Here at the “Warehouse Church” we talk a lot about evangelism…reaching out to those who have yet been found (in Christ.).  Did you know one of the easiest and most effective ways to do this is to simply ask someone to come to church with you?

In 1976, the Hatcher family from Wildwood invited me to go to the Wildwood Assembly of God on a Sunday morning.  Believe me, as a junior in college, church was the last place that I wanted to be.  However, I said yes.  It’s kind of funny now when I think about it…I was going to go just one time to get Mrs. Hatcher off of my back. 

Mrs. Hatcher insisted that I ride to church with the family and when we got there I had no idea that this church could be so different from the one I grew up in.  I LOVED IT!  I immediately felt at home and that I was welcome.  From that day on I would attend church Sunday morning, Sunday evening and Wednesday night when I could.   It would be a year before I would accept Christ into my heart on a youth retreat but when I did … 
Within a year I was mixing sound for the services and next I was assisting the youth pastor and when he resigned his position I would assume it for at least a year.  A YEAR BECAME 21 YEARS of serving under four senior pastors and playing all kind of roles in full time ministry…ALL BECAUSE  SOMEONE TOOK THE TIME AND CHANCE TO INVITE ME TO GO TO CHURCH!

I think one of the best things we could do to reach out to those on the outside of God’s church would be simply to:

• Invite them to church (more than once until they respond…Mrs. Hatcher was relentless until I went),
• Let them ride with you or you ride with them or meet them at the front door at a specified time,
• Introduce them to members of your church family,
• Get them coffee and something to eat
• Sit with them, tell them what to expect, explain what’s happening from beginning to end,
• Go with them to eat after church and ask them what they thought and answer their questions,
• Tell them why you call this place YOUR CHURCH!
• Invite them to come back again...and repeat all of the above.

You never know what might happen.  If you never invite them and never get them to attend…I’ll tell you what will probably happen…NOTHING!

We should invite someone to church every time we attend!  Not everybody will stay…but some will…I DID!  And 34 years later I am so glad that Mrs. Hatcher invited me!
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Recently, I had a complaint (to God) about the untimely death of a relatively young mother of four in Fruitland Park.  I was frustrated with God, I simply could not under-stand it, but on this occasion, He spoke immediately.  He said that there would be, for a period of several days, an open portal to heaven for this family.  And, as I often do, I tried to measure what I felt God was saying with the Bible.  Again, the answer was almost immediate-I thought of Jacob’s ladder (Genesis 28).  Since that time, I have read and re-read that chapter and have learned several things.  I do not often say this, and it may offend some, but I believe that God has a word for us from this story. 
You will need to read the chapter and pray about what I am about to say, in other words, test what is being said. 
Jacob was in a time of transition from his father’s house to his uncle’s house.  It was a very difficult trip, especially for him.  The Bible says, “He came to a certain place and stayed there all night, because the sun had set.”  It was at this place that God spoke to him in a dream.  And God just didn’t speak, he gave him incredible promises. 
When Jacob woke he said, “Surely God is in this place, and I did not know it…..How awesome is this place!  This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven!”
The place where Jacob spent the night could not have been comfortable, in fact he used a stone as a pillow, but he called the place AWESOME.  And it was here, at this spot that God chose to speak to him-to reveal powerful things about his future. 
God has us in an uncomfortable place, but I believe He is in our midst and it is awesome.   I would urge you that this is the very place that God wants to give us revelations, just like Jacob.
I was recently watching the History Channel and they did a program that dealt mostly with, guess who? Jacob.  Did you know that the Hebrew word for ladder is better translated, “ramp”?  Now I ask you, where do you usually find a ramp?      
From this point on, I hope we can view this place, (our transition) as a ramp that leads to the gate of heaven.  I believe that God has brought us here and not only has He brought us here, He is here with us!



 
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If I fail to communicate this word clearly I will attempt to do it again until I get it right.

What the Bible says about sowing and reaping:

Psalm 1 – Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers.  But his delight is in the law of the Lord and on his law he meditates day and night.  He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose lead does not wither.  Whatever he does prospers.

Proverbs 3:1 – My son do not forget my teaching, but keep my commandments in your heart for they will prolong your life many years and bring you prosperity.

Joshua 1:8 – Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it.  Then you will be prosperous and successful. 

James 1:22 – Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says… But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it – he will be blessed in what he does.

Proverbs 7:1 – My son, keeps my words and store up my commands within you.  Keep thy commands and you will live, guard my teaching as the apple of your eye.  Bind them on your fingers; write them on the table of your heart.

