When the Brook Dries Up: Trusting God in the Drought

we're the Mayors I'm David this is Deborah and this is our Moore story [Music] we had always given and um you know but they're I'll be honest a part of me that always felt we could probably do more but you know you just don't talk about it I don't I mean you talk about a lot of things as a couple but it's just not something we um put as a priority and it it became a priority and um you know we just sat down and I was grateful for David's leading on that and we just kind of said okay Lord we're

kind of where where does this go we had an idea in our heart and you know we didn't want it to be so much us as what God was directing but we felt like we needed a bit of a plan and so you know we kind of mapped out um what that plan was and I don't know it took us I don't know maybe six months to get up to that plan or to you know where we thought the end was but then you know we felt like it needed to be more working from last fruits back to First fruits yes definitely and so um that's just become it's just a priority and what's been the most amazing thing

is it was significant I will say I was humbling when I saw like where we were to you know what we're doing now and and we don't feel like like I don't even think about it like I don't I don't worry about it I don't I don't feel like anything has stopped that we've had to change our lifestyle or you know God has just been present he's just been present in being able to meet all our needs you know he says that I mean the word the Bible says that he tells us that but we don't always put

our faith and trust in that we don't it's very we all I think human nature is to want to protect and to make sure we've kind of got everything in order and we're gonna we trust but we're going to take care of it on our own and um no that's not what he says and so we just took him at his word and he's honored that and and now we're ending up going to end up doing it all over again but the more Journey more campaign we're going to be doing that again yeah and we're excited I mean I have to say I'm more excited um to see what's God's going to do and we we believe that

God has more in store for journey you know just when the when the focus is on Jesus and um and reaching you know the evangelism is the other thing too reaching you know hope for everyone it's very easy to say that but to like equip the body to be able to go out there and um be a light in a world that you know can be pretty dark often and that's what Journey's doing and um and I I believe um a lot of great things are going to happen through Journey for the our community for our neighborhoods

for the church body in general I um for um you know our Our Town our schools I I just really believe God's going to use Journey Church and the body of Christ that's a part of Journey to you know bring a lot of Hope to a lot of people amen amen amen come on hey I want you to know those are real people the Mayors are here today and we're just so grateful for the testimony we did not hire them as actors so we want to give you honor and thank you so much for sharing just a part of your story together we're on a journey we're on this generosity initiative to say God

we want more would you shout more more we want more in our city we want more in our day we want more in our time we're believing that God's not even close to finished with you yet he's not close to finish with his church yet and today we're going to go on a journey into the Old Testament and we're going to see that God is able wherever you are today we're going to see that God is able we're trying to discover what does this look like to fully surrender you know there's always more to give to God to go all in I would love to say the preachers haven't figured out but they don't there's always more as a church I would love to say that we've just arrived we've got this whole thing figured out but there's always

more the moment that you get complacent is the moment that you're dying when you're comfortable and you have it figured out it's no longer faith faith is not having it figured out faith is depending on God to do what you couldn't do on your own today we're diving back into a story we left off with last week in the book of First Kings chapter 17. I want you to go there with me did anyone bring their Journey guys if you brought it just wave in the air like you care come on somebody if you didn't get one of these we would love to give you one as a gift as yours for every person if you would like one of these it'll tell you more about this Vision that we have for where we are where God is leading us it also

there's also a prayer God in there with scripture we want you to get into God's word that God's word will get deep into you and then lastly in here there's a place to take notes with the sermon because the reality is we all know we have spiritual Amnesia and if you don't write it down you'll forget what God just said to you so I'd love for you to write down the scriptures the application what is God saying to you today I believe God has a word for you would you just invite the Lord to speak to you right now Lord would you speak to us in the name of Jesus Oh power of the Holy Spirit would you come and speak to every heart if there's the doubting here today may they believe if there's the hurting would you heal God I trust that you are great enough to meet every single one of our needs you are great God you're so good in every way for that I thank you and I Praise You In Jesus name Amen in First Kings

chapter 17 we learn of a real man out of real time in history named Elijah I call him real because James reminds us in the New Testament that Elijah was just a man like us he had a nature like us implying that Elijah's God is our God Elijah has the same access to God that we have today and in First Kings chapter 18 Elijah prays a big bold powerful prayer inviting God to reveal himself to turn the hearts of the people back to him and fire comes down from heaven and consumes an offering and what we discover in First Kings chapter 18 is you don't pray those big bold powerful prayers without First Kings 17.

