Sunday Message (1st service) - Pastor Scott Graham (May 17, 2026) | Life Bible Church

Welcome to the Life Bible Church podcast. We

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hope you find today's sermon impacting as you

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To find service times and watch messages online,

see our website at lifebiblechurch .org. Now,

enjoy this week's message. All right. Well, guys,

my name is Scott, Pastor Scott. I'm a staff pastor

here. Pastor Brad and Jenny are not in town.

They are traveling this weekend. So you guys

get me today. So I'm excited. Could we just lift

up our senior pastors this morning in prayer?

Father, we just thank you for pastors Brad and

Jenny. Lord, you are a faithful God. Lord, that

you would bring them to this house. Lord, that

you would put in them, Lord, everything they

need to release grace, giftings, Lord, and to

build your house here in Harrisburg, Oregon.

Lord, we are grateful. Lord, I'm asking right

now that your hand of blessing, your hand of

favor, your hand of rest would be upon them right

now. Lord, that even... even as they're out and

about, as they're traveling, Lord, that there

would be an impartation of grace, an impartation

of rest that comes upon them, Lord, and equips

them for the next season, for the next steps

that you have for them in leading this church.

Lord, we honor them. We're thankful for them

and we bless them today. And Lord, we also just

lift up, Lord, this time. Holy Spirit, we welcome

you in this place. We give all honor to you.

You are the one that brings the power of Calvary

into our hearts. You're the one that reveals

all truth that leads us to the person of Christ.

So Holy Spirit, we welcome you in this place

right now. And we just surrender our hearts.

We surrender our minds. Lord, we surrender everything.

before you today. And Lord, I'm also asking that

faith would be stirred in our hearts in this

room right now. Lord, not a faith for something

temporary, Lord, but a faith in who you are.

God, let that faith of your character, your nature,

let it begin to burn in each and every one of

our hearts this morning. God, we honor you. We

thank you that you paid a high price. For us

to know you, for us to be in relationship with

you, Lord. I'm asking that fresh revelation of

what you came to do and what you're actively

doing in our lives would be released in this

room right now. In Jesus' mighty name. And all

God's people said, amen. Amen. We had an amazing

guest speaker last week for Mother's Day. How

many of you guys were here for Rachel preaching?

Wasn't that incredible? I just have to say, we

had our National Day of Prayer earlier that week.

And her and Gordon and what's her other friend's

name? Helen. They all came to National Day of

Prayer. Rachel got up and started praying. And

man, I was convicted as an American because she's

from the UK and she was just praying and interceding

for our nation so passionately. Anyway, she's

such a gift. It was awesome having her last week.

We are actually, if you are new to Life Bible

or this is maybe your first time here, we are

in the middle of our first fruits giving season.

And so we're gonna actually jump in this morning

and we're gonna talk about first fruits. So I

got a lot to share this morning. So I'm gonna

try to move fast and not lose anyone along the

way. But I do wanna just cover a few questions

this morning about first fruits. I wanna answer

some questions as far as what our heart posture

should be in bringing first fruits to the Lord.

And I also want to cover a question on what should

the result of a firstfruits offering in faith

be? But before we do that, I want to just preface

a little bit on what firstfruits is. So if you

guys have your Bibles, I want you to open up

to Leviticus 23, verses 10 through 11. Leviticus

Leviticus 23:10–11

23, 10 through 11. So before we jump into this

passage, this kind of gives a little bit of an

explanation of what it is. But I want to give

a little bit of context. First fruits is an offering

that we see. It's first mentioned in the Old

Testament. And it was an offering that was very

specifically for the nation of Israel when they

entered the promised land. It wasn't an offering

that took place before they got to the promised

land. It was a promised land offering. And what

it looked like is it looked like in the Jewish

culture, they had certain feasts that the nation

was required to participate in. So they had the

Passover feast, which was, we know Passover,

obviously Jesus celebrated Passover with his

disciples before going to the cross. But at the

end of that first Passover week, The day after

the Sabbath, the Jewish people would celebrate

first fruits. So actually first fruits took place

on a Sunday. And what it looked like back then

is people on first fruit Sunday, they would go

out into their barley fields because barley was

ripened before wheat back then. Well, it still

is, but that was what they did on that first

fruit Sunday. They would go out into their barley

field. And the grain was maybe just starting

to ripen, but not quite there yet. And they would

cut a section of their barley field. They'd wrap

it up and they'd bring this big sheaf of barley

to the priest, along with a lamb and another

type of offering. And they would bring that barley

to the priest and the priest would actually wave

it before the Lord. So we're gonna read this

passage out of Leviticus where this process is

described. It says, speak to the people of Israel

and say to them, when you come into the land

that I give you and reap its harvest, you shall

bring the sheaf of the first fruits of your harvest

to the priest and he shall wave the sheaf before

the Lord that you may be accepted. On the day

after the Sabbath, the priest shall wave it.

I can just picture a giant sheaf and that priest

like picking one of those things up and doing

one of those. I don't know what it looked like,

but that is the process where they would harvest

some of their crop before it was really ready.

They'd bring it to the priest. The priest would

wave it and bless it before the Lord. And you

might ask, well, why did they do this? I'm gonna

cover that in just a little bit, but I want to

point out even in this chapter, this was specifically

a promised land offering. right, where it says,

when you come into the land, when Leviticus was

written, they weren't there yet. They were still

inside and Moses wrote the book of Leviticus.

So this was actually, there was a promise attached

to first fruits right out of the gate of saying,

not only are you, it's not that going into the

promised land is an if, it's a when, it's going

to happen. And so there was a promise given to

the Israelites. So these offerings, were to be

offered once they had taken possession of the

land and they had begun to sow and reap in that

land. That is the context of when this offering

took place. Now, why is this important for us?

Israel's journey into the promised land was a

type and shadow for us as new covenant believers.

