Preacher: Josh White

I thought he wanted to preach.

Well can you believe it’s you we’re in the dead of summer summer it’s not going to get cooler anytime soon but not this week would you guys know that next week school begins. And all of the parents said Amen I can have mixed emotions about that it seems like you get the summer break and it goes by so fast but the good thing about school starting is that football season starts very soon too that’s right that’s right and I twenty seven days to be exact but who’s counting on you know someone told me that but I don’t know about you but this summer has been good I always look forward to summer because we get a little break usually on some big trip and then camps always a great week especially for the kids the kids love camp I think they’re already looking forward to next year but a couple years ago we had kind of a different summer we didn’t do what we normally do we didn’t go back to Michigan in the summer of two thousand and sixteen our fellowship of churches the grace gospel fellowship we had a family Bible conference up in my church that I grew up in in Spokane Washington and they asked me to be one of the speakers and so so OK kids we’re not going to miss you this year we’re going to go up to Washington and that summer was a great trip we drove all the way up the California coast the organ coast right by the ocean that was phenomenal I cannot wait to do that again but I want to go north to south and sort of south to north this is kind of a side bar. Going up there so many times you’re like oh I want to pull over and watch something but if you’re going north you can’t because the ocean’s on the left side so anyway so if you want to take that trip ghosts of north or south I think it’s better that way but when we were back in Spokane it was great to see where I grew up and for those of you who have gone back to where you grew up Doesn’t that seem like so small it’s just so tiny Spokane when I was growing up was this huge city and now it’s just so tiny we got everywhere driving in a car so fast you guys all remember your address in your first. Phone number from where you grew up one four four two zero you see think that ave Verda Washington nine zero three seven five one nine one three two three zero one that’s in there forever that’s not going anywhere but I can remember my last address but anyway that’s that’s another story but as we’re driving around and I’m showing my kids the house that I grew up in and the neighborhood in and out of the restaurants that I worked at growing up it made me realize that my children’s childhood is much different than my childhood was in many different ways some obvious ways today they’re growing up with technology that you know most of us I’m looking at most of you most of us didn’t have growing up in our childhood and a lot of the technology is great it’s wonderful some of it maybe not so much so so good also the social issues that we’re dealing with today are much different then when I was a kid things were much more simple back then also general safety is much different today than it was back then it was nothing for me to tell my mom hey mom I’m driving my bike down to the bowling alley or to the mall I’ll be back later and she’d be OK be back before dinner and when you think twice about it our kids tell us are going somewhere like wait a second where you go in let’s check both ways on the street you know we’re kind of very conservative very concerned about their kids these days but the biggest difference between my kids childhood and my childhood is definitely the climate Spokane’s a little different than Phoenix Arizona. When I grew up we had a nice house it was almost as little bit more than a half acre lot not quite a full acre and the first third of the lot was the House and the second third of the lot was a big grass backyard it was great all the neighborhood kids would come over this is before we had all the technology and we’d actually go play football in the backyard and baseball but then the final third of our back you’re I know I’ve mentioned this before I don’t know I don’t think it’s been very recent. But the last third my parents were really into gardening and so the last third of our property was a garden it was a huge guard and one half of the backyard of the garden were trees we had like this many orchard I think we had about twelve trees there were three rows for trees and each and we had a few different kinds of apple trees and we had a cherry tree maybe a couple cherry trees plum I think a pear tree so we had all this different fruit growing back there in the other half of the lot of the garden we used to grow so many different things I mean we had these vines in the garage berries and blackberries but then every year we grow corn potatoes strawberries watermelon squash pumpkins and unfortunately that vial being the green bean we use a girl goes I have no idea why my parents did that that’s like child abuse but every year each spring after the snow would melt my dad would get out his big red rototiller do you guys know what a rototiller is like a lawnmower for your garden had these big time and he would go up and down the aisles and he go back and forth then he would go back and forth and he would make sure that the soil was nice and soft and then he would take off the pillars and then he put on a big like a plow and then he would make these nice rows and then he’d say OK kid Let’s go out and let’s go plant the garden and weed out there are we plants and then the summers consisted of us dragging around the sprinklers and so we’d position the sprinklers and every now and then my mom would say OK time to go we need the garden now was the worst weeding the garden was the worst that’s why I like Phoenix if there’s a weed in the ground you know what we do we spray it kill it just kill it that’s rats more like the next. But we all had. You know it’s true I love the spring anyway but we all had our fever introduced and the thing that I look forward to the most of all the things that were growing in the garden was in the corner oh getting sweet corn out of your own. Garden and just slathering it with butter and salt Oh it was so good and every now and then we’d have a good year for watermelon or cantaloupe and so midsummer late summer having a cornfield in watermelon Oh man now it goes with the days but there was something that I learned as a kid that was very important is the strangest thing to learn and that was this whatever seed you put in the ground. That’s exactly what would come out.