that you got to go through something so that you can trust God that you can believe God that you know he's going to show up you've seen it before so you can you can do it again you you can go even further than where you've ever been before and in the lies and and in First Kings chapter 17 we see a story of a man that is provided by God it's during times of hardships it's during times of uncertainty it's during a time of scarcity has anyone ever been there before you're not quite sure how God could do it in fact if you were to get brutally honest in your own heart you don't know what God's gonna do Elijah called out the wicked King Ahab

and said God will not tolerate this Behavior anymore in fact Elijah declared a drought as a Divine judgment over God's people Israel because of their disobedience he says this to Ahab and then God gives a word to go to a place called kareth the word careth means the cutting if you've ever been through the cutting it can hurt sometimes it can be confusing it might be an unusual place careth is a ravine there's a brook that goes right through and there's a cliff on either side and what seemed like a lonely place of isolation was actually God's provision of protection for Elijah and it was while there in the Ravine that God says I'm going to send you a creature to feed you y'all remember what

the creature was Ravens really come on Ravens because in the book of Deuteronomy we're told Ravens are unclean animals God would send an unclean animal to feed a Godly Man sometimes God will do things that you don't expect if you really want God to show up in your life he's going to do in a way that you at least expect I know you've got it figured out but God's plan is better than your plan so when you pray for provision it might come in the most unlikely of place in the most unlikely of ways it could be in the Ravine By Ravens it's in that very place that you see God is the great provider and in that place of protection in that place of isolation God is not holding you back he's

actually getting you ready that provision is to show you what he's able to do so that you would discover his purpose now what's his purpose he wants to use you he wants to do greater things through you he wants to work through you he's not finished with you yet I know it might look like it's the end but I'm here to tell you God's just getting started now we left off last week in First Kings chapter 17 verse 7 and that's where I want to pick up today and after a while everyone say after a while after a while wherever you are it will not last forever after a while I know you might be in a place right now that's difficult it might be lonely it might be hard but after a while God's going to do a new thing a lesson a

lesson of provision in the most unusual of places by the most unusual means as you discover that God will use you wherever you are in whatever way he wants to because he's God God is God God is always good and everything is his so after a while the brook dried up this is the creek that God provided for Elijah he had water but because of the very drought that Elijah declared now the Brooks dried up sometimes someone else's sin will impact you someone else's decision may impact your life it may not be even because of you

that you actually have to go through something difficult after a while the brook dried up because there was no rain in the land there was no rain because of a drought the drought is because of a Divine judgment because of someone else's Disobedience but now it's impacting Elijah he has no water if you have no water you die water represents life Everywhere You Go water represents life we may speak different languages we may have different cultures but one thing is true water means life anywhere you go the human body is made up of more than 70 percent water we need water to live the earth is made up of 70 water we need water to Live Water represents life and if there's a drought there is no life

some of you are going through a drought right now you might be here today and you have no relationship with God you want a relationship with God but spiritually you're dry you're you're dead there's no life some of you it's relationally you're going through something incredibly difficult right now it's a dry season you don't even know when the rain's going to come in this relationship it's a drought some of you it might be financially for some of you it might be emotionally you're just kind of stuck and it's it's a dry desert of emotions and you don't know how to get out of it you're you're trying a substance you're trying something new everyone's giving you counsel but it's just not working there is no life now what do you do when the brook dries up most of us take matters into our own

hands most of us blame God but I'm here to ask you when the brook dries up don't run from God go to God trust in God turn to him remember what he did in the ravine remember what he did before he can do it again but I'm here to tell you if he did it before the way he's going to do it it's probably going to look different than the last time he did it Jesus declares that he is the way the truth and the life so he's the one that brings us life and in math excuse me in John chapter 7 Jesus said this he said whoever believes in me everyone say believes believes something changes when you believe in Jesus he's God almighty God became a man

100 God 100 man and Jesus declares if you believe in him whoever believes in me Jesus said if you would just believe in Jesus as the scripture has said out of his heart will flow rivers of Living Water how do you revive those dead places in your life believe in Jesus he's going to bring life there's going to come out of your heart where there's currently a drought there's going to be rivers of flowing water but you've got to go to God you cannot muster this up it's not about your will it's not even about your behavior it's about who Jesus is and believing that he's done what needs to be done you trust in Jesus you pray to Jesus you turn to Jesus at all times and

you ask him big bold powerful prayers you listen to the word of God and then you obey the word of God you do not take matters into your own hands the most natural thing to do in a drought is to do it yourself God if you're not going to provide the rain then I'm going to go find it has anyone ever played the role of God before you just take matters into your own hands I've asked you God but if you're not going to do it then I'm just going to do it myself there is only one God and it's not you God is God God is always good and everything is his it's at this point when the brook dries up in verse 8 then

