What If

INTRO – SERMON CHANGED

I am going to do things a little differently this morning in that the message planned for today was on HONOUR THE LORD WITH YOUR WEALTH

PROVERBS 3:9,10

The sermon was done and dusted…It was entitled Will You Give God Your Lunch?

I kid you not – here it is….. all typed marked out etc.

REASON FOR CHANGE

But last night at about 8:30 I got a call that someone who I did not see much, but who had made an impact on me and had shared with me on a very personal and close level, and someone who was part of the team of people that I look towards as mentors, had passed away suddenly. So the message changed in an inkling. But out of this message that I had prepared, I do want to share something with you on our Resolution number 4.

HATTIE WIATT ILLUST.

A little girl arrived at a church one Sunday morning and a burly door steward telling her that the church was full and that there was just no more room because the church was to small, but actually thinking that she was a street tramp, the steward turned her away at the door. Seeing the incident one of the Pastors quickly went after her and took her by the hand and led her into the Sunday school.

The little girl was so touched by the loving kindness of the pastor that she had difficulty sleeping that night while her mind raced while she thought of all the children who had no place to worship because they had been turned away for one reason or another.

2 years later that little girl died and the parents called the pastor and asked him to conduct the funeral service. After the service the parents came to thank him for his message and handed him a small parcel which the little girl had left for him.

Inside the box the pastor found a purse with 57 cents in it. There was a note that read “This is to help build the church a little bigger so more children can go to Sunday school.”

For 2 years she had been saving those 57 cents. The Pastor took her offering and her story to the pulpit that Sunday. Through a series of articles about the little girl and messages from the pulpit, the donations begun to come in and very quickly the little girls 57c became $2 500 000.

So if you ever happen to go to Philadelphia, why not pop into the Temple Baptist Church. The church seats around 3300. The Sunday school handles upward of 1500 children on any given Sunday. But there is more. The Temple University has grown from the church and there is now a full campus and medical school serving 13000 students a year. And the is now two Hospitals The Temple University Hospital and the Hattie Wiatt Children’s Hospital. 57 cents was all she had, but she offered it to the Lord for his work and he did not feed 5000 but housed almost the same in a church.

LINK TO COLLECTION

So today I want you to know how much we will be able to achieve with your 57c. I want to let you know that we need to give of our first fruits. We need to commit to what we give to God and give it.

COLLECTION

So for those of you who give regularly and are buying things for the church and providing so much I want to say thank you, but as from this morning we put Oaktree in line with divine giving plan. Give your first fruits, don’t replace your firstfruits with a things that we need for the church. Give your tithe or give your first fruits and then lets see God bless our store houses and provide the things that we are trying to put together on our own steam. OK THAT’S ENOUGH ABOUT GIVING< YOU KNOW HOW MUCH I HATE TALKING MONEY IN CHURCH.

SERMON INTRO

FRIEND PASSING _ MESSAGE CHANGED

With my friend passing so suddenly last night before last, I started thinking about my tomorrow. I started thinking about Kevin and Bianca’s life without mom and dad. And so I wrestled with God on what he was trying to give me as a message.

He told me that this one was not the one. So I left it.

As always, I know the Lord would tell me and it would probably hit home with me harder than any of you.

INTERNET TRANSFER PIECE ONE

So there I was sitting behind my PC and I thought ok I will quickly go and transfer funds for the trip tonight from my one account to the other so I would access to cash while away. I stupidly transferred a rather large sum of money into the wrong persons account. Instead of mine, one of my suppliers. Boy was I mad. Leanne leaned back and in her quiet way spoke, you do things to quickly she said, you think you have done it so many times that you don’t have to concentrate.