Did you guys know that? Even when you look at

Israel in bondage in Egypt, They had taskmasters.

They were not free. But what did the Lord do?

He delivered them out with a mighty hand. They

could not get free on their own, but God brought

deliverance miraculously. Well, that actually,

there's a parallel. For us, we were once slaves

to sin. We were in darkness. We were completely

separated from God. And by a mighty hand, because

of what Jesus did, we were brought out. And we

experienced salvation, right? Same thing with

the Red Sea. Israel was brought to the edge of

the Red Sea and the Lord brought the whole nation

through. That actually points to, even as a new

covenant believer, when we went through the waters

of baptism, we came out to walk in the newness

of life with Jesus Christ. So you see all of

Israel's journey, it points and prophesies really

to the life that we live as believers. So this

is why it's important that this is a promised

land offering. Because guess what? In the same

way that Israel went into the promised land,

we are called to enter into the promised land

that God has for us. It's not a physical land

per se, but it is apprehending the life and the

purpose that God has for each and every one of

us. That is what we're called to do. So, first

fruits. It was an offering specific to the promised

land. This is an offering now that we can engage

with as we pursue the promises of God manifesting

in our life. So let's read 2 Corinthians 1 .20.

It says, for all the promises of God, find their

yes in him. That is why through him that we utter

our amen to God for his glory. How many of you

guys like that scripture? All the promises of

God are yes and amen. That is God's heart for

his people is that every promise that we would

apprehend it, we would step into it, but there

is partnership required. Am I right? So the first

fruit offering represented giving God the first

portion of his unripened harvest, believing him

to increase the remaining grain in the field.

And also in that process, thanking him for his

faithfulness to provide. So as new covenant believers,

this offering actually engages our faith and

it causes us to trust God in a radical way. In

the same way, we saw it in form with the Old

Testament, with Israel, it doesn't make sense

to cut your grain before it's ripe. Am I right?

I mean, not everyone in this room is a farmer,

and I'm not a farmer either, but I know that

if you cut your grain before it's ripe, that's

not the smartest thing to do. But there is faith

attached saying, God, we're bringing you the

first portion and we're believing that you are

going to bless and multiply that which is still

in the field. And that's really what first fruits

reflected in the Old Testament. And that is what

first fruits reflects now for us as new covenant

believers, where we bring something to the Lord

in faith saying, God, we know who you are and

we trust you. And we're believing that not just

provision will come, but multiplication will

come to that which is still growing and still

in our metaphorical field. Does that make sense?

So 1 Corinthians, and I don't know if you guys

knew this, but we are God's field. Do you know

that? 1 Corinthians 3, 9, it says, for we are

God's fellow workers. You are God's field, God's

building. Our life is a field that God is planting,

cultivating, and he's looking for a harvest.

And what does our field look like? There's many

things. I would say that God is actually cultivating

in your life. It's not just your finances. Praise

God, it's not just your finances. It's your gifting,

it's your talents. It's the ministry that God's

called you to. It's your family, it's purpose

from heaven that God has put in your life. And

God's looking to cultivate that. He's looking

to plant and he's looking to see a great harvest

of multiplication. That is what God's doing.

And first fruits is a way that we can actually

partner with God and begin to see that acceleration

and that multiplication of what he's doing on

the inside of our lives. So I'm gonna move forward

here, but I wanna also just talk about first

fruits in the New Testament. Jesus, I don't know

if you guys knew this, but Jesus was our first

fruit offering. 1 Corinthians 15, 20 through

23 says this, but in fact, Christ has been raised

from the dead, the first fruits of those who

have fallen asleep. For as by man came death,

by a man has come also the resurrection of the

dead. For as in Adam, all die, so also in Christ,

all will be made alive. but each in his own order,

Christ, the first fruits, then at his coming,

those who belong to Christ. So I don't know if

you guys know this, but Jesus was actually raised

from the dead on first fruit Sunday. Do you guys

know that? Passover happened, then you move into

the Sabbath day, the day after Sabbath, first

fruits. That's when Jesus was raised from the

dead. So this is... Paul's actually explaining

something. It's not just metaphorical. Jesus

literally raised from the dead on first fruit

Sunday, but now we are the harvest that follows

him. If you are in this room right now, Jesus

is your Lord and savior. You've been born again.

Guess what? You are the result of God's first

fruit offering in Christ. That he was offered

up to God and now we are the increase, the multiplication

that follows. So it's a really powerful picture

of Jesus becoming, he is that first fruits offering

for us. He's the fulfillment of that. Now we

get to bring our lives into alignment with him

and we get to follow him giving our lives as

a first fruits to his purpose. Okay, I wanna

look at the question today. What should our heart

posture be in bringing first fruits? Here's what,

there's a lot of things I could probably say

in what should be the posture of our heart. The

human heart is very complicated and complex,

but I'm just gonna focus on two important elements

of our heart posture before the Lord when we

bring a first fruit offering. And that is really

having a heart filled with joy and faith. Those

two components, as I look at scripture, I think

are the most important components of bringing

an offering to the Lord. And so I wanna talk

specifically, I wanna start with faith. Faith

is the reason that we're in this room right now.

We would not be here on a Sunday morning if it

weren't for faith in who Jesus is and what he's

asked us to do. And it really is the foundation,

I would argue, for everything we do as New Covenant

believers. See, the Israelites, they were in

a different dispensation, right? They were under

the law. So there was an element of first fruits

that was actually required for them to walk in

accordance with the law. We are not under the

same requirement. So as New Covenant believers,

we're not justified by the law. We're actually

justified by faith alone. It says that in Romans

5 .1. So for us, anything done outside of faith

is not permissible. And I'm gonna go even a step

further and say anything done outside of faith

is actually sin. Romans 14 .23 talks about that.

