Gtcotr/ss031311
(Production Note: I will invite children, 4 years old through 4th grade, to come down front and sit on the platform steps to hear a special message about “manna”. From there I will tell them the Bible account of “Bread from Heaven”. When I ask for the pictures, show them in order: First – the dried coriander seeds; Second – the people gathering manna in the wilderness. While the children are still on the steps I will read the following scriptures and complete the story.)
Joshua 5
11 And they ate of the produce of the land on the day after the Passover, unleavened bread and parched grain, on the very same day.
12 Then the manna ceased on the day after they had eaten the produce of the land; and the children of Israel no longer had manna, but they ate the food of the land of Canaan that year.
(Production Note: At this point I will inform the parents about the contents in “Honey Nut Cheerios”, (they contain absolutely no nuts), and tell the children that manna taste similar to honey. Then I will instruct the children to take the bags they are about to receive, along with the bottle of water, back to their seats and give them to a parent or guardian and that if the parent or guardian ask them to wait until after lunch to try the taste, obey with a smile, of if they allow, you are welcome to eat them while I tell the rest of the story to the adults. Then I will request the youth who are designated to assist me to give one package of cheerios and one bottle of water to each child and usher them back to their seats)
For the rest of the story:
God has designed life to be lived with a margin.
However, many people in the world are starving. 50,000 people die every day worldwide from starvation … they have no bread! The sad fact is that without something to eat, people die. The worst place a person could be in this world is in the place of:
No Bread
Starvation
Death
Bread Faith
Day by Day (The first rung on the ladder of faith)
Survival (Wilderness Manna)
Without a daily miracle supply, you have “No Bread”
Why would people want to live here?
Abundant Bread
Bread without scarcity – but you’ll have to dig …
Abundant Life
Storehouse for God
Deuteronomy 8
7 "For the LORD your God is bringing you into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and springs, that flow out of valleys and hills;
8 "a land of wheat and barley, of vines and fig trees and pomegranates, a land of olive oil and honey;
9 "a land in which you will eat bread without scarcity, in which you will lack nothing; a land whose stones are iron and out of whose hills you can dig copper.
No SeedNo Future
Consuming Seed
Seed Faith
Season by Season
Seed to Sow – Not seed to eat
Seed to Give – Plant into good soil for future harvest
Abundant Seed
Stewardship
Seed Supplier
Gifts – Freely received, freely give
Ask the question: Is this blessing bread or is it seed?
Manipulation – (The just shall live by their faith, not by their powers of manipulation)
Don’t be a faith bum
At the end of the day, a faith bum is still a bum
Stop bumming off others and calling it faith or blessing
It’s the lifestyle of a bum …
Take people you tell off your list of suppliers
Provide for family
No work – No eat – A work ethic gospel; work ethic mentality; work ethic responsibility
Creating the margin
Move to 90 – 10 Lifestyle to Giving Ratio
Move to 80 – 10 – 10 Consume – Tithe – Save
Move in equal steps to 60 – 20 – 20 Lifestyle
And live a Successful – Secure – Significant life.
This will get you to the place where you live life more responsibly and more abundantly.
I guarantee you that someone in your neighborhood makes 60% of what you make and they live as good as you do. And, someone in your neighborhood makes much more than you do and you live as good as they do. You drive the same cars, live in the same houses, wear the same clothes or eat the same food – your children go to the same schools, play the same sports, and have the same opportunities in life.
A successful life is a life blessed by God and managed through good stewardship.
Acts 20
32 "So now, brethren, I commend you to God and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified.
33 "I have coveted no one’s silver or gold or apparel.
34 "Yes, you yourselves know that these hands have provided for my necessities, and for those who were with me.
35 "I have shown you in every way, by laboring like this, that you must support the weak. And remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He said, ’It is more blessed to give than to receive.’"
In this passage the Apostle Paul describes stewardship as a way of life and ministry.
In these two teachings I have given on concerning money, I have not yet exhausted the spiritual realities and faith dynamics of such truths as tithing, sowing and reaping or seed faith, all of which contain and release powerful results. However, I have given you enough to get started and if you try only one of these principles, it will work like a miracle on your behalf.
What have you got to lose but some debt? Take a step of faith and stewardship today.
· It is more blessed to give than to receive
· We are blessed to be a blessing
· Take no anxious thought – but do be a good steward
· Freely give whatever you have freely received
· Don’t misuse the dedicated gift
· Don’t eat your seed
Don’t just live on bread faith – stretch your faith to live a life of giving bread and seed to a lost and starving world. Become more blessed that a receiver, be a good steward of God’s blessings, increase your talents and become a blessing to others. Live the abundant life, a life in no need of a miracle. You can begin your journey today from right where you are with only what you have …
Start creating your margin and live the blessed life of a faithful steward!
