Sunday, October 19, 2008
Today's Sermon is about : The bank of God!
Introduction : Now, the economy seems pretty bad, and some Christians are actually thinking of giving lesser amount for their commitment. But then we cannot do this, since it is our commitment to God!
Genesis 26:12-14 - Issac continued to Sow and he Reaped. - We can actually still Sow and Prosper! Let us look at Elijah's act of Faith during famine : - 1 Kings 18:25-39 - Verse 31 : Elijah repaired the Altar of the Lord. - Verse 32 : Elijah repaired his relationship with God, and went even further then that. - Verse 33 : - The people filled four water pots with water, and pour it on the burnt sacrifice. - Water was the most precious commodity at that time. - For God's fire to come, we need to give what is most precious to us. - Verse 34 : - Elijah said : "Do it a SECOND time", "Do it a THIRD time". - "Three" is the completion. ( Jesus rose on the THIRD day ) - 1 Kings 18:45 - The sky was covered by dark clouds, and there was a heavy rain. The bank of God. Where is it exactly?
People always think that God is the bank, and we would actually get our money from him. But actually, WE are the banks of God, and it is said in Matthew 25:14-28 and Deuteronomy 2:18.
The person with one talent just hid the money, and that was all that he did. The two other persons, one with five talents and the other with two talents, both of them traded their talents around, and got back one hundred percent of the talents they each have in the beginning! God was of course happy with the two persons who had twice the amount of talents in the end! But God was not happy with the person who hid the one talent that he had. God said that he was a "Wicked'' and ''Lazy'' servant. Everyone... imagine that we are bankers, and God deposits his money with us. And when He wanted to withdraw his money back, we actually say : ''God, can you not withdraw now, and withdraw a few years later? We need the money to support ourselves, since the economy is very bad now." Is that how it is suppose to be? No of course! We are the bankers, and when our client (God) needs money, we give it, with interest! Banks will not give back the original amount! And when we give God our most precious thing, He will open the Windows of Heaven and give us a blessing that is so great that we cannot store it! So today, I encourage you guys to give your precious to God, so that He can bless you back! This is a graph of the stages of how we all look at the economy : Hope --> Greed --> Scepticism --> Fear --> Panic --> Despondency --> Hope The cycle will continue... And we are at the stage of between Fear and Panic. We will be reaching Despondency soon, but I believe that with God, Faith, and Good thinking, we will be able to overcome this crisis, and every other problems in our lives!
As 2 Timothy 1:7 said... ''God did not give us a Spirit of Fear, but a Spirit of Faith!''
I will serve You as long as I have breath. 12:23:00 AM
