“Blessed by God to be a Blessing” Lay Speaker Presentation #1Sunday, November 3, 2013 Speaker’s Name: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavens” (Eph. 1:3). As managers and stewards of all that God has entrusted to us, we have been blessed abundantly. Though perhaps some have been blessed more than others, all of us — without exception — have been and continue to be the recipients of God’s blessings. We are entering into our parish’s annual stewardship appeal entitled, “Blessed by God to be a Blessing.” Today and during the next three weeks, we will consider how God has blessed us, the reasons for God’s blessings, and what our response should be to God’s goodness. On a daily basis, God provides for us. Think with me about just a few of those provisions. God gives the seed, along with rain and sunshine to cause the seed to grow. God gives health, strength and life itself. God gives wealth and the ability to acquire material possessions.
And God gives grace and eternal life through the Lord Jesus Christ to all who look to Him in believing faith. Did you ever stop to consider why God blesses us so abundantly? After all, since according to Psalm 24, “The earth is the Lord’s and all it holds.” God doesn’t have to provide anything for us. God does so for one simple yet profound reason: Because He loves us. In fact, the prophet Jeremiah tells us that God has loved us with an “everlasting love,” that is, God’s love knows no beginning and no end. It is God’s love for us that causes God to provide for us all that we have. And Christ demonstrated the Father’s love by dying on the cross to redeem us “while we were still sinners.” As what may be the most familiar verse in the Bible points out, “God so loved the world that He gave his only Son. . . .” No wonder John 3:16 is called the “Heart of the Bible — the Gospel in miniature.”
One time a father wanted to teach his young son the lesson of God’s great goodness. He took him to the top of a high hill and pointed northward over Scotland, southward over England, eastward over the sea, and westward over hill and valley. Then, sweeping his arms around the whole circling horizon, he said, “Son, God’s love is as big as all that.” “Why father,” the boy replied with sparkling eyes, “then we must be right in the middle of it.” As we sit here today in comfort and security, right in the “middle” of God’s provisions, it is difficult to do so without wanting to respond to God’s grace and goodness. Right now, in anticipation of your response in the weeks ahead through our annual stewardship appeal, will you begin to seek the Lord’s direction concerning how you should respond? Will you consider how you might be a blessing to God and to others? As some of you know, I am a widow. My husband passed away 25 years ago. While he was sick, I prayed for his healing, but God chose to take him. I then said to God, “You will have to take care of me now.” And he has. Having this trust in God, I give not from my surplus, but from my substance. In other words – I tithe. During our annual stewardship appeal as you consider your response to all that God has given you, you might want to pray something like this:
Father, thank you for the bountiful gifts and blessings you provide for me day after day. Thank you for health and strength and life itself. Thank you for your Word and for the full salvation I can enjoy because of Christ’s sacrifice for me on the cross. As I consider my response to your goodness, please give me clear direction from yourself. And then give me a spirit of willing obedience to all that you ask me to do.
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