{"id":32303,"date":"2022-09-10T16:04:13","date_gmt":"2022-09-10T21:04:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/you-are-blessed-to-be-a-blessing\/"},"modified":"2022-09-10T16:04:13","modified_gmt":"2022-09-10T21:04:13","slug":"you-are-blessed-to-be-a-blessing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/you-are-blessed-to-be-a-blessing\/","title":{"rendered":"You Are Blessed to be a Blessing"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"entry-content\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><\/div>\n<p><em>By Mark Dance<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Murphy\u2019s law\u2014the belief that if something can to wrong, it will\u2014was named after Captain Edward Murphy, an engineer working on Air Force Project MX981 in 1949.<\/p>\n<p>Murphy\u2019s team was doing tests to discern how much sudden deceleration a person can stand in rocket sled tests.<\/p>\n<p>One day, after finding out a transducer was wired wrong, Murphy cursed the technician responsible and said, \u201cIf there is any way to do it wrong, he\u2019ll find it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Some pastors are pessimists like Captain Murphy. I sometimes fight it too. Some days, I spend more time ducking my head than bowing it.<\/p>\n<p>Today, if you\u2019re fighting pastoral pessimism, I have an encouraging word for you.<\/p>\n<div class='code-block code-block-1' style='margin: 8px 0;clear: both'> <\/div>\n<h3 class=\"has-large-font-size\"><strong>God really does want to bless you<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Of the 36 recorded miracles of Jesus, the feeding of the 5,000 is the largest concerning numerical impact. It\u2019s also the only one mentioned in all four Gospels besides the resurrection.<\/p>\n<p>This miracle underscored Jesus\u2019 mission to be the \u201cBread of Life,\u201d which is a hard message to hear on an empty stomach. Jesus blessed that crowd by feeding them literally and spiritually.<\/p>\n<p>Do you <em>really<\/em> believe He wants to bless you and me today?<\/p>\n<p>What man among you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? &#8230;how much more will your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask Him! (Matthew 7:9,11)<\/p>\n<p>Pastoral pessimism needs to be offset by biblical realism, not prosperity fiction.<\/p>\n<p>A new study on prosperity gospel beliefs reveals&nbsp;some disturbing trends. Lifeway Research surveyed 1,010 Americans who attend a Protestant or non-denominational church at least once a month. What they discovered was alarming.<\/p>\n<ul class=\"has-normal-font-size\">\n<li>About a third of Protestant churchgoers say their congregation teaches that God will bless them if they donate money.<\/li>\n<li>One in 4 say they have to do something for God to receive material blessings in return.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Wow! We all need to be reminded of the <em>biblical<\/em>, faithful love of God.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"has-large-font-size\"><strong>God wants to bless others through you<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Those who followed Jesus to the northern part of Israel were basically stranded on a remote mountain. When faced with the logistical nightmare of feeding 5,000 &#8211; 20,000 people without any legitimate food source, the disciples stated the most obvious and practical solution: \u201csend them home\u201d (Luke 9).<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s \u2018ministry-speak\u2019 for, \u201cNot our problem.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Jesus\u2019 reply had to be painful to hear, \u201cYou give them something to eat\u201d (Luke 9:13).<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s \u2018Jesus-speak\u2019 for, \u201cThey\u2019re your problem.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The disciples had some legitimate points:<br \/>Philip &#8211; \u201cWhere can we buy bread? We don\u2019t have enough money!\u201d<br \/>Andrew &#8211; \u201cWhat are five barley loaves and two fish for so many?\u201d<\/p>\n<div style=\"clear:both;margin-top:0em;margin-bottom:1em\">\n<div class=\"centered-text-area\">\n<div class=\"centered-text\" style=\"float: left\">\n<div class=\"u365b5fca746313df1a3195a5637180e9-content\">See also&nbsp; The Power of the Ordinary Moments<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"ctaButton\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>In all reality, there\u2019s no way your church will be able to meet <em>every<\/em> need in your community, much less the world. But is that a legitimate excuse to do nothing for the needy? No!<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI will bless you . . . so that you will be a blessing\u201d (Genesis 12:2).