The Widow of Zarephath | Against All Odds | Pastor Rob Koke | Shoreline Church | Message

(dramatic music) (dramatic music) (dramatic music) (dramatic music) (dramatic music) - Good morning, everybody. It's so good to have you. Welcome, welcome, welcome to Shoreline. And a huge shout out to all of you who are watching online from around the community, the state, the nation, and even in some cases around the world, we welcome you to our campuses here in Austin, Texas. Thank you so much for being a part of it. You know, if you're maybe like an ostrich and you got your head stuck in the sand, you probably are unaware of this, but most of you know, how can you not know, that we have an election coming up in just a couple of days on Tuesday, perhaps some of you have already voted. But I wanted to make sure that all of us are participating in the process. You know, as Christians, we need to have godly men and women who get engaged in the process. We need godly men and women to run for office and to lead with integrity. We need, you know, the body of Christ, kingdom-loving, minded people to get involved, to make sure that the right people are elected, that serve our community and do the best job that they can. And so, you know, sometimes I think maybe you're

a little bit like me and you look out at the landscape of people that are options to choose from. And there might be, you know, some flaws there. There might be, you know, somebody who is running for office and you don't necessarily feel like they've got everything that you're looking for. But the truth is, is that there are no perfect candidates, and just like there's no perfect churches, you don't have a perfect pastor, we're all a work in progress. But I want to encourage you, perhaps, to do what I do when it comes to elections. You know, I look at the candidates, I look at their history, I look at the policies that they're supporting. And I try not to think about it in terms of political party, what I really feel like is important is, is this a kingdom mindset? Is this a biblical value that I care about and I treasure that I want to see as a part of the community that I live in? So when I think about candidates, I think about, you know, you know, the sanctity of life and those who are most vulnerable and how will they be impacted by the decisions that are made? I think about the strength of the family, you know, is this a candidate that will make our family stronger? I grew up in a school that every single day, we, you know, did the pledge of allegiance, you know,

we pledge our allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, and with, you know, justice and liberty for all. So you think about some of those values, you know, like justice and liberty and who will best articulate that? Who will best live that out? And so I just want to encourage you, you know, to get involved in the process, to exercise your constitutional right, to cast your vote, we need to be involved in this process as sons and daughters of God, amen? All right, I appreciate that little grace that you've extended to me. We're going to stand to our feet. At the beginning of every single message, we recite a collection of phrases that we call our shoreline creed. It just helps to remind us that Christianity is all about grace. Last night, we had a fantastic time here at the church. We did our Trunkertreat program. And I think someone told me we gave out 90,000 pieces of candy this past, yeah, it was amazing, it was incredible. And, you know, sometimes people ask, well, why do you do something like that? Well, I heard a testimony yesterday that really, really touched me.

There was a gentleman who really felt like they needed to come back to church. And so four months ago, they started coming back to church. And someone asked them a person who's in our church that does business with this person, saw him at church and said, oh, you know, what brought you to shoreline? And he said, well, I've been going to the Trunkertreat thing for years and years and years. And I never even thought about coming to church, but then some things happened in my life where I knew I needed church. And that's the place I thought about going to. So isn't that a great testimony? That's one of the things that we do here at shoreline. Anyway, Lauren and I were there, and we don't normally get dressed up, Yeah, I don't even think that's legal. I don't think priests can-- anyway, it was fun. It was great. If you're new to shoreline with us here today, you can read along. The rest of us were going to say this with some enthusiasm and passion. You guys ready? Here we go. "I am loved by God. I cannot earn it. I cannot lose it. I am forgiven and made brand new.

In Christ, I live with passion and purpose. I am empowered by the spirit to be the church in the world and to live this love revolution." Come on, let's give God praise for that. You may be seated. So about seven years ago, my daughter and I, we wrote a book called "Prodigal Daughter." And it was our sincere desire to try to communicate the journey that she was on to find sobriety in her life. And we were very, very grateful for how it was received. Thousands of people have been touched by that book. And we're very gratified. But when we wrote the book, it went straight into COVID. So some of the marketing didn't get to where it needed to be. We were right on the verge of a film shoot that was going to really send the awareness of this book in a very significant way into our country. But it all kind of got shut down and the book's done well. But the other day, I was thinking, wouldn't it be great if somebody like Oprah read the book and then posted about it and it became an international bestseller? Wouldn't that just be amazing? Or maybe there's somebody sitting here today or watching online and you've got like a bazillion followers? Just go ahead and post about it. "Prodigal Daughter," Rob Koch, Danielle Jermaine are the authors and maybe got to work a miracle. It'd be awesome.

