Exponential Gratitude

I am thankful that once again this year we have this extra Sunday between Thanksgiving and the beginning of Advent, because it gives us a chance to just breathe deeply before the crush of holiday activities.  Next Sunday we will begin an advent journey that will lead us to finding the hope, love, joy and peace that comes with the light of Jesus, and I hope you will join us and invite others to be part of this advent-ure, but for now, we can simply pause for a moment and give thanks. 

What are you thankful for?  I hope you were able to think of 2 or 3 things immediately when I said that, and I hope that you took some time these past few days to give thanks for family, food, friends, faith, fun and all that God has given us to fill our lives.  Here is the amazing thing about gratitude – once we start to practice it, it grows exponentially.  Once we start giving thanks intentionally and consistently – the more we see in our lives and world for which we can give thanks.  Gratitude really does grow exponentially, and God made it this way because gratitude literally rewires our brains so that we become more and more grateful. 

Studies have shown that even a simple gratitude exercise, like writing down what we are thankful for, builds lasting neural sensitivity to more positive thinking.  This means that the more we practice gratitude, the more we default to thinking positively and seeing more things for which we are grateful.  And the benefits are long lasting.  A Harvard Medical School study said “in positive psychology research, gratitude is strongly and consistently associated with greater happiness.  Gratitude helps people feel more positive emotions, relish good experiences, improve their health, deal with adversity, and build strong relationships.”  Gratitude grows exponentially, and it improves our lives dramatically. 

Last year in a series on the good life, we learned from research by Dr. Robert A. Emmons that people who kept a weekly list of what they were grateful for ended up being healthier.  They exercised more, had fewer physical problems, and illnesses, felt better about their lives, and were more optimistic.  Young adults who kept lists of things they were grateful for reported being more alert, enthusiastic, determined, and attentive to what was going on around them, and they helped others more often.  Children who practiced giving thanks daily had more positive attitudes toward school and their families.  And listen to this, a study done on people who were sick, both physically and emotionally, found that those who intentionally gave thanks for 21 days ended up with better moods, a greater sense of feeling connected to others, and they slept better.  They were healthier.  Gratitude doesn’t just grow exponentially in our hearts and minds, helping us see more things to be thankful for, it expands outward and improves every area of our life.

Learning to be grateful helped people place less importance on material goods; they were less likely to judge in terms of possessions accumulated; they were less envious of others, and they were more likely to share what they had with those in need.  Less greedy, less envious, more giving; practicing gratitude makes us more and more like Jesus.  Every time I read an article or hear about a study about the power of gratitude, I am amazed at how something so simple can make such a profound and lasting difference.  And all we have to do is take one small step toward gratitude and God will take it from there.  I like to think that this is what happened with King David when he wrote Psalm 103.

As we read this psalm, I get the feeling that David just wanted to say something simple, like thank you God, but once he said that, his mind began to go from one thing to the next.  His gratitude started to grow, and then it was like a floodgate opened up and his gratitude for God grew exponentially.  Psalm 103:1-22

David starts by saying don’t forget all that God has done for you.  Don’t forget to say thank you to God for his forgiveness, and then he adds, and for his healing, and because he rescues us from adversity, and how he satisfies us with so many good things, and how he works for justice and righteousness for all those who are oppressed, and for his hand that has guided us since the days of Moses, and for his compassion and love, and once again for his forgiveness, because God literally removes our sin from us, which means there is no sorrow or shame connected to our sin – forever.  And we need to give thanks that God formed us, which means that God knows we are weak at times, and frail, and need his help.  And we need to give thanks that God’s love is always there for us, and how he is faithful to all his promises.  And if that isn’t enough, David goes on and says, and we need to give thanks that God is eternal in heaven, and that all of creation, heaven and earth, will worship him. 

David started with a simple – let’s thank God, and that step toward gratitude exploded in David’s heart, and mind, and life, and it grew exponentially.  And this is what happens when we practice gratitude – it grows in us, and it changes us, and it can change every one of us because gratitude doesn’t depend on everything in our lives going well.  Gratitude is not just saying thank you when we get some big gift, it is appreciating what we see in life as being meaningful.  We can train ourselves to constantly be grateful for the little things we have and value in life.  We can train ourselves to give thanks to God, daily. 

Each one of us is different, which means, we each might grow in gratitude in different ways, so let me give a few different ways we can learn to build gratitude in our lives. 