<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf anyone has this world\u2019s goods [that\u2019s us] and sees his brother in need but closes his eyes to his need \u2014 how can God\u2019s love reside in him? Little children, we must not love with word or speech, but with truth and action\u201d (I John 3:17\u201318).<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"has-large-font-size\"><strong>Your obedience triggers God\u2019s blessings<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Mark tells us Jesus commanded the disciples to look for food among the crowd. That boy gave up his basket of barley bread and sardines.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s not clear if the kid with the basket-lunch was happy about giving it up. But I wonder what that little boy\u2019s basket looked like after dinner?!<\/p>\n<p>\u201cA generous person will be blessed, for he shares his food with the poor\u201d (Proverbs 22:9).<\/p>\n<p>The other side of that gospel coin is that our disobedience triggers God\u2019s discipline:<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe one who gives to the poor will not be in need, but one who turns his eyes away will receive many curses\u201d (Proverbs 28:27).<\/p>\n<p>Have you led your church to become a channel of blessing for widows and orphans, the helpless and homeless, the prisoners and refugees?<\/p>\n<p>Perhaps no church can tackle all of these challenges, but <em>our<\/em> calling is to channel the unique resources of <em>our<\/em> churches to bless <em>our<\/em> neediest neighbors in <em>our<\/em> community and <em>our<\/em> world.<\/p>\n<p>The happiest pastors and churches I know are the ones who understand they\u2019ve been blessed to be a blessing.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHappy is one who cares for the poor, the Lord will save him in a day of adversity. The Lord will keep him and preserve him, he will be blessed in the land.\u201d (Psalm 41:1\u20132)<\/p>\n<div style=\"background-color:#f2f2f2;color:#32373c\" class=\"wp-block-genesis-blocks-gb-profile-box square gb-has-avatar gb-font-size-18 gb-block-profile gb-profile-columns\">\n<div class=\"gb-profile-column gb-profile-avatar-wrap\">\n<div class=\"gb-profile-image-wrap\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"gb-profile-column gb-profile-content-wrap\">\n<h2 class=\"gb-profile-name\" style=\"color:#32373c\">Mark Dance<\/h2>\n<p class=\"gb-profile-title\" style=\"color:#32373c\"><strong>@markdance<\/strong><\/p>\n<div class=\"gb-profile-text\">\n<p>After serving as a pastor for 28 years, Mark is now the director of pastoral wellness for Guidestone Financial Resources. He frequently speaks at churches, conferences, and retreats\u2014often with his wife Janet. Read more from him at\u00a0MarkDance.net.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<ul class=\"gb-social-links\"><\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"su-box su-box-style-default\" id=\"\" style=\"border-color:#000000;border-radius:0px\">\n<div class=\"su-box-title\" style=\"background-color:#333333;color:#FFFFFF;border-top-left-radius:0px;border-top-right-radius:0px\">Dig Deeper at Lifeway.com<\/div>\n<div class=\"su-box-content su-u-clearfix su-u-trim\" style=\"border-bottom-left-radius:0px;border-bottom-right-radius:0px\">\n<div class=\"one-third first\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"two-thirds\">\n<h2>Serving a Movement<br \/> Doing Balanced, Gospel-Centered Ministry in Your City<\/h2>\n<p>Tim Keller<br \/>  FIND OUT MORE <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class='yarpp yarpp-related yarpp-related-website yarpp-template-thumbnails'>\n<h3>Related posts:<\/h3>\n<div class=\"yarpp-thumbnails-horizontal\">  What Do Pastors Believe About the End Times?  What Do Pastors Believe About the Book of Revelation?  3 Ways to Reach Non-Religious People in Your Community <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Mark Dance Murphy\u2019s law\u2014the belief that if something can to wrong, it will\u2014was named after Captain Edward Murphy, an engineer working on Air Force Project MX981 in 1949. Murphy\u2019s team was doing tests to discern how much sudden deceleration a person can stand in rocket sled tests. One day, after finding out a transducer &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/you-are-blessed-to-be-a-blessing\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;You Are Blessed to be a Blessing&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-32303","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sermons"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32303","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32303"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32303\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32303"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32303"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32303"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}