Good morning! Welcome to our IMAGINE Rally! I want to share with you 7 principles for moving mountains! We all have some mountains that need to be moved. The disciples certainly did. In our Gospel today, their mountain was a boy in need of deliverance from a demon and their fear and lack of faith to deal with the problem.
They could have just shrugged it off, given up and walked away. Their little shovels just weren’t up to moving that kind of mountain. But Jesus came not only to save us, but to teach us how to move mountains for the sake of the world.
When the disciples asked Jesus why they couldn’t deliver the boy, he told them. “Because you have so little faith! I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard see, you can say to this mountain be thrown into the sea and it will be done for you. Nothing will be impossible for you.” Mt 17:20-21
If we are going to follow Jesus out of the place where we are, and into the place he imagines for us to be, we are going to confront some mountains. Some within ourselves, some outside of us. Jesus can teach us to how to move them. Are you interested?
In 2 Corinthians 9:6-15, Paul gives us 7 principles for moving mountains. These principles can be applied to whatever obstacles come our way –from our own fear and doubt, to opposition, persecution, even retiring a mountain of debt. Are you ready? Let’s begin…
1st Principle in Moving Mountains: SOW GENEROUSLY! “Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows 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. 2 Cor 9:6-7
The first mountain a farmer has to overcome is the fear of taking perfectly good seed out of his granary and burying it in the dirt. He doesn’t know for sure if it’s going to rot or sprout. He has no guarantee that the weather will cooperate. He has a mountain of fear and doubt to move.
But good farmers sow with hope. They take a calculated risk. They believe God is able to take that 2 bushels to the acre of seed they invest and bring a return of 10, 20, even 50 times that.
Good farmers are willing to invest not only the seed but the hard work of getting up at the crack of dawn, leaving the comfort of the house, preparing the equipment, going out to the field.
Faith involves a willingness to risk stepping beyond our comfort zone and becoming a partner with God in moving a mountain.
There is no guarantee that our hard work will pay off, but there’s a sure guarantee if we take no risk, exert no effort, we will reap no harvest. To reap generously, we must sow generously.
How much of our time, talent, and treasure we invest in moving our mountain is up to us. Nobody can make us do anything. Every farmer, every athlete decides how much time and effort they will invest in their chosen sport – and results always show up at the finish line.
So how do we have the faith and courage to sow generously? To not hold back? To trust God’s promise that if we will step forward in faith and invest, he is able to do immeasurably more that all we can think or imagine? Paul gives us some encouragement.
2nd Principle in Moving Mountains: EXPECT GOD TO SUPPLY! “And 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. As it is written: "He has scattered abroad his gifts to the poor; his righteousness endures forever." 2 Cor 9:8-9
What’s grace? God’s gifts! What kinds of gifts? All kinds of gifts. Things like faith, courage, strength, wisdom, love, and generosity. These are the gifts that move mountains, confront obstacles, and overcome adversity. You can’t buy them, but God provides them freely!
Do you believe God is able to give you everything you need to move whatever mountains are intimidating you? Do you believe it enough to get up like that farmer and open the granary, prepare the seed, grease the equipment, head for the field, and stick that seed in the ground?
God promises us that if we will step into the struggle, he will supply all we need! And don’t miss this! Where does God scatter his gifts? To the poor! Jesus started his sermon on the mount with these words, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, those who have come to the end of themselves, blessed are those who mourn, the broken ones who can’t do it in their own strength, those with little faith!”
That’s us! It’s out of our brokenness, our weakness, our poverty that the power of God is unleashed. It’s not until the seed dies, that it sprouts new life. We bring our spade, our little bit of seed, and he, not us, moves the mountain.
Can God be trusted to be there for us? “His righteousness endures forever” That means, the Lord will be there. He’s not going to abandon us. The problem in moving mountains has never been God’s power or willingness; it’s been our fear, laziness, and our attempts to do it in our own strength.
3rd Principle in Moving Mountains: EXPECT GOD TO REWARD AND BLESS OUR EFFORT!