It says, for whoever doubts, Paul's talking about

eating certain types of food, but he says, whoever

doubts is condemned if he eats because the eating

is not from faith. Whatever does not proceed

from faith is sin. So this is why I feel like

we have to start here for the sake of a first

fruits offering, because this principle has to

operate from a platform of faith. If it doesn't,

then you're just actually bringing a religious

offering or doing a religious duty that really

has no bearing or impact on your soul. We operate

in faith when we hear him, when we hear the Lord

speak into an area of our life and we respond

in obedience. Romans 10, 17, it says, so faith

comes from hearing, hearing through the word

of Christ. So there's an important element of

faith where we have to actually discern the voice

of the Lord. In the same way, when all of us

were saved, You maybe didn't hear the audible

voice of God telling you you need to repent,

but you probably felt deep conviction. You felt

something stirring inside of you to actually

get right with God. You are hearing the word

of Christ inside of you. Classic definitions

of faith, Hebrews 11, one, it says, now faith

is the assurance of things hoped for. It's the

conviction of things not seen. You know, I wanna

just say this, to operate in faith, you have

to look past natural circumstance and you have

to actually place your trust, just like Tiffany

was talking during the offering message, you

have to actually place your trust in God. And

you may not see what the solution is in that

moment, but that is what faith is. It's a conviction

of things not yet seen. You haven't seen it.

You haven't discerned it. So you're looking past

natural circumstance. You're looking to what

God has spoken. So what does that feel like?

That type of faith, it feels like risk and it

requires obedience. I think that's, in my opinion,

one of the best definitions of faith outside

of Hebrews 11 .1. It feels like taking a giant

risk and it actually requires obedience. I'll

tell you guys a quick story. I was talking to

a young man at our church a couple of weeks ago.

Do you guys remember when Pastor Tim was here

preaching on first fruits? Well, while Pastor

Tim was preaching, he also shared a little bit

on his testimony about the tithe and how when

he first started tithing, he was in debt. He

didn't have any resource. He just felt like he

was in a financial pit and the Lord convicted

him to start tithing. I was talking to a young

man at our church and he heard that testimony.

He heard that teaching and he felt the conviction

of the Holy Spirit because he hadn't been tithing.

And in that process, he went home and he was

kind of wrestling with that, that he needed to

tithe. But he also, like Pastor Tim, was in a

bit of a hole and did not have a lot of excess.

And he finally made a decision. His rent was

due that week. And he realized if he tithed,

he would be $500 short on rent. And he heard

the Holy Spirit inviting him into that and he

went for it. He just in faith, looking beyond

circumstance, looking beyond what was in the

natural, he said, God, I know that you're calling

me to do something, I'm partnering with you.

And he gave that tithe, he brought that tithe.

And what happened the next day is absolutely

amazing. He called me or we talked at church

the next day. And what had happened is he had

actually given that tithe earlier that week.

The day his rent was due, he got paid at his

workplace double what he was expecting. Didn't

know why, but there was literally his paycheck

was double what it normally was. And on top of

that, he's a veteran. And he doesn't get any

benefits or anything for being a veteran, but

the VA randomly sent him a check that same day

for some type of payment. And so it's a really

powerful testimony, right? Where he took a step.

It felt like risk to actually be faithful and

obedient to release that tithe. But God showed

up the day that he needed it. God showed up.

And you know, I think that's a great example.

I know we're talking about first fruits. We're

not talking about tithing here, but anything

we do as a Christian in our Christian faith,

it requires faith. And it feels like you're taking

a big risk. You're taking a step and it doesn't

feel like there's anything that you're actually

going to be landing on. That is what faith feels

like. But it's when we look past the natural

and we look to the promises of God, that's where

God shows up. And that really is the power of

first fruits is we're looking to God as our provider.

We're looking to his character, his nature, and

his promises corporately for all, but also for

us as individuals. You know, Psalm 27, 12 through

13, David kind of talks of this aspect of faith.

He says, do not turn me over to the desires of

my foes. For false witnesses rise up against

me, spouting malicious accusations. I remain

confident of this. I will see the goodness of

the Lord in the land of the living. Most of us

are familiar with that last verse. Sometimes

I forget even the context of that. What was he

saying? He's saying, There's people rising up,

false witnesses lying about and making false

accusations. His enemies are rising up on every

side. In the natural, it doesn't look very promising

for David in this Psalm, right? But what does

he say? He says, I remain confident in this.

I will see the goodness of God in the land of

the living. There was something in him. There

was a faith to look past what was right in front

of him and see the goodness of God and the promises

of God that had not fully come to fruition. And

he lived from that place. And I'm gonna say this,

faith demands you to look beyond natural circumstance

and trust God. That's what faith does. And especially

in the realm of first fruits. I'm gonna tell

you guys just a story. My wife and I got married,

we're approaching three years, three years ago.

It was June of 2023. So the very next year, 2024,

we were doing first fruits together as a married

couple for the first time. And so in that process,

we'd been married a year. My wife had just got

pregnant. And so I am, starting to panic a little

bit as a finance guy, thinking about the costs

of birth and realizing insurance isn't gonna

cover the full amount of a birth. So I'm looking

at how we can save money, how we can set money

aside to start saving for this baby that's coming.

And so we're doing that and we're looking at

everything. And in the middle of first fruit

season, in my mind, I'm thinking in the natural,

this is probably going to be a little bit of

a, Lower year of the first fruits offering. That's

where I was just thinking in my natural mind.

And I remember my wife and I spent some time

in prayer and I got a number that was majorly

stretching for me personally. Majorly stretching.

And then I talked to my wife and she had a number

that was stretching for her personally and they

were somewhat close to the same. But neither

of us felt like... her number was right or my

number was right. As we prayed, we're like, what

in the world? And so we spent more time in prayer.

