We Reap What We Sow - Saddleback Weekend Service

Which simply means praise the Lord. Let's sing this together. Sing, "Alleluia, you get all the praise." We say, "Alleluia, you get all the praise." Come on, we say, "Alleluia, you get all the praise." Come on we say, "Alleluia, you get all the praise." We say, "Alleluia, you get all the praise." Oh, I've got a god who is for me. He's known for making a way. And he brought the battle so I wouldn't have to. Our glory belongs to his name. And I've got a god who's been faithful, far more than I could explain. And through every season, in spite of my weakness, he gave me a song I could say, "Alleluia, you get all the praise." We say, "Alleluia, you get all the praise." And I've got a king who is risen. And he put my shame in his praise. So I wouldn't have to, and he gave it all every day. I came to pray, "Alleluia, you get all the praise." That's why I woke up today. I came to pray, "Alleluia, you get all the praise." ♪ We say I'm there ♪ ♪ You get on the break ♪ ♪ I'm singing ♪ ♪ I'm singing in the morning ♪ ♪ I'm singing in the night ♪ ♪ I'm singing in the night ♪ ♪ Oh, that's how I'm fighting ♪ ♪ I'm singing in the morning ♪ ♪ I'm singing in the night ♪ ♪ I'm singing in the morning ♪ ♪ The rest of all you got it ♪ ♪ I'm singing in the morning ♪ ♪ The morning ♪ ♪ I'm singing in the night ♪ ♪ I'm singing in the night ♪ ♪ That's how I'm fighting ♪ ♪ I'm singing in the morning ♪ ♪ I'm singing in the night ♪ ♪ I'm singing in the morning ♪ ♪ The rest of my life ♪ ♪ Come on, I'm singing ♪

♪ I'm singing in the morning ♪ ♪ In the morning ♪ ♪ I'm there ♪ ♪ You get on the break ♪ ♪ We say I'm there ♪ ♪ You get on the break ♪ ♪ You get on the break ♪ ♪ I'm there ♪ ♪ You get on the break ♪ ♪ We say I'm there ♪ ♪ You get on the break ♪ ♪ I'm singing in the morning ♪ ♪ I'm singing in the night ♪ ♪ I'm singing in the night ♪ ♪ That's how I'm fighting ♪ ♪ I'm singing in the morning ♪ ♪ I'm singing in the morning ♪ ♪ I'm singing in the morning ♪ ♪ The rest of my life ♪ ♪ I'm there ♪ ♪ You get on ♪ ♪ You get on the break ♪ ♪ Come on everybody ♪ ♪ There's no time to fall back ♪ ♪ See I change ♪ ♪ I came to pray ♪ ♪ Come on ♪ ♪ Sing it again ♪ ♪ I came to pray ♪ ♪ Just lookin' out of my way ♪

♪ I'm there ♪ ♪ One more time, change ♪ ♪ We say ♪ ♪ I came to pray ♪ ♪ Come on, give 'em praise ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ I can empty out a grave, I know a name ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ It's the only name that says ♪ ♪ And it's worthy of no grace ♪ ♪ I call you Jesus ♪ ♪ I call you, I call you He ♪ ♪ Something comes out of the grave ♪ ♪ Every time I call you Jesus ♪ ♪ I call you, I call you Savior ♪ ♪ For the glory forever ♪ ♪ Something comes out of the grave ♪ ♪ Every time I call you name ♪ ♪ Yes I have a King ♪ ♪ We don't mean it over death ♪ ♪ He holds the King ♪ ♪ In His holiness, God left ♪ ♪ He is the King ♪ ♪ God has crushed the serpent ♪ ♪ Oh, just a red dick already I am ♪ ♪ 'Cause I call you Jesus ♪

♪ I call you, I call you healer ♪ ♪ You're prison and reigning in power ♪ ♪ Something comes out of the grave ♪ ♪ Every time I call you Jesus ♪ ♪ Yes I call you, I call you Savior ♪ ♪ For the glory forever ♪ ♪ Something comes out of the grave ♪ ♪ Every time I call you name ♪ ♪ Change the grave ♪ ♪ Try not to wait ♪ ♪ Every time I'm always singing ♪ ♪ The gates of hell ♪ ♪ Change every time I call your name ♪ ♪ Change the grave ♪ ♪ Try not to wait ♪ ♪ Every time I call your name ♪ ♪ The gates of hell ♪ ♪ Change every time I call your name ♪ ♪ God has the love ♪ Every time I've done it, then I'm here Let me pray, and then things come alive If I wish, then I'd be right Dead things come alive, dead things come alive And then we know that, dead things come alive Dead things come alive, dead things come alive And then we know that every fall Dead things come alive, dead things come alive Dead things come alive in the name of Jesus Dead things come alive, dead things come alive I call you Jesus, 'cause I call you I call you healing

You're risen and reigning in power, something comes out of the grave Every time I pour you Jesus, yes I pour you I pour you Savior You're worthy of glory forever, something comes out of the grave Every time I pour you Every time we call your name, things have to change Come on church, let's sing this together In high search the world But it couldn't feel me In man's empty praise In treasures that fade are never enough But then you came along, yes he did And you put me back together Every desire, in every desire It's now satisfied who hear in your love Come on let's testify together Oh there's nothing to hold, there's nothing Better than you, there's nothing Better than you Lord, there's nothing There's nothing is better than you Lord, Lord I know it's true that you Jesus Come on we say that I'm not afraid Are my failures and thoughts Or do you see them all And you still call me friends 'Cause the God, 'cause the God of the Mount Oh, it's the God of the Valley Come on, we say, and there's not a place There's not a place of your mercy One finally, yeah There's nothing, oh, there's nothing