The reason why I bring that up is because you never know what kind of impact the right person can have on taking a story that might be languishing in obscurity and bring it to its rightful place. And that's exactly what happened in the Bible. There is a story. It's a good story. It's a beautiful story. It's filled with wisdom and drama and insight and just the human dynamics of life. It's kind of lost in the Old Testament. Perhaps it would have been overlooked. Maybe nobody would know about it, except the most popular, the most influential, the most followed person on the planet. And there isn't even a close second with billions and billions of followers throughout the generations of times. So we're talking way more than Rolando and Oprah and Taylor Swift and Justin Bieber, right? This is the most influential person in the entire world. He boosted this story. He posted about this story. He spoke about this story. Now, just to give you a little bit of perspective, when Jesus did his ministry here on Earth, there were 11 times that he referenced an Old Testament story. And you would think out of his whole ministry that it would have been a lot more than that.

But honestly, it's only 11 times that Jesus referenced an Old Testament story. And he referenced Adam and Eve. He referenced David and the showbread. He referenced Jonah and the whale. And one of these references that he made was the story that we're going to unpack today. Jesus took this story, lifted it out of obscurity, and gave it the kind of impact that God intended. We find Jesus' reference to this story in Luke chapter 4 and verse 26. It says, "Yet Elijah was not sent to any of them, but to a widow of zerapath in the region of Sidon, the widow of zerapath." Her story is the story we're going to unpack here this morning, and specifically, we're going to learn why Jesus boosted this story. It starts out with Elijah. Now, Elijah is one of the most significant prophets in the Old Testament. When Jesus was glorified on the top of the mountain of transfiguration, he was there and glorified with Elijah. We pick up the story here in First Kings, chapter 17 and verse five. So he did what the Lord told him. He went to Cara, Ravine, east of the Jordan and stayed there. The Ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning and bread and meat in the evening and he drank from the brook. So the Lord sent Elijah to this place

and he provided for Elijah. In a very unique and creative way, Ravens would bring him bread and meat in the morning and in the evening and he would actually get refreshed by drinking from the brook that was nearby. You could say that in this particular moment of Elijah's life, he's pretty comfortable. His life has a rhythm, his needs were met. Now we don't know how long that Elijah was in this place. We don't know if it was days or weeks or months, but it was a nice season for him. And you know what, if we think about our own lives, God does the same for us. He places us where he can provide for us. Maybe the job that you have, maybe that's an answer to prayer and God has you in that place and the resources that you earn from working your job, provides for the meals that you have in the morning and at night and brings refreshment to you in your life. And perhaps you're grateful for the fact that it's stable and there's a routine and you're appreciative. And when Thanksgiving rolls around here in a couple of weeks, you'll give God thanks for his provision in your life. Now this is not necessarily the main part of the story that we're gonna unpack today. It's actually the preamble or the introduction. Sometimes God feeds us from the same place and we drink from the same stream our entire lives.

Maybe there are some of you here today that have had the same job your entire life, but often there are transitions, aren't there? And God provides for us and we have a job for a number of years, perhaps it transitions to another job. Sometimes the brook that we're receiving water from dries up and that's exactly what happens here in First King Kings chapter 17 in this story with Elijah. Sometimes later the brook dried up because there had been no rain in the land. Then the word of the Lord came to him go at once to zerapath. Elijah was comfortable by the brook until he wasn't. These things rarely happen immediately, do they? Maybe Elijah got up one morning and he went to the brook and it used to be like a really strong stream that would cover the rocks and make its way downstream. But maybe he got up one day and a rock that was underwater the day before is maybe just showing itself for the first time. And maybe he goes out the next day and that rock is not in the water, it's on dry land. And he's just noticing that the water is getting less and less and less and maybe it happens over a week and maybe it happens over a month, maybe a few months, but this stream, this brook is getting less. Now, sometimes you don't know whether it's just a week or a month and it's going to go back to its full strength. That's why we can't give up. Maybe you're in a situation where it looks like the stream is a little bit less than what it used to be. Maybe you're a business owner and the income