That’s exactly what would come out you’re never surprised you put a certain seated around and that’s exactly what would come out well here in Arizona I don’t think gardens are as popular as you know maybe some other states but you know that you can probably grow more here in Arizona than you can other places because we have a longer growing season we don’t have a garden in our backyard we have a pool which is definitely nice for Arizona but I Googled you know what kind of crops can you grow here in Arizona there are cool season and more in season crop Does anyone here have a garden in your backyard OK just OK just like single all single digits here they all been small can almost everybody have a garden in their back or we also have bigger yards back then but here in Arizona you can grow beets broccoli cabbage carrots lettuce onions peas potatoes radishes spinach in turn ups that’s the cool season crops and then there’s also a warm season crop here you can grow beans cucumber is a plants melons peppers pumpkins squash sweet corn sweet potatoes and tomatoes so you can actually grow quite a few things here and one website that I found it actually said the easiest thing to grow in Arizona you want to know what it is green beans I’m not I’m not making that up I know I’m serious I’m glad I didn’t know that twelve years ago when I was candidate and succumbed to come move here oh anyway now talking about food is anyone hungry yeah yeah if you know so good schools in prayer Let’s grab lunch.

You know I when I mentioned that I’d learned this lesson as a as a young kid that whatever seed you put in the ground that’s what’s going to come up you know that that’s kind of a universal lesson that most people learn in life about not just what you plant but what you get from your life it’s a universal truth and that’s what we’re going to be talking about in today’s passage but as we go through life this is reinforced over and over again in every area of our lives like how about our health if you eat a healthy clean diet What is your physical life going to be like where you’re going to enjoy good health right but if you every day in the summer you’re probably tempted to do this if you every day eat ice cream Cheetos and Twinkies what’s going to become of your health eventually down the road where you’re probably going to know your doctor on a very first name basis and then you’ll be on speed dial and the people at the pharmacy pharmacy are going to know you then a welcome back you’re not going to have good health so whatever you put in that’s going to affect your health or how about your finances. If there’s a young couple they get married and they they they start having a job and if every month they take a little bit aside and they put it into some kind of an investment or a mutual fund what’s that going to turn out to be in twenty or thirty or forty years it’s going to be a nice little nest egg so you can retire in Sun City West Arizona someday right. But if instead of investing in putting some away what if you spend more money every month than you make what’s going to happen down the road you’re going to be up to your eyeballs in debt and stress and that’s going to happen and what about what the relationships if you will how the genuine and take a genuine interest in others and if you’re always building them up with your words and your spending quality time with other people what kind of relationships are you going to have healthy strong good relationship. But if you are constantly criticizing another person gossiping about them and you refuse to saying anything nice or do anything nice for them what’s going to happen to that relationship it’s going to end and it’s going to end badly. So this idea of cause and effect sowing and reaping it’s a universal truth and that’s what our passages on today so I want you to turn in your Bibles to go lation Zz Chapter six.

And we are very close to the end of finishing goal ations and we’re going to go on to another sermon serious are coming up we have two more sermons Ingle ations we have this one and the next week so here we’re we’re kind of at the finish line of glacial ice and and this is true pretty much of all of Paul’s epistles when he gets to the last section of any letter that he wrote he gets very practical and he sometimes even gets very urgent and so you’re probably pick up on this as Paul is writing to those Ingle ations he is each kind of done with all the doctrine and now he’s getting very practical and he’s basically saying to them Your life is going to produce what you put into it and so be very careful about sowing the right seed So relations Chapter six The three verses six through ten. Last week was verses one Earth couple weeks ago verses one through five so let’s pick up again after six and reverses six through ten