1. Keep A Gratitude Journal. 
Write down what you are thankful for.  Keep a gratitude journal or list and every day write down what you are thankful for.  The more we see what is on that list, the more we will see what can be placed on that list.  It was this simple practice that researchers often used in their gratitude studies, and it was this simple practice that led to people feeling happier, healthier, and having stronger relationships with family, friends, and coworkers.



2. Take Time To Rest And Reflect.
Many times, in order to see what we can add to that gratitude list we have to slow down and take time to rest and reflect.  We need time and space to see what we have been given by God, to see the blessings of our lives, and to have our hearts opened by God.  God built rest and reflection into our lives for a reason when he gave us the Sabbath.  When God rested at the end of each day, what he did was reflect on his work and call it good.  He saw the value of it, he gave thanks for it.  If we take time rest and reflect, we will being to see all that we have been given and give thanks. 

3. Power Down And Turn Off
In order to give thanks, we might need to power down our computers and tablets and turn off our phones.  When we can disconnect from all that tries to distract us in this world, we are able to see the gifts and opportunities God has given us that can enrich our lives.

4. Live Simply
It might seem counter-intuitive, but sometimes the less we have - the more we have to be thankful for, because we begin to see those things that are really important, and those things that really matter. This is an important practice to keep in mind as we move into this holiday season.  If we can live simply through the holidays, and maybe spend less with our money, we might be able to give more of what is really valuable, like our time and service.  When we see what is truly valuable in life and go after that, we will appreciate so much more, and give thanks.

5. Look For The Positive In The Negative
While we don’t give thanks for the bad things that happen, within every difficult situation there is something positive we can find.  The Bible says that God works for the good in all things.  Not all things are good, but God works for the good in all things, which means there is something positive in all things, and if we will look for the positive, we will find it and when we find it we can be thankful. 
The devastating fires we have seen in CA are not good, but we have seen people give, and share with those in need, and we have heard victims of the fires who have lost everything give thanks that they have what is ultimately valuable, their lives and families.

6. Share With Others
You can take this two ways.  We can share what we have with others, that will often make us more grateful for what we have, but what I really mean here is that we need to make it a priority to share with others what you are thankful for.  Ask your children, or grandchildren, each night what they are thankful for as you put them to bed.  At a family meal each week ask people what they are thankful for.  Don’t make this a yearly Thanksgiving tradition but a weekly family tradition.  Maybe you can post on social media each day one thing you are thankful for, or make it a habit to do a Thankful Tuesday and post what you thankful for near the beginning of each week to help others see what they have as well.  The more we share, the more our gratitude grows and the more we help others learn to be grateful.  This is another way gratitude grows exponentially. 

7. Write A Letter
Let me close with a quote from a study by a psychologist at the University of Pennsylvania.  He found that when a person wrote and delivered a letter of thanks to someone they had not previously thanked, this what happened:  Participants immediately exhibited a HUGE increase in happiness scores.  This impact was GREATER than that from any other intervention, with benefits LASTING for a month.  In other words, writing and delivering a letter of thanks increased gratitude exponentially. 

Maybe that is what David was trying to do in Psalm 103, write a letter of thanks to God.  Maybe the letter we need to write this week is to God.  Maybe the letter we need to write is to our parents, our spouse, our children, a teacher who made an impact in our lives, a friend we have never properly thanked, a neighbor who inspires us, a veteran who has served, a manager, a coworker, or an employee.  Is there someone we need to thank for their role in our lives that we have never thanked?  If we can write, and deliver that letter, it might make all the difference in our lives, and our future.

As we prepare for this busy and full holiday season, what can keep us calm, joyful, focused and faithful is allowing gratitude to grow exponentially in our lives.  It can absolutely happen because God wired us in such a way that if will just take that first step toward gratitude and find some way, a new way, another way to practice gratitude, it will grow in our lives exponentially. 



Next Steps
Read Psalm 103. 

List all the things that for which David was giving thanks. 
Review this list every day to spark your own gratitude.

Choose one of the following to help cultivate gratitude this week.

Start A Gratitude Journal
Take Time To Rest And Reflect
Power Down And Turn Off
Simplify Your Life
Look For The Positive In The Negative
Share Your Gratitude With Others
Write A Letter Of Thanks

Join us next week as we begin an Advent-ure, following The Star.
Invite Someone To Join You!

