Pastor Jon Burgess
October 28, 2018 - W1843

Today is truly a milestone for New Hope Oahu! Two years in the making for Future and a Hope, four years in the making for Greater Together and Future and a Hope, leading us to this point of officially ending our journey. But, really, continuing another journey because every milestone is the end of one chapter and the beginning of another!

We couldn’t have gotten here if it weren’t for each one of you saying, “I’m all in. I’m stepping over the line.” This is our opportunity to pause and look at everything that God has done over the past several years (see how far He’s brought us), before we roll into the next chapter!

This is also the end of our Breaking Ground series: The study of the parable of the sower and the soils. We’ve seen a transition of how God takes our hard soul/soil (where the word of God cannot grow), to a rocky, shallow soil (when tribulation/trial comes, cannot grow), to the place of thorns and weeds (when worries come and choke out God’s word), to a place of fruitfulness! The fruit of New Hope is worth celebrating!

Milestones are important. We see it throughout the Old and New Testaments. In the Old Testament, the people took large rocks and made altars, and said to future generations, “Hey, this is where God did miracles and led us into the Promised Land; He split the Jordan River in two so we could cross it; this is where He fed us in the wilderness when we thought we were going to die of hunger.”

Each of us needs memorials to remind us of what God did in the past because life happens so fast! I can’t believe that today is one of those milestones for me: Wow! My goodness, 44 years in the making! Life happens and we get a little grayer, but we gray gracefully, right? Every year I try to slow down, and ask, “How can I make my 44^th year better than my 43^rd? How can I be a better servant of the Lord, of my wife, of my boys, and of my church next year than I was last year?”

If we are to live a fruitful life, we must understand the condition of the soil of our soul and be willing to put in the necessary work. Jesus is telling the crowd that we are each responsible to take the necessary tools, and go where God wants us to go. If it’s hard ground, will you praise the Lord in the midst of your trials and tribulations, or will you expect someone else to praise the Lord, and you get the benefits of it? Will you pray and dig deep, past the rocks, the shallowness of your soul, and allow God’s roots to grow deep, and give Him your worries?

We like the benefits of the work, without putting in the work! That no matter how beautiful your garden is, if you don’t maintain it consistently, day after day, you could wind up right back where you were at the beginning—God has called us to walk in maturity and discipleship.

Let’s look at the parable of the soils one last time as we end the Breaking Ground series…

Matthew 13:1-9 NIV says: “¹That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat by the lake. ² Such large crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat in it, while all the people stood on the shore. ³ Then he told them many things in parables, saying: ‘A farmer went out to sow his seed. ⁴ As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. ⁵ Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. ⁶ But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. ⁷ Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. ⁸ Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown. ⁹ Whoever has ears, let them hear.’”

Jesus ended with the phrase: “Whoever has ears let them hear.” Jesus’ point is that we all have ears, but are we using them? 

1.What Are You Waiting For? What You Plant With Patience Will Produce Lasting Fruit!

The entire process of going from hard soil to soft soil requires that we be committed to one thing—that Discipleship Is A Long Obedience In The Same Direction, as written by.We want changes to be instantaneous, or have someone else do the work for us; yet, if we are Living The Fruit-Full Life, we must be willing to put in the work, and understand the condition of the soil of our soul.

God has called us to plant with patience to produce lasting fruit! That’s exactly what He’s telling His disciples when explaining the meaning of the parable in…

Luke 8:15 NKJV, “He said: ‘But the ones that fell on the good ground are those who, having heard the word with a noble and good heart, keep it and bear fruit with patience.^’”

God has called us to bear fruit with patience; yet, we get frustrated when we don’t see instantaneous change or answer to our prayers. We get tired of waiting, and stop listening actively. Our faith becomes passive; then, slowly but surely, we take things into our own hands and we end up back on hard soil! 

Here’s a funny question, but it's illustrative of what we're talking about. What would you rather have, fungus or fruit? Fungus will grow in a day, and with the right condition, you can have fungus overnight! But fruit takes time—the best things are worth waiting for! This is Jesus's whole point: If you want lasting fruit, you must plant with patience. Nothing grows overnight, except fungus!

2. What Are You Investing In? With Good Soil And Good Seed It’s A Good Time To Go Big In Our Giving!

Why don’t we don’t go big in our giving? It’s usually because we have small thinking. When we tear down our small thinking, we realize that we are serving a big God, and He gives us bigger dreams than what we could possibly have imagined…

Matthew 13:23 NKJV says, “But he who received seed on the good ground is he who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and produces: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.”

