Abundance Begins as a Seed | Sunday, July 24, 2022

2 Corinthians 9:6-12
We reap as we sow based on our revelation and as we have purposed in our hearts. God supplies seed to the one who sows the seed. 

Developing an Abundance Mentality

1 – Small seeds create big trees

  • Abundance begins as a seed
  • Matthew 13:31-32; the mustard seed is smaller than the others but is larger when it is full grown and birds nest in it’s branches
  • Big trees come from small seeds; in the kingdom of God, God starts with small to create big
  • The small seed of today creates the big tree of tomorrow
  • For both good and bad – small things can create big things
  • If we learn to do small things well, a big thing accumulates
  • Playing catch up won’t work (you can’t eat 7 apples in a day)
  • Read your Bible every day, pray every day; small seeds that grow into a tree
  • God starts small. Act small. Think big.

 

2 – The way you do anything is the way you do everything

  • Luke 16:10-12; if you are faithful in small – you will be faithful in big (the opposite is also true)
  • Three areas of faithfulness that lead to success in life:
    • 1. Faithful in small things,
    • 2. Faithful in finances to get true riches,
    • 3. Faithful in that which belongs to another
  • If God can get it through you, he’ll get it to you
  • If we support someone else’s things, God can give us our own; eventually we realize none of it is our thing; leadership is simply a stewardship from God
  • Dependable people are always dependable people; happy people are always finding reasons to be happy; neat people are always neat (and the opposite is often also true)

3 – Don’t despise your small seed

  • Zechariah 4:10 “Don’t despise the day of small beginnings’”
  • How we handle the small thing in our hand today determines how it will grow in our future
  • Don’t despise the seed of your dream, or small opportunity
  • Start with the small seed in your hand

The tree of tomorrow looks like a seed in your hand today

  • Responsibility and opportunity are often confused; taking responsibility actually leads to opportunity
  • Being responsible with the seed in your hand leads to opportunity; big starts with small
  • Matthew 17:20 “…if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible to you.”
  • Exercise small faith to move mountains; small moves mountains; small faithfulness, integrity, acts of kindness, diligence

4 – The purpose of a full grown tree is to provide branches for others to nest in

  • God is a God who blesses; he causes us to flourish
  • Maturity is concerned about the well being of others
  • Why do you exist? What are the reasons God would bless you? Why are you in this church? What do you contribute?
  • The goal is eventually to grow up enough to be a tree that has branches that others can nest in
  • The way we handle the seed of today determines the outcomes of tomorrow

Some seed-handling thoughts:

1 – Wisely utilize the seed of time
2 – Preserve the seed of ideas
3 – Don’t eat the seed meant to be sown
4 – Develop the seed of talent
5 – Don’t overlook the seeds of opportunity
6 – Begin to look for the seed (of abundance) in your life

 

How big you begin is not the issue.

It’s how you handle the seeds of your beginnings.

 

Facilitating Discussion

  1. Have you taken an honest account of how you are sowing seeds in your life?
  2. What areas of your life could you reevaluate and plant the seeds you have in hand even better than you have been doing?