Bountiful Harvest

Bumper crop means. I heard it.

Amen. Well, bumper crop, I looked it up and it

says it's an unusually large harvest.

That's what it means.

And it's used mainly in an agricultural setting. So you

have an abundant harvest.

So guess what? What's the title of our topic today?

Okay. Bountiful harvest. Living from shortage to.

Surplus. Hallelujah. Okay. Hopefully we can show up the presentation.

We're at church. We're not in school, actually.

So I got this from, you know, just playing with

what can we show Lord today? Make it more interesting

for the people.

So, bountiful harvest. Are you interested what it's about? Hallelujah.

Okay, well, let's look at two verses.

From the Old Testament and the New Testament.

In Genesis 26, verses 12 to 13, and in Mark

Genesis 26:12–13

4 to 8. Genesis 26, 12 to 13 says, Then

Isaac sowed in the land and reaped in the same

year a hundredfold.

And the Lord blessed him. The man began to prosper and.

Continued prospering and became very prosperous. Wow, three prosperous words

all in one sentence. Can you imagine the kind of

prosperity that means?

Amen.

And the other one says in Mark 4 verse 8,

Mark 4:8

But the other seed fell on the ground and yielded

a crop that sprang up, increased and produced some thirtyfold,

some sixty, and some a hundred. Amen. Amen.

So these two verses are so powerful because they're connected.

And it's good that we have one from the Old

Testament and the New Testament.

That sowing is connected with harvest. There is a very.

Clear connection between sowing and harvesting. Now it's interesting that

in this passage in Genesis 26, it started with, Actually,

the first line was, it says there, the man, there

was a famine in the land.

There was a famine in the land. So if there's

a famine in.

The land, what is normally our reaction? When there's a shortage,

what is normally our reaction? How do we proceed with

whatever we have? We try to keep it, right? We

try to conserve it. We try to save it. Because

who knows what's going to happen? Who knows how long

the famine or the shortage will last?

So, you know, I'm going to keep it. I'm going

to protect it. I'm going to keep it away.

But Isaac did something quite different. It's actually the opposite

what he did.

He planted. He sowed. In the time of famine. Isn't

that interesting?

That he would do the opposite of what a natural

man would do.

It was an act of faith. Because he knew the

kind of God he was serving.

He knew that God will protect him and take care

of him.

It was an act of faith. He did not wait

until the famine was over, nor the shortage was over.

He did not wait for that. He planted anyway. Wow,

that's amazing. And you know, he reaped a hundredfold the

same year. And then the Lord said, oh, I'm sorry.

And it said, the Lord reaped. blessed him. Well, it's

interesting that the Lord blessed him, not before, but after.

Right?

He said, he sowed, then he harvested a hundredfold, and

then the Lord blessed him. You know, it wasn't the opposite.

It wasn't like, the Lord blessed him, and then he planted,

and then he harvested. That's normally how we would think.

Lord, bless me. And then when we get the blessing,

we start to plant or to sow.

The Lord blessed him because he sowed at a time

of famine that's what the blessing of the Lord means.

It was an act of faith.

And this is important because sometimes we can only sow

when things are going well we think we need to

have enough money enough resources enough savings enough confidence enough certainty.

Before we can start sowing.

But Isaac's story tells us something different. Sometimes the very

season that looks unproductive can become the season in which

God will demonstrate his power to provide. It's exactly that

season where he will show up. And show to us that, yeah,

I can take care of you even in this shortage,

even in this famine, even in this difficulty.

But you need to start sowing first. Do you get it, church?

We need to start planting first in spite of the situation.

I remember when I was a newborn Christian. And the

church that I was going to then, they wanted to

get a church van. And they came to me and said,

would you like to take part in raising funds for

the church, for the church van?

I said, oh, but I just joined.

You know, I don't really, I'm not really into that.

But in my mind, I was like, why are they

asking me? I'm just, you know, I'm just new in

the church. Is this about money? This is about, you know,

how people think like it's all about money in the church.