the word of the Lord came to him then the word of the Lord came to Elijah it came after the brook dried up sometimes the greatest words come at the worst time sometimes you need to be open to listen to God even when it seems like it's over even when the brook dries up then the word of the Lord came to Elijah this might be the time that he says I'm not going to listen because I don't like what you're doing God but this is the word that God gave to Elijah First Kings chapter 17 verse 9 arise arise go to Zarephath which belongs to sidon and dwell there I'm not just it's not just going to be a rest stop I want you to dwell there behold everyone say

behold behold I have commanded a widow there to feed you after a great length of time living in a ravine God says I want you to go to Zarephath I want you to go up north east up by the water I want you to go to this Phoenician region that's normally known as a place of abundance as a place of Celebration a place of wine and grain abounds but there's a drought he goes from isolation and Ravine to now he's going to go to this city called Zarephath and when he gets to Zarephath God does not command him to go to the marketplace and he's going to get some coupons to get some free food he doesn't command him to go find the

richest man that lives up on the hill you'll know exactly who he is by the size of his house he says I want you to go find a widow a widow really really because a widow would be the last person you would look for for provision I need you to go with me to the ancient Middle Eastern culture and the context and which this story takes place because this is a real story with real people this is a woman that lost her husband and widows at this age they were overlooked that once they lost their husbands they were marginalized in society because a woman was not educated a woman was not trained in any particular trade so when her husband

died she lost her identity she lost her provision so there's no way that a widow would be considered a provider much like the raven widows would be scavengers they would have to go wherever the food was they would have to do whatever needed to be done they would have to work hard and then at this time this widow's Garden was not giving her any vegetables the fig trees had no fruit there were no grapes on the vine the marketplace shut down so she couldn't even go there to beg and of all the people in the world that Elijah is going to get provided from God uses the most unlikely of person a widow

now if you've ever wondered I'm not sure if God can use anyone like me I want you to turn to the scriptures and see that God will use whomever he chooses you just got to be willing to be used by God it is never too late with God oh my God loves the underdog it just makes his story even greater if we had it all figured out then it certainly wouldn't be faith and when it seems like you've lost it all when it seems to be no hope I'm here to tell you God can use you and when God uses you he will provide for you sometimes a widow just has to find her own way but what we're going to see is the greatest Miracle happens when you don't have a way when you're uncertain what God's going

to do in your life and your suffering might right now might just be the Catalyst for something much greater so God gives a word to Elijah I want you to go to Zarephath I want you to find a widow I wonder what would happen at this point if you're Elijah in the story has God ever asked you to go someplace unusual and to do something unlikely I'm talking uncomfortable let's go even further unreasonable God this just doesn't make sense and if you've ever found yourself in that position today I'm going to challenge you God's going to give you a word to do something unreasonable here's what Elijah did unlike Jonah that tried to go the other way it says in first king 17 verse 10 Elijah was a man of Faith he took God at his

word even when it seemed unreasonable or unusual so Elijah arose and went to Zarephath and when he came to the gate of the city this is the coming in and the going out everyone would come in through this gate behold everyone say behold behold a widow God did exactly what he said he would do lo and behold Elijah shows up in Zarephath and a widow was there Gathering sticks not food she was gathering wood and Elijah called to her and said bring me a little water in a vessel that I may drink remember there's a drought water is precious commodity water is life he asked for a cup of water and in the very next verse 11 and as she was going she did what he asked for this woman is honoring Elijah as she was going to bring it he called

to her and said oh and bring me a morsel of bread in your hand here's a widow who's collecting Wood Elijah greets her we we don't have the interaction we're just getting the sound bites we're getting the snippet this is just this is The Abridged version this is a highlight reel Elijah comes into Zarephath he sees a widow it's clear she's a Widow by what she's wearing what she looks like the fact that she's all alone and she's collecting wood which is abnormal for a widow to do and of all the places at the gate and the first thing he says is hey get me some water and oh by the way can I I get a cinnamon roll as well come on somebody like just he sometimes when God asks you to do something unreasonable now it's up to

you to act in obedience it's one thing to hear the word of God it's another thing to believe the word of God it's a whole nother thing to act in obedience if you're going to trust God you've got to obey God and when you obey God it's going to show in your actions the first thing Elijah does is he shows that he believes God's word and asking for water and then he goes even further by showing us what kind of great God we have I don't just want water I want some bread as well because it's been a day or two since I've seen a raven I was in the Ravine I was provided for By Ravens but now God said he's going to do something new the brook dried up so I'm no longer going to get water from the place God said but now I'm going to get it from a new place that God said and it's going to be through you and I'm going to go even further I want some bread

