284 - God's Generosity

Humor: Osama’s Valentine

Little David comes home from first grade and tells his father that they learned about the history of Valentine’s Day. The boy asks, "Since Valentine’s Day is for a Christian saint and we’re Jewish, will God get mad at me for giving someone a valentine?" David’s father thinks a bit, then says "No, I don’t think God would get mad. Who do you want to give a valentine to?" "Osama Bin Laden," David says. "Why Osama Bin Laden," his father asks in shock. "Well," David says, "I thought that if a little American Jewish boy could have enough love to give Osama a valentine, he might start to think that maybe we’re not all bad, and maybe start loving people a little bit. And if other kids saw what I did and sent valentines to Osama, he’d love everyone a lot. And then he’d start going all over the place to tell everyone how much he loved them and how he didn’t hate anyone anymore." His father’s heart swells and he looks at his boy with newfound pride. "David, that’s the most wonderful thing I’ve ever heard." "I know," David says, "and once that gets him out in the open, the Marines can shoot him."

Sermon Study 284 - GOD’S GENEROSITY

Example 1:

1 Kings 17:8-16 (Elijah & the widow)

Then the word of the Lord came to him: [9] "Go at once to Zarephath of Sidon and stay there. I have commanded a widow in that place to supply you with food." [10] So he went to Zarephath. When he came to the town gate, a widow was there gathering sticks. He called to her and asked, "Would you bring me a little water in a jar so I may have a drink?" [11] As she was going to get it, he called, "And bring me, please, a piece of bread." [12] "As surely as the Lord your God lives," she replied, "I don’t have any bread--only a handful of flour in a jar and a little oil in a jug. I am gathering a few sticks to take home and make a meal for myself and my son, that we may eat it--and die." [13] Elijah said to her, "Don’t be afraid. Go home and do as you have said. But first make a small cake of bread for me from what you have and bring it to me, and then make something for yourself and your son. [14] For this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ’The jar of flour will not be used up and the jug of oil will not run dry until the day the Lord gives rain on the land.’ " [15] She went away and did as Elijah had told her. So there was food every day for Elijah and for the woman and her family. [16] For the jar of flour was not used up and the jug of oil did not run dry, in keeping with the word of the Lord spoken by Elijah.

Example 2:

2 Kings 4:1-7 (Elisha & the widow)

The wife of a man from the company of the prophets cried out to Elisha, "Your servant my husband is dead, and you know that he revered the Lord. But now his creditor is coming to take my two boys as his slaves." [2] Elisha replied to her, "How can I help you? Tell me, what do you have in your house?" "Your servant has nothing there at all," she said, "except a little oil." [3] Elisha said, "Go around and ask all your neighbors for empty jars. Don’t ask for just a few. [4] Then go inside and shut the door behind you and your sons. Pour oil into all the jars, and as each is filled, put it to one side." [5] She left him and afterward shut the door behind her and her sons. They brought the jars to her and she kept pouring. [6] When all the jars were full, she said to her son, "Bring me another one." But he replied, "There is not a jar left." Then the oil stopped flowing. [7] She went and told the man of God, and he said, "Go, sell the oil and pay your debts. You and your sons can live on what is left."

The Word’s Promises:

1. GOD WILL SUPPLY MORE THAN YOU ANTICIPATE:

Mat 17:24-27 After Jesus and his disciples arrived in Capernaum, the collectors of the two-drachma tax came to Peter and asked, "Doesn’t your teacher pay the temple tax?" "Yes, he does," he replied. When Peter came into the house, Jesus was the first to speak. "What do you think, Simon?" he asked. "From whom do the kings of the earth collect duty and taxes--from their own sons or from others?" "From others," Peter answered. "Then the sons are exempt," Jesus said to him. "But so that we may not offend them, go to the lake and throw out your line. Take the first fish you catch; open its mouth and you will find a four-drachma coin. Take it and give it to them for my tax and yours."