September 11, 2016
Morning Worship
Text: Joel 2:28; Ecclesiastes 11:4
Subject: The Seed Principle Part 4
Title: Never Give Up
I want to continue this morning with the series that we are calling “The Seed Principle.”
Can we begin with a word of prayer?
And I want to begin with gong back to something I have shared with you in the past few weeks about the visions I have received from the Lord. Let’s go back about 3 years to the word of prophecy that I received from the Lord concerning this church. You remember when I spoke it to you as well as I do and looking back I know that the word was true but that I confined that word to just a specific time frame. The prophecy was that if the church would do what it is supposed to be doing that in a year’s time the Lord would bring so many people in that we would not even recognize it. If we would not do what we are supposed to be doing that the church would slowly but surly die out. When I received that word we were averaging about 65-75 people on Sunday Morning. By the end of the year it was 50-60 and a slow decline began. For a couple of years now our numbers have been down and we have been asking ourselves what we have to do to bring the numbers up. In 2015 3 of our members went home to be with the Lord. Another suffered a stroke and hasn’t been able to be here with us for a year.
I thought that the prophetic word given to me was coming to pass. And we kept looking at what was going on and wondering how we could prevent the church from dying. Now some of you will say that those things never crossed your mind, but from a pastor’s view I have to say, I thought about it a lot.
Then something else happened. The weekend after my mom’s funeral we were scheduled to attend a Convoy of Hope/Rural Compassion seminar that was put on for the benefit of small church pastors. We thought about canceling because of my mother’s passing and the stress of the week, but decided to go just to get away from everything. I don’t remember everything about the seminar but I know this much. It was a weekend that changed our lives and ultimately the life of this church. You see, on that weekend we were instructed to remove all the seats from our big church van because Convoy of Hope was going to load us down with thing to bring back that would bless the church.
And so we did … and so they did! At first we were overwhelmed with all the stuff that they loaded in the van. I mean there were boxes and boxes of things that we had no idea what to do with or where to go with them. Boxes of nail polish and candy and cookies and crackers… baby food, and cereal… barbeque sauce… along with some obscure items feminine hygiene items and coconut water… Can you see our dilemma? And I wondered about why would they give us so much of what I considered useless stuff!
But do you know what happened? Charlotte and I began to look at our community to see where we could do with these things. Where was there a need? It caused us to begin to look outward instead of inward. We took items to each school… the middle school teachers love the nail polish, bath bombs and the candy bars! We took things to the fire department and police department. We gave food items to the nutrition center and to Douglas Community preschool. I made contact with people I had never met before…. Because I had been so busy looking inward at our church decline that I never looked outward.
What happened? We had begun to plant seed in the community and the Lord used that to produce a harvest and all you have to do is look around and see that the Lord is blessing us with new families. You folks are the result of our planting seed in the community. You may not have had any knowledge of what we had done here before you came, but the Lord has brought you here and I believe with all my heart that it is because of the Seed Principle.
Ok. Now let me go back to the visions that I have been receiving form the LORD.
Joel 2:28 (NKJV)
28 "And it shall come to pass afterward That I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh; Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, Your old men shall dream dreams, Your young men shall see visions.
It is God’s desire to pour out these visions and prophesies and dreams to all His servants.
On August 25th… I saw a line like on a check with a dollar amount written on it. Te amount was changing constantly and it was always increasing… It began at $1282.00 then 1306.00 then 14xx.00 and 16xxx.00 then it jumped to 2302.00. and they kept changing after that faster than I could read. At first I didn’t understand it so I asked God. Here is His answer. He will allow us to increase according to our level of desire, financially, spiritually, and numerically. This church is a blank check signed by the LORD himself.
On September 9th, Friday morning I saw a picture of a church like a child’s drawing – a line for the floor, two lines for the walls and then a roof. The church was tilted to one side and the walls were not straight lines but were curved outward. The picture was in a very expensive frame.
Again I had to ask the LORD what it meant…
The walls curving outward… The church is filling up with people and will begin to expand outward, but more importantly the presence of the Holy Spirit is becoming so strong that He cannot be contained within the walls here.
The church is tilted because it is about to turn over – to be turned upside down. We will begin to see things like we have never seen before and we will view church from a different perspective.
Finally… the picture of the church is in an expensive frame because we put things in a frame that are important to us.
The Lord has put the picture of this church in an expensive frame because He loves looking at us. He keeps us close.
We are experience the result of seeds that were planted and are still being planted.
So, are you ready to get into the word? I know I have spent a lot of time sharing with you what the Lord is saying to me but let’s look at what the word says to all of us.
First of all in Genesis 8:22 (NKJV)
22 "While the earth remains,
Seedtime and harvest,
Cold and heat,
Winter and summer,
And day and night
Shall not cease."
I believe this is God’s word…
I believe it is for me…
I accept it as mine…
I will appropriate it to my life today…
The principle of sowing and reaping will continue until there is a new heaven and new earth. It’s true in the natural and it’s true in the spiritual. If you sow there will be a harvest.
Now a lot of people don’t believe this but it has been proven over and over. You sow seed and something grows. You sow beans and you get more beans. You sow corn and your corn is multiplied. You sow your time, or your faith, or you finances and you will get a return. Whatever you sow will come back to you. But it doesn’t just present itself to you. You have to be willing to do the work to harvest. It is true for farmers in the natural realm. It is also true for us in the spirit realm.