So I spoke to the sister that invited me to

the church.

Why is it like that?

Why are you always asking for money? And she said, oh, no,

just do it because you will be blessed. I said, yeah,

but it's a lot of money.

Yeah, just do it. Just trust God.

So.

I was an obedient. I wanted to be obedient.

And I gave in to the money. Gave in to

the fun. And so they got the van. A really

nice van.

Wow. For the church. But in my mind I said.

That's my money. It's part of that. Okay God. But

I'm still here. And then many months later. After that.

My father came from the Philippines. And I wanted to.

I had a run-down car. And I wanted to just

treat him because I know he's going to drive for me.

So I said, oh, how can I get a new car?

But you know what?

God blessed me with a brand new Mercedes car.

Praise God. And then I said, wow, Lord, how did

this happen?

And God reminded me, well, Didn't you sow in the

church van? Didn't you give even though your heart was grumbling?

Because you didn't understand, but you gave anyway. And I realized, wow,

that is amazing, Lord. So I sowed and I harvested

much more than I expected. Hallelujah.

Okay, let's get back on track. All right, so what's

the first ingredient in a harvest?

The first ingredient in a harvest is the sower.

Okay, the sower. There has to be a sower. There's

a harvest that's going to happen. Who's the sower? Okay,

I didn't see all the hands. Who's the sower? Amen.

We are all sowers. We are all called to plant.

We are the farmers because God has.

Entrusted to each one of us something that can be planted.

Something. It doesn't have to be big. It doesn't have

to be small. God has entrusted to us something. And

you know what?

A farmer doesn't plant with an expectation that all he's

going to plant is going to die. There is an

expectation of harvest.

Whenever you plant, you're always thinking. Oh, this is going

to bloom. This is going to produce. This is going

to happen. to be a lot.

The expectation that the seed will eventually produce something.

Right? Isn't that our expectation? Those who are gardening or planting. Julia. Julia.

So if you plant a flower, you expect it to

bloom in the right season, isn't it? If you plant vegetables,

you're going to get your tomatoes, your beans, whatever.

A harvest of vegetables.

There is an expectation attached to planting. In the same

way when we sow to God's kingdom, there should be

an expectation of a harvest. Amen? Amen.

So what does this mean? How do we sow? What

are we sowing?

For all practical purposes, sowing means giving. We sow into church.

We sow into other people's lives. We sow into our families,

our communities.

We sow at work. We sow everywhere.

And sometimes what we're doing, we don't even realize we're

sowing because it seems so ordinary.

It seems so normal. Right?

It doesn't have to be a grand gesture, a spectacular

display of something.

We are sowing every day.

When we encourage someone, when we pray for someone, we

give our time, we help someone who needs help.

We give financially. You know, money is a very important seed.

Right?

The Bible says that there are two rivals, God and Money, mama.

So it's a very, very important seed in our hands. Okay.

So all these things become seed in our hands. And

the important thing is the sower has to actually plant seeds.

You have to actually release the seed from your hands

and put it in the ground because the seed in

your hands is dead. It will never produce a harvest

if you leave it in your hands. You need to

plant it so that there will be a harvest at

the right season. There has to be a moment When

the farmer releases that seed and puts it in the ground.

And that is where faith comes in. Because once the

seed leaves your hand and goes into the ground, you

cannot see it anymore. You can't see what's happening in

the seed underneath the ground.

That part belongs to God.

Whatever you planted, it's gone. But it's working behind the scenes.

Down where you've planted it, God is at work.

Amen? Hallelujah. So we've got the sower.

Next we need the seed.

The next ingredient is the seed itself.

And one of the most important things we need to

remember is God is the one who supplies the seed.

2 Corinthians 9, verse 10 says, Now he who supplies, he,

2 Corinthians 9:10

meaning God, supplies the seed to the sower, to the sower,

and bread for food will also supply and increase the

store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness.

So, God provides the seed to the sower, to us.

We don't have to look for the seed. He's already

giving it to us.