is a little bit less than what it used to be or perhaps the expenses are a little bit more and it's creating some financial challenge. You don't want to give up because you know what? God can turn it around. But in this particular case, a week became a month and a month became multiple months and Elijah realizes that this brook is not coming back. This brook is drying up. And sometimes the brooks dry up in our lives, don't they? A company down sizes, a business model becomes obsolete, a reliable stream of income disappears. Sometimes the brook dries up relationally. Maybe there's a friendship that you've treasured and that person moves to a different town or somehow your social circle shifts. Sometimes it happens emotionally or physically that the brook dries up. but lately it just feels like that energy isn't what it used to be, and it was slow at first, but maybe there's something going on in your health that's causing you to recognize that perhaps the brook is drying up in that area. We don't like the brook drying up, do we? None of us do. We don't like change. We don't like being uncomfortable. And this is where we got to learn to truly trust in God. When the brook dries up, maybe, just maybe, God has a different plan for our lives. And that's what happened to Elijah. God had a different plan. He had to get him away from that spot where the brook was refreshing him and the ravens

were feeding him, he had to get him from that spot to a different spot. So the brook dries up. Then the word of the Lord came to him in verse 8 and 9, "Go at once to Zarepath." Something really special is going to happen in Zarepath. In fact, something so special that Jesus is going to pluck this particular story out of obscurity and magnify it to make an incredible impact. Sometimes the greatest impact that we will ever make in our lives comes after the brook dries up. I heard a story not too long ago about a chemical engineer at the 3M company, one of the largest contractors and companies in our country. This engineer was tasked with the research project to create a really strong adhesive that would bond materials together and it was targeted for the aerospace industry. And try as he could, he didn't succeed in creating the bond that they were looking for. In fact, by accident, he created something entirely different. Having that barely had any strength at all, it would only lightly attach to other substances. But its unique factor was that it would leave no residue and its stickiness could be applied over and over again. But nobody knew what to do with this particular product. They didn't know what to do with glue that barely stuck. And so they just put it on the shelf. Five years later, another chemical engineer at 3M, who happened to be a believer, was singing in the choir at his church. And he was frustrated by the fact that he would put a bookmark in the hymnal, but it would slide out of the pages and he would lose his spot. And then he thought about the glue that wasn't so sticky, the glue that no one had a use for, and he thought, "Well, maybe I can apply it to the back of my bookmark and it will stick into the hymnal, but then I can take it off. But because it wasn't too sticky, it wouldn't ruin the fragile pages of the hymnal." And so he went and got that glue and he applied it to some paper and he was so excited about it that he shared it with the other choir members and they said, "Wow, this is awesome."

Then one of the choir members wrote something on that piece of paper and took it off of the hymnal and restuck it on to a file of one of his friends and they knew they began to see the value of communicating with these notes that were sticky, that could be reapplied, and post-it notes were born that day. Post-it notes. These post-it notes that were a part of the 3M Corporation became 25% of their profit margin. And now every single year, 50 billion post-it notes are produced every year, 50 billion. Their greatest breakthrough came out of the brook drying up. And I tell you that story to tell you that I don't care how strong that stream is or if that stream is just a trickle, the Lord has something incredible in store for you. Your best days are ahead of you. God has a wonderful plan for your life. So don't let fear grip your heart. Don't be anxious. Don't be afraid of change. Sometimes the brook dries up and I'm here to tell you that God has something better. Now we get to the main part of the story. Then the word of the Lord came to him saying, "Arise and go to Zara Path," which belongs to Sidon, and dwell there, "See, I have directed "a widow there to provide for you." So he arose and went to Zara Path, and when he came to the gate of the city, indeed, a widow was there gathering sticks. Why would this particular story, out of the hundreds, if not thousands of stories and vignettes available to Jesus from the Old Testament, why would this particular story stand out? Why would he choose this story? Well, I think for two reasons.

Reason number one is because he wanted to foreshadow that his grace was for all people. He wanted to put the seed of a story in the Old Testament that would tell of his grand design to bless everyone. God is about to work an incredible miracle in this woman's life, but she's an outsider. She's a foreigner. She is not one of the daughters of Israel. So when Jesus begins his ministry thousands of years later, he's in a synagogue and he opens up the Bible and he begins to talk about why he is on planet Earth and he turns to the passage in Isaiah chapter 61. It's recorded here in Luke chapter 4. He begins to tell the people why he's here. And he says, "The spirit of the Lord is upon me because he has anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor. He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted and to proclaim the liberty to the captives and the recovery of sight to the blind and to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord." So he opens up this book, the book of Isaiah chapter 61, and he tells the people why he's here, to proclaim liberty, to set the captives free. Now he knows that these words are going to cause a firestorm because the hard-headed and closed-minded people that he was speaking to that day could not even imagine or conceive for a moment that God would be interested in any group of people outside of their small little click. He knows that what he's about to say