Better than you, there's nothing Better than you, oh, there's nothing Nothing is better than you We know that Jesus told us something Oh, there's not a place Better than you, there's nothing Better than you, oh, there's nothing Nothing is better than you Oh, oh, oh Come on, we test the part We declare this together today, we say ♪ So you turn morning to death ♪ ♪ You'll get ♪ ♪ So you'll get beauty ♪ ♪ We're rising ♪ ♪ You'll turn shame ♪ ♪ So you turn shame into the Lord ♪ ♪ And you're the only one who can ♪ ♪ You'll turn morning to death ♪ ♪ So you turn morning to death ♪ ♪ You'll get beauty but I can ♪ ♪ You'll turn shame into the Lord ♪ ♪ You're the only one who can ♪ ♪ You'll turn morning to death ♪ ♪ You'll turn morning to death ♪ ♪ You'll turn morning to death ♪ ♪ You'll turn bones into army ♪ ♪ You'll turn seas into high ♪ ♪ You're the only one who can ♪ ♪ You're the only one who can ♪

♪ You're the only one who can ♪ ♪ Oh, there's nothing ♪ ♪ Come on, let's it out ♪ ♪ Better than you ♪ ♪ There's nothing ♪ ♪ It's better ♪ ♪ Better than you ♪ ♪ Lord, there's nothing ♪ ♪ Nothing is better than you ♪ ♪ It's same to you, Jesus ♪ ♪ Come on, sing it to death ♪ ♪ Sing, oh, there's nothing ♪ ♪ There's nothing ♪ ♪ There's nothing ♪ ♪ There's nothing ♪ ♪ Lord, there's nothing ♪ ♪ Nothing is better than you ♪ ♪ Thank you, Lord ♪ ♪ Nothing's better than you ♪ ♪ Lord ♪ ♪ Just think about that for a moment ♪ ♪ Nothing is better than Jesus ♪ ♪ Nothing we've walked through ♪ ♪ Nothing we've came into the room with ♪ ♪ Nothing takes the highest place ♪ ♪ But the name of Jesus ♪ ♪ We focus our hearts on you, Lord ♪ ♪ You're high and lifted up ♪ ♪ Nothing's like you ♪ ♪ No name's greater than your name, Jesus ♪

♪ Maybe right where you are, just take that moment ♪ ♪ And just declare that with your own words ♪ ♪ And in your own heart, just begin to say ♪ ♪ Nothing is greater than your name, Jesus ♪ ♪ Speak that over depression, speak that over your marriage ♪ ♪ Speak that over your kids, your family members ♪ ♪ Say nothing is better than the name of Jesus ♪ ♪ Speak it over your finances ♪ ♪ Speak it until something in your heart against the change ♪ ♪ Nothing is greater than the name of Jesus ♪ ♪ Bless you ♪ ♪ In Hallelujah ♪ ♪ Hallelujah ♪ Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah. Real simple, let's sing it together, hallelujah. Sing hallelujah to Jesus. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Sing hallelujah, hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Welcome to Saddleback. We are so grateful that you're joining us for services today. I'm so glad you joined us. Yes, we are super excited to lift the name of Jesus on high as we gather together in worship each week. It's so special, but we are a global church family, which means that we have campuses,

we have extensions and online members all across the world. And today is super special because we have Pastor Robert with us. Come on. He's our Corona campus pastor, Pastor Robert. We are so excited you're with us today. Well, first off, it's an honor to be here with you and our online community. God's doing some pretty phenomenal things all across our church. There's a deepening prayer movement that's happening in that Corona, we're just leaning in and pressing into that our staff, our leaders, our volunteers. They're really believing there's a rising expectation and faith that God has been saved and changed lives every weekend. People are being delivered from spiritual oppression. Families being reconciled, healings happening. Actually, two weeks ago, I was dealing with some back pain. And at the end of our 10 o'clock service, I went up to our prayer team for prayer. They laid their hands on my back, and I got healed of that. And I have not had pain in two weeks. Glory to God for that, it's incredible. Absolutely. I love getting to hear how God is moving at Corona. And across our campuses as well, it's so incredible. And if someone wants to engage with Corona, come visit. What's the best way to do that? Well, we are in the Inland Empire. We're kind of the gateway to the Inland Empire. And so as soon as you go eastward from Orange County,

you're going to trip over Corona. It's right at the intersection of the 15 and 91 freeway. You can find more about our service times and locations at saddleback.com/locations. So awesome, if you're by Corona or the Inland Empire, come visit, say hi to Pastor Robert, it would be so awesome. But church family, we are so glad you're with us this weekend. Let's join the rest of our church as we continue in service. - If you're new with us, we do say welcome. We're so glad that you're here with us today. I wanna invite, I wanna welcome all of our campuses as well. And those of you who are joining us online, if you have your app, you can go ahead and pull that out. And you'll see on the app, there's some notes that you can follow along with with today's message. Or you can find the notes somewhere around you. And today we are in the second week of a message series called Timeless Truths. Can we say that together? Timeless Truths. And I was thinking this week as we were preparing for this series, I was thinking about a time when the kids were younger, we used to go to the beach and we loved taking the kids to the beach on our day off. We would go and we'd spend hours at the beach. And one of the things that we would often do when the kids were young, and many of you parents will remember these moments, we would take time to build a sand castle. And literally for like hours on end,