“Now he who supplies 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.” 2 Cor 9:10
God supplies the seed we sow and the harvest. We empty the granary to sow the seed; God fills it up again with a bumper harvest to boot. In Luke 6:38, Jesus says “Give and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” Lk 6:38
4th Principle in Moving Mountains: EXPECT YOUR INVESTMENT TO RESULT IN PRAISE TO THE LORD! “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 to God. 2 Cor 9:11
The Lord told Abraham, “I’m going to bless you and make you a blessing. Through you the whole world will be blessed.” Abraham was willing to invest his life in that promise. He left the comfort of his home in Kuwait and traveled to a place he’d never been before. He invested what he had in a promise he could not possibly imagine or envision. And because of his investment, the whole world has been blessed. Including us here this morning! Thank you Uncle Abe!
It wasn’t easy. There were many mountains that needed to be moved. But the Lord moved each one as Abraham and those who followed stepped into the legacy of his faith, picked up their spade, and moved out by faith to plant the seed God had given them!
5th Principle in Moving Mountains: EXPECT YOUR INVESTMENT TO MAKE A REAL DIFFERENCE AND MEET REAL NEEDS! “This service that you perform is not only supplying the needs of God's people but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God.” 2 Co 9:12
The farmer isn’t wasting his seed by planting it in the ground, although there are some who may think so! Every week the members of our church family are investing time, talent, treasure into our worship and the preaching of the Word, into Shepherd’s Hand Clinic, Grief Share, Divorce Care, Stephen’s Ministry, quilters, LOGOS youth ministry, small groups, Sunday School, Ecuador mission, prayer teams, serving groups, weddings, funerals.
We do it by faith, just like that farmer, to move mountains and to produce a harvest. We are living out the Gospel in ways that cause people who have never known the Lord to praise him. Bringing people into praise and worship is the first step toward a transformed life. We are moving mountains and planting seeds that will result in a great harvest.
6th Principle in Moving Mountains: EXPECT A RIPPLE EFFECT FROM YOUR INVESTMENT
“Because of the service by which you have proved yourselves, men will praise God for the obedience that accompanies your confession of the gospel of Christ, and for your generosity in sharing with them and with everyone else. 2 Cor 9:13
Remember what the Lord promised Abraham? “I’m going to bless you, and make you a blessing, and through you the whole world will be blessed.” The Bible says, Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness. There is no way to please God without taking the risk to follow where he leads, even if doing so means we might make a mistake.
If the farmer is handcuffed by the fear that he’s going to plant the seed at the wrong time, or at the wrong depth, or in the wrong way – he’ll never get the seed into the ground and he’ll never reap a harvest, nobody will be blessed, nobody will get fed. No mountains get moved.
But if he takes the risk to invest the seed, prays hard, does his best to do things right, gives it his best shot and leaves the rest to the Lord a great harvest can follow and people will be blessed and fed. Mountains get moved. And the ripples of blessing go out in space and time.
7th Principle of Moving Mountains: CELEBRATE THE CONNECTIONS YOUR FAITH HAS MADE POSSIBLE! “And in their prayers for you their hearts will go out to you, because of the surpassing grace God has given you. Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift! 2 Cor 9:14-15
Over the centuries, farmers have learned to gather together to celebrate the harvest. Moving mountains, gathering the harvest are activities that unite us and bring us together to worship to thank God for the blessings he has given.
The theme verse for our IMAGINE appeal is found in 1 Cor 2:9. “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind can imagine what God has in mind for those who love him and are called according to his purpose.”
We believe God has called us to take his light into the world through building a worship center for the native people in Ecuador, through hiring an associate pastor to help us grow our small group and outreach ministries, through eliminating our mortgage debt. We can’t do these things in our own strength, but God can. God can move mountains. God can take the seeds we sow and produce a crop that will bless the world for generations to come!
I want you to close you eyes. I want you to imagine the mountain that confronts you this morning. Maybe its doubt, maybe its fear, maybe its debt, or a struggle with health, or a difficult relationship. Picture that mountain. God wants to move it. He wants you to pick up your shovel and gather your seed and head for the field and imagine what he can do.
Now let’s read this promise from Eph. 3:20 “Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. AMEN!
In a few minutes your going to find out what the leaders of this church have already invested in our IMAGINE appeal. They have sown generously, not out of their strength, but out of their weakness. And God is already moving a mountain! My guess is that you will be amazed! But this is only the first fruits of what God wants to do.