And this is important because we can easily look at

ourselves as the one.

Who's providing the seed. That it comes from us. That

it comes from our abilities, our capacity.

John 3, verse 27 says, A man can receive nothing

John 3:27

unless it has been given to him from heaven.

Whatever we have, whatever we receive, they didn't come from us.

They came from heaven. They came from God. Everything we

have ultimately comes from God.

Our money, our time, our gifts, our talents, everything that

we have. And we need to recognize that. That God

has already placed that in your hands.

Of course we need to work hard. Of course we

need to be responsible. Of course we need to do

a lot of the things.

These are all good things. But we shouldn't look at

them as those things came from us. All these things

came from God. And he asked us to be faithful

with what he's already given to us.

Everything that is given to us, we need to be faithful.

We need to mind what the seed, the seed that

are in our hands, need to be planted. All right,

so we have the seed. We have the sower, that's us.

What else do we need? Amen, the soil. Right?

We need the soil. Now, the seed needs to go

into us.

A good soil, where you plant your seed makes a

big difference.

It makes a difference when you plant.

You cannot plant in a rocky ground or, you know,

the Bible speaks of a rocky ground.

Some seed fell on the path, some among thorns.

And some seed fell into good ground.

And those are the ones that bear much fruit.

So the seed was capable of producing a harvest, but

it needs good soil. This is something we need to

think about in our own lives. Where are we planting

our seeds? Where are we investing our time? Where are

we putting our money? Our resources are not unlimited, so

we need to be thoughtful about where we sow them.

There is only one investment. That will never be wasted.

I worked in the financial services. I know about investment.

But there is one investment. Where you could never lose.

Where your money will never be. Where your money will

be wasted. Whatever you do for the kingdom. 1 Corinthians 15.58 says.

Whatever we do for the Lord. Is never wasted. Amen.

This is a heavenly investment that returns.

Over a hundredfold. Over. You know, we watched the.

Conference, not the conference, the meeting on faith-driven entrepreneurs, right?

And one thing that we took away from that was

that we are called to live, to give, right? And

we must raise our standard of giving, not our standard

of living.

Amen? We always think, oh, I got to do better.

I got to, you know, I got to climb up

the ladder.

We're always thinking of raising our standard of living. But actually,

we are called to raise our standard of giving.

Amen?

We must plant our seeds in good soils.

All right. What else do we need for a bountiful harvest?

We've got the seed. We've got the soil, a good soil.

What else do we need?

Clue. Starts with S again. S. Starts with S. We're

in the S mode. We're the sowers. Then we have

the seeds and we have the soil.

The sun. We need the sun. Amen. You're catching up, guys.

Thank you, Lord.

So the sun gives us energy and light because that's

what it needs to grow.

Without sunlight, plant cannot survive.

Even in places where there's no natural sunlight, you know,

they put artificial light.

That's what they put. Psalm 84 verse 11. For the Lord.

Psalms 84:11

God is a sun and shield. The Lord bestows favor

and honor. John 8 verse 12 says.

John 8:12

I am the light of the world, Jesus is saying.

Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will

have the light of life.

Amen. Amen.

There is a part where we are called to play

we plant the seed we water it we nurture it

but we cannot make it grow by our own strength

amen we cannot.

Tell plant plant grow you know plant be ready bear

fruit Plant be bountiful. No, that part belongs to God.

The growth, the increase, and the harvest are ultimately in

God's hands. And this is such an important reminder because

sometimes we can be so focused on.

Our own work, right?

That we actually think we're responsible for our increase. That

we actually think that because of our hard work, because

of our Intelligence, our abilities, our responsibility, you know, how

responsible we are that we are actually producing the increase.

It is God who provides the increase.

He takes what we have planted and causes it to produce.

Amen? So we do our part and God brings the increase.

Just as the sun provides what the plant needs to grow,

God provides what is necessary for the seed to grow.

The seed is in our hands, but the increase is

in God's hands.

Amen?