says let the one who is taught the word share all good things with the one who teaches Do not be deceived God is not mocked for whatever one sows that will he also reap for the one who so those two his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption but the one who sews to the spirit will from the spirit repeat turn a wife and let us not grow weary of doing good for in due season we will reap if we do not give up so then as we have opportunity let us do good to everyone and especially to those who are of the household of faith. All the emphasis of this section that Paul is writing it’s about being diligent and intentional about how we live our lives because we’re going to get out of our lives what we put into them and what I want to do is take a section and take a look at some of the really good Godly advice that Paul is giving to us and so I’m going to give you three pieces of God the advice they God is giving to us because he wants us to reap a harvest of good things in our life and so the first piece of advice he gives us is this Do not be deceived he says Do not be deceived verse seven might be the most important of the section here he begins by saying Do not be deceived God is not mocked for whatever one sows that will he also reap and the fact that Paul has to write do not be deceived means that this is probably an area of our lives where Satan wants to deceive us so this is where we really need to kind of put up our intent and say OK this is an important thing Satan wants to deceive us and scenes number one strategy for deceiving people is to get them I guess the kind of go together to get them to doubt what God says is true and to believe a lie so he replaces what God has taught us was some kind of a lie and this is the first in the very day that happened that we know of. With Adam and Eve in the garden Satan got Eve to doubt what God had said and to believe a lie and was this deception about sowing and reaping what happens is people who buy into this deception that they’re mocking God and especially what they’re saying is I know there is this universal truth about sowing and reaping but God I don’t think that it applies to me in this situation and I’m immune my actions are not going to come back to me I can do whatever I want. You know back in chapter five Paul just got done talking about the two different kinds of seed that we can so either the seed of the flesh or the seed of the spirit let’s look at that really quick go back to Chapter five we’ll just read a couple of verses beginning in verse nineteen so glacial chapter five Verse nineteen

Paul says now the works of the flesh are evident. Sexual immorality impurity sensuality idolatry sorcery enmity strife jealousy fits of anger rivalries dissensions divisions envy drunkenness orgies and things like these I warn you as I have warned you before that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God and Satan wants us to believe that if we in if we do those things and practice those things they don’t matter and so I deceived person is going to think these thoughts Hey I can be I can be sexually immoral because I’m not hurting anyone else.

And definitely without raising any hands in here has anyone in this room ever been affected by someone else’s sexual morality have someone been hurt by someone else’s actions that a lot of people have it ruins relationships I deceived person can think you know I can be filled with envy and jealousy toward know that another person and it won’t have any native consequences on my life is that true oh it’s not going to deceive person can think you know I can I can throw fits of anger and when any time I do that in a situation of throwing a fit of anger it’s going to improve the situation has anyone ever thought that before they’re called toddlers right two years old they think throwing a fit of anger is going to improve a situation but what it doesn’t or is someone might say you know I can I can foster dissensions and and divisions in my relationships and ultimately they’re going to get stronger because I have the upper hand and so when you look at this we will reap what we sow and so Paul says don’t so that kind of seed and don’t be deceived if you so that kind of seed you’re going to reap those actions and so God is teaching us as a loving parent that those kinds of actions will reap harmful destructive consequences in this life and the next you know how many people were. Ever go out and try to plant a garden and would they believe that if you plant a seed of corn they’re going to get a potato no one would right no one would be deceived and yet satan is trying to deceive us all the time that we can sow sinful seeds and we’re not going to get those results and so the first piece of advice that Paul is giving us is hey your reap what you sow so don’t be deceived God set up the rules you cannot circumvent them while the next piece of Godly advice this can be followed once we we believe God about the truth sowing and reaping it is all idea about sowing and reaping it which is this the second piece of advice is we need to choose the right kind of seed if you’re going to sow something in this life choose the right kind of seed let’s look at verse eight again glacier in six eight. Says for the one who sews to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption but the one who sews to the spirit will from the spirit repeat turn to life and so just like it takes a while for what is sown to produce a harvest sometimes it’s going to take a while for actions to produce results too but they always will you always report you sold I came across the saying I’ve heard this before maybe some of you have as well someone once said we sow a thought. And we reap an act.

Then you sow an act and you reap a habit.

If you so I have it you reap a character and if you sow a character you reap a destiny. This is not true and it all begins with our thoughts doesn’t it it all begins with our thoughts what are the thoughts that you allow to occupy your mind on a daily basis that’s where we begin so when the right seed I came across a good illustration I think it’s very fitting for this passage just. And was a farmer and the seed that he sowed So the stray she goes like this There once was a tenant farmer which means he rented his his farm from another man. And from time to time he renewed his lease he had worked long hours year after year and made from the farm made the farm a model of its kind and one day an agent mentioned to him that the owner would require the farm for his son who was about to be married and the farmer was greatly upset and made a number of offers in hopes that his terms what affect the owners decision but it was all in vain the day journey or when he had to vacate the home and then he did something he had decided upon in the weeks of angry brooding he gathered the seeds of all the pests of the farmer and when it was dark he moved up and down over that fertile clean soil casting into it this rubbish.