And yet a lot of good Word of God faith people don’t get this. Let me ask you a couple of questions. Do you believe that the Word of God is true? Do you believe in making positive confessions that are in agreement with the word? Dou you understand that when you claim God’s word over your life you are opening the door for Him to release His power into your life? And that is where it stops for a lot of folks… I’m talking about bible believing tongue-talking word of faith people… are you listening to me?
And the harvest of their faith seed is right in front of them but they won’t go get it. For instance: you have health issues (don’t we all)? You can’t ever seem to find the energy to do the things you would like to do… So you sow a seed of faith for your healing. By His stripes I am healed… by His stripes I am healed… by His stripes I am healed… and the Lord speaks into your heart, “watch your diet and get some exercise…! Well, when I have a little more time or when I feel a little better then I’ll start my diet… Is there a harvest waiting for you? Is it possible to miss out on the harvest?
Ecclesiastes 11:4 (NKJV)
4 He who observes the wind will not sow, And he who regards the clouds will not reap.
You see, if you are waiting for the right time, it will never come. If the devil sees that he has you cornered, he will keep you there. Oh, but child of God, you have something that the devil can’t stand against.
James 4:6-7 (NKJV)
6 But He gives more grace. Therefore He says: "God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble."
7 Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.
Submitting to God means being obedient to His word, whether it is the written word or the spoken word in your spirit by the Holy Spirit.
I don’t care how I feel. I’m going to exercise. I’m going to renew my strength. I’m going to be restored because I have a harvest waiting for me and I’m going to go and get it.
Proverbs 10:4-5 (NKJV)
4 He who has a slack hand becomes poor, But the hand of the diligent makes rich.
5 He who gathers in summer is a wise son; He who sleeps in harvest is a son who causes shame.
If this is true concerning your healing isn’t it true concerning your finances, your blessings, your deliverance, your power? Isn’t it true for every promise given to you by the LORD?
Now turn over to Galatians 6. and verse 9… James is writing this in the context of sowing and reaping … actually, let’s start in verse 6…
6 Let him who is taught the word share in all good things with him who teaches.
7 Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap.
8 For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life.
9 And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart.
Verse 9 is the key… so many times folks wait on the Lord and they don’t see anything happening and they wait and they wait and then they give up… Well it must not be God’s will!
NO, that’s not true. If you sowed according to His word you know that it’s God’s will and if it’s God’s will it will come to pass. …for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart.
We place so much emphasis on our current situation and experience that we give up on God’s word. But you see, your situation that you are fighting through is brought on by an unseen enemy and he can influence your circumstances so that you end up focusing on them instead of the promise.
Don’t give up! Don’t give up! Don’t give up! Don’t give up! Don’t give up!
And don’t give out…
And don’t give in…
Resist the devil and he will flee from you!
Now, how can you wait without growing weary?
Psalm 126:5-6 (NKJV)
5 Those who sow in tears Shall reap in joy.
6 He who continually goes forth weeping, Bearing seed for sowing, Shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, Bringing his sheaves with him.
Do you have a hope according to God’s word? Hope is connected to Joy.
Somebody say, “the joy of the Lord is my strength.”
Now one more scripture.
Romans 15:13 (NKJV)
13 Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Let’s close with this…
I am waiting for the harvest of souls to come into the church. New believers who we can train up in the way they should go… And the harvest is ready for us.
I am excited about you who have come into this church who are already born again but are hungering for more of the things of God in your life. And you let me plant the seed of His word in you to raise up a harvest of mighty men and women of God who will become His warriors.
And I am thrilled that there are many of you “old timers” who are being refreshed by what the Lord is doing in your life and in the church.
The seed that you plant is grounded in God’s word. We are continually sowing into the lives of others.
Isaiah 55:11 (NKJV)
11 So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me void, But it shall accomplish what I please, And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.
There is a great harvest waiting for you.
I told you earlier about what Convoy of Hope enabled us to do in the community… there is one more thing that we are in the middle of right now. Through Convoy we are able to provide a free pair of brand name canvas shoes to every student in the Middle School. All the sizes are in and the shoes are ordered. And I believe that from this outreach the Lord will bring even more families into the church… maybe not even anyone who benefited from the shoe giveaway… but just people who sense that they need a fresh touch from the Holy Spirit and they end up here.
I am going to give you an opportunity to plant a seed right now. It costs money for Convoy of Hope to ship these shoes. We can be a blessing to them by planting a seed of faith though and offering. Your seed will do three things!
First, it will provide a blessing for others to receive from Convoy of Hope.
Second, it will open up a harvest field for this church…
Third, it opens the door for you to receive a financial blessing from the Lord. It may not come in the for mo of a check or money in the mail… but think of this – that $20.00 you sowed turns into a $2,000.00 transmission job that never has to be done, or a $600.00 washing machine that keeps on working. That’s a hundred fold or thirty fold blessing.
First of all in Genesis 8:22 (NKJV)
22 "While the earth remains,
Seedtime and harvest,
Cold and heat,
Winter and summer,
And day and night
Shall not cease."
This harvest is yours to possess. Let’s turn this church upside down… Let the walls be bursting at the seams…