we would build this incredible, beautiful sand castle. And if you happen to build it too close to the edge of the ocean, very quickly when the water would rise, you know what happens, that sand castle is immediately gone. It's washed away. And there's all of your work, perhaps hours of work that is completely gone. Sometimes when that happens, kids cry. But maybe some of you recognize or remember those moments. And I was thinking about that in relation to how we often think about our lives that sometimes we're building, and maybe even we're pursuing something in our career finances. And then something happens and shifts. And the very thing that we were building is completely gone. And Jesus had something to say about this. I wanna invite you to look at the screens with me. Matthew seven, verse 24 through 27. These verses, I wanna invite you to read it out loud with me. Jesus is speaking and he says, therefore everyone who hears these words of mind and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house. Yet it did not fall because it, But everyone who hears these words of mind and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand.

The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash. Now, Jesus is speaking these words at the end of the Sermon on the Mount, and I bring them up because this whole series is titled "Timeless Truths." And it's all about stewardship, generosity, and what we do with money. But we're coming back to the reality that there are these principles or truths in God's word. And Jesus says that people that obey his teachings are like a man that builds a house on a solid foundation. And what I love about this illustration that Jesus gives to us is that the storm and the sand really doesn't care whose house it is, that house is washed away when the water comes. And the truth is wherever you are in your journey spiritually, these truths from God's word, when applied to your life, give a solid foundation, that's why they're called timeless truths. So they don't shift from generation to generation. And in Matthew chapter 24, verse 35, Jesus makes the statement, He says, heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away. So we're building on a solid foundation of God's word, looking at five timeless truths. Last week, we shared with you this giving site that we put together,

that the team rolled out basically five truths that we believe are the boiling down of God's word when it comes to finances and principles that ultimately apply to every area of our life. And so I wanted for a moment to distinguish the difference between a principle and God's promises so that we can have in our minds what we're talking about to the course of this series. So if you have your notes, you can write this down. Principles are God's description of how life works based on his design and creation. So when Jesus says, if you follow my ways, it's like a man who built his house on the rock. He's giving us a principle of how we can build our lives. So all throughout scripture, we see God communicating these powerful timeless principles that we can live and build our lives upon. Now a promise from God is different than that. A promise is God's commitment to his people based on his character backed by his word. So his word is full of promises that he gives to our lives about who he is and what he does on our behalf. So this whole series really, we're bringing together these principles and looking at the same time at the character of God. So today, as we do this, we're gonna look at 2 Corinthians chapter nine verses six through 11. And if you have your notes,

I wanna invite you to turn there and look at these verses with me. The Apostle Paul is speaking. And I love these few verses of scripture 'cause Paul is writing to a church in Corinth. And if you've ever read these letters, you'll recognize the Apostle Paul who's traveled throughout the world after Jesus, the modern world at his time. He started churches in many of the biggest cities. And Corinth, he wrote two letters to them that we have. The first one was him correcting a lot of their lifestyle, their theology. And the second one is a little bit more encouraging than the first. But in 2 Corinthians chapter eight and nine, the Apostle Paul gives us a principle, a timeless truth about reaping and sowing that we're gonna look at today. And what I love about this is for two chapters, the Apostle Paul is writing to the church about a moment of generosity that he's inviting them into. And at the end, he's gonna tell them about an offering he's receiving. And yet he never talks about money the whole time that he's walking through this. And he actually uses some other churches. It's almost like this pastor kind of getting campuses of a church kind of almost pitted against each other. Like who's gonna be more generous than the other?

Is it gonna be the Irvine campus, Irvine South or North? Or is it gonna be Santa Rosa and the Philippines? So Paul says, I want you to know the Macedonian church, they've been really generous. And so he's bringing this offering to the church in Jerusalem. And he's setting it up by teaching on the principle of God's word through the filter of seed that we sow and a harvest that we reap. So that's where we're gonna start in verse six. And notice in verse six, Apostle Paul says, remember this, whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. Now I want you to underline that phrase, remember this. So the Apostle Paul, he starts these couple of verses with the phrase, remember. And most of the things in our life that we actually need to apply to our lives are things that we're relearning or remembering over the course of time. And isn't it true that sometimes the things that have the greatest impact on our lives are things that we've heard many times over and over again, but maybe we're not living them out That will follow in alignment with God's word. So whoever so sparingly will also reap sparingly, whoever so generously will also reap generously. Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion for God loves a cheerful giver. Now Paul is saying through this passage, he's saying that there's a decision that a person makes with the seed that God gives to them to so generously from their heart. And what God is after is a joyful, cheerful heart in any act of generosity that would come out of our lives. So he's, he's inviting us into this cheerful giving and then he says this, and God is able to make all grace abound to you so that in all things at all times, having all you need, you will abound in every good work, as it is written he has scattered abroad, his gifts to the poor his righteousness endures forever. I want you to notice how many times in just those few short verses. The Apostle Paul uses the word all so let me read it one more time, he says in God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work so God is not limited by our circumstances.