God gave a word to Elijah and he did it if you want to see God work in your life do what God says don't just hear God's word obey God's word his actions are rooted in obedience I want to warn you obedience is never easy it's never easy and this is what she said to Elijah in verse 12 and she said as the Lord your God lives let's just stop there he's he's in the Phoenician Valley this is not the place where Yahweh is worshiped as the one true God the name Elijah's we learned last week means my God is Yahweh which means the Lord my God is the true Lord there's only one God and he's my God and his name is Yahweh and now she points to

him I imagine this with her finger and she says as as your God lives as the Lord your God I know you're a man of God I know he said that a widow would provide for you I don't know if you've ever felt like man God you're doing so much work in other people's lives but I'm not so sure about my life as your God Lives as as the Lord your God Lives I have nothing baked someone shout nothing nothing I have nothing I have nothing based I can't go get you some bread I have no bread I've got nothing baked I've got nothing baked only a handful of flour in a jar and a little oil in a jug

and now just so you know what I'm doing I'm gathering a couple of sticks that I may go in prepare for myself and my son that we may eat it and die I Love This Woman's response we have a core value here at Journey Church you learn this in growth track to be relentlessly real this woman is real without being Reckless I think if this was an American woman an American Widow this would have been different she would have said something like this you got two legs you go get yourself some water who am I to go get you some bread I don't even have bread myself there would be a little bit of a comparison there would be an

acknowledgment let me tell you my opinion because you're giving me your opinion that you want something of me but let me just go ahead and explain to the world okay Facebook let me just tell you what's happening right now I'm expecting you all to affirm me through through some likes or comments or something here but here's a woman that just gets relentlessly real and says here here's the reality I was gonna go get you some water it was my last water now you ask for bread I don't even have bread in fact what I have is not enough for you and me it's barely enough for me and my son I'm trying to provide for him because that's what a widow does she finds a way and when we eat our last meal we're gonna die because this is what typically happens in a drought the devil is a liar and he wants to tell you the way out is

death this is going to end in death that's why the spirit of suicide is a lie of the devil and if you don't fight the good fight and get into God's word and have the abundance of life in your heart the devil will tell you this is the best route it is not the best route hear me out God loves you and your suffering is just the beginning of greater things to come when it looks like it's over to the whole world even your own heart I'm here to tell you the miracle is coming don't give up don't give up on God don't give up on who you are because God is faithful in fact the most common attribute of God is the Hebrew word has said which is his steadfast kindness steadfast he does not change he's always God he's always good so if you have the lie that suicide is an option you

declare it and you rebuke it in your mind that is not of God I will not receive it get out of my head get out of my house I believe God's word I don't need to die today I know I don't have anything well she says she has has nothing have you ever thought you had nothing but the reality is you had something you just didn't have what you want in fact you could say this I don't have what I want I don't have what I need in fact all I have is a little just a little but a little with God is enough a handful in the hand of God is enough it's enough it's enough or just tell your neighbor you have enough just just tell your neighbor tell a stranger come on somebody hey it's

enough come on it's enough it's enough it's enough come on somebody hey you've got to learn to preach God's word to yourself I know this just seems like an ancient story but this woman is real in fact she's not even defined by a name she's defined by her circumstances as a widow because if we're not careful we'll have a pity party and we'll just think this is who I am but if you just put a handful in the hands of God he's a multiplying God it's not up to you to figure out where it's going to come from it's not up to you to figure out how it's going to be multiplied I remember one story in the Bible where Jesus was in front of thousands of people and the disciples said to Jesus hey Jesus these guys are getting angry you got to send the crowds home

it's getting late it's far from food we need to send them home and Jesus turned to his students and says you feed them now this was just the tests now in the normal way of life the test would go like this this is how you answer the test we don't have enough to feed them and a normal teacher would say that's correct let's send them home but Jesus said you feed them and the disciples tried to give all the same answers we'd give today we don't have enough money it would take a Year's worth of salary to pay all the to pay for all the food for these people we don't have enough I've got nothing Jesus Oh but I did find this little boy with a Happy Meal it fits in my hand there's there's five barley loaves of bread which is a Poor Boy's bread and two fish probably sardines salted so they don't get old

we've got this Jesus but that's it Jesus says great put it in my hands put in my hands after giving thanks what does Jesus do he breaks it what happens when he breaks it it multiplies you look at Jesus breaking it right now I was like oh no there it there it goes and then it just keeps coming and it keeps coming and he breaks it and it keeps coming and it keeps coming and it keeps coming until all the people were satisfied it won't multiply until it's in the hands of Jesus you might think you don't have enough but once you give it to him you see that he is God and you are not he's always good everything is his and something happens when you trust him with all you have and she says all I have is a handful of flour that's it that's all I have

and what I've discovered in my life is if all you have is a handful God is going to teach you a lesson because if you had enough right now you would think you did it you would think somewhere in the story that you make yourself the Savior and somehow you're smarter than you are or stronger than you are but that's not faith faith is not seeing it faith is believing that God's going to do it and I'm going to act on it very rarely does God send you a treasure chest and says here's everything you need so many people play the lottery just with a a prayer and a dream God if you give me this I'm gonna give you half you look in America more people pray in the lottery than they do at church it's a lie I know you're hoping for that chance but