The next morning bright and early the agent rode up to the door and informed him that the owners plans had fallen through and he would be glad to renewed the lease and he did not understand the farmer’s words my God what a fool I have ben. Do you get what you sow and so we need just so the right seat I’m sure most of us have probably had a situation like that in our life where you’re trying to live a godly life and then you get deceived into thinking that one time just this one time it will be OK to act out in anger or to do something that that is wrong because I don’t believe the consequences are going to affect me or other people we’ve all probably been there haven’t we but then you learn that you reap what you sow Well this passage tells us that we will reap what we sow but it’s kind of vague on when we’re going to read other passages in the Word of God tells us sometimes we reap what we sow in this life but sometimes we will reap what we sow not in this life but in the life to come but make no mistake it’s going to happen. I want to read a couple passages a kind of talk about the timing of reaping what we sow both are in currency and you can turn their second Corinthians Chapter four as the first one.

Second Christians chapter four beginning in verse sixteen this is an encouragement to know that even if we don’t reap a harvest in this life we will at some point in the future Second Corinthians Chapter four beginning in verse sixteen.

For verse sixteen it says. So we do not lose heart though our outer self is wasting away our inner self is being renewed day by day for the slight momentary affliction is preparing for us any turn away to glory beyond all comparison as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen for the things that are seen are transients but the things that are unseen are eternal So this is good news if you don’t see the results from all of your years of godly living at some point you will of God is telling us that this is just temporary but eventually the things that are eternal we will experience go over to First Corinthians Chapter three.

First Corinthians Chapter three it’s interesting Paul because they were at a very agrarian society there they dealt with farming a lot you see a lot of these kinds of illustrations all throughout Scripture and Paul is talking about a harvest that he in the Corinthian church is going to see based on their efforts and then he also talks about immediate and then delayed results from sowing and reaping First Corinthians Chapter Three beginning in verse five

he writes What then is Apollo sin what is Paul servant through whom you believe does the Lord assigned to each I planted Apollos watered but God gave the growth so neither he who plants or he who waters is anything but only God who gives the growth he who plants and he who waters are one and each one will receive his wages according to his labor for we are God’s fellow workers you are God’s field in God’s building and sometimes in this life it’s so great to see some kind of a harvest of the produce of your hard work whether it’s in your personal life and or in this context what Paul is referring to is a ministry and people in Corinth were being saved and it’s so great to see that evidence and so Great Spirit our church when we see that evidence but sometimes you’re not going to see any evidence of the things that you so on and tell the judgment seat but at the judgment seat you will now tell Paul talks about next in this passage Occulus keep reading First Corinthians three and we’ll pick up in the next verse in verse ten. He says. According to the grace of God given to me like a skilled master builder I lay the foundation in someone else’s building upon it let each one take care how he builds upon it for no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid which is Jesus Christ now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold silver precious stones wood Haverstraw each one’s work will become manifest for the day will disclose it because it will be revealed by fire and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done if the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives he will receive a reward if anyone’s work is burned up he will suffer a loss though he himself will be saved but only as through fire you know this passage I think it’s supposed to give us a lot of hope this is not supposed to be a scare tactic that all. All of our works are going to be burned up but this is the hope that God is giving to us because he wants to reward us at the Judgment Seat of Christ and so he’s saying in this life use good seed plant good seed do the things of the Spirit not the flesh and so here so far in our passage Ingle ations here is the advice that were given Don’t be deceived God cannot be mocked you will reap what you sow the second piece of advice is to choose the right seed and the final piece of advice is given to people who do believe in God and who do so the right kind of seed and it’s given to us as an encouragement and so the third piece of advice is that right now is the time to plan right now is the opportunity for every single person in this room to soul what you might reaps someday through the last couple verses of our passage verses nine and ten.