In every situation that you find yourself in, God is able to supply every need that you have, isn't that good news today, that he's a provider who's able to come into a single mom's life and provide for every need that she has. He's able to meet you when you've lost your job, he's able to help you in times of great need and Paul is framing for the church and Corinth. This is what it means to understand a life that lives out generosity it starts with an understanding, this is who God is and this is what God is like he's able to provide for every need you have at all times in all circumstances. And notice how he says so that you can abound in every good work, meaning that in every situation our lives can fulfill his desire for us to bless those around us and then he says. If you supply seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness and you will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion. And through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving back to God. So I love these few verses where he is saying that God is able to supply and increase the store of seed that you have so that you can be generous on all occasions Last few weeks I've gotten into something that I might seem a little bit weird, and my wife is still give me a little bit of a hard time, but I've started making homemade bread. It might seem weird I know it seems out of character for me, but I listened to a podcast this this is like an OCD confession moment, and it was all about the chemicals that are in our bread so I'm like I'm going to just start making my own bread so it just so happens though that my bread has chocolate in it and it's it's not probably the best, but so I ordered I went online and I ordered like five or six bags of seed. And so I got this one seed here from some farm in Washington. And so this is organic seed there's no chemicals in it at least that I know of. And this bag of seed, this bag of seed will produce about five loaves of bread. So in my case, it's like 60 muffins and I'll show you a picture of some of my homemade muffins here this weekend. These are these are chocolate pumpkin walnut muffins. They're they were very good. And Caris my daughter and I ate a bunch of them this weekend so Stacy's out of town so we're eating a little bit more. You know the meals are sparing but the muffins are they are robust so so this is my seed right here. And I've learned a lot about seed you know you put it in a grinder and you go through this long process and I like to do this like in a time where maybe I'm off of work it's like an afternoon and I can just kind of take the seed and make some bread and my kids like some of what I make some of what I make is nasty it's gross and they take one bite and they spit it out so this journey for me though has taught me a lot about what Paul is speaking of in this passage of scripture. to describe the whole idea of seed that's released to produce more, but what Paul is doing in this passage is he's comparing seed to bread. So he's saying, God gives seed to the sower and bread for food. Now this bag of bread, this bag of seed, I already shared this, can produce about five loaves of bread. But if I were to open this bag of seed, which I'm not going to, but if I were to open it and I were to spread it on soil, this seed in one year could produce enough harvest that next year, this one bag, the seed from it, could produce over 100 loaves of bread. So I want you to think about that for just a moment. So this bag of seed, when it multiplies,

there's a great harvest on the other side. So the apostle Paul, when he speaks about finances and generosity, he never once uses the word money. And every time he speaks about money, the word that he uses is seed. He uses seed to describe how we're to view what God has placed into our hands. And this is such a profound biblical concept that God is wanting to get across into our minds and hearts through his word, that money, God does not need money. God is not looking for people that he somehow can get their money from them. God is more generous to us than we could ever be back to him. Like there's no amount of giving that we could ever do to God that would outgive what God has already done on our behalf. Let me give you a verse on this. 2 Corinthians eight, eight and nine says this, I am not commanding you. I love this, but I wanna test the sincerity of your love by comparing it with the earnestness of others. There's Paul comparing the church in Corinth to the church in Macedonia. He's saying, are you gonna be as generous as the other church? And he's not doing it as a command. So he's actually doing it as an invitation into a life of generosity into this principle of sowing and reaping.

So he says this, for you know that the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, though he was rich, yet for your sake, he became poor, so that through his poverty, you might spiritually become rich, that you might have an inheritance as a result of Jesus' death, burial, and resurrection from the dead. So there's no way that I could ever give back to God more than God has given to me. And God is a giver connected deep within his character is his generosity towards us. Let me give you one more verse. You know this verse, John 3 16, let's read this one aloud. It says, for God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. So God is a giver. He loves the give. He's a cheerful giver. So when Paul says that God loves a cheerful giver, I believe the reason why Paul says that God loves a cheerful giver and why God loves a cheerful giver is because we enter into the joy of giving with the heart of God that we're becoming more like Jesus when we experience the joy of what he's done on our behalf releasing what we've received from him in the first place.

So the invitation is to see what's in our hand through the filter of seed that God has given to us that can be sewn forth to bless the world around us. Now I want to come back for just a moment. 2 Corinthians 8 and 7, these two chapters are great. You might go this week and read them, but verse seven says this, but just as you excel in everything in faith and speech and knowledge, in complete earnestness and in your love for us, see that you also excel in this grace of giving. So what Paul is saying is a lot of times you're excelling in a lot of different areas church. He's talking to the church in Corinth saying, you're great at knowledge, you're great in your sincerity, you're great in your love for us in faith and speech, but he's saying excel in this area as well. And so often this is the case for us that we can excel in many areas before we excel in what we do with what God has placed into our hands, the resources, the seed that he's given to us. So it's an invitation to take a principle that is a timeless truth that can be applied to any area of our lives and to apply it to the act of giving and ultimately to what we do with finances or the seed that God has placed into our hands. This principle of all the principles of this entire message series is the most fun to preach because I have watched countless people live out

this principle and experience the blessing and the benefit on the other side of it. And what I wanna do is just unpack very briefly what this might look like for us to understand how this law or this principle applies. And again, you can apply this to any area of life. So if you want God's blessing on your relationship If you want God's blessing on your work or your career, it's a matter of being faithful, sowing and reaping. If we want God's blessing in ministry, there's a connection between pouring out and a harvest and fruitfulness with our lives. So there's four principles that I want to highlight from this passage of Scripture. And as I do this, I want you to see this one verse, Proverbs 10, 16, says this, "The wages of the righteous bring them life, but the income of the wicked brings them punishment." So what the Scripture is saying here is that finances in the hands of a righteous person bring life. And the reality is there are really wealthy people that are miserable and wicked, and there are poor people that are miserable and wicked, but there are also people who are in poverty financially who live a righteous life. And there are people who have a lot of resources. And the question is really not so much a matter of how much you have. It's the condition of our heart and what we do with what God gives to us. So the first principle I want us to see from this passage is that we reap what we sow.