Hosea 4:6 – my people are destroyed from lack of knowledge.

“SEED POTATOES ARE IN” – God speaks to me through a sign at the Webster Farm supply near my home.

Luke 8:5-16 – A farmer went out to sow his seed…

Mark 4:26-27 – This is what the Kingdom of God is like, a man scatters seed on the ground…

Proverbs 11:24 – One man gives freely, yet gains even more; another withholds unduly, but comes to poverty.

Galatians 6:7 – Do not be deceived; God cannot be mocked.  A man reaps what he sows.

2 Corinthians 9:6 – Remember this; 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.

Matthew 13:31 – The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his field.  Though it is the smallest of all your seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and perch in its branches.

Isaiah 55:10 – As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so that my word that goes out from my mouth. It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.

How does this relate and apply to us today?

The challenges of our economy are great.

The path of our church is laid out.

Much has changed in the past year since we moved out of our comfort zone.

The Warehouse Church has grown and has many purposes and each of them carry a price both laboriously and financially.  We are expanding this church in every direction.

With this comes a great burden for help.  Help in doing the work and help in funding the work.

As the leadership continues to seek God’s guidance for this direction we are trying to find the Mind of Christ in what we should do.

At a recent staff meeting I announced that the Lord had said to me clearly…share the burden.  We deal with the lack of enough resources to fully fund the ministries of this church and those that we are committed to on almost a daily basis.  There is only so much we can do without coming to you for help.

For years we have always put finance on the back burner.  I have not been obedient to God’s word by teaching what he has written about finances.  Last year I taught on God’s plan for tithing.

I have regretted about not instructing the people in our church body on the principles of sowing and reaping and as a result many today have financial short falls and many suffer.

When I read the sign, Seed Potatoes are IN, I knew God was showing me something.  It did not come to me at first but I knew to save the thought.

I did some research on seed potatoes and how to grow potatoes.

Here is some of what I found:

__it takes good seed potatoes to produce a good crop.
__you cut a seed potato in pieces with at least 2 eyes per piece.
__you need good loamy soil.
__adequate watering.
__adequate fertilizing.
__some protection from disease.
__and when the buds have flowered on the potato plant you harvest carefully.

1 pound of seed potatoes yields from 15 to 25 pounds of potatoes.

Some are to be eaten,
Some are to be given away,
Some are to be saved as seed potatoes for the next crop.

I felt the Lord tell me it is time for our people to sow financially into the kingdom.  I felt the challenge that if we would invest above and beyond our tithe he would give us enough to live on and enough to bring into the storehouse to sow again.

For a lot of people sowing is one of the first things that gets cut back when money becomes tight.  

Malachi 3 tells us of the blessing the father has on tithing and on offerings.

The potatoes are symbolic of our sowing into the Kingdom.  God says in Malachi 3:10 to test me in this and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have enough room for it.

HOW MANY OF YOU ARE TESTING GOD IN THIS SOWING?

How many of you need a blessing poured out from Heaven?

For most, you are surely doing as much with your own hands as possible.  We need and will even need God’s blessings more in the coming days.

What I have done is buy 50 pounds of red seed potatoes and have divided them up into 50 bags.  25 bags have $100 written on them and 25 bags have $50.  This is just a beginning but I believe the goal God has given me is 2500.00 a month to be brought into the church to fund the additional costs of the new building but to free up other funds to do the things that we are to do in and through the building.

This past Wednesday I was doing my walking on the track at the park in Bushnell and I felt the Lord said it was time to sow.

Today I am asking you to share the financial burden of the expansion of this ministry by sowing $100 a month for 12 months if you can.  If you cannot afford to sow $100 would you consider $50.  If $50 is too much for you, then PLEASE consider partnering with somebody else to be able to sow $50.  Just by a little one on one for a few hours the other day, over $500 per month has been pledged above and beyond the normal tithe.

It is important that these pledges are above your normal giving…whatever that is and that the pledge you make fits what you feel that God would have you give. 

So pray and see what God leads you to give and after careful consideration and confirmation begin to sow.

We have pledge cards and they are available at the info table, along with a bag of seed potatoes.

Let’s pray and if you can share the burden, fill out a pledge form and help us fund this church for the next season.

If you have not been supporting the church or doing so regularly, please help us fund everything from donuts to missions.

The burden will be divided and the expense will be minimal to all if everybody does something.

IF YOU CAN’T FIND A PARTNER TO SHARE A $50 PLEDGE…PLEASE SEE BRENDA AT THE INFORMATION TABLE FOR ASSISTANCE.
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