Says and let us not grow weary of doing good for in due season we will reap if we do not give up so then as we have opportunity let us do good to everyone and especially to those who are of the household of faith and so this teaches us that as long as you are breathing now is the time to sow your seed after we take our final breath all of our opportunities are gone you know the one thing I appreciate Out of about the Bible is it uses a lot of metaphors and so gives us many different ways to apply the truth about what I want to do is I want you some specific examples right now because we’re talking about OK what are we supposed to so what do we what are these opportunities that I have in this life what what or how can I make the most of these opportunities and so I’m going to share with you three opportunities that the Bible teaches us other places three opportunities that we have today that we can sow so that there might be a harvest in our life at some point in the future and the first opportunity is money the first opportunity is money the Bible talk. Quite a bit about money in fact in Ed’s Sunday school class today a lot of it was about storing up our treasures and and how to handle our money but the thing about money from God’s perspective is this how we distribute our money is an opportunity to make a difference and the thing about giving is money can be sent to reach needs when we ourselves can’t go and me meet those needs ourselves and not everyone is gifted in called a specific tasks but everyone can support the ministries that God can make a difference in people’s lives and we do that through giving and this is true in so many different areas it’s true in the local church that’s why we give to the local church so that needs can be met it’s true for missionaries not everyone here has been called to be a missionary to go to Africa or Southeast Asia but some have been called in so when we give It’s an opportunity for us to make sure that other people have the time and the resources to meet those needs that are over there it’s also true of people in our life that are going through a very difficult time maybe we ourselves can’t fulfill that need but if we help them we support them financially we can help them that way and this is true Basically whenever or wherever God is doing something it takes time for people to do the work and money is what is needed so that people can do those works I want you to turn over your Bibles to second Corinthians Chapter nine.

Kind of keeping all these other references close by saying Corinthians Chapter nine.

And this is a passage where Paul is teaching again this idea of sowing and reaping and the people in Jerusalem were going through a famine and so Paul said hey let’s get a collection from all of the Gentile churches and let’s get some money together let’s go meet the needs of the people in Jerusalem and this is a lesson that they taught the people in Corinth about sowing and reaping and giving and generosity so I can convince Chapter nine beginning versa.

So you can sign verse six it says The point is this whoever sows sparingly will also reaps sparingly and whoever sows bountifully will also rebound to flee each one must give as he has decided in his heart not reluctant leader under compulsion for God loves a cheerful giver and God is able to make all grace abound to you so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times you may are bound in every good work as it is written He has distributed freely he has given to the poor His righteousness endures forever.

He who supplies seed to the SO war and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness and verse eleven and this is a verse and if you’ve seen this be true in your life you’ll never doubt it you will be enriched in every way to be generous in every way which through us will produce thanksgiving to God and this is so great when you see this happening in your life or you meet some need and you turn around you realize I had everything I needed to to give to this other person in need and you realize God made sure you were ready and willing and able to be generous you know I think about this question and I apply this to myself I think all of us should do this but if God wants to fund some important project who do you think he is going to entrust the resources to to pass it on to that group usually someone who has proven themselves faithful to be generous with the things that God is giving to them right and so that’s kind of the lesson the God is trying to teach us with our finances well the other two opportunities I’m going to kind of lump these two together because they all kind of they all kind of work together but the other two opportunities that you and I have while we’re still grieving is we have our time we have our time our days though the hours in our day. And we also have our talents and gifts we have our abilities or talents and gifts sometimes it’s not money that is needed to meet God’s work it’s someone’s time or sometimes it’s a very specific talent or a specific gift that is needed and a person who is just willing to use theirs and the nice thing is what these opportunities they can all happen everywhere it’s not just in the local church it’s everywhere that’s why he says in verse ten so then as we have opportunity let us do good to everyone to everyone but especially to those who are of the household of faith.

You know I mentioned this morning in announcing this I said OK I want to coming up small groups are coming up the women’s ministry is coming up you know I love this time of year soon as soon as the campus is done soon as summer vacations are done we’re kind of gearing up for the fall and it’s kind of a busy time of the year but over the years that I’ve been involved in ministry as a pastor I’ve I start to view church differently not like drastically differently not completely different but I always I view church you know what is God’s purpose what is his intention for having us meet together as as a local body of believers I’m convinced that it’s not for us to be perfect and to do things the right way it’s not for us to become bigger and better and and to have. Other things like that I’m convinced that God has called churches to meet together because this is a place one of the best places where you and I kin can fulfill the commands of God and it helps us to become more like Jesus Christ but another reason why I think God has created a local church is kind of like you said in that passage in First Corinthians the church is like a field where we get to so are seen. The ministries of a church don’t exist just to exist do give us something to do the ministries of the church are an opportunity for us to invest our time and our. Gifts and abilities so that someday we might see a harvest we might see the lives that are changed you know our church graced by the Church of Phoenix is where it is today both physically spiritually everything because of the seed that was sown by people ten years ago and twenty years ago we’re here today because of the faithfulness of many years ago and our church Grace Bible Church of Phoenix will be in ten or twenty years from now with the people in the ministries that we have based on what we are sowing into this ministry today and so Church is about just creating opportunities for us to sow different seeds and a couple of different things that I’ve highlighted even this morning a Wanna what I what a difference a wanted can make in the lives of some of these kids we’ve had a want to now for ten years we’re going on our Levon year Awana there’s been some kids who started off as this is the youngest coming and now they’re working their way all the way through and hopefully they’re going to finish their book as a teen she and what happens to those kids when they grow up because they spent time memorizing God’s word hopefully God’s Word will be hid in their hearts so they will not sin against God It makes a difference in their lives and the neat thing is not only does it make a difference in the lives of the kids it makes a difference in the lives of the leaders because they’re investing in the lives of these kids and so we I think we still need a few more leaders of you’re interested in helping myself know or let Christian know my wife.

