God, Why do you ask the impossible?

Matthew 14:13-21

November 6, 2005

I. God turns IMPOSSIBILIES into OPPORTUNITIES when we trust and obey.

“My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one:”
John 17:20-22

II. God looks not at what you GIVE but what you have LEFT.
a. Stewards return 10% of all income to God THROUGH His church. Mlachi 3:10
b. All promised to give SACRIFICALLY above the tithe to LOVE people.
2 Corinthians 8:3-5

Number of family units: 933
% who gave 0 through Oct 31 38 (351)
% who gave up to $2,000: 34 (317) HHS Poverty Level $19,350
% who gave over $2,000: 28 (295)
% you support “Imagine:” 47
% who have given less than 30% of pledge: 49

“Is it a time for you yourselves to be living in your paneled houses, while this house remains a ruin? Now this is what the Lord Almighty says: Give careful thought to your ways. You have planted much, but have harvested little. You eat, but never have enough. You drink, but never have your fill. You put on clothes, but are not warm. You earn wages, only to put them in a purse with holes in it. Haggai 1:4-6

III. Results of FOLLOWING Jesus and experiencing the impossible becoming the INCREDIBLE:
a. Expect to see MIRICLES
b. Expect to be HASSLED by Satan.
“You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is grater than the one who is in the world.” 1 John 4:4
c. Expect all your NEEDS to be met.
“An my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:19
d. Expect your faith to be STRENTHENED and to grow RELATIONALLY.