Exponential Giving

This morning, as you look at the shoe boxes collected right now, how many lives do you see changed?  If I told you there were 257 boxes here right now, how many lives do you see changed?  If you said 257, you still haven’t grasped this idea of living exponentially.  When we live exponentially, we see God taking our lives, our opportunities, and yes our gifts, and multiplying them for his purpose, and power, and kingdom.  We usually think too small.  While we think addition, God thinks multiplication.  So these 257 boxes won’t just touch the lives of 257 children, but 257 families, which might have 3 people per family, which would be 771 people, who will share their story of God’s love with 10 people, that’s 7,710, who then share the story of God’s love with 10 people, now we are at 77,100 people.

But even that might be thinking too small because each box might change 1 child in a village of 100 people, so now 25,700 people are touched by God’s love and they each travel to a village of 100 so now 2, 570,000 people’s lives have been touched by the love of God.  But, what if, just one child was to become an evangelist like Billy Graham, and another a nun like mother Theresa, and a third one becomes a crusader like Nelson Mandela? The number of people whose lives might be changed by just these 3 children would be in the 100’s of millions and then that number would grow exponentially as people are inspired and changed by their example.  We think addition, God thinks multiplication.  In these boxes we see one child changed, but God sees the world-changing power of giving.  If you want to put together a shoe-box, you can do it online here.

Exponential living begins when we start to see what is possible if we will live sold-out lives for God, and when we make the most of every opportunity we are given.  Today, I want us to focus on the exponential power we can see in our own lives, and in our world, when we start to give the way God calls us to give.  When we give, God doesn’t add our gifts together, God multiplies them so even more is available for God’s work.  To learn why and how to give, we are going to look at a parable of Jesus found in Matthew 25. 

This is a long story, and I encourage you take time to read it, but let me just tell you what it says.  A rich man was going away on a journey, but before he left he entrusted all he had to his servants.  To one he gave 5 talents, to one he gave 2 talents, and to one he gave 1 talent.  Now the word talent is the same word we might use to talk about our gifts, skills, and ability, but it was also a unit of measure that was often connected to gold and silver, so a talent was also seen as a type of currency.  So a talent here is the combination of one’s gifts, skills, and abilities, as well as financial resources.

Once the man gave away all he had to his servants, he left, but when he returned, each servant had to give an account of what they did with the talents they were given.  The one who got 5 talents doubled that amount and made 5 more.  The one who got 2 talents also doubled it and made 2 more, but it says that the one who received the one talent was afraid, so he buried what he had in order to give it back in full.  And this is what the rich man said to that servant, you wicked and lazy servant.  These are harsh words, but they show us just how seriously Jesus takes the issue of stewardship, because that is what this parable is about.  It is about stewardship, our stewardship of God’s resources. 

There are three big ideas in this parable that we need to understand if we want to experience the exponential life God has for us, and learn the power of giving.  The first has to do with this idea of stewardship:
#1. God Owns Everything.  In this story, it is the rich man who gives his property to the servants.  Matthew 25:14.  The wealth belongs to the man, not the servants.  It all belongs to the rich man.  If we are going to learn how to live, and give, the way God wants us to, then we need to get this idea firmly in our hearts and minds.  What we have does not belong to us – it belongs to God.  Our homes, our cars, our clothes, our TV’s, our investments, and bank accounts don’t belong to us, it all belongs to God, and as God’s children, we are called to use these resources the way God uses His resources.  So what does God do with all his stuff?  He gives it away, he shares it with us.  So the first thing we need to do is make sure that giving is part of our lives.

The reason we give to God is because that reflects what God does with all the wealth of this world.  God gives away all he has, so we need to learn to give.  When we talk about giving a tithe, which means a tenth, or 10%, we are NOT talking about a law to follow in fear of being punished, we are talking about an act that helps us see that everything we have has come from God.  We need to think of our gifts, and tithes, and offerings as a declaration of God’s ownership of all things.

So a question to wrestle with this week is this, what would be different in our lives, and in our giving, if we really believed that God owns everything?  How would this big idea change how we live, what we give, and what we keep for ourselves?  Would we start to give because we realize that it is not ours in the first place?  Would we give more because we want to be more like the God who gives?  Would we give more because we know that this is the kind of life God wants for us, and therefore, the kind of life God will bless?  What would be different in our living, and giving, if we believed that God owns everything?