Sometimes a leader will help out for a couple years sometimes we have some leaders have been helping out for many many many years and it’s just so neat to see the changes that are taking place in these kids because these kids eventually grow up and you know what they become they become the leaders of our church you look at the leaders in our church today and they a lot of them were once kids in this ministry and so the sowing and reaping were seen a benefit in our church another thing that you can so your time in to a small group so I know. As our church has grown it’s been harder for us to get to know everyone and that’s also another point of church God did not create church so that we can know everybody in the church and that that’s impossible and so Church is also a place where we wee one another each other I think there’s like fifty two or twenty twenty nine one another commands in the Word of God we’re supposed to do certain things to one another and it can be overwhelming when you walk into a church and say Man there’s a lot more people here than I even know their names how my school so do all these things to one another well if you’re in a small group of people and you’re consistently seeing the same group of people it’s those people that you can encourage It’s those people in your group that you can pray for it’s those people in your small group that you can serve and so we’re going to have sign ups pretty quick for small groups I know it’s a whole bunch of people did this in the spring we’re going to kind of launch that coming up here in the fall but small groups it can be a place where you sow your time and effort and you will reap healthy relationships that’s the purpose of small groups and another great example of reaping what we sow is is our camp ministry and a last weekend was OUR was our camp wrapped up Sunday you know I’m convinced that our church is as strong as it is today because of the camp ministry and it’s been so neat to see people investing in the lives of these kids and those kids grow up and a lot of the staff that’s up there in the counselors that are up there are camp today they were once campers many many years before and so we reap what we sow all the things that we do in this church their opportunities for us to so I mean that’s the point of church and we will reap what we sow either in this life or at the Judgment Seat. In the future. You know whenever I read a passage out this in Scripture talking about sowing and reaping I think it’s always good for us for every one of us to evaluate our own lives maybe to assess where were our. And how we’re doing and so to date right now what is the harvest that you’re enjoying in your life because of what you have sown in the years before hopefully you can say I’m I’m trying to live according to God’s rules I’m not being deceived I’m not mocking God and you’re able to see a harvest in your life and if you’re seeing just the opposite it’s because of what you’re sowing So look at the seed that you’re selling well I hope as we’ve looked at this passage today I hope everyone sees what I believe is the positive message that God is giving us here he’s not trying to scare us or guilt us into anything but God is wanting to produce fruit in our lives he’s wanting us to participate in a spiritual harvest Sometimes we’ll enjoy that in this life possibly sometimes but we definitely will in the life to come and so the invitation that he gives us is to so now so your money your time your talents your gifts and abilities to everyone and especially to the family of believers you and I will reap what we sow so let’s be careful and diligent to soul the right kind of see it as closing prayer

Dear Lord I thank you for the book of Galatians and what we’ve learned in so far as we get to the end you always like to get practical and urgent and I think Paul is doing just that on large it is just such a powerful reminder that our lives are the sum total of the decisions that we’ve made the harvest that we’re enjoying today whether it’s good or bad is because of what we have sown in our life leading up to this point. And in this passage you lovingly tell us to not be deceived that you cannot be mocked that if we sow to the flesh we’re going to reap corruption we’re going to reap all these difficult things and and painful relationships that are that are going to end well or if we sow into our life the fruit of the spirit and we’re doing what you want to do we get enjoy a bountiful harvest whether it’s in this life or at the judgment seat as a father I pray that is each of us just takes a moment this morning to evaluate and assess our lives and how we’re spending our time as individuals and as a church that we will commit ourselves that as long as we have opportunity that we will sow the right kind of seed trusting in you for the harvest whether it’s in this life or the life to come Lord thank you for inviting us to be used by you to do your work help us to not grow tired and to not give up but believe that in the right time we will reap so father that’s our per request that you give us the strength and encouragement to continue on we present Christ in.