And I hear the Lord, as we're praying, I hear

the Lord speak to me loud and clear because he

knows it has to be loud and clear in this scenario

for me. He goes, Scott, add your numbers together.

That's your offering. And I'm like, no, that

can't be right. I mean, again, In natural circumstance,

it didn't make sense. And I remember sharing

it with my wife and she started weeping and she

goes, that's exactly what we're supposed to do

this year. And I'm like, why did you say that?

You were my out. No, but all that to say, so

in faith, and it took a lot of faith to write

that check and bring it to the Lord. But I'm

telling you guys, when we took the step of faith,

that is where God shows up. And in the next couple

months, we watched thousands of dollars just

given to us, cash, checks, random people, people

we knew specifically for our baby. We had just

insane blessings come in from very unexpected

places. And then Noah was born, healthy baby.

One of the things we were believing for in our

first fruits, what we were believing the Lord

for, she was born and then the bills started

coming in. So I applied for like a financial

aid with the hospital and they actually gave

us a portion. They cut a portion of it, but we

were still paying these bills. So we kind of

like get to the, what I thought was the end of

the hospital bills. Wasn't, a little disclaimer.

Eight months afterward, I think we're all good.

We're all settled up. And I get another $2 ,000

bill from the hospital. And I'm like, oh, how

are we gonna do this? And so I'm praying and

the Lord says, apply for financial aid again.

I'm like, I already did that. They didn't give

us a full scholarship. He said, apply again.

And so I did, and I wrote them a letter. Well,

it turns out they canceled the $2 ,000 bill,

the last one at the end. And again, it's amazing

how God works the provision, how he brings blessing.

I couldn't have logically come to the conclusion

of how things are done, how God would make it

happen. I couldn't have done that in my own mind.

but God brought it about. And we truly, we came

to the end of that year and I just looked at

our finances from a bigger perspective and somehow

we had way more than we had had the year prior.

And again, I don't know how that works because

I'm a finance guy and like. Math is easy. You've

got equations and the numbers work or they don't

work. You know, I was an accountant for a couple

of years. I don't know how God did it, but somehow

at the end of that year, our finances were actually

significantly larger than they were the year

before. And that is, again, this is just strictly

a financial testimony, but I'm telling you, it

took faith. It actually took hearing the Lord

and stepping out in what felt extremely unwise.

It felt unwise to me and dangerous, but that's

where God meets us. That is where God meets us.

So, okay, this type of faith offering, what it

says is it says, God, I don't see how you will

bring increase, but I know that you're faithful,

you're trustworthy, and I'm confident. That when

you speak, you will come through. That's what

a first fruit offering really, really speaks

as you bring it to the Lord. So I wanna look

now at the aspects of joy. Joy is amazing. It's

a third of the kingdom of God, according to Romans

14, right? The kingdom of God is not eat and

drink, but righteousness, peace, and joy in the

Holy Ghost. This, I would argue that joy is one

of the most important aspects of bringing first

fruits to the Lord, but really any offering to

the Lord. So let's read 2 Corinthians 9, verses

six through seven. It says, the point is this,

whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly.

Whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.

Each one must give as he has decided in his heart,

not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God

loves a cheerful giver. Now let's just give you

guys some context here. This passage, 2 Corinthians,

actually it's eight and nine. Paul is dealing

with collecting a gift for the people in Jerusalem,

the church in Jerusalem. And so he's talking

on bringing a, really a faith offering and a

gift to the Lord for his people. And I love this

that he says, you must give as you've decided

in your heart. And then he gives a stipulation,

not under compulsion, not under obligation or

reluctantly, but from a cheerful heart. God loves

a cheerful giver and pastor preached on this

a couple weeks ago that word cheerful is the

Greek word hilarious which is the root word that

we get the word hilarious and what it denotes

it actually denotes good cheer joy and someone

who would be prompt to do anything that that

is what that word actually means here's the amazing

thing so that's new testament Let's look at the

Old Testament because this same principle is

actually connected to first fruits in the Old

Testament. Deuteronomy 26 verses 10 through 11.

Deuteronomy 26:10–11

And I'm gonna read out of the message. So it's

gonna sound a little bit different, but starting

in verse 10, it says this. So here I am, I've

brought the first fruits of what I've grown on

this ground that you gave me, oh God. Then place

it in the presence of your God. Bow low in the

presence of God, your God, and rejoice. Celebrate

all the good things that God, your God, has given

you and your family, you and the Levi and the

foreigner who lives with you. So here's the cool

thing. You have Old Testament and New Testament.

Both of them are describing the elements of bringing

a gift to the Lord, bringing an offering to the

Lord. And Deuteronomy specifically is referencing

first fruits. And at the very end of that instruction,

what is the Lord instruct? He says, now, once

you've bowed down and worship the Lord, celebrate.

He literally says, rejoice, celebrate. If you

look at that Hebrew word for rejoice, it's the

word samach. And it means to rejoice. to be joyful

and to have great cheer. So the words mean almost

the exact same thing. And you see that that is

what God is actually calling his people to do.

When we bring gifts, we should be bringing them

in joy. Now, why is joy and rejoicing important?

Because sometimes it feels like it's the opposite,

right? You're like weeping as you give your altar

or your... first fruit offering at the altar.

But when we rejoice and celebrate what God has

already done, it actually does something inside

of us. It causes us to look back and to recognize

where God has been faithful in our life. And

that's what this passage in Deuteronomy is saying.

He said, celebrate all the good things that God

has done in your family, in your neighbors, in

your community, in your region, celebrate what

God has done. And it does, it causes us to actually

look back and recognize what God has already

done in our lives. I don't know about you guys,

sometimes it's easy to just move past the incredible

testimonies, the incredible times where God has

brought provision, he's brought blessing, and

we just kind of forget. We forget quickly. There's

something about rejoicing in what God has already

done that causes us to look back. and recognize

where he's been faithful. And you know what it

also does? When you start rejoicing at what God's

done in a past season, it begins to establish

your faith for the next season. Because you know,

God has been faithful back then. He's gonna be

faithful in this next season. So there's a practicality

to rejoicing as well that's super important.