I'm telling you there's a better chance of you giving God your handful of flour than you taking a risk with what you have hoping that somehow God's going to bless you that way you ever played the lottery there's no shame in that I played it too but I will tell you when you trust in God there are greater odds that he's going to show up than the government so don't think that somehow the government's going to bless you because you've been faithful to them it's better to be faithful to God and see what God's going to do when he shows up [Music] [Applause] and when the droughts come which the droughts do come I don't know why we're always surprised when the economy takes a a turn or all of a sudden something happens and someone walks out in our lives I don't know about you but I've thrown up my hands so many times said really God but just if you just get into this book

you're going to see you're not alone God is just getting you ready for something greater the Lord has spoken to me the last few years through Isaiah 43 Verse 18 and 19 when the Lord speaks to his people and says remember not the former things nor consider the things of old let's just pause right there God is telling his people don't look back here's why if you look back you're going to fantasize about what the past was like oh remember those good old days don't you remember those good old days oh when life was normal and everybody was good and all the economy was always good oh remember the good old days at Journey Church when we were small oh it was so much better when we knew everybody's name oh oh remember the good old days but I'm

here to tell you the Bible says remember not the good old days because the best days are still ahead and if you're living in the good old days you're going to miss what God's gonna do remember not the former thing I can imagine Elijah he could easily have been said where's those Ravens God where's the I remember those good old days I was fed bread and meat twice a day Kings don't even get meat twice a day but Elijah got meat twice a day remember those good old days but verse 19 says this behold everyone shall behold behold God says I am doing a new thing oh now it Springs forth do you not perceive it lean into the Lord listen oh I know it looked like it was over when there was a worldwide pandemic it looked

like it was over when you got the divorce it looked like it was over when he died it looked like it was over when your bank account got so low it was just a handful of flour and a little bit of oil but do you not perceive it I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert Rivers represent life God's going to do it provision does not come in your life because you have enough it's because God is still Jehovah Jireh which means the Lord provider he's going to do it so she gives an excuse I've got no bread to give you I've got nothing and Elijah then said to her in verse 13 Elijah said to her do not fear would you say that with me do not fear it is the most commandment from God to his people do not fear in the middle of the storm

Jesus would look around and say do not fear when the disciples locked the doors because they were afraid of uncertainty Jesus would step through the wall and say do not be afraid oh when you're having to go against Giants God would tell Joshua be strong and courageous the word of God to you today is despite your circumstances no matter what you're going through no matter how much you have in the face of uncertainty you should hold on with your faith to the unwavering faithfulness of God do not fear go God says act in obedience go now what does Elijah say to go do oh there's a little bit of satire here go and do as you have said

make the fire but first make me a little cake of it and bring it to me and afterward make something for yourself and your son it almost sounds like Elijah saying listen you can go and die but first make me a cake everyone say but first but first before you make a decision that you should not make hear the word of God but first before you go do something you should not do but first would you at least try what would it harm you just to hear God's word and do God's word for thus says the Lord in verse 14 for thus says the Lord the god of Israel the

jar of flowers shall not be spent the jug of oil shall not be empty until the day that the Lord sends rain upon the Earth and your deepest Valley in your driest drought do not fear God's going to do something that you can't explain please don't go ask your parents or your in-laws about this because it won't make sense in fact if you think about it too long you might not even act in obedience because faith is certainly not having it figured out but it's the hope that if I do what God says to do then he's going to show up and everything in you the devil's going to accuse you and say you're a widow

you're not able to do this don't you understand this there's a drought don't you understand who you are the devil is such a deceiver he wants to slip into your mind and get you to believe not God's word but his lying word and he's only come to steal and kill and destroy what God is doing in your life but Jesus said I've come to offer them life and life abundantly that if you would just believe in Jesus out of your heart's gonna flow rivers of Living Water you can't see it now but God's going to make a way don't look back to what he did before because he's doing a new thing This Woman's got the opportunity to act and obey or run away come on quick pull how many of you would run away you selfish no good prophet

you want me to make you a cake first I'm going to tell everyone on Facebook I'm going to give you a one star on Yelp this is ridiculous make you a cake before my son and I get do you understand how long I picked up wood to make this fire look at what she does in verse 15 we're almost done don't miss this and she went and did she went and did come on turn to your neighbor say just do it just do it come on I know that sounds like Nike but she did it first just do it come on just do it somebody just do it just do it somebody over here just do it and she did it look at look at her and she went and did as Elijah said