The second big idea we find in this parable is this:
#2. We will all give an account of what we did with God’s resources.  Matthew 25:19.  Now let’s be clear, the account we will give will not be to the church, or to any person (except maybe your spouse), and it will not even be to the IRS, although they do ask for a lot of information, the account we will give, will be to God, because it all belongs to God.  But we need to understand that we don’t give an account so that God can judge us and punish us, we give an account so God can encourage us and cheer us on.

2 of the 3 servants gave an account of their stewardship, and the rich man cheered them on.  He encouraged them, and honored them.  If we knew God would cheer us on in our giving, would we give more faithfully and joyfully?  Here is the question we need to ask ourselves, How would we live differently, if we knew that we had to give an account, but it wasn’t to an angry judge, but a loving God?

And then the last big idea is this:
#3. When we give faithfully to God, God multiplies our giving.  When the servant with 5 talents used those for the rich man, he doubled what he had.  When the servant with 2 talents used those for the rich man, he doubled what he had.  When we think addition, God thinks multiplication.  When we take what we have, and give it to God, and use if for God’s kingdom, and God’s work, God doesn’t add to it, God multiplies it.

During the time of Elijah the prophet, there was an extreme drought that left many people in need.  God sent Elijah to a small town and told him that a woman there would feed him until the drought was over.  Elijah went and found the woman who was in the process of taking the very last of her flour and oil and making a final meal for herself and her son.  Elijah told her to first make him a small cake, and then to do what she had planned to do.  So the woman took a small amount, from the small amount that she had, and basically gave it away.  She made Elijah a small cake, and then God multiplied it, because she had enough for the next day, and the next, and the next.  It says that she not only fed Elijah, but herself and her family for years.  When we are willing to give to God what belongs to God, God multiplies what we have.  This kind of giving not only blesses us, but others as well, because it multiplies what is available for the work of God in the world.

Now please hear this, giving to God doesn’t mean God will multiply what we have to spend on ourselves, so that we can live extravagantly.  God multiplies what we give, and makes sure we have what we need, and then multiplies the resources available for the work of God in the world.  In other words, our simple gifts to God are blessed, and multiplied.  In time, we find that we have all we need, and God is able to do more and more in this world.  This is our story.

As you heard earlier today, we are celebrating that we are debt free!  This is really a wonderful accomplishment, and we paid off this debt, not by one or two people giving large sums of money, but by all of our faithful gifts and offerings.  The $5, $25, $100, $300 gifts we give each week as a tithe, or offering, has been multiplied though the years so that our mortgage of over $700,000 has been paid off in 10 years.  But then God blessed this giving and multiplied it, because during those same 10 years, we have also spent $480,000 on more work around the church like:
• Lighting
• Carpet
• Electrical Work
• Room Remodeling
• Sound System Upgrades
• Parking Lot Paving
• New Heating/ AC Units
• New Parsonage
And all of this is outside of what we budgeted each year on building improvements.

But remember, God is a God of multiplication, so during this same time, God multiplied what we gave so that we could be faithful to God’s mission and ministry in the world.  Beyond the missions we support in our budget, over the past 10 years we have been able to send out over $358,000 to help support:
• Sierra Leone Churches and Pastors
• Belize
• UMCOR Disaster Relief
• World Refugee Crisis
• Ebola
• Africa University Scholarships
• Mission Trips
• Local Mission Work and Care for the Needy

So, in 10 years, our giving to God has been multiplied.  We paid off a mortgage of $700,000 and God more than doubled that as we invested in ministry here and supported missions around the world, all outside of our yearly budgets.  I’ll be honest, I can’t explain this, other than God has taken what we have given and multiplied it, and this is what exponential giving looks like.  When we are faithful stewards of what God gives us, and when we give back to God a portion of what God gives to us, God multiplies it, and God makes more and more available for the work of the church in the community and world.

While we are now living debt free, that doesn’t mean our giving comes to an end, because nothing has changed.  It all still belongs to God, and we will still give an account of how we used God’s resources, and if we will continue to give to God, God will multiply our giving and bless our own lives, as well as our church, and the work we are able to do in our community and world.   So we need to keep giving to God.

