Use what you have

Intro:

Today we wrap up our series Two or More where we have been looking at how God used different people to impact the life of Paul the apostle. Three key relationships we have looked at this month are:

Ananias: God used Ananias to reveal his mercy, bring clarity to Paul, and to begin the process of maturity.

Barnabas: God used Barnabas as a mentor in Pauls life to help him develop. He became a friend of Paul.

Timothy: God placed Timothy in Pauls life so that he could be mentored. This was a shift in Pauls life from mentee to mentor.

The final person we will look at in this series is a woman named Lydia. Her story is found in Acts 16:11-15, 39-40. Let’s turn to it and read it together.

Acts 16:11-15 “Therefore, sailing from Troas, we ran a straight course to Samothrace, and the next day came to Neapolis, and from there to Philippi, which is the foremost city of that part of Macedonia, a colony. And we were staying in that city for some days. And on the Sabbath day we went out of the city to the riverside, where prayer was customarily made; and we sat down and spoke to the women who met there. Now a certain woman named Lydia heard us. She was a seller of purple from the city of Thyatira, who worshiped God. The Lord opened her heart to heed the things spoken by Paul. And when she and her household were baptized, she begged us, saying, “If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come to my house and stay.” So she persuaded us.”

Take a moment to pray over the message. Father help us to understand the simplicity of the Gospel.

___________________________________________________________

Submit:

What I Love most about her story is that it is incredibly practical. Lydia was at a place that was consistently used as a place of prayer on the Sabbath. She worshipped God, and was a businesswoman.

At the place of prayer she encounters Paul and Silas and hears the message of the kingdom. She is converted putting her faith in Christ, and is baptized along with her entire family. After her baptism she immediately looks for a way to serve.

She recognized that Paul and Silas were traveling and would need a place to stay so she offered her home. Remember they didn’t have Holiday Inn or Hilton hotels back then. Travelers would stay in peoples homes.

As the story continues it shifts to Paul and Silas’s ministry that takes place in her city. It doesn’t give a specified time that they ministered in the area, but the entire time they stay at her home.

During their time of ministry Paul and Silas are imprisoned and beaten. In prison God moved mightily and the jailer along with his entire family gets saved. After their release they once again go back to Lydia’s house encourage the believers and depart on their journey.

This is the totality of Lydia’s recorded story in the bible. It is simple yet powerful. Essentially she was a church going woman who prayed and worshipped. Her business savvy gave her the ability to host messengers of God and other believers in her home, and the result was kingdom transformation in her city.

The Simplicity of her story is that she offered what she had and God used it. The story doesn’t say she held a city wide revival service or preached down fire from heaven. She opened her home and gave what substance she had. For a time it provided lodging to people who were fulfilling their assignment from God. It’s simple and its beautiful!

___________________________________________________________

Apply:

Can I encourage you this morning?

Don’t discount what you have. Instead use it. Mark 4:30-32.

Turn with me to Mark 4:30-32 “Then He said, “To what shall we liken the kingdom of God? Or with what parable shall we picture it? It is like a mustard seed which, when it is sown on the ground, is smaller than all the seeds on earth; but when it is sown, it grows up and becomes greater than all herbs, and shoots out large branches, so that the birds of the air may nest under its shade.””

I love that Jesus gives us pictures to help us see. In my hand I have a mustard seed. Can any of you see it from your seat? If you are on the front row you in the middle sections you might have chance. If not probably seems like nothing is in my hand at all. Yet Jesus says if I plant this tiny seed that you cant see that it will grow and become so large that birds can come and nest in it. It will become greater than all the other herbs.

Jesus says the kingdom of God works like this in our lives. He takes what seems small and insignificant and He asks us to sow it (use it). Overtime what you sowed grows and becomes more significant. Mark 6:30-44.

For example:

Mark 6:30–44 NKJV

Then the apostles gathered to Jesus and told Him all things, both what they had done and what they had taught. And He said to them, “Come aside by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while.” For there were many coming and going, and they did not even have time to eat. So they departed to a deserted place in the boat by themselves. But the multitudes saw them departing, and many knew Him and ran there on foot from all the cities. They arrived before them and came together to Him. And Jesus, when He came out, saw a great multitude and was moved with compassion for them, because they were like sheep not having a shepherd. So He began to teach them many things. When the day was now far spent, His disciples came to Him and said, “This is a deserted place, and already the hour is late. Send them away, that they may go into the surrounding country and villages and buy themselves bread; for they have nothing to eat.” But He answered and said to them, “You give them something to eat.” And they said to Him, “Shall we go and buy two hundred denarii worth of bread and give them something to eat?” But He said to them, “How many loaves do you have? Go and see.” And when they found out they said, “Five, and two fish.” Then He commanded them to make them all sit down in groups on the green grass. So they sat down in ranks, in hundreds and in fifties. And when He had taken the five loaves and the two fish, He looked up to heaven, blessed and broke the loaves, and gave them to His disciples to set before them; and the two fish He divided among them all. So they all ate and were filled. And they took up twelve baskets full of fragments and of the fish. Now those who had eaten the loaves were about five thousand men.

The little boy who offered his lunch didn’t know what God could do with it. He just gave what he had.

The question today is what do you have that you can offer to God?

For Lydia it was her house, the little boy it was his lunch. What do you have? What seed has God given to you to sow? Is it time in serving, or business excellence and the ability to give generously, maybe your a great leader and God has given you influence.

Maybe you have a knack for encouraging just about every person you meet. Maybe you have a burden for prayer. You might have a gift to teach others. You may burn with passion to help hurting people and are determined to find ways to meet their needs.

You may be excellent in the arts of music, media, photography, painting, or writing. Maybe you are a detailed person who can bring order to places of chaos.

Every one of these things is a seed. Sow it! God will use what He has placed in you for His Glory!

Just know that God can’t grow what you don’t sow.

___________________________________________________________

Closing:

As I close the message I want to give a little further glimpse in the story of the two fish and five loaves. John’s gospel the 6th chapter gives a further insight into the story. The little boy willingly gave what he had, but the disciples discounted what could be done with it.

John 6:7-9 “Philip answered Him, “Two hundred denarii worth of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one of them may have a little.” One of His disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to Him, “There is a lad here who has five barley loaves and two small fish, but what are they among so many?””

Don’t expect everyone to understand the value of your seed. The disciples looked at the boys lunch as insignificant in reference to the need. God viewed the little boys lunch as the seed necessary for a great miracle. What was looked down on fed 5000+ people.

Learn to use what you have. Give it to God in faith and watch Him go to work with it. Don’t allows others to discount it. Just like the mustard seed God has given us a promise that it will grow if we will plant it.

Let’s Pray!

1) That the Holy Spirit would help us to identify what we have.

2) That we have the courage to sow it.

3) The first seed to sow is our trust in Christ (Salvation)