So when the sower plants the seed, and the seed

goes into a good soil, and.

The soil has enough sun, guess what happens? You get that? Clue,

it starts with an S again. So you get a

bumper crop.

What's the opposite of the shortage? There was a famine,

but he planted. There's a surplus.

Wonderful. Well done, students. Amen. Amen.

So you've just crossed over from shortage to surplus because

God will give you the surplus.

And this is the principle of multiplication.

The harvest is greater than the seed that was originally planted.

Amen? Amen. Oh, okay. I thought you're not showing it

because I cannot see it from the monitor. All right, so.

We experience a surplus whenever we plant and whenever it

goes to good soil. The harvest is greater than the

seed that was originally planted.

Luke 6, 38. I don't know if it's there. It says,

give and it will be given to you. How much?

Good measure. Good measure. Press down.

Shaken together and running over more than you can hold.

Wow, that's a lot. More than you can hold.

So when we sow, we are trusting him with what

happens next. The return may be financial or it could

be any other form. It could be restoration of relationships, salvation,

opportunity to be blessed in many ways.

Transformation. This is something we cannot buy. Amen. Amen.

So I just want to come back to Isaac when

he started with the famine. Because this is particularly relevant

to us. God blessed him. And the Bible says that

he continued to prosper even then. So what it shows

is that God is not limited by the conditions around us.

Famine did not prevent God from blessing Isaac. Lack did

not prevent God from multiplying Isaac. You know, we know

about the story of the five loaves of bread and

the fish, how God multiplied it. So he is not

concerned with the condition. He is concerned about how, what

we do with the seed that he has given to us.

Are we sowing it or are we keeping it? One

time we visited Julia's allotment. And she said, oh, my

plants are dying. They're so limp. They're close to the ground.

They haven't been watered. It's been hot very recently. So

we helped her with watering the whole allotment.

It's a big one. The water cans are big. It

was heavy.

We were there for a few hours watering each one.

And she said, wow, look at them. There's a change.

They're all now kind of lifted up. Is that the

word for plants? So we watered the whole allotment. Heavy

watering cans.

By the end of it, we sat down and had tea.

Did a little bit of conversation talking about it. And

then we went back to the allotment. And then we

picked the fruits of the They were lying there, right?

Tomatoes, beans, garlic, whatever. All of them.

And you know, we came away with a harvest.

We had tomatoes big as this.

We had beans big as that.

I've never seen so many beans. But you know why?

Why we came away with a harvest? Because we sowed

in her garden. We would have never gotten that if

we didn't go and planted and did what we did.

And that's just a tiny thing, you know. But God

can show you, whenever you sow, there's an expectation of

harvest in whatever form. So what are the steps to

a bountiful harvest? Okay, let's read it. Do we have

the last page? So, in times of shortage, what do

we do?

The last one.

So, don't worry about the condition where you're in. Just

keep sowing, you know, even though the conditions are not right.

Sow anyway.

Actually, the best time to sow is when you need

a lot or when you need something.

That's the best time to plant. Amen. We are all

called to sow. God already gives us the seed.

It's in our hands. Whatever is in our hands. God

is not looking for a seed that is not in

our hands. Whatever is in your hand is a seed. Amen?

The soil.

It is very important to choose wisely where we sow.

Make sure it's a good soil that it will sustain

that seed once it's planted. Don't waste your seed to

things that will not make it productive. Always be connected

to God who gives the increase. And a bumper crop

harvest is what we're going to expect once we start sowing. Amen?

Amen?

So I want us to remember that a harvest begins

with a seed. And the seed that God has placed

in our hands may not look like much today. But

it will be in a few times, in the right season.

Don't hold back the seed.

Release it. Release the seed. Don't hold it back. If

you don't, you will never see a harvest.

And when the harvest comes, remember that the seed belongs

to God. The soil belongs to God. The sun and

the surplus comes from him. And this is why the

harvest also belongs to him.

Amen? In Jesus' name. Amen. Hallelujah.