sometimes you do something crazy with faith here's what you get to see and she and he that's Elijah and her household that's her son ate for many days many days many days remember back in the day where she said we're gonna have one meal and die y'all remember that pity party you threw for yourself a while back this is why you got a journal so that in a few years from now you could look back and be like man I was pretty whiny wasn't I I'm gonna eat this cake and die you gotta write this down right now God's going to provide for you for many days you may not see it now but give it to God look at verse 16. the jar of flour was not spent neither did the jug of oil

become empty according to the word of the Lord according to the word of the Lord this is why you hold to the word of God my friends according to the word of the Lord that he spoke by Elijah what would have happened if she didn't do it she would have missed the miracle I don't know how many miracles I've missed in my life because I've been disobedient I've come to a place in my life that I'm learning to live a lot more like Elijah and I love it someone asked me recently are we doing this generosity initiative because journey is hurting because of money but we're not hurting because of money we just have bigger dreams than we have money we are not in debt the only debt we have is a mortgage and that's arguable whether or not it's a debt or not but

what I'm believing is we're going to pay that mortgage off it's not because we don't have money it's because we're believing greater things I was reminded this morning I have an office on the second story of this building do you know where our fourth and fifth graders have their Journey kids church in our offices we have to take we have to take a tablecloths and put them on the paper cutter so the kids don't cut off their hands for church on the last Sunday of the month we do Journey kids store where they bring Journey bucks from showing up and bringing their Bibles and bringing friends we want to reward them it's a it's showing them stewardship early how to take care of those things and the journey store is over all the desks of the pastors you go up there you're going to see

candy and Squishy Mellows and all sorts of goodies listen listen we are doing more because our kids deserve more than that these kids are going up right now they don't even understand that they're in the Ravine right now being provided for By Ravens but there's going to come a moment where that Brook dries up and we'll say there's going to be something new God's gonna do a new thing he's constantly doing a new thing don't get comfortable God constantly constantly uses Journey Church well we don't boast about it we're constantly helping people out with their rent we're constantly helping organizations throughout our city doing things that we couldn't do on our own we help fan anytime fan has called this church that's the the family was that Advocate advocacy network uh we we've

partnered with fan for for more than a decade at this church if there's a need of a child in a school and fan calls us we'll help we give to homeless shelters and we give to uh to to food Outreach we do the things that we can't do we write a check for we don't come in front and boast well this week this is what we gave some people want us to do that but often we have such a limited time on what we can share on Sundays we just want you to know the good news of Jesus as in that time that we might focus on these things we're not going to go into all the depth of everything that we do in just a month from now there's a team of us going to Uganda for the first time since the pandemic we've got a sister Church there last summer we helped start a church in iganga Uganda now you may not know where that is but

it's a city that's that's mainly populated with Muslims there's not a great movement of Jesus in that City Journey Church you started that in iganga and I get to go preach there in a month we're doing this together I know it may sound weird and there's there's a there's a tension with with Africa because I'll tell you if God is going to do anything it will be on the continent of Africa but the enemy knows that and he's taken over most of that continent he suppressed that that entire continent through through poverty through lies through corruption and we get to be a part of it now I'll tell you the Lord just keeps telling me Ollie we are are Ravens who are we we're nobody but God loves to take nobodies and make

them somebody not because they are somebody but because he's everything God is God God is good I I rarely talk about this one but I'll just say we send thousands of dollars a year to Israel to evangelize Jewish people that have yet to believe in Jesus as their Messiah we believe that God has a special plan for the people of Israel the Jewish people we believe that that land is special because God declared it and we're going to do more but I want you to put this in a personal application whether you see yourself as Elijah or you see yourself as a widow who would have thought that God would use a church-like journey who would have thought you go back to my childhood I should be a statistic I should either be in prison right now or I should have many kids

from many different women one one of those statistics would say a kid like me should not stand up on a platform and be a preacher but who would have thought when God came down to this earth people were looking for the Messiah it didn't look like Jesus who would have thought who would have thought that when Jesus would do signs and wonders and make a blind man see he would start by spitting in the dirt making a mud pie and rub it in his eye and say if you really want to see if you can see obey me and go wash off you can believe but now there's got to be an act of obedience who would have thought who would have thought that that Jesus would be a defender of the adulterer who would have thought that God would do what he does over and over who would have thought

that fishermen Tax Collectors a political Zealot would be the ones Jesus would choose to be on his dream team who would have thought that Lazarus after he died would have to act in obedience when Jesus called his name Lazarus I don't know about you but if I've been dead for a few days I may not listen to the one calling my name Lazarus was dead he had to get out of that tomb wrapped up like a mummy they had to unwrap him it says when he came out of that tomb could you imagine read that story it's in John what is it John chapter 11. Jesus says unwrap him I can imagine he's going um he wasn't thinking he was going to talk again

