Lord caused the Egyptians to look favorably on the Israelites, and they gave the Israelites whatever they asked for. So they stripped the Egyptians of their wealth!

They began with nothing but pain and heartache and ended up taking the wealth of Egypt and headed to the promised land. You may say how can 70 people do anything. Can i tell you that there are 111,000+ people in Delaware county. How much could 111,000 people do? What kind of wealth is in our Egypt. What is God asking someone to trust Him for. Can I be really honest with you. I have prayed that some are so convicted today that you changed your number while i was preaching. I want to close with the explanation of what we are getting ready to step into.

FAITH PROMISE #1 A faith promise is not a cash offering.

We will not be taking up a cash offering for missions. A cash offering proves me capapble a faith promise puts it on God’s abilities not mine

#2 this is not a pledge

A pledge is between you and someone else. They can hound you send you letters or send the midgets in black Cadillacs to come find you if you don’t pay.

#3 This is between you and God. We will add the numbers up but we will not be keeping your cards to find you or remind you. This is by faith I am giving this by God’s provisions not mine

#4 This is biblical

2 Corinthians 8-9 Go read it Paul is taking up a faith offering for the poor in Jerusalem and he reminds them of the promise they made.

I want to end by giving you 2 quotes

Oswald J Smith  (1889-1986) was a Canadian pastor, prolific author, and fervent missions advocate, known for his unique “Faith Promise” mission giving encouraging radical dependence on God for the funds said it like this in 1968 at a missions conference “Give according to your income less God make your income according to your giving” in 1968 Smith and the peoples church in Toronto had given over 7 million to missions and were supporting 404 missionaries.

Hebrews 11:1 KJV 1900

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

Hebrews 11:6 NLT

And it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him.

In February of 1941 WInston Churchill the Prime Minister of Great Britain gave a radio broadcast from London urging the American people and the American President to help them defeat the third reich. He spoke of all that was happening and ended his broadcast with this line

“We shall not fail or falter; we shall not weaken or tire. Neither the sudden shock of battle, nor the long-drawn trials of vigilance and exertion will wear us down. Give us the tools, and we will finish the job.”

Can I empower you today Let us be Missionaries of Supply Giving the tools to our Missionaries around the word and they will finish the job…How do we give them the tools We support them how do we support them We make a faith promise

By faith I/we promise to give _______ money to NorthPoint Church for missions and the advancement of the Kingdom of God.

We will give ___weekly ___monthly ___bi-annually ___annually

then you sign your name as if signing a covenant between you and God.

This is outside of what you are already giving. If you support Missions thats amazing this is separate of what you are already giving.

Through Faith we as NorthPoint Church will give $25,000 to missions in the next year. We will be missionaries of Supply. As your Pastor we are giving the first 10% by faith. What are you doing? As the Worship team plays and sings we will take the card and fill it out then we will do something to show faith we will add the number up as we wait in expectation of faith. What is God saying to do? Are you trusting yourself or are you trusting God. Whats your number? I will end by saying this, and yes this is bold and yes this can sound harsh…If the number you write down makes your feel good then its not of God. The number you write down should keep you up tonight.

Faith Promise Giving

Celebrate all that God has done

Worship