Sermon Central
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"Sowing Seeds Of Service”
Contributed by Ricardo Rodriguez on Jul 16, 2009 (message contributor)
Summary: II Cor 9:7 “7Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver.”
“Sowing Seeds of Service”
12/30/2007 – Marsing, ID, 5/24/2009 – Nampa, ID
Ricardo Rodriguez – Pastor_rr@yahoo.com
II Cor 9:7
“7Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver.”
“Cada uno dé como propuso en su corazón: no con tristeza, ó por necesidad; porque Dios ama el dador alegre.”
The seeds for the Kingdom of God are not silver and gold.
The fields of the treasure valley are ready. The potatoes, onions, wheat, sugar beets and other fruits of the field have been planted for a season of plenty.
God has blessed in times before and our prayer is that God will bless us this year 2009.
It has been a blessing to have sowers (Antepasados/Patriarchs) among us who have sown their seeds before us. OUR SPIRITUAL FOREFATHERS, (PATRIARCAS).
Exo 20:12
“Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.”
“Honra á tu padre y á tu madre, porque tus días se alarguen en la tierra que Jehová tu Dios te da.”
Too many times we get excited about the new generation and we forget what those who have gone before us have suffered and struggled to have the benefits and commodities we now enjoy.
To have a Joshua we needed a Moses.
To have a David there was a Samuel.
To have a Timothy there was a Paul.
To have you and I here there were men and women who went before us!!
Too many times the younger generation despises the older and too many times the older generation looks down at the younger.
One generation always precedes another, but ALL ARE PRECIOUS in the eyes of God.
All those have planted for the Kingdom of God will receive their reward from the God who rewards all.
Whether we planted SCARCELY or we planted ABUNDANTLY we will reap what we have sown. We all planted, we all had some type of sowing.
The question remains, you sowed, but
What did you sow?
How did you sow?
How did you plant?
Paul writing to the Church of Corinth reminds them as we should be reminded:
“…God loves the cheerful giver…”
What do we GIVE/PLANT?
We plant when we speak.
We plant with our possessions.
We plant with our thoughts.
We plant with our actions.
We plant with our greetings.
We plant with our giving.
We plant with our testimony.
In all we do we plant.
Our planting here on earth is for reaping not onions or potatoes, but heavenly treasures.
“…thy Father, which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly. 19Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: 20But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: 21For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.”
You see when you plant on Earth, your wife, husband, father, brother, sister, may not appreciate what you have planted but remember we have a Father in heaven that SEES ALL AND KNOWS ALL, and not only sees the action, but the intention of our hearts.
Where is your heart?
Where is your treasure?
Where is your reward?
The truth is that we have all been entrusted by God with certain gifts and talents.
These seeds are seeds for the Kingdom of God.
Did Jesus say in vain? Matt 18:(7)10
“Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones; for I say unto you, That in heaven their angels do always behold the face of my Father which is in heaven.”
“Mirad no tengáis en poco á alguno de estos pequeños; porque os digo que sus ángeles en los cielos ven siempre la faz de mi Padre que está en los cielos.”
Paul wrote to the Corinthians:
II Cor 9:1
“For as touching the ministering to the saints, it is superfluous for me to write to you.”
“Porque cuanto á la suministración para los santos, por demás me es escribiros.”
There are a lot of things we can learn from the church of Corinthians. There were many problems and needs we could expound on, but their giving is noted here in this 9th chapter of II Corinthians.
The Church of Corinthians was a spontaneous and generous church. They knew how to plant their giving for the Kingdom of God.
You see when we plant here on earth our deposits are being made in heaven. If we could see our spiritual checkbook I wonder how many of us would be shocked. Some of us have been overdrawn and some of us have stocks beyond our understanding.