We reap the very thing that we sow. There was a time a couple months ago I was working out in my garage and my garage door opens up and like right outside the garage door, there's this flower bed and we have a hard time keeping flowers alive. And I just so happened to look to see if the flowers were doing well, it was like kind of springtime. And when I looked out there, the flowers weren't there, but there was a little strawberry patch growing on the ground. And I'm like, we didn't plant strawberries. Why do we have a strawberry patch? And then what struck me was probably what had happened was somebody one day walking out the house took a strawberry after eating everything except for the seed and threw the seed into the ground. And up out of the ground came this strawberry patch with like seven or eight strawberries on it. And that principle is true in every area of life. You and I, we reap what we sow. We know this to be true. And scripture is actually giving us so many images about seed many times over and over and over again in the Bible. We see this idea of seed showing up that we reap what we sow. So I'll give you just a couple of these. You're not going to be able to keep up with me. I'm going to just kind of walk through these. So you might write the word down and the verse down and go to it later. But first of all, we just saw how Paul is saying money is a seed. So we've looked at already that giving is a part of sowing. Also the word of God is a seed.

So Jesus gives us the illustration of the soil. And he says that the word of God goes into the heart and can bear a fruit 30, 60, 100 times that seed that was sown. So every time I open up the Bible and I read the word of God, I'm getting the seed of God's word into my heart that is bearing fruit, the fruit of the spirit over the course of time. In addition to this righteousness is a seed. So when we live a righteous life right according to God, not perfect, but we live in alignment with his ways. I'm sowing seeds in all areas of my life. Peace is a seed. So the Bible says that blessed are the peacemakers for they will be called sons and daughters of most high God. So if I sow peace, I reap a harvest in my relationships. If I sow bitterness, I reap destruction in my relationships. So the Bible says pieces of seed also it says that faith is a seed. That when I believe like a mustard seed that there's fruit on the other end that God multiplies that seed through his power. In addition to this and Psalm 126 verse five, it says that tears our seeds. So the Israelites it says they go out weeping, but they come back with sheaves of joy. So they're weeping in their grief. God takes that seed that's planted into the ground and he redeems it. And there's a joy on the other side of that seed that sown. In addition to this, Jesus actually says your very life is a seed. So the invitation from him is to come and die. It's to lay down our lives and give of ourselves so that we might follow him wholeheartedly. He says that unless a seed goes into the ground, it doesn't produce many seeds. It stays alone as a single seed. So the invitation is to keep letting go of my life so that God can multiply. In addition to this, Jesus himself is a seed and his death on a cross would produce many sons and daughters. And we are all the fruit of his death burial and resurrection.

So I love this image that God gives to us because so often we live through a filter of scarcity. And all we see is the little bag of seed that we have in front of us. And if I walk around with this seed, it was funny when I made the muffins and I said to my daughter, she would share him. She said, no, we should eat all of them. And we didn't bring any to church with us today, but maybe we'll make some more and bring it tomorrow. But isn't it true though that we naturally, we just think about ourselves and. but my point that I make, I feel like I'm digging myself in a hole right here, but the point that I'm making is that this bag of seed has no value. And if it's planted into the ground, if it's just stays inside of this bag, it does nothing. And that's true when it comes to the resources that God has given to us, that this invitation is to sow. So the question is, what am I sowing in this season? What am I giving my life to? Everything in life that if we want more of it, we give it away. So if you want your muscle to grow, you give it away to the weights. If you want your relationships with your children to grow, you give away time to invest in them. And if you want them to want to be with you later in life, you spend time with them today. All of these principles, I love this principle. There's so much life in the abundance of what God can do in our lives and he invites us into this journey with him. And then he combines his power with this principle. So watch this Philippians 4 19.

Again, this is not your notes. I added this later, but I love this. Can you read this aloud with me? 4 19, Paul is in prison and he's speaking about contentment. And he wants the Philippian church, the church in Philippi to understand God's capacity. Let's read this aloud. And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus. So the invitation is to see God through the filter of his generosity and his capacity to give in any moment of our lives. Now, this is why we do things like the return gathering that's happening, the return night, this next week. We're doing it in two places, one in Anaheim. We're also doing it in our international campuses and we're doing it at the Lake Forest campus. And there's something about prayers in our generation that is like seed going into the ground for the fruitfulness of God in a future generation. This is why we're a praying church because we believe God responds to that, that we're seeking the heart of God. This week we're coming together. Actually, there are churches all over Orange County in this kind of collective gathering called Seque Week, seeking the heart of God for our region, that our region would be known again for a movement of God in our generation. And I wanna encourage you all of our campuses,