is going to wreck their world. I put up a chart here for you to see, you know, the emotions that's taking place in the room when Jesus stood up and read that script's reverse. So it starts out, you could see the chart, right? In verse 16, he reads Isaiah 61. In verse 20, every eye in the room is upon him. And you know what, there's some good vibes happening. Verse 22, "Everybody spoke well of him." Verse 24, he says, "No prophet is welcome in his own hometown." And then he tells the story about a widow and zerapat, and then name in the sirene, and everyone in that room becomes furious, so furious, in fact, that they want to throw him off the edge of a cliff. But Jesus was adamant with his message. He didn't give in for even a moment. He said, "My grace and my love, and I'm here on this earth, "and it's not just for you. "It's for everyone. "It's the same reason why God sent Elijah to the widow "at zerapat, because he wanted everyone to know "that his plan was to have compassion on all people, "every tribe and tongue. "His love and his grace is for all." Isn't that amazing? Think about it for a moment. The brook dries up. That made Elijah uncomfortable. That was not a good day in Elijah's life. Things are going to change.

Things got a shift. Nobody likes change. He didn't like change. But God initiated all of that, because he was setting up an illustration that Jesus, his own son, was going to use to communicate his love for all people. Talk about mind-blowing. Amazing. not just to communicate about His amazing grace for everyone, but to illustrate the power of generosity. Arise, the Lord said, "Go to Zarepath, which belongs to Zion, and dwell there. See, I have directed a widow there to provide for you." Isn't it interesting that the Lord tells Elijah that he, God, has commanded or directed a widow to provide? So I don't want you to think that this is somehow a profit-taking advantage of a woman who's got some financial need. This is God's idea to illustrate how He works in the world. And He said to Elijah, "There is a woman. She might be reluctant. She might be unexcited about the prospect. She might be a little bit timid or afraid. But there is something about her. And I just want you to know that she'll do it if you ask her." Verse 10, "Then He called to her and said, "Please bring a little water in a cup that I may drink. This is now Elijah talking to the woman. And as she was going to get it, He called out to her and said, "Please bring me a morsel of bread in your hand."

This is God showing Elijah, the widow, and now thousands of years later, every single one of us, the power of generosity. Elijah is asking this woman to become a giver. In verse 12, so she said, "As the Lord your God lives." That's kind of an important phrase in this particular story. The Lord your God, she does not say the Lord our God or the Lord my God, she's not a believer, she's not a follower, she's an outsider, she's a foreigner. And this is what she says, "I do not have bread, only a handful of flour in a bin and a little oil in a jar and see. I'm gathering a couple of sticks that I may go in and prepare it for myself and my son that we may eat of it and then die." She's a reluctant giver. The truth is, I think you can divide the entire planet into people who give and people who don't. And then if you were to take the group of those who do give, you can probably divide them into two groups, those who are reluctant givers and those who are cheerful givers. Now if you have been a Christian for any length of time, you'll know that that is how God wants to mature every single one of us. He wants every single one of us to be cheerful givers. In 2 Corinthians chapter 9 and verse 7, it says that God loves a cheerful giver. Let that penetrate into your heart and into your mind this morning. God loves, God delights in. This is what God really wants to see happen in every single one of us that we would become cheerful givers. And why do cheerful givers give cheerfully? Well, cheerful givers give because they know that God owns it all. That's the shift that has taken place in their minds and in their hearts. They know that God is the owner of all things. In Psalm 24 and verse 1, "The earth and everything in it belongs to the Lord."