If you have never given before, I want to invite you to give today for the first time.  Take this step to exponential living and see what God can begin to do in your life and faith.  The rewards are huge.  You can give online, you can send in money during the week, you can make the commitment and give next week, or you can direct your bank to give to the church, whatever way is good for you to give - you can give.  For more information on giving to Faith Church

And if you are already giving, I want to challenge you to think about giving back to God just a little bit more.  If you give a percentage, like a tithe, remember that 10% was not the maximum, but the minimum, God called for.  Can you give more?  One dollar more per week becomes at least $23,000 over the course of a year.  $100 more per year becomes $44,000, and when that is given to God, it accomplishes more than we ever thought or imagined.  To become this kind of exponential givers, we have to see ourselves as Kingdom Investors, not Earthly Spenders.

We can spend money on a new TV, the latest iphone, or another kitchen appliance or household gadget, or we can invest that money in the work of God’s kingdom.  That money can add a little bit of pleasure to our lives. or it could be used to reach dozens of people in our community for Jesus Christ, and be multiplied by God to bring help, hope, and life to thousands around the world.
We could spend $2 a day to buy a cup of coffee, or we could invest that $2 in the kingdom of God, and have over $45,000 to give to our work in Sierra Leone, or Belize.  While all our giving may seem small, there is no small gift when we give in faith to God.  When we give as God calls us to give, God blesses us exponentially, and God multiplies what we give to bless the world.

Let me leave you with this final thought.  Imagine what Faith Church might look like a year from now, imagine what our community might look like a year from now, and imagine what kind of an impact we could make in the world during the next year if each one of us moved from being an earthly spender, to a kingdom investor.  Think of the amazing, God given, life changing opportunities that would open up before us if we would all step up our giving, because when we give, God takes our gifts and multiplies them, exponentially, so that together we can be blessed and in turn be a blessing.


Next Steps
Exponential Giving

1. Read the parable of the talents - Matthew 25:14-30.
What does this parable tell us about God?  About ourselves?  About what we own?  About the stewardship of our finances, time, and talents?

2. God Owns Everything.
What would be different in your life, and in your giving, if you believed that God really did own everything?
Would you spend less on yourself?
Would you start giving, or give more, to God?
Would you be more generous?

3. We will give an account of what we did with God’s resources (our finances, time, and talents).
What would be different in your life, and in your giving, if you believed that you would have to give an account?
Would you spend less on yourself?
Would you start giving, or give more, to God?
Would you be more generous?
How can knowing God is there to cheer you on help your giving?

4. When we give faithfully to God, God multiplies our giving.
When has God blessed you because of your giving?
How did these blessings help you bless others?
When have you seen God multiply your giving?
How can these stories encourage you to give more faithfully and generously?

5. Commit to stepping up your giving to God and the church.
Start giving faithfully to God’s work at Faith Church?
Increase your giving to Faith Church by 1%.
Set aside money to support special missions during the holiday season?  (Faith Church Christmas Dinner, Faith Church Christmas Eve Offering, Toys for Tots, etc.)

Exponential - Vision

How many apples do you see in my hand?  If you are thinking there is just one – then you need to expand your vision.  In this apple there are seeds that can produce trees, which over time will produce hundreds of apples, whose seeds can produce thousands of trees, which over time will produce millions of apples.  So let me ask you again, how many apples do you see in my hand? 

God is never about small things or simple growth, God is always about big things and exponential growth.  The word exponential means expanding or growing at an unusually rapid rate, and this is often the kind of growth God desires in our lives.  In the creation story, God created human beings and then said to us, be fruitful and multiply.  When we think addition, God thinks multiplication.  Scientist tell us that the universe is ever expanding, and I don’t think this means every year a new planet is created, I think it means that the universe is exploding out in size and scope.  It is growing exponentially.  God is about exponential growth and exponential living

Let’s go back to the apple for a moment to see what this kind of exponential growth looks like.  Each apple can have up to 12 seeds, so let’s say this 1 apple has 10 seeds, which can produce 10 trees.  Each apple tree can produce up to 1,000 apples, which means from this one apple can come 10,000 trees, which each produce 1,000 apples which means from this one apple can come 10,000,000 trees which each have 1,000 apples which means from this one apple can come 10 Billion trees, which each produce 1000 apples which can produce 10 Trillion trees…  This is exponential growth, and this is the kind of growth God placed in the world.  While we often limit our thinking to addition, God thinks multiplication. 

For the next few weeks we want to talk about what exponential living looks like.  The reality is that many of us think too small when it comes to life and faith.  We have settled for how things are today instead of seeing how things might be tomorrow.  Our vision is shaped by what we think is possible instead of what God desires for us and our world.  If you are feeling like you have settled for the status quo  and yet want more out of your life and faith, then these weeks are for you, and it all beings with a vision.  Can we see ourselves the way God sees us?  Can we see our God given potential?  Can we see our God given future?  God always wants more for us and from us, much, much more.