wherever you are, to come join in prayer and worship this Thursday night, to ask God to move in our midst, to move in our community and to believe that God can bring awakening to our region. There's something about sowing in prayer that God uses to reap a harvest. I think about Hannah in the Old Testament and her praying and crying out to God and God answering that prayer with Samuel and many generations being blessed as a result of the prayer of one woman. There's something significant about the seeds of prayer, the seeds of tears, the seeds of the word of God. Are you tracking with me today that your life is sowing seed. So we reap what we sow. In addition to this, we reap as we sow. So you reap as you sow. Now, if I want a bigger harvest, I sow more seed. If I don't sow more seed, I get a smaller harvest. And in Proverbs chapter 11 verse 24 and 25 says this in the NIV 84, it says, one man gives freely, yet gains even more. Another withholds unduly, but comes to poverty. A generous man will prosper. He who refreshes others will himself be refreshed. So this is so important. When I start to feel like I'm in a moment of scarcity, I've discovered in my own journey that generosity is one of the quickest ways

out of a scarcity mindset. That if I am feeling deprived, like I don't have enough, it's usually God's prompting for me to be open-handed with what he's given to me. And so if I want more of the blessing of God flowing through my life to make a difference, and this is not purely financial what Paul is talking about, it's a harvest. He actually says the harvest is a harvest of righteousness. So if I want God to bless my life with more righteousness and impact, it's me sowing more generously with what God has already given to me. Now, there's a great book called The Paradox of Generosity. You might read this book or do a little review on it. You can do just a little search on it. And you'll see there's some profound principles, but it's based on research with what happens with generosity. And it's not from a Christian perspective. So it's literally a sociological study of what happens with people who are generous. And I want you to see a couple of principles. It says that generosity is like a spiral. So the author says that what happens is well-being, it grows over the course of time for people who make generosity a lifestyle and a mindset. And he calls it the upward spiral. And then he says that ongoing generosity So maybe you watch a TV show and you get inspired to give to the whales somewhere in the middle of the ocean. God bless them. They're not eternal beings. I will remind you of that. But you get inspired and you do something one time. And what he says is that like, okay, you might feel better for a moment, but the increased joy comes through a lifestyle consistent over and over and over again, living in accordance with the principles that God's already lined up in this word. So if I think about it through the filter of the Bible.

If I want to grow in Christ like character, I don't just pick this book up. I probably could pick the Bible up and read through a good chunk like maybe a third of it in one day like I could just sit there and read through it all day long. But actually, I've discovered that a little bit over the course of time, every day is what bears the fruit. So the consistency as it says Paul is saying connected to reaping as we so God's word says that if I give generously of anything in my life, I reap a greater harvest. Now, in addition to this is that I reap where I sow. So you reap where you sow. So I've got to ask the question, okay, if God has given me a life that he calls me to invest deeply in the others and into his kingdom where do I pour out my life. And Jesus actually tells us where to he says this, do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rough rust destroy, where thieves break in and steal, but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven where moth and rust do not destroy and where thieves do not break in and steal for where your treasure is there your heart will be also. I love this because sometimes we read this and we only think about storing up treasures, maybe from an eternal perspective but not recognizing one phrase that Jesus says that we'll only understand when we get to heaven. He says do not store up do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, he says but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven. So there's something about this journey of investing in eternity that eat from an eternal perspective there's a reward on the other side of this life that we get to be invited into. He actually gives us the joy of that kind of investment even now when we pour out our lives into the kingdom of God so as I consider the last 25 years of my life. One of the greatest joys for me is being connected to the local church and watching God move. I had this moment this last summer, I can't remember if I shared this in a sermon, and I know if I can't remember you can't remember so. But I had this moment this last summer where the church we started in the Bay Area, they had expanded their building and it was basically if you could imagine our lake forest auditorium, it was like half of the room had a big warehouse on the other side of that room. And for years we had prayed for God to open a door for us to get the other half it was it was owned by somebody else at least was hard to get the city kept like blocking it. And there were many times I would walk up to the back of that wall, and I would lay my hands on that wall, and I would say in Jesus name fall down. And like I believe God you're going to knock this wall down, and one day this whole room is going to be filled with people, both sides of this room. And Stacy and I from many times many moments had prayed that specific prayer with the team there. So I got to be there this summer, I should have pictures for this but I got to be there this summer when they dedicated that whole room to God after the wall had been turned out. So I was just a little early in my prayer. And what hit me in that moment was thinking about the number of lives that had been changed in that one part of the room. And then all the lives that would be changed in the other part of the room. And to think about how I got to be a part of that now this is true here in our church family there are some of you that you showed into what God is doing in this day. All the way back to the early 80s, and you poured out your life. And now every person that comes to faith at Saddleback Church you've been a part of that. If you've invested in serving and giving and living out the kingdom of God through your local church at Saddleback, every life that has been changed every one of the 66,000 people that have been baptized by this church. Your seed has been sewn into the eternal reality of the transformation of that person's life. eternal that God promises to build like the local church. So I love if I find good soil, I want to invest in that soil in the kingdom of God. And I want to come back to whenever we preach on finances, sometimes it gets weird in church because we recognize the church is actually resourced by the people in our church. And what I want you to hear from me very loud and clear at