That means that God owns me and all that I have. Everything that you have in your life, you have received as a gift of God's grace. And I know that might be hard for some of you to come to grips with, but it's true. Some of you might be saying, "You know what, no, I don't think that's true. I worked hard for what I have. I started this company or I went to school. I got this education or I worked 40 hours, 50 hours a week for this company or that company." You know, when I think about the resources I have, I earn them. What do you mean God gave that to me? What do you mean that God is the author of all good gifts? And I would have to say, if that's the way you think, who gave you the brain to think with, who gave you the health in your body to work with, who gave you the creative ideas, who allowed you to live in Texas, which everyone knows is the greatest state in the greatest country in the world. come to grips with that. Cheerful givers give because they know it's an act of worship. They understand that they are completely indebted to a God who has forgiven them of their sins and given them a brand new identity, that they're going to live this life in a relationship with God that they do not deserve, God by His grace has given to us what we could never merit on our own. So many people think, you know, you do good, you get good, you do bad, you get bad, but Christianity is, we did bad, he did good, and out of his good, we get good. And we come here to worship a God who has done for us what we could never do for ourselves. So you think about your work week and you're working 40 hours, a conscientious fully devoted follower of Jesus will say, you know what, I am so indebted. These first four hours of my week is by far a commitment I make to the Lord. He owns it all, but I conscientiously give what he has provided. Cheerful givers know that giving protects their hearts, that giving is something that you can do for yourself, it'll make you a better person. The people who are selfish and spend everything on themselves, it pollutes their heart, it

poisons their heart. Cheerful givers know that when they give, they're actually doing themselves a favor. And cheerful givers give because they know that establishing the kingdom of God is completely within how they value and see the world and they know that God is pleased. Deuteronomy chapter 8 and verse 18, and you shall remember the Lord your God for it is he who has given you the power to get wealth, why that he may establish his covenant. And cheerful givers know this too, you can't out give God, it's impossible. You give, he gives back and he's got a bigger shovel. Why do reluctant givers give? I just gave you a list of five reasons why cheerful givers give and there's probably a whole lot more. Why do reluctant givers give? Probably just one reason they desperately hold on to a promise. And Elijah said to her, "Do not fear and do as you have said, and make me a small cake from it first and bring it to me. And afterward, make some for yourself and your son, for thus says the Lord God of Israel, the bin of flower shall not be used up, nor shall the jar of oil run dry until the day that the Lord sends rain on the earth." So she went away and did according to the word of Elijah and he and her household ate for many days. The bin of flower was not used up nor did the jar of oil run dry according to the word of the Lord that he spoke through Elijah. And I don't want to point out the obvious, but she gave. She was reluctant. She was probably afraid. She was probably nervous. She probably struggled with the decision, but she did it. And there is a direct cause and effect relationship between giving and receiving. If you look at what really unfolded between Elijah and this woman, you'll see the story here.

You'll see it on this slide. Even before she moves or even before she gives, there's comfort, do not fear. Then there's the ask, make me a small cake first. Then in verse 14, there's the promise, the jar of flower will not be used up. Verse 15, there's the gift itself. She did as Elijah asked her to do. And then in verse 16, the jar of flower was never used up. It's an amazing story of God's ability to provide as we walk in obedience to him. The bin of flower was never used up, the jar of oil was never run dry. God met their need through the entire famine. She did the natural and God did the supernatural. She gave what she had. The Bible is pretty clear that God loves a cheerful giver. But maybe nobody starts out that way. Maybe the only way to become a cheerful giver is to start out as a reluctant giver. And maybe one of the reasons why you might be reluctant here this morning is because, like the widow, you look at what's in your hand and you don't think you've got enough to be a giver. I get that. I understand that. You don't feel like you have enough. And you feel like if you give what you have, you'll even be worse off. When I was a freshman in college, I took a huge step of faith because I didn't have enough money even for the first semester. I had enough money for the first half of the first semester. And I went to this Christian school

just trusting that God would do a miracle. I got there in August, but on October the 10th, the second half of my semester bill was due. I had $100 to my name. I was working jobs. I had all kinds of things in the fire to try to pay the bills. But I was $500 short. After all of my efforts doing everything I knew to do, I was $500 short. I had $100 to my name. And I felt like the Lord spoke to me and said, give what you have away. Plant what you have in the kingdom. And I imagine that my conversation with the Lord was similar to the emotions of what this woman was feeling. Lord, but listen, if I keep my $100, then I only need $400. If I give the $100 away, then I'm going to need $500. And I know that $500 might not seem like a lot of money to you, but back in the day when I was in school and when dinosaurs roamed the earth, $500 might as well have been $5 million. But I gave what I had, planted it as a seed, reluctant for sure. And then on October the 10th, when I needed that miracle breakthrough, I claimed that day, October 10th, in a private devotional moment as my miracle day. And on that day, not the day before, not even the day after, but on that day, I got a couple of notes from the business office saying that $650