It really, and it can make the difference in

an offering. What could be, extremely painful

can begin to shift how that's even perceived

to an opportunity to trust God at a deeper level.

Now I'll ask one other question here. How many

of you guys know you can't fake joy? You can

try. My wife and I are in the beginning stages

of raising a toddler. She's 19 months. You guys,

when you see her walking around the church, she's

in top form. She's saying hi to everyone. She's

happy. We don't always get that version of her

at the house. Sometimes she gets a little grumpy.

She gets pouty. She has a bad attitude. And so

my wife and I, many times when we're at home

with her and she's giving us attitude or she's

giving us sass, which she does all the time,

we say, Noah Jane. Fix your attitude or change

your attitude. And this is the funniest thing.

She understands so much at this young age. She

will be like in tears sometimes or just a really

sour face. And she will try to slap a smile over

the sourness. And she'll do this fake cheesy

grin where she just grins with her teeth, but

it looks like she's travailing on the inside.

And she thinks like, well, this is what they're

asking for, right? I just slap a smile. Well,

sometimes we do the same. Honestly, we are not

in a place of joy. We come to church, we slap

a smile on, let's bring the first fruits offering

to the Lord. It's not great and you can't fake

it. And that God's desire is that we wouldn't

fake it, that we'd actually receive what he has

for us and step into it. And truly, I'm gonna

say this, cheerfulness and joy, it comes from

the heart. It comes from the heart. What did

Jesus say? Out of the abundance of the heart,

the mouth speaks. I would argue that goes deeper

than just the words that come out of your heart.

It starts in your heart. Joy starts in your heart

and it begins to bubble out of your life and

your expression. And I love that in 2 Corinthians

9, Paul actually talks about this. He says, When

you give, don't do it out of reluctance. Don't

do it under compulsion for God loves a cheerful

giver. And what did he say before that? He said,

give what you have decided to give from your

heart. There's a connection between your heart

and actually being a cheerful giver. So then

that begs the question. What do we do if we don't

have joy? And we're just honest with ourselves.

And this is not a, there's something in us that

is not rejoicing and is not full of joy in this

season of first fruits. That is where we get

to invite the Holy Spirit to begin to cultivate

your heart. And that's what I would recommend.

If you're, and I've had these seasons as well,

where it's like, man, I don't feel the joy. I

don't sense the, cheerfulness in bringing the

gift, that's usually a sign to me that I need

to invite the Holy Spirit into an area of my

heart that's grown a little bit hard. And how

do we do that? We invite him in and he brings

his Holy Spirit plow and begins to plow up the

hardened areas of our heart. Can I just say,

that's not usually a fun process. I will tell

you from experience, it's not a fun process.

It is usually quite painful. And even if you

look at the, I know we spent like a year looking

at the four soils and that parable. Obviously

there was soil that was hard ground and the seed,

the word of God could not grow. Well, when there's

hard ground, you have to actually bring in a

lot of force to begin to turn that ground over.

I'm not a farmer. But I do like to garden. And

I have a memory years ago when I think I was

in middle school or high school, I was helping

my mom expand the garden. So we'd had an area

that we had tilled for years and then we were

wanting to expand it. And so that task got put

on me. I went and got the old Briggs and Stratton

rototiller from my grandpa's barn and took it

over. And this little stretch of ground, I don't

know if it had ever been tilled. And on top of

that, it was kind of rocky. So I'm, as I've,

13 year old or whatever I was, I had this rototiller

and it's bouncing up and down because those blades

are just hitting rocks and hard ground. I got

a workout. I was sweating profusely and it took

a lot of time to actually turn over that soil

because it had lied fallow for so long. So I'm

just warning you guys, if this has been an area

that has lied fallow in your heart for a long

time, it may take a little bit of time. an invitation

of the Holy Spirit to bring his rain to soften

that soil and then bring the plow to begin to

turn that soil over in your heart and bring you

into a new season of joy. Here's the truth though,

we are responsible to cultivate the soil in our

hearts. It's not that we do it in our own strength

or we just will our hearts to change. No, we

partner with the grace of Christ and the power

of the Holy Spirit. And it's in that partnership

that God begins to do a good work in our heart.

Okay, so I'm gonna answer another question here,

hopefully. What does First Fruits actually accomplish?

It can accomplish a lot, but I wanna just give

you guys a principle that when we bring a first

fruits offering in faith from a place of joy,

it actually releases multiplication in your life.

And I'm gonna say this, when we give from a place

of faith and joy, we can actually expect that

God will multiply. I'm gonna tell a story. This

is, and some of you have probably heard this

before. I'm pretty sure I've shared it. I never

remember what I have shared and haven't shared.

So if you've heard it before, so be it. But this

was a marking moment for me where the Lord began

to teach me the power of sowing and reaping and

the power of multiplication as we give gifts

in faith. And so this happened years ago. I wanna

say it was like 2017, 2016, 2017. I was going

to ministry school at the time, working part

-time pretty much at minimum wage, did not have

a lot of extra income. So I budgeted, I was really

strict to budget. And one of my buddies in the

summer decided to get married on the East Coast.

So I got a flight to the East Coast, spent time

with him as he got married, came back and I was

like, I had pulled out of my limited savings

to go to that wedding. And so I had very little

left and I'm sitting there in my prayer closet

and I hear the Lord speak to me loud and clear.

He highlighted a missionary at our church. And

he said, I want you to sow into this missionary.