all of our campuses, like if this is an issue in your heart and you think we're after your money, I invite you. This is not a knock. This is not being being punchy. I invite you to go find a church that you believe in and deeply invest in that church or find another church and give your resources to them and experience the blessing of it because I do believe these principles that when we live them out, there is so much blessing that God brings into our life that so many people are missing out on. Now, some of you, you're still here and you're doing the dance and do you, do you want to be a part of this church family? We want you to be a part of this church family. It's working great without you, but it's going to work better with you. And we want you to be a part of it. So next weekend, all of our campuses, that's why we do activate. It really is a starting point for us to begin the journey, to enter into the church here, what we believe, how you can be a part, our groups, our teams, we want to help you get connected. And you can see more about this local church next weekend at activate. I'll be at the Lake Forest campus and I'd love to meet you, but that simple step asking the question, where am I sewing with my life? And if this is not your church family, then it's okay. But find a local church that you're connected to. And it's a little bit troublesome to me right now. I'm going to get on a little bit of a soapbox, if I might, that we often in our generation, we don't understand the power of being rooted in a local church. So we might go to one church for the worship service. And then I like the small groups over here. And I like, you know, this ministry at this church. And then we miss the fullness of blessing of planting our lives and sewing deeply in one local church. So I invite you, if God is stirring in your heart, make this your local church. And if you're doing the dance with all that, it's like wearing a ram's hat and a charger's shirt at the same time. You know, it's like, you know, all over the place, it's like pick a team and just invest and watch God bless your life as you pour your life out. There's a reaping and sewing that is connected to where we sew. So the invitation that God is giving to us is to plant in his kingdom for eternity. Now finally, this last principle I want to finish with today is that you reap later than you sow. You reap later than you sow. And sometimes this can be very discouraging. Like we pour out our lives and it takes decades to see the fruit of it. This is often true in parenting. It takes a long endurance of just pouring out your life. Sometimes marriage is hard in the first few years. Maybe for some of you, you're trying to honor God with your career and you're not seeing the advancement that you had hoped for. But I'll give you these verses that the Apostle Paul writes and he says this, "Let us not become weary in doing good

for at the proper time we will reap a harvest." What does he say now? "If we do not give up, if we do not give up." And I love that because the invitation is to a consistent, long obedience in the same direction of sowing, of pouring out our lives. Some of you have been pouring out your life over and over and over again. And there's some of you today that need to hear from God. His word says that at the proper time you will reap a harvest if you do not give up. So stay faithful. Keep consistently investing and sowing the seed that God has given to you. All of these areas that we looked at are seed. But I love how Paul is inviting us into this beautiful, wonderful journey with Jesus of seeing the resources he's given to us and watching God multiply it, doing immeasurably more than we can ask or imagine with our own human power. The promises of God and the principles of God applied together and we experienced the joy that comes. Now God is after our hearts and this is an invitation. This is not a have-to. This is a get-to with our lives releasing and surrendering to God. And I want to come back to this one verse because Paul says, actually, if you go back to the 2 Corinthians, he says in verse 6, he says, "Each man should give what he's decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion for God loves a cheerful giver." I love those two words, not reluctantly or under compulsion for God loves. teaching TV preacher and they have that wonderful voice where they like see it have a need so a seed you know and and you like feel the pressure it's like ah and they put the number on the screen and you're like okay okay okay and or maybe you're like you have that moment where you're checking out and they they turn the screen in front of you and you're supposed to do I tip or not tip and that pressure and I'll just mind you that's not God that's not God that's not how God works actually God God's like a get-to it's like he he bless me and I am redeemed by the blood of the lamb I've been forgiven everything I have in my life is a gift that God's given he's he's the owner I'm the steward and he's put seed in my hand and he says I created this timeless eternal principle that when we live it out we experience the fullness of blessing that comes through obedience when we build our lives on the foundation so what God is after is our whole-hearted worship and if this area of my life is held like a fist that is clinched I cannot experience the joy the freedom the peace that God has for me

so last week we invited you to say I'm gonna take a first step in fact last week the call was what if you just take one step what if you just begin the journey of generosity and I will tell you last week I was blown away we had seven times as many people give who are new than on a normal weekend it's unbelievable and many of you took that challenge and I just want to commend you I want to I just want to say well done way to say yes to Jesus in this area of your life and today what I want to do is I want to ask us just to take one more simple step in that journey and this simple step is to say I'm gonna be more consistent with this area of my life I'm gonna take the seed and I'm not just gonna sow once out of guilt or compulsion but I'm gonna build a lifestyle over the course of time of generosity releasing sowing and then reaping and today that simple step I want to invite you for a moment if you will just to pull out your phone at all of our campuses and I will show you the same place we went to last weekend you can pull your phone out and you'll see here a QR code that will take you directly to the place where we can take that simple step and my encouragement don't worry about the math don't try to figure it all out just say I'm gonna make this a simple habit it's like when I say I'm gonna start reading the Bible every day and I know I'm not gonna do it perfectly but I'm gonna step in that path and the simple step is to say okay I'm gonna begin this lifelong journey of generosity I'm gonna enter in by being more consistent the Bible even talks about this this consistency that we give as we receive we give and there's this journey that God is inviting us into so today you can take that simple step and there's a place you're gonna see it again that I can make a decision from that giving site that I'm gonna be consistent and make my giving recurring now what I love about this is that I'm not leaving the chance this principle in my life so the way Stacy and I give every time we get paid we give right away out of our giving it's it's it's literally automated the same day that we receive a paycheck we give back to God as an act of worship now that doesn't mean that I can't give at other times God will put something in our hearts and will give away but this beautiful principle of

