Your Offering

The offering

Leviticus 6

Good Morning Everyone.

Let’s pray

Prayer- Father, today I ask that you would allow your word to pierce all darkness and bring the light of God to each of us, to allow your word to speak to us and to be an encouragement and strength during these tough times. I ask for extra-ordinary instead of the same old thing! Speak to us and may we have a heart open to receive. In Jesus Name, Amen!

If people were asked to sum you up in a few words, what would you want people to say about you?

They were kind.

They were generous.

They were caring and loving.

They were strong?

They loved their family

Hard worker

If God were to sum you up in a few words, what would He say about you?

Would they be the same words of what people say about you?

The mark we leave in life and the things people say about us may not be the same thing-

The world could say one thing because they only see only one side of you and God may say another because He sees everything.

He may see your kindness but also see the negative reason why you did something.

I see your mark on life as your offering to mankind and also to God.

I don’t think you can separate the two. “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength… and love your neighbors as yourself.”

I cannot release that verse from my mind because you cannot separate who you are with how you act. Given time, they will expose each other.

To say that you love God, the next thing we ought to see is your actions that reflect that love to God and love to others.

If you love God, you give God the best that you have been given. That would be in offerings of blessing, it would be the best of your time and talents. It would be the best of your worship.

The same way that you act in front of people is the way that you act when you are alone with God.

Your offering is a gift back to God and a gift back to the most precious thing to God and that is people. The ones that are his children by faith and the ones that He is desiring to come to faith and a relationship with Him.

Illustration Home Plate- You know I am a baseball guy-

In 1998, A man named John Scolinos was a guest speaker at a baseball convention in Nashville. He was 78 years old and had coached his whole life at various levels during his career. He went to the podium with a full size home plate tied around his neck. He spoke for 25 minutes and never mentioned why he had that home plate around his neck. They were kidding amongst themselves that maybe he had forgotten that he had it around his neck. He finally said I bet your wondering why I’m wearing home plate around my neck. I have come today to talk to you about what I have learned from Home plate.

Do you know how wide home plate is in little league? After a pause someone said 17inches.

Do you know how wide home plate was in Babe Ruth’s day? Long pause 17inches.

How many high school coaches here today? Show of hands

How many college coaches here today? Show of hands

They were getting it now! How wide is home plate? 17 inches!

In the major league, how wide is home plate? 17 inches

What happens if a big league pitcher is not able to get the ball across the plate? He is sent down to the minors.

What they do not do is change the width of the plate-

It is not okay when Johnnie cannot handle the width of 17 inches, to make it 20 inches so he would have a better chance.

What we do not do with players that do not adhere to the rules of the team is change the rules for them.

Maybe your’e not into baseball analogy, but you get the picture of importance- they were there for a baseball convention but they were shown a principal that works for all of life.

2009 at the age of 91 John Scolinos died but left a mark on those leaders- at every level of life you do not change the level of what is right- in your family, in your church, in your workplace, in your government. The problem is instead of doing what is right and staying within the confines of the 17inch home plate, we are widening the plate for everyone and it is doing anyone any good-

Representatives in congress make rules for everyone else but don’t apply them to themselves.