PRAYER
Heavenly Father,
We come before You with heavy hearts, mindful of the recent devastation caused by Hurricanes Helene and Milton. Our thoughts and prayers are with all those who have suffered tremendous loss, facing the daunting challenge of rebuilding their lives in the wake of these tragic events.
Lord, we lift up the families and communities affected, from the shores battered by the storm to the individuals who mourn loved ones lost. Grant them strength and courage in this time of sorrow. Surround them with Your love and peace, providing comfort and solace to their weary hearts.
We pray for the responders and volunteers who offer their hands in service — give them resilience and safety as they work to restore what has been broken. May You guide them with wisdom and perseverance.
Father, stir our hearts to action as we seek ways to support our brothers and sisters in need. Open our eyes to opportunities to provide aid, share resources, and show compassion to those who must rebuild from the ground up.
Though the storms are mighty, we know Your love is mightier. Help us to be a beacon of hope and kindness in times of darkness, reflecting Your light into the world.
In Your name, we pray.
Amen.
SERMON
How much is enough?
Leviticus 25:8-19 NLT
In addition, you must count off seven Sabbath years, seven sets of seven years, adding up to forty-nine years in all. Then, on the Day of Atonement in the fiftieth year, blow the ram’s horn loudly and long throughout the land. Set this year apart as holy, a time to proclaim freedom throughout the land for all who live there.
It will be a jubilee year for you when each of you may return to the land that belonged to your ancestors and return to your own clan. This fiftieth year will be a jubilee for you. During that year you must not plant your fields or store away any of the crops that grow on their own, and don’t gather the grapes from your unpruned vines. It will be a jubilee year for you, and you must keep it holy. But you may eat whatever the land produces on its own. In the Year of Jubilee, each of you may return to the land that belonged to your ancestors.
When you make an agreement with your neighbor to buy or sell property, you must not take advantage of each other. When you buy land from your neighbor, the price you pay must be based on the number of years since the last jubilee. The seller must set the price by taking into account the number of