consistently building and over the course of time I build the muscle of generosity and I experienced the joy that God wants me to have as a result of it I love this principle I love what God does in our lives when we say yes to him in this area I got to sit in a room this week I got to sit in a room this week and hear stories of people just share their journey of generosity it's like going around the table one by one by one by one by one and I'll tell you two things about generous people you will never see you will never see a miserable generous person you won't they're happy they're filled with joy they're grateful and you will also never meet a person that lives generously that looks at you and says I don't think you should do that man is scary I have so much regret over my generosity I wish I could just go back and undo it all like when I look at my life and I think about the joy of giving there there's nothing I've released my entire life that I look back I'm like oh I wish I could just get it back I can I can't remember it like there are cars we gave away things God called us to do in our early years of marriage of just emptying our savings into the kingdom of God and I don't remember how much it was I just remember the joy I remember the joy of entering into that journey of generosity again and again and again and and again and again and again and again and again and again. So this is a get to, not a got to. This is an invitation, not compulsion from God, not pressure from God. It's a blessing that God wants to give into our lives. And right now in this moment, what we're gonna do is we're gonna enter into a moment of worship. We're gonna make some space right now. All of our campuses, there's prayer cards around you. If you wanna write down a prayer request that you're just saying, "I need prayer in this area of my life."

We would love to pray for you. And we would love to just ask God to bless you in that area. We're gonna pray over these cards this week at our prayer meetings at all of our campuses, also at our return gathering. Again, this week, we'll be praying over these. But what I wanna do right now in this moment, before the buckets are passed and we have an opportunity to turn those cards in, any next step you can put on that card as well. Baptism, maybe you want more about beginning a relationship with Jesus, all of that you can do. But what I wanna do for a few moments is I wanna recognize that there are needs that we have, that every one of us carry needs. And in this area, studies are showing us, the survey that we're taking as a church, studies are showing us even, that this is one of the greatest pressure points in all areas of our life. And God has these timeless truths. And what I believe to be true to the core of my being is that in moments of great need, we need the principles of God's word more than any other time. And sometimes under pressure, what I can begin to do circumstantially is maybe doubt the very things that are new to be true in the light.

And maybe I can drift away from God's truths, but God wants to meet you in your need today at all of our campuses. And so what we wanna do is just make a little bit of space. I wanna invite you, if you will, just to open your hands, close your eyes and just receive from the Holy Spirit today. And let's just invite him at all of our campuses. Let's make some space. He is the living God. He's not in a grave anymore, he's alive. There's power in the mighty name of Jesus. The Holy Spirit is stirring in our hearts today. The goodness, the kindness of God is wooing us to himself. And Jesus would make the statement. He would say, it's better for you if I go back to the Father so that I can send the Spirit. And the Holy Spirit is wanting to take these promises of the Father and apply them into our hearts today. And perhaps you might even just say to God, I need you today, I need to hear from you. Maybe there's a decision that you just need to bring before God and just recognize I need your wisdom today. Maybe there's a fear or a worry today that you're caring. Maybe it is a fear about money. You just need to recognize God. I bring my fear and I lay it at the foot of the cross. God is here today. I wanna just wanna make that very clear to all of our campuses. God is here.

The Spirit of God is moving in our midst. And Lord, we want more of you. Lord, more than anything in this world, we want more of you. We want your presence, Lord, to dwell in our midst. We wanna be overwhelmed with your goodness. And Lord, I thank you today that you see every heart, you know every story, you know every situation. And Lord, you are more than enough, your grace, your power, your goodness. God, we declare that you're a good God. Thank you for that. Thank you that your goodness can be trusted. We declare that you're a great God, that your power, your ability, your riches, God, no limit is known by your riches, Lord. There's nothing you cannot do. If the tomb is empty, there's no problem you cannot solve. There's no sickness you cannot heal. There's no marriage you cannot restore. There's nothing you cannot do. And so Lord, we declare that over our lives today. We just yield our hearts, come Holy Spirit. Have your way in us, in the mighty name of Jesus, we pray, amen, amen, amen. I wanna invite you, if you will, to stand with me. And let's just recognize our deep need for God. He's the same God yesterday, today, and forever. How many of you believe that? That he is a faithful God, he's a good God. So today, as the buckets go by, you can drop your card in.

But let's just declare this, our need for him and worship him as we wrap our time together. (bright music) ♪ Oh God, my God, I need you ♪ ♪ Oh God, my God, I need you now ♪ ♪ How I need you now ♪ Oh Oh God, my God, I need you. Oh God, my God, I need you now. How I need you now. Oh, oh, oh, oh, rock over the pages. I'm standing on your faithfulness on your faithfulness. Oh, please, oh, please. Are you your God, oh my? Are you your God, oh my? Are you your God, oh my? Are you your God, oh my? Are you your God, oh my? Are you your Lord, oh my? Are you your God, oh my? Are you your God, oh my? Are you your God, oh my? Are you your God, oh my, are you your God, oh my? Are you your God, oh my? Come on, can we celebrate a worthy King today? Thank you so much for joining us for service today. And before you head out, we want to remind you, if you want to take a next step in your faith, or if there's something that you need prayer for, you can let us know by clicking the link in the description if you're watching on YouTube, or you can scan the QR code or open the Saddleback app and let us know that way. Church Family, we're so grateful that you are with us this week to worship together,

and we'll see you again next week as we continue our timeless truth series. We'll see you then. [MUSIC]