To help us see how God wants more for us, let’s go back to Abraham and Sarah.  Abraham was the first person specifically called by God, and Abraham was told that if he would follow God, God would make him into a great nation.  Genesis 12:1-3. 

God wanted to do something big in Abraham’s life.  He didn’t just want to give Abraham a child, or a family, he wanted to make Abraham into a nation.  I am sure Abraham thought, wow, this is great.  I am going to go home and tell my wife, and a month from now she will be pregnant, and we will have our child. 

At some point during the next month it became clear to Sarah and Abraham that she was not pregnant, and then the next month, and the next month, and the next month.  Month after month, nothing happened.  Year after year, nothing happened.  There is no child.  There is no family.  There is no nation.  Many years pass, a decade passes without anything happening which means that for 120 months Abraham and Sarah got their hopes up, only to have them beaten back down.  Abraham finally says to God, You have given me no children, so a servant in my household will be my heir.  Abraham is saying, You promised me a child, a family, a lineage and a legacy and after 10 years I still don’t even have a child so my entire estate will go to the child of a servant.  Abraham has lowered his expectations and given up hope for God’s big plans.

And this is how we end up settling for less in our own lives.  We had great hopes and high expectations, only to be disappointed again and again, so we simply settled for less.  We wanted to get out of debt, but after years of trying, we are still there.  We wanted a more meaningful job, or any job – but we are stuck where we are.  We wanted a better marriage, or maybe we just wanted to be married, and yet we are still single, or still not satisfied with where we are in our relationships.  There are times we all say to God, Where are you?  We don’t see you working anywhere in our lives, so we am going to settle for what we have, and where we are.  If you are in that place today, please hear this, just because we don’t see God working, doesn’t mean that God is not working. 

Let’s go back to that apple.  If we were to plant these seeds, how long do you think it would take before we saw any kind of growth above the ground?  I have no idea… but it will take a while, but just because we don’t see the growth, doesn’t mean it is not taking place.  Just because we can’t see what God is doing around us, doesn’t mean that God is not doing great things and preparing us, and our lives, for greater things to come.  Can we grab hold of a vision for our lives that includes faith that God is at work doing great things around us, and preparing us for exponential growth.  The Bible says that faith is the assurance of things hoped for and the conviction of things unseen, and many times what God is at work doing in our lives is unseen. 

As a parent, much of your work in raising children in life and faith is unseen.  You don’t see your children being shaped and formed by your words, actions, and love.  You don’t see how your values are forming the heart of your child so that they will grow up to be kind and giving.  Much of parenting is done in faith – the assurance of things hoped for and the conviction of things unseen.  The same is true for our faith, and our lives as followers of Jesus.  While we are called to share with others the love of God, and the good news of Jesus Christ, we often never see the fruit of that work, and sometimes we don’t see God working at all.  We love others, pray for others, care for others, teach and share with others, and while we trust that God will use our efforts to draw people closer to Him, and to change our world, we often don’t see God doing anything, but that doesn’t mean God is not at work. 

As a college student, I was walking across campus one day when a man handed me a small green bible.  It was the New Testament and book of Psalms, and each year millions are passed out by the Gideons.  I am inspired by the work of the Gideons because they not only work hard to get the word of God into people’s hands, but they do it all in faith.  The Gideons have no idea if the person who receives that Bible will read it, or take the words they read to heart.  They have no idea what will happen, they just trust God to use them for big things. 

That little Bible was used by God to help change my life, because it was from that Bible, that one day, before a class, I read Psalm 18:1-3.  For the first time, the Bible wasn’t just a book written long ago, because it was as if my words had come to life.  This was now my story, my words, and the cry of my heart, and God began to become real to me.  In time, I gave my life to Jesus and started to serve God.  I like to think that one Bible, given in faith, has produced a harvest for God.  I have tried to share God’s love with others, and I have tried to call people to Jesus, and my hope is that through me, other seeds have been planted, and trees have grown, that are all bearing fruit for God, and giving glory to Jesus Christ.

My life, your life, is often that one seed God wants to use to bring about his kingdom through exponential growth.  Can we see that, and will we let God make that happen?  The first step to exponential living is to simply see that God can use our lives to make a difference.  Can we have that kind of vision for our lives?  We are all that one seed God wants to use to bring hundreds, and thousands, and maybe millions to him.  Each one of us can do it, if in faith, we will step into the vision God has for our lives. 