and then after Jesus brought him back to life what the religious people want to do to him kill him that's what religious people want to do when God moves in unusual ways do you know this church we're almost 14 years old in February I got to stop with the whole who would have thought but you know when we started this church we got criticized from day one it's probably because the only marketing we did was on on people that don't go to church and then we put a billboard we only had one billboard and we decided to put it right in the stars parking lot that's the strip club in town and all I put on that billboard was the naked truth with our website that's all I put that's a true story and do you know the only negative the only negative criticism I heard from were Christians I get Negative you're not a church I'll tell you why you're

not a church even to this day I hear some of the weirdest things from people about Journey Church so if you're going to call Journey Church home I've got to warn you we are weird who would have thought and we do weird things but I am believing like Elijah like I've never believed before last week we prayed on Sunday night for a woman who's going into surgery who refused cancer and radiation because she didn't want to put the poison in her body we pray that she'd be cancer-free she had surgery on a Wednesday her oncologist called her on Sunday night at 5 pm at Pursuit night when she's coming to church here and said oh by the way it's not cancer wait we just prayed that a week earlier who would have thought that you would ask God and he would actually do it and as we step into this two-year

generosity initiative what we're asking you to do and I need you to hear me clearly on this we're just asking you to pray about your role pray about who you are if you take offense to me talking about money money has probably become your God Paul warned Timothy he said the Love of Money the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil if you don't want to give in this generosity initiative that's up to you I'm not going to call you and be like why didn't you give we're not going to check you at the door but what I am going to say is when you go through growth track we try to to teach this it's not as they it's we we do this together

why are they doing it we are doing this together we're going to flip upside this city until every soul is saved by Jesus that's what we're gonna do and you get to be a part of that you get to say God all I have is a handful of flour and a little bit of oil I'm not sure what you're going to do with it but I'm going to trust you in it I'm going to believe you in this let me just share something with you before we close the service then I want to ask you today if you've never believed in Jesus today is your day you know the Bible says in the book of second Corinthians that there's no better day to be saved today is the day of salvation which means this don't wait for another day because you're not promised another day today is the day the Bible never says go get your life right first then you can follow Jesus it's the opposite is you can come as you are before Jesus and when you believe in him you get the greatest inheritance you're forgiven of all your sins

you get the hope of Heaven you now get to follow Jesus as a Lord and a savior of your life and if you've never done that in just a moment I'm going to ask you but before we do that you know we've put a lot of prayer and a lot of work into this these numbers aren't arbitrary this 11.6 million dollars we're raising what we've said is you've actually gotta pay the bills that you're paying now like like rent and the lights electricity we've got to do all those things but in addition to that what we're also wanting to do is expand our ministry so that our kids can actually get classrooms we can expand this Auditorium so you can invite more friends and then what we're trying to do is secure our future so that we can be positioned to do some things in the city that have never been done in fact I'm believing for our state for the Pacific Northwest we've declared war on the devil so we

can't dream big enough God is able to do far more abundantly than all we ask or think through the power at work within us to him be the glory through the church so statistics have shown over the last 30 years when churches have done initiatives like this in the past if you were to look at a church our size and say how are we going to raise this type of money to do this over the course of two years remember this is two years so when you commit to this you're saying over the course of two years I'll commit to to this pledge that could be once a month for 24 months that could be twice a month so that'd be 48 different times you give it could it could be every other month it depends on you how that works with you but what you're saying is what am I currently giving God I want to expand that I want to grow

in it and then furthermore do I have any resources do I do I have a stock or cryptocurrency do I have a Family Trust some of you are holding on to 20 pieces of land that's just sitting there maybe you would sell two or three pieces of the land and say God I want to give you this land it's yours as an offering that's a stored resource some of you might have a boat or a trailer that you don't use I a stored resource could look different for each and every one of us kids really understand this when they look at their toys and they see God's goodness they say I have too many toys I'm going to sell this and give it to God it's amazing what God's doing through our journey kids church but here's what statistics have shown us let me just show you a chart really quick if we were to all give and by the way if you want this chart we'll give you one today or if you're watching online you can go to

journeyandbend.com more and there's PDFs and there's videos of everything we're doing here but this chart looks something like this and it's up on the screen right now well here's what statistics have shown if you look at the top of the chart statistics would tell us that 15 families are going to give at least 40 percent of this giving 15 families will give at least 40 percent of the 11.6 million dollars now let's just start with the top one there's someone in our church that's able to give a million dollars over the next two years I know you're thinking right away it's not me we've never gotten a million dollar gifted Journey ever in fact if I was to look at the course of two years I don't know if anyone's ever given a million over the course of two years but someone is able