had been placed on my account. All the bills are paid. Sometimes we're reluctant because we don't think we have enough. And I think sometimes we're reluctant because we think it's going to cost us. And let's be honest, anytime you give, in a way, it does cost you. You could take that money and spend it somewhere else. So anytime you're generous, anytime you're a giver, anytime you want to honor God with your resources, it is costing you in some form or fashion. Maybe you won't be able to take as many trips to Starbucks as you used to take. Or maybe you'll have to curb some of your hobbies, or maybe there's even real needs that are represented in your life. One day, David was wanting to offer something to the Lord. And someone came in and said, you know what? I'll provide the offering for you. And it was a very generous offer. A friend said, I'll step in. I'll provide the offering for you to honor the Lord with. And I'll never forget the words of David. He said, how can I give to God? That which costs me nothing. There was something about his giving that he knew had to cost him something. It had to be something that he gave from his heart. Isn't it interesting that we have a lot more confidence in the blood of Jesus to forgive us of our sins? We have a lot more confidence

and heaven being our home. We say, you know what, I'm relying on the blood of Jesus that when I die, I'm gonna stand before God in heaven and I am convinced that His blood, which was shed for me for the forgiveness of my sins, will gain me entrance into paradise. We're trusting God with the ultimate in our lives. Isn't it ironic that at times we can't trust Him with something as insignificant in comparison to our eternal salvation, our finances? David said, I'm not gonna give that, which doesn't cost me something. It might cost you in the short term, but can I tell you something here this morning? It'll never cost you in the long term. Never, because we have incredible promises that if we honor the Lord with our first fruits and we bring to God what He has asked for, then our barns will be filled with plenty. You can read that in Proverbs chapter three. In Malachi chapter three, as we've already mentioned, that if we bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, God promises that He'll open up the windows of heaven and pour us out of blessing where there's not even room enough to receive it. Jesus said it this way, give, and it shall be given unto you good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over. You know what I think? Reluctant giving will always lead to cheerful giving

because you can't help give God. Can't help give God. Today, as we have, for as long as I can remember, we kick off our annual end of the year giving campaign. We call it into the blue. And this year, there's a special emphasis. You might have guessed by all of the folks that are wearing the kids ministry t-shirts. There's a special emphasis on the kids ministry. A couple of years ago, we raised some resources as a special emphasis for the youth ministry, but this is the younger kids, the nursery, the preschool, the elementary age children that are a part of our church family. And part of our special giving at the end of this year is going to help us to renovate a lot of those rooms, both at the North Campus and the South Campus. We're gonna elevate and raise the bar on our check-in process and programming. We wanna honestly have the best kids ministry on the entire planet right here at Shoreline, and your giving is gonna help make that possible. A part of our giving also supports the outreaches that we cherish so much to the homeless, to those who are caught in the web of sex trafficking, to adoption centers and pregnancy centers, and prison ministries and missions around the world. A part of your giving will also help to fund the ongoing ministry programs that make Shoreline so special. And we're just encouraging you to take a step of faith

and trust God to do something beautiful. When Lauren and I were praying about our giving this year, I just had the sense that it was gonna cost us. And the number that we landed on is, it's gonna be costly. But then there was also this sense of joy, this sense of anticipation, this sense of adventure, that if we give somehow, some way, we know that God is gonna provide, we'll do our part and God will do his. For some of us, and Lauren, I included, this is like a step of faith. And we're saying, God, if you get it to us, then we'll make sure it gets through us. And so we're just asking everyone to pray and consider how God wants you to be a part of helping over and above your regular giving. On my right and on my left here this morning, we have some magnets, and they have dollar amounts associated with them. And we kind of broke them down so that they can be given all at once, or perhaps given on a monthly basis, like $10 a month, there's a magnet for $120, $20 a month, there's a magnet for 240, and so on, you can do the math. I had to take a couple of magnets off of there to get the specific amount that God dropped in our hearts for our giving. There's no wrong way or right way to do it. It's just you follow your heart and pray,

and maybe God will show you today, as you can already see, that so many of you are here. And we're so excited about those who are willing to take that step of faith and believe God with us. And we wanna give you that opportunity today as well. So I'm gonna ask all of you to stand to your feet. And while you're standing, I'm just gonna take a moment and address all of you who are watching online. You know, you can participate as well. You just go to shoreline.net/give and it'll lead you through the process and there's a tab there for the end to the blue and you can give that way. But here today, I don't want anybody leaving early. We're just gonna take a moment to sing a song. And during that song, you can make your way up here to the front and grab one of these. Or if you want time to pray about it, there's no pressure. Come back next week. This board will be here for you then. But if you feel like you wanna grab one of those, you know, magnets and you've got a number in your heart that you wanna participate in, then we wanna encourage you to come forward. So many did in the first service. We were so gratified. And so we're gonna sing this song. And as we sing, just make your way forward and then make your way back to the seat. And then after this song,