And I'll tell you, it was $200. Now that's not

a huge number, but for me in 2017, as a ministry

school student, working part -time with very

little savings, that was like an astronomical

number for me. And I remember fighting with the

Lord on just saying like, God, you told me to

budget. You told me to be wise, to set money

aside. Why this is not the wise thing to do.

And I fought with the Lord and I wrestled with

him. And again, I sensed him say over and over,

no, you need to give this. And so after 20 minutes

of wrestling in my prayer closet, I just got

online. I went to the church's website and I

gave it to that missionary. Didn't think a thing

of it after that. Just kind of went about life.

Well, two or three weeks later, I was going with

my friend. We were going to church and we run

into this lady and her like 14 year old son.

And we were just talking to her. She was visiting

the church for the first time. So we had a quick

conversation. We ended up just praying for her.

and blessing her. It wasn't a super long or,

from my opinion, super impactful prayer, but

we just prayed for her, and then we walked off.

About five minutes later, we were chatting somewhere

else, and her 14 -year -old son came over to

us, and he handed me a check and handed my friend

a check. And I looked down, and it was $1 ,000

from someone that I had never met before. I don't

even remember her name. I don't know if she even

shared her name. She didn't even put my name

because she didn't know it. So she just left

that part blank on the check. But I was absolutely

shocked. Like what just happened? And I remember

getting in my truck and driving home and I'm

holding the check in my right hand and I'm looking

and I asked the Lord a question. I'm like, Lord,

what is that all about? What was this all about?

I was actually confused. And I heard the Lord

loud and clear in my spirit. He said, you sowed

in faith. You need to expect to reap. And I was

a little bit offended when he said that. I actually

was. I'm like, what do you mean? I'm to expect

to reap. And I'm like, that can't be biblical.

That sounds like prosperity gospel. Like, I don't

know. Like you hear bad stuff on that side of

the pulpit. I was a little bit offended. I remember

the Lord took me to 2 Corinthians 9, verses 10

2 Corinthians 9:10–11

through 11. And this is what it says. It says,

he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for

food will, he will supply and multiply your seed

for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness.

You will be enriched in every way to be generous

in every way, which through us will produce thanksgiving

to God. See, the principle of multiplication,

it actually starts with just recognizing that

God brings provision. Seed to the sower, bread

to the eater, right? That is, that is... if we're

gonna understand multiplication, we have to understand

that it starts there, that we have to see that

God is the one who provides for our present needs

and our future needs. And he's faithful to do

it. As we're faithful to release seed at the

right time, provision will come. And once we

recognize that all provision comes from God and

not ourselves, do you guys know that? You may

be a really hard worker. And you may have a good

job and you might work overtime. Provision doesn't

actually come from you. It really doesn't. Deuteronomy

8, 17 through 18. I don't remember it by heart,

but it says something along the lines that do

not let a wicked thought rise up in your heart

saying it's by my power and my strength that

I've created this wealth. The next verse, what

does it say? It says, the Lord has given you

the power to create wealth. So we have to understand

that that provision, it all comes from God. And

when we understand that, we can begin to sow

knowing that God will multiply what we sow. Now,

one thing to note here, multiplication is not

just to keep you fat and happy. That is not why

God releases this principle in our life. And

it even says that in this passage of scripture.

What does it say? It says you will be enriched

in every way. So it's not just finances. It's

in every way enrichment. Why? To be generous

in every way. That is the purpose of multiplication

in the eyes of God. That's why he actually multiplies

what comes into our life. And I'll say this,

greater generosity is the goal of everything.

that God would multiply in your life. And that

is not just finances, that is way more. It's

gifts, it's ministry, it's family, it's business,

it's many other things in addition to your finances.

Finances might even be the least of those things,

but God's calling us to be generous in all of

those areas, with our time, with our resource,

with our love, that he's looking that generosity

would be established in us. And how do I know

that? John 3, 16, right? God so loved the world

that he gave his one and only son. That is who

God is. He is the epitome of a generous being.

That is who he is. And so even as we are growing,

what does scripture say? We're daily being conformed

to the image of Christ. Romans 8, 29. Those that

have been... predestined, he's called and he

is conforming us to the image of Christ. So day

by day, year by year, God's goal for us, even

in first fruits offerings and random giving is

that we would become more generous as a people.

We'd be enriched in every way to be generous

in every way. That is God's heart for us. Okay,

so let's go back to 2 Corinthians 9, 6. It says,

the point is this, whoever sows sparingly, will

also reap sparingly. Whoever sows bountifully

will reap bountifully. So again, in this passage,

the Holy Spirit is using a natural law to describe

a spiritual reality. And let's use an example

here. If I'm a farmer, which I'm not, but if

I was a farmer and I had a one acre plot of land,

And I took a handful of corn seed on one acre.

One acre is a decent size. And I scatter that

handful of corn seed on my one acre plot. Guess

what? I'll reap a harvest. When the corn grows,

I will reap a harvest, but it'll be kind of small.

Versus if I went with a hundred pound bag of

corn seed and I maximized every stretch of that

land, that one acre plot, How many of you know

the harvest will be exponentially larger? We

understand this, that the harvest reaped is directly

correlated to what is sown. And that's what Paul

is saying by the Holy Spirit here. That when

we sow with scarcity, we're gonna reap with scarcity.

But when you sow bountifully, you're gonna reap

a great harvest. This natural principle is correlated

with faith. See, the only reason a farmer wouldn't

sow bountifully Well, number one is if he just

didn't have the seed, but number two is if he

didn't believe that the crop was actually gonna

grow and produce a harvest. And that's what oftentimes

happens to us. It's not about the amount that

you sow, it's about our obedience and our sowing.

And it's recognizing when God speaks to us to

release something, do we actually believe him

that multiplication will happen? Is there faith

attached that the God of the impossible will

actually show up for us or is there not faith?