and the first thing we typically do in something like this is say well what am I able to do now it's not what are you able to do what does God want to do through you and maybe you're here today and you know it's you got tens of a million what's what's given a million maybe you've got a family trust that you're able to do this or whatever the case might be but someone's going to lead the way only one person then you'll see the next one is six hundred thousand there's two households in here that are able to give 600 000 over the course the next few years now some of you are looking at numbers like that saying who has money like that I'll tell you typically who it is those who God has gifted with spiritual gifts of generosity and some of those people don't even know that that's a gift you're not holding babies in there because you don't love babies but you are a great business person and God actually used your life

so that you would actually expand to the kingdom so if you have the gift of generosity or the resources or you're able to do this let me tell you we are better together you may not hang out with teenagers or hang out with kids or lead a small group but let me tell you you can do something then the list goes on you can see there's three three hundred thousand dollar givers for 250 000 and the list goes on now let me just go to the bottom of the chart can we go to the bottom of the chart typically this is what happened for most of us we start at the bottom and we see that man there's at least 180 families that need to give three thousand dollars over the course of two years now if you divide that out you can look at your charts at what that's going to be per month and most of you can do that because you're spending more than that at Dutch Brothers or Starbucks literally if you were to look at the course of two years right now if you go out to dinner twice in a week you're

probably making that up in I mean food right now is just crazy like what used to be a hundred dollars at the grocery store is now like a thousand dollars it's it's crazy I understand that what I'm asking you to do is to do what our family's doing which is to pray about it now I would say don't start at the bottom and move your way up start at the top and move your way down now today we're not collecting an offering we're not even collecting commitment cards we're going to do this on October 8th we're going to do an advance of this on Sunday night on October 1st but what I'm asking you is to write these things down pray about it and bring it before God statistics show that if you truly prayed over this between now and October 8th this this is what studies would say you're going to change your number four times four times some of you are like they're not I want to pray

that means God's going to ask me do more let me just let me finish with this Paul when he's writing to the church listen carefully to this second Corinthians 9. verses six through eight talks about financial giving the point is this whoever so sparingly will also reap sparingly you want a small miracle don't trust God greater you want a great miracle whoever sows bound to flee will also reap bound to flee each one must give as he's decided in his heart not reluctantly or under compulsion for God loves a cheerful Giver that word cheerful and Greek could be translated it's Hilario it's translated in our English as hilarious Giver God loves it when you hilariously say everything is yours God I do trust you with all that I have when people look at you and say are you crazy you say absolutely I want to do this for

the Lord you see this is not a Prosperity message or gospel this is a trusting God with everything gospel this is everything is his look at verse 8 and God is able someone shout Abel he's able to make all grace abound to you so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times you may abound in every good work I want to remind you Hebrew it says in verse 10 who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the Harvest of your righteousness if you want to grow in your faith you've got to give God everything including your money I'm not here to tell you how much that money is this is not equal amounts I'm not saying everyone give the same amount this is equal sacrifice that God I want

to give you everything my mind my heart my past my future I'm gonna give you everything God you have authority over every area of my life you are Lord You Are God and even if it seems unreasonable water and bread but I don't have enough just see what God will do I'm not saying it's easy I'm just saying it's going to be worth it I don't know when I don't know how this is not well you give to the church and check your bank account sometimes he sends Ravens sometimes he sends widows you own a business sometimes it will be through new employees sometimes I can't tell you but he will bless you he's gonna do it that's what kind of a God we have in the seriousness of Salvation right now that eternity is real would you just turn your heart to God through prayer would you close your eyes

today if you've never believed in Jesus this is the most important thing you could do is say yes to Jesus say I believe because when you say yes to Jesus he gives you the gift of Salvation in fact God gives you himself the Holy Spirit you may not have it all figured out but there is power when God comes into your life and it starts with a prayer if you want to receive Jesus today would you just slip up your hand all the eyes are closed just between you and the Lord put your hand up and say yes to Jesus praise God I see those hands back there anyone else praise God so proud of you anyone else in your heart you want to be assured that if you were to die today you actually would start living you get the hope of Salvation anyone else praise God we got some men stepping up today saying

yes to the Lord God is faithful he's going to do more than you can even dream I don't want to miss this moment if you're here today and you want to receive Jesus to be the savior of your sins just throw up your hand right now saying yes yes praise God it is never too late yes praise God you're never too young well like you put your hands down let's pray together out loud anyone that's ever prayed this prayer before let's join in those doing it for the first time I want to keep it simple because God just he doesn't need eloquent words he just needs us to be real say Lord Jesus I trust you forgive me of my sins today I hope in you thank you for salvation thank you for hope in Jesus name we pray

amen and amen and amen