we're gonna have our closing altar call and blessing. (gentle music) ♪ Look out the flowers ♪ ♪ And all of them beauty ♪ ♪ Don't have to wander ♪ ♪ And don't you do well ♪ ♪ So how would I worry at all ♪ ♪ 'Cause your faithful to sub ♪ ♪ Everything I need ♪ ♪ Everything I need ♪ ♪ I know my father has it ♪ ♪ My father has it ♪ ♪ Every single time ♪ ♪ The world will grow now ♪ ♪ I know my father has it ♪ ♪ My father has it ♪ (gentle music) ♪ Like the spell ♪ ♪ And I need nothing ♪ ♪ We'll feel it all tomorrow ♪ ♪ And what it will be ♪ ♪ If I have enough ♪ ♪ 'Cause your love is ours ♪ ♪ Right ♪ ♪ Everything I need ♪ ♪ Everything I need ♪ ♪ I know my father has it ♪ ♪ My father has it ♪ ♪ Every single time ♪ ♪ The world will grow now ♪

♪ I know my father has it ♪ ♪ My father has it ♪ ♪ Oh ♪ ♪ Sing first the kingdom ♪ ♪ And its treasures ♪ ♪ Everything else ♪ ♪ Will be out of it ♪ ♪ 'Cause all that I need ♪ ♪ I know my father has it ♪ ♪ 'Cause I know my God's not empty ♪ ♪ Handy ♪ ♪ He isn't for lessons ♪ ♪ I'm not lessons ♪ ♪ I'm still believing ♪ ♪ I know ♪ ♪ I know more will provide ♪ ♪ See first the kingdom ♪ ♪ And its treasures ♪ ♪ Everything else ♪ ♪ Will be out of it ♪ ♪ 'Cause all that I need ♪ ♪ I know ♪ ♪ I know Lord will provide ♪ ♪ 'Cause I know my God's not empty ♪ ♪ Handy ♪ ♪ He isn't for lessons ♪ ♪ Of our blessings ♪ ♪ I'm still believing ♪ ♪ 'Cause I know ♪ ♪ 'Cause I know the Lord will provide ♪

♪ 'Cause I know ♪ ♪ 'Cause I know the Lord will provide ♪ - Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you so much for your generosity. It's without your support. We could never do what we do here. Thank you for trusting God. Thank you for believing with us for miracles. If you don't mind just with every head bowed and every eye closed, if you came to church here today and you're not where you need to be with God, maybe your situation is as desperate, spiritually, as it was for this widow financially. But you're here in church today, maybe by invitation of a friend or maybe just driving by and you saw a church and you say, "Hey, I need something. "If you're here today "and you're not where you need to be with God, "but you wanna be. "You wanna meet him for the very first time perhaps "or rededicate your life to serving him. "If that's you, I want you to raise your hand. "Good, just quickly and boldly wherever you are. "You say, "That's me, I need to give him a heart. "Give him my life. "Wonderful, God bless you with all your hands raised. "Also, I wanna lead every single one of you "that raised your hands.

"I wanna lead you in a very simple prayer. "And everyone else is a reaffirmation of your faith in God. "That's all of us pray together. "Heavenly Father, I thank you for sending Jesus. "Jesus, I ask you to come into my heart. "Forgive me of all my sins. "I put my trust in you, and I will live for you "from this day forward by your power, "for your glory, in Jesus' name, amen." Would you give them all a great big hand clap? Those of you who raised your hands, we've got some people that really wanna help you on each side of the auditorium, and they wanna give you some information that'll really help you live this Christian life that you just prayed to receive. So please make your way over that after we're dismissed. Our prayer partner's gonna be up here at the front to pray with you, believe God with you. If there's anything that God needs to do in your life that you'd like to receive prayer for, we'd be honored to pray with you. God bless you, have a fantastic rest of your week. And don't forget, first Wednesday, it's gonna be awesome. We look forward to seeing you then on Wednesday night. God bless. (upbeat music)