-
Acorn Theology
Contributed by Todd Catteau on Dec 10, 2021 (message contributor)
I love fall. I love the cooler weather. I love the changing colors. I love football. I love fall with this exception—raking leaves.
I have a big oak tree out in my front hard and it is amazing how many leaves that tree can produce. I was out raking the other day and not only was I amazed at all the leaves but also amazed at all the acorns. So not only do I bag up tons of leaves but also hundreds of acorns. Within each acorn is the potential for another oak tree and as beautiful as the tree is, the last thing I need is more oak trees in my front hard. Every year I scoop up the acorns and for the ones that don’t get scooped up in the fall I find myself pulling up the tiny saplings that begin to burst through the ground in the spring.
This fall as I was picking up all those potential oak trees I thought to myself, “That poor tree. All it wants to do is make more oak trees and here I am foiling its plan.” If trees had feelings I suppose it would be sad.
But you know what? Year after year the oak tree keeps making acorns. In spite of its failure to reproduce it doesn't give up. Each fall there will be acorns because that is what an oak tree does, whether or not it makes more oak trees. Oak trees make acorns!
Does it sometimes seem to you that all your good deeds, all your invitations to people to come to church, all your love to others—that all of it often produces nothing? Keep on doing those things because that is what we do, regardless of the results. Christians plant seeds!
Even though that old oak tree has never made another oak tree in all these years I do know this—the squirrels love the acorns! I guess those acorns have more than one purpose. Who knows what squirrels in your life are being blessed?
*****************************************
Galatians 6:9 (NIV) — Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.
1 Corinthians 15:58 (NIV) — Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.
Related Sermon Illustrations
-
Looking Back, Looking Forward PRO
Contributed by Paul Fritz on Jul 28, 2002
LOOKING BACK, LOOKING FORWARD Hudson Taylor founder of China Inland Mission) used to hang in his home a plaque with two Hebrew Words on it: EBENEZER & JEHOVAH JIREH. The first word means ‘Hitherto hath the Lord helped us’ and the second, ‘The Lord will see to it or provide.’ One looked back ...read more
-
What God Says PRO
Contributed by Paul Decker on Dec 1, 2002
WHAT GOD SAYS In the Spring of 1924, Jack Sundine was a four-year-old kid, standing in a line with his father inside the White House, waiting to meet President Calvin Coolidge. As they neared him, Jack noticed that he said something to each visitor as they shook hands. Soon, the thrilling ...read more
-
Legend Has It That When The Famous Frontiersman ... PRO
Contributed by Bud Brown on Oct 14, 2004
Legend has it that when the famous frontiersman Davy Crockett was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1827, a newspaper reporter asked him if he’d ever been lost. Crockett had grown up in the woods and wilderness of middle and western Tennessee and was often gone out on hunting trips ...read more
-
Howard Hendricks Tells Of A Mentor Who Changed ... PRO
Contributed by Paul Wallace on Sep 14, 2004
Howard Hendricks tells of a mentor who changed his life in his book Iron sharpens Iron. Howard was from a broken family, and said, "I could have lived, died and gone to hell without anyone bothering to care." However, a man named Walt from a tiny church in his neighborhood cared about reaching nine ...read more
-
If God Intended Man To Live On Bread, Why Didn't ... PRO
Contributed by Don Hawks on Jul 31, 2002
‘If God intended man to live on bread, why didn’t he create a bread tree?’ And the answer, in effect, is that God could have created a tree that produced crusty loaves of bread, but he prefers to offer us a grain and invite us to buy a field and plant the seed. He prefers that we till the soil ...read more
Related Sermons
-
Plantados En La Casa De Jehova Series
Contributed by John Cuentas on Aug 13, 2011
Una hermosa reflexion acerca de la importancia de permanecer con la familia plantados en Dios para florecer.
-
A Ministry Of Mercy Series
Contributed by Kevin L. Jones on Aug 7, 2013
A sermon examining the importance of extending mercy to others.
-
Behold, I Come Quickly! Series
Contributed by Michael Blitz on Jul 19, 2013
Based on Rev 22:12-end and John 17:20-26. The invitation at the end of Revelation is made to the Great Feast, and we as a church should set aside pride and in unity reach the lost with the Gospel of Christ.
-
Making The Best Of A Bad Situation
Contributed by Kraig Pullam on Feb 17, 2014
God takes the disadvantages of our dead ends and uses them as an opportunity to propel His plan into the spectrum of His greater glory and our greater good, as seen in the discourse between the disciples and Christ prior to His ascension.
-
Famous Parables Of Sower, Seed, Tares, Mustard Seed, Leaven, Treasure, Pea Series
Contributed by John Lowe on Aug 5, 2017
The parables of Jesus are given in three of the Gospels; John is the only Gospel that doesn’t record any of His parables. Jesus used things that people were familiar with as the subject for the parables.