Embracing Uniqueness and Generosity in Community Service

I hear you call. I am a faithful, I hear you call. [00:30:30] (9 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


And in this story, it says, it talks about the owner of the vineyard planting a fig tree in the middle of that vineyard. And I heard that story my entire life. Man, you know, people, preachers had preached on that story. And I'd heard it my entire life, Sunday schools, sermons, lessons, all that kind of stuff. And one day when I was studying it, man, I don't know if you've ever had the Lord just kind of stop you in your tracks. And it's like... Like he asked a question. And how many of you know when God asks you a question, it's not because he lacks an answer? Right? He really is trying to get you to change your perspective on something. And I was reading that today, or not today, but one day devotionally. And all of a sudden I heard the Lord say, Why a fig tree? [00:31:27] (57 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


And all of a sudden God spoke to me and he said, Do you not think when I plant your church, when your church was started, do you think I wanted something exactly the same as everything else in that same vineyard? [00:33:32] (16 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


And he said, and when I put your church in your community, I didn't put it because I wanted it to look exactly the same or act exactly the same or talk exactly the same as every other church in your community. He said, I put you there because I wanted something. [00:34:40] (21 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


And the whole reason I'm saying that is because I want to be different. And the whole reason I'm talking about that is because today's Legacy Lane is local missions. And one of the things that our staff, we work really hard on, is we want to make sure that we're not walking all over someone else's niche in this community. [00:35:29] (21 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


I remember when Steve from Page Academy called me and he said, hey, can we sit down and talk? I had an idea, but I don't know if you're able to do it. And I was able to sit down with him, not this past year, but the year before, and I was able to look at him and go, absolutely. Let's do it. And so now for two years, I've been able to sit down every month with the staff at that school and do a leadership lunch with them just so that they can get off -site, they can have someone else speak into their staff, and they are able to have a meeting elsewhere, off -site, so that they can all focus on what they need to. And man, it's just an incredible thing. [00:38:11] (40 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


We each, in our attitudes and in our actions. I thought that that was pretty pertinent with us going into election season, that we make sure that we just keep our attitudes in check. Come on, somebody. No matter what side of the aisle you are on, we all need to keep our attitudes in check. Right? And we learned that week that God expects unity from us. It's not a self -imposed thing. Like, hey, let's make sure we're all on the same page kind of thing. God actually expects His people to walk in unity. Right? However, unity is not sameness. It's not uniformity. Right? It's agreement on purpose, not pattern. [00:47:30] (47 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. Now, there's been a lot of talk in recent years because of the excesses of the prosperity gospel and the prosperity movement that the idea of sowing and reaping really needs to go by the wayside because it's no longer relevant and it's not their words. It's not really a biblical concept. I would completely disagree with that because the Apostle Paul is talking about a financial gift that he is getting ready to take up and he actually uses the words or the terms it's translated into. What we would translate that into sow. So when he says, He who sows sparingly reaps sparingly. He who sows generously reaps generously. He is talking about a financial offering. [00:53:56] (52 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


And so I'm not going to swing to the side of the pendulum that goes, well, in church, we're not going to talk about that. We're not going to. Listen, I've got so many friends that have stopped taking up offerings. They put little boxes by the back door so that if you feel compelled to give or if you desire to give or if you are of the belief system that you should give, then you can give on your way out. No, no, no, no. I believe it's still a part of our worship. And I've had people advise me, hey, you should do away with the offering portion of your service. It'll cut down on time. Sorry. I'm not cutting down on the time by taking away our opportunity to sow. [01:00:22] (37 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


Because it's in our sowing that we create a lifestyle of reaping. Okay? Now, but I refuse to do this from the opposite pendulum that goes, you should get up and preach. And I've heard this. I've been told this. You should get up and preach at least a 15 -minute message on giving during offering. [01:00:52] (30 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


And when we sow seed, right, if our hearts have been positioned by the tithe, when we sow seed, all we're doing is putting that in the soil to produce a harvest in our hearts. Now we're lions. [01:33:17] (20 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)