And that really comes down to how we sow. If

we sow with scarcity or sow with abundance is

do we actually believe that God is a God who

honors this principle of multiplication? And

I'll say this guys, the harvest reaped, it may

be financial, it may not be. or it may not be

exclusively financial. I can tell you this, scripture

does promise that your provision will be covered.

Your daily provision, your future provision,

that will come. But what areas of your life is

God looking to multiply? What areas of the field

of your life, maybe it's financial one year,

and maybe the next year it has to do with your

family, or it has to do with your business. I

don't know, it could be a lot of different things,

but God is looking as we sow in faith, he's looking

to bring that multiplication and we can trust

that he will multiply as we sow in faith. Okay,

now what does the word multiply mean? In the

English, it just means to increase greatly in

number or quantity. So I just wanna remind you,

God didn't give us the principle of addition.

In scripture, he didn't say, I will add to what

you've given. He said, I will multiply a harvest

of righteousness. That is important for us to

know that when we give in faith, there is a promise

for that type of exponential multiplication.

And we see the same principle in Jesus's ministry

with the feeding of the 5 ,000. So I'm gonna

read that passage. It's a little bit of a longer

passage. You guys doing okay today? All right.

This is John 6. If you have your Bibles, you

can open up. Starting in verse four. So it says,

now the Passover, a feast of the Jews was near.

Then Jesus lifted up his eyes and seeing a great

multitude coming toward him, he said to Philip,

where shall we buy bread that these may eat?

But this he said to test him. for he himself

knew what he would do. Philip answered him, 200

denarii worth of bread is not sufficient for

them, that every one of them might have only

a little. One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon

Peter's brother, said to him, there is a lad

here, I love the New King James, there's a lad

here who has five barley loaves and two small

fish, but what are they among so many? Then Jesus

said, make the people sit down. Now there was

much grass in the place. So the men sat down

in number about 5 ,000 and Jesus took the loaves.

And when he had given thanks, he distributed

them to the disciples and the disciples to those

sitting down and likewise of the fish as much

as they wanted. So when they were filled, he

said to his disciples, gather up the fragments

that remain so that nothing is lost. Therefore

they gathered them up and filled 12 baskets of

fragments of the five barley loaves, which were

left over by those who had eaten. Okay. I know

that's a long passage here, but there's a lot

more to this passage, I think, that meets the

eye, just in how it relates to first fruits.

And I wanna look at some of the parallels here

to first fruits. So I don't know if you guys

noticed, but in verse four, John made note of

something. He said, the time of Passover was

at hand. I actually just noticed this for the

first time prepping for this sermon. I had never

noticed that it was Passover season. We don't

know, some translations say it was at hand, it

was near, it was close. The point is, is it was

in the season of Passover. Well, guess what's

right after Passover? First fruits, the feast

of first fruits comes directly on the heels of

Passover. And so this is interesting that in

the season of Passover and first fruits, Something

pretty remarkable takes place here where Jesus

begins to multiply the bread. But I wanna actually

draw your attention to this little boy. I mentioned

it earlier, but what was the custom for the Israelites

when they would participate in first fruits?

They would gather a barley sheaf. They'd bring

it to the priest. The priest would wave it before

the Lord, bless them. and pray for that multiplication

to take place over their field. So I want you

to look now at New Testament. You have the first

fruits was likely within the week. We don't know

exactly when, but it was likely very close by.

And this young boy brings barley loaves. Didn't

bring wheat. He brought barley and fish and he

brought it to Jesus, the high priest of our confession.

What did Jesus do? He stood, he blessed it. He

gave thanks and he broke it and he began to distribute

to the disciples. And we see an amazing miracle

take place where 5 ,000 men, it was most commentators

think there's 25 to 30 ,000 people in this feeding.

So with five loaves and two fish, Jesus brought

a supernatural multiplication that fed the entire

family. Group of people. You know, Jesus, I love

the fact that it said also that the people didn't

just eat a little bit. It says they ate to the

fullness. They got their fill. So they weren't

just like eating one barley loaf. Like they went

to town, hometown buffet. They went for it. And

that is the nature of what God does when he multiplies.

is that he actually brings abundance and it was

released to this entire group. And I believe

this really is a New Testament example of a first

fruit offering from this little boy. Didn't look

like much, but it was offered in faith. He brought

those loaves, he brought the fish to the Lord

and God brought an insanely powerful miracle

of multiplication. And here's what I wanna draw

our attention to kind of in the last couple of

minutes here. Philip, Jesus tested him. It even

says in scripture that he was testing him, right?

And he goes to Philip and he said, what should

we do? How should we feed this many people? And

Philip says, Lord, 200 denarii, which was a lot

of money back then. He said, it wouldn't even

scratch the surface. Like they would only give

people just a little bit. Philip was thinking

from the mindset of limit. and the mindset of

what was logical and what was rational. I don't

know about you, but I read this passage and I

actually relate to Philip. I'm like, man, that

could have been me in the exact same situation.

I could have said the exact same thing, quantifying

how much money it would cost, 25 ,000 people,

10 bucks a head. Oh man, this is gonna be rough.

But you know, he was testing Philip. Jesus wasn't

operating under the same law. I don't know if

you guys noticed that. Yeah, he gave Philip a

opportunity to partner his faith, but Jesus already

knew what he was gonna do. And Jesus was thinking

differently than Philip was. He was thinking

from a mindset of relationship with a limitless

God. That is how Jesus was forming his thoughts

as he was approaching this situation. And you

know, again, I think oftentimes when it comes

to first fruits, We can be a little bit like

Philip. We can think in terms of limit, think

in terms of logic and reason. Meanwhile, the

God of the impossible is inviting us to a deeper

place. And you all through scripture, we see

it. You know, you shall stand in that place praying,

believing nothing shall be impossible for you.

You shall stand in that place believing and you

will ask anything, it will be done for you. That

is the God that we serve, a God who multiplies

in a limitless fashion. You know, this story

is a prime example of what Jesus does with our

first fruits. When we bring it, he multiplies.

