Sermon notes

I decided that as I was listening to Mike preach yesterday, I wanted to try to keep my blog up to date more by writing about my thoughts on the sermon. Partly this is because I thought that it was a great sermon, partly because I want to blog a little bit more, and about more meaningful things.

So yesterday, Mike preached from Philippians 4:10-23. It was a fantastic sermon, talking about contentment in God, and talking about that specifically with regard to material possessions. In fact, I think that everyone at BayLight that wasn't there (since it was Thanksgiving weekend) should listen to it. And not in the "So and so really needs to hear this sermon" type of way, but more from the fact that it was just a really challenging, convicting and powerful message. I will post the URL later this week, after I actually post the message.

Anyway, one thing he talked about was how both poverty and affluence were trials. We can easily see how poverty is a trial, but we don't often think that having a lot is a trial as well. The key is to learn contentment whether you are in either situation, or somewhere in the middle. I also found it challenging when he was talking about how some force themselves to live in poverty, or are ascetic, and how that doesn't draw them closer to God, but rather puffs them up and makes them look down on others who don't do the same. Withdrawal of any kind, whether from food, material possessions or what we allow to soak into our minds (TV, news, internet, etc.) creates space for God, but it needs to be filled up with Him, or else it gets filled in by something else.

Mike later went on to talk about giving, the spirit of generosity. During this time, he quoted from Malachi 3:8-12.
8 "Will a man rob God? Yet you rob me.
"But you ask, 'How do we rob you?'
"In tithes and offerings. 9 You are under a curse—the whole nation of you—because you are robbing me. 10 Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this," says the LORD Almighty, "and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it. 11 I will prevent pests from devouring your crops, and the vines in your fields will not cast their fruit," says the LORD Almighty. 12 "Then all the nations will call you blessed, for yours will be a delightful land," says the LORD Almighty.

This passage really touched me on several counts. First, hearing God talk about us robbing Him of tithes and offerings was pretty strong. I don't often think about sin against God, but more as just doing something bad apart from Him. The second thing was how He says "Test me in this" - He's really saying "Test me to see how generous I am, how much I want to bless you." I just love the revelation of God's heart like this. I think the prophets often reveal this side of God like no other section of the Bible. The language of verse 10 is so beautiful, there's so much yearning, so much passion from God. I was thinking, then, why He withheld it because of the tithe not being brought in, and I have a hunch that it's because us being able to freely give to God and others is a reflection of how we would be able to handle God pouring out His blessings to us. The backwards economy of God: he who wants to save his life will lose it, but he wants to lose his life for Christ will gain it.