When we help pack a shoebox, we have the potential to change a life, a family, and a community, and in a few generations, maybe our one shoebox has changed a nation. 

When we give to help support the pastors in Sierra Leone, we are helping to spread the gospel in churches across a nation, which touches hundreds of communities and thousands of lives. 

When we helped send bibles, and clothes, and supplies to Belize, we were planting seeds that God will use to change the hearts, lives, and destinies of others. 

Does the vision of our lives include God doing great things in us, even if we don’t see God moving? 

It’s not easy to have this kind of vision.  We often don’t think we are able to do much, or maybe we don’t think God is able to do much, or maybe we don’t think God works this way, or wants to work this way in us, well, Abraham thought the same thing.  He struggled to have a God sized vision for his life.  He was beginning to settle for less when God helped expand his vision.  Instead of leaving Abraham in the dark, he gave him a vision of exponential life, faith and growth.  God said to Abraham, leave your tent and look up.  So Abraham went outside, and it was night time, so he looked up and this is what he saw.

Standing there, God said, now count the stars.  Obviously Abraham didn’t count the stars, he couldn’t, but God got his attention, and then God said, Abraham, that will be your family. 

God gave Abraham a vision of his life and future.  Abraham didn’t even have one child at this point, but God was going to do something so big in his life that in time his family would be greater than the stars of heaven.  God had made Abraham a promise, and God had not, and would not forget it, and God was at work fulfilling it. 

And God did fulfill that promise and today, each one of us is one of those stars, because each one of us is a child of Abraham – not biologically, but through faith.  Galatians 3:29, If you belong to Christ, then you are Abrahams seed, and heirs according to the promise.  Think about it.  When Abraham was thinking about a son, one child, God was thinking about you and me, and generations of people who would be part of his family.  When Abraham was thinking of addition, adding one more person to his family, God was thinking and planning exponentially, God was thinking of all the people throughout time who would be added to his family through this one man’s son and then through His own son.  When Abraham was lowering his vision, God was working to lift up his eyes.  God wanted to expand his vision so he would think and live exponentially.   

When we don’t see the things in our life that we were hoping for, dreaming of, and planning on, and when we are not feeling like God is at work, it is then we need to leave the tent and look up.  We need to leave our old way of thinking and look to God, who wants to do more in us, than we ever thought or imagined was possible.  Yes, more than we ever thought or imagined.  Ephesians 3:20. 

Each one of us is like this apple.  We see one simple life – God sees an abundance of good works, and a life changing faith. When we have settled for less, and see decline in our life and faith, God still sees exponential growth.  We have to leave behind the old way of thinking.  We have to leave behind our doubt and fear, and see that with one step of obedience, with…
• one shoebox filled
• one prayer prayed
• one dollar given
• one box of food donated
• one hour in God’s word
• one act of kindness
• one moment of sharing faith
we have the potential to expand God’s kingdom exponentially.  Just because we can’t see God working, doesn’t mean God is not at work.  God is at work, and God is on the move in our lives, and in our world.  Let us trust, believe, and lift up our heads and see the exponential life and faith God has for us. 
 

Next Steps
Exponential Vision

1. As you think about your life and faith, where do you feel like you have settled for less?  Where do you feel like God has let you down?  Where are you looking for God to do more and be more?  Share all of this with God and a trusted friend.

2. Make a list of the big blessings in your life.  Next to them write down the initial seed that over time multiplied into that blessing.  Thank God for that exponential growth.

3. Make a list of the big, maybe even seemingly impossible dreams you have for your life and future.  Next to each one, write down the seeds you can plant in faith this week that can lead to those dreams being fulfilled. Commit your seeds of faith, and impossible dreams, to God.

4. In faith, commit to packing a shoebox and/or providing food items for the food bank.  Ask God to MULTIPLY your gift. 

5. Let go of your past, your doubts, and your fears, and look up to God.  Ask God to give you a vision for your life, faith, and future.

6. Prayer for this week.
Almighty God, You are so incredibly good and faithful. Your ability to multiply my smallest efforts is immeasurable. I can barely begin to comprehend the width and depth of Your love, and Your plans for my life. I trust You. Give me greater faith so I can step out and plant the seeds You have for me.  Amen!