He's faithful to do this. And going back to that

little boy, that little boy ate his fill and

he probably took home a bag of leftovers would

be my guess. But he actually got to participate

in something that wasn't just for his benefit.

He got to participate in something yielding a

little amount to the hand of his high priest.

And he got to watch as God released an incredible

miracle of legacy in front of his eyes. I'm gonna

mention just one more thing about this story.

I don't know if you guys have noticed this, but

it says at the end, after 25 ,000 people ate,

sitting on the hillside, Jesus made a statement.

He said, gather up the fragments that remain

so nothing is lost. Have you guys ever wondered

about that? Why was Jesus so concerned that that

made it into scripture where he said, make sure

you gather the fragments. I was thinking about

this a lot and I think it's actually an important

facet of multiplication for us to understand

how God operates. Fragments can be very easily

bypassed, very easily discarded. And if you look

even at the context of this situation, It would

have required work for the disciples to actually

gather those fragments, right? They weren't just

in a big pile. There was probably acres of grassland

where people, 25 ,000 people had spread out in

circles to eat. They had to grab baskets, bend

over, pick up little quarter pieces, half pieces

that were left over. But Jesus was adamant, do

not neglect the fragments. Do not walk past them.

Collect them. And when you see, what did they

do? They did that. And it actually brought 12

basket full of fragments that became provision

for the disciples. You know, as I was thinking

about that, I was asking the question, well,

Lord, what are those fragments for us? They could

be ideas. They could be God thoughts. that actually

carry with them blessing and God's desire to

release blessing and increase into your life.

But they're not necessarily gonna be super easily

received. You may actually have to partner your

faith and go out and pick those things up. I

don't know, I'll just, we'll finish with this.

But I was thinking about the times in my life

where God brought multiplication through fragments.

I'll share just one story with you guys. It was

the year that my wife and I got married. I was

driving a 1999 Toyota 4Runner, beautiful rig.

I love that vehicle so much. And I was preparing

to get married and my wife had a 2017 Nissan

Frontier. As I started looking at... gas mileage,

I realized this is not good. We're coming together.

We drive a lot and we, on a good day, when the

wind's right, both of us would maybe get 16 miles

a gallon. And so I just hear the Holy Spirit

encouraging me, sell your 4Runner. Like, no,

no, that's not the Lord. It was the Lord. And

I felt like he was asking me to sell it. And

so I did. And it turns out, And I've probably

shared this story too. I actually got a good

return on investment on a vehicle because I bought

that vehicle five years prior for $4 ,000. I

sold it that year at the height of the used car

market in 2023. I sold it for $8 ,000. I like

doubled my money on a car after putting 100 ,000

miles on it. And then my wife, I'm telling this

to you guys for a reason because I wanna encourage

you. Just in regards to fragments. Later that

year, my wife and I also felt like, you know

what? I think we're supposed to sell your truck.

Then she was the one weeping and crying at the

prospect of selling her truck. But we started,

we felt like, you know what? The Lord's on this.

And so we went out and we sold it. And we, she

made, now she had a family member sell it to

her for a discount, but she made over triple.

of what she had bought it for. Again, at the

absolute height of the used truck market in 2023,

where trucks were going for an insane amount

of money. And I remember the Lord gave us instruction

on where to put that money, where we put it in

a couple of different investments. We bought

more modest vehicles that were more fuel efficient.

And as I look today, the money that we put into

that, some of those investments have doubled.

And I look back and I'm like, that was a fragment

that very easily I could have bypassed. It required

partnership. It required sacrifice. But God was

actually looking to release blessing from a fragment

that maybe in a previous season, I would have

just said, nope, that wasn't a God thought, moving

on. So I wanna encourage you guys as we get ready

to close, don't neglect the fragments as you're

looking at the multiplication that God's looking

to release in your life. You notice there were

12 disciples, there were 12 baskets received.

That basket became, as they ministered before

the Lord, as they watched the miracle take place,

the fragments became their reward and their blessing.

So why don't you guys bow your heads? We're gonna...

We're gonna close in prayer. Father, we thank

you today that you are the God of multiplication.

Lord, you are faithful. Lord, that as we bring,

Lord, our first fruits offering to you, Lord,

we do not have to fear whether provision will

come. We do not have to rationalize where it

will come from, but we can trust, Lord, that

if you are leading us to give, if you are speaking

to us, Lord, you will provide. That is who you

are. God, I'm asking right now for grace and

faith to be released over us. Lord, as a church,

corporately and individuals, Lord, that whether

we've been a people that Lord, that maybe we've

never given firstfruits before. We've never engaged

in this offering. God, I'm asking that a fresh

faith to hear you and respond would begin to

take place in hearts. Lord, I also ask for those

maybe that have given in firstfruits. They've

released that offering year after year after

year. God, I'm asking that a freshness would

begin to settle over each person. Lord, where

maybe this has become more of a religious act

or something that we just do each spring. God,

let a fresh grace come over each person here.

Lord, that we would see that this is an opportunity

to grow in our faith, to grow in joy, to grow

in trust, and to see you multiply and accelerate

what you are doing in our lives. And Lord, I

release that right now. Lord, let multiplication

come. Let acceleration come forth, Lord. And

I pray for every household, every family. Lord,

as we step into a greater purpose, Lord, that

you would begin to do mighty works in our midst.

Lord, we're believing you as the great cultivator

and harvester of the field in our lives. Lord,

we trust you. We honor you. And Lord, I bless

the people of God this morning in Jesus' mighty

name. Amen. Thank you for taking the time to

listen to this week's message. We are so grateful

for those who tune in each week and have given

generously to this ministry. If you are in need

of prayer, send us a text message at 541 -625

-1365. We would love to pray with you.