Jesus is explaining to the disciples the parable of the soils saying, “Hey, when you have good soil like this, it will produce 100-, 60-, or 30-fold. If you want a fruit-full life, you must start thinking big and stop thinking small because however much we invest into this season, is how much fruit we will yield in the next season.” 

You just can’t out give God! When God asks us to give, He’s asking us to live at a whole new level than we’ve ever lived before! You can’t get to a place of faithfulness unless you take what God has given you and plant/invest it and wait on His timing…

2 Corinthians 9:6-8 NIV says, “⁶ Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. ⁷ Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. ⁸ And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.”

We do the investing/giving; God does the blessing and growing/increasing. And that's what we see in the Kohatsu family. I want to share their testimony with you because God was breaking down the walls and barriers of their limitations—but they took a step of faith! When God broke down their limitations, He brought them into things they never thought they'd see! 

[Video]

JOEY: From the time we were married, we had been attending church. We both made commitments and accepted Christ in high school. As a couple, we've been growing spiritually, over the last seven years. We went through a financial ministry class with Andy Pike, about stewarding our money well—one of the topics was on tithing.

Rachel was always faithful with her tithing; but, admittedly, for me, tithing was never a big part of my worship and faith. In retrospect, I was probably tipping God more than making an intentional faithful act of giving. It was through that ministry that I was very convicted that I needed to grow and stretch. That was the first time, as a couple, we started tithing, regularly.

RACHEL: Our goal was to purchase a home; but it seemed so far off (we were living day to day). How would we be able to save enough for a down payment?

JOEY: I got caught up in the day?to?day stress and anxieties of finances and our relationship. We actually had three miscarriages and, admittedly, a lot of sadness and frustration—a lot of why prayers: “God, why are we having so much trouble having a child?” We kept praying and, finally, incorporated tithing as part of our worship in our relationship with God.

RACHEL: So when difficult times came, we asked, “Are we going to be faithful in our tithe? Are we going to recognize that it all comes from God?” It was a leap of faith that we're going to give God the first 10 percent, and trust Him to provide for the rest of our needs; and everything is going to be okay. So, for us, we're finding that God does provide: He is more than able to provide!

JOEY: There were definitely moments when certain bills or expenses came in that were a stretch: Do we still write that check? Do we still make that payment? But I can say that God always gave us peace; that this is the right thing to do. And He said, “This is what I would like you to be doing in this season of your life.”

RACHEL: It seems as if God always asks something; then you act in faith. But then He takes you a little bit further after that. And for us, that little bit further came as the Greater Together, building campaign. So even with the tithing, for me, it was a stretch!

Then when the whole building campaign (Future and A Hope) came up, the question was, “Would we be willing to give more, above and beyond the tithe—towards the building campaign?” We had prayed about it and gave—that was a bit of a stretch, too!

Every time we did that, it was always a little bit scary because unexpected bills would occur or something would cost more than expected. But, we had pledged to give, and so we remained faithful to give the amount that we had pledged. It is nice to go from being stressed about those things to realizing that God does take care of us—We have that peace!

JOEY: It's been amazing to see the fruits of our giving this past year: We were able to have the funds to purchase of our first home!

RACHEL: And the baby that we've been praying for came this year (shows picture)!

JOEY: We were floored—feel so blessed and happy! As a couple looking back, it was really a faith journey! God is saying, “If you can trust me with this piece of your life/faith, then maybe I can trust you with a little bit more!”

[End video:]

What an amazing promise. You’re part of the fruit and what God is doing here at New Hope. This fruit represents families that were broken that God has made whole; marriages that were on the rocks; that God is bringing into a new depth of fruitfulness; freedom from addictions; and people who have stepped from death into life through salvation. That’s what we’re investing in! Just as we were instructed to give “…not out of compulsion, not reluctantly, but cheerfully.” Ask, “God, what kind of fruit would you like to bring into my life? I want to invest into that now so that I can see that in the next season.”

Questions:

1. What are you investing in that makes the Lord happy?

2. How will you live a fruitful-full life?

3. What are examples of living a fruitful life?

4. How are you influencing others in your life to invest in the Lord?

5. How can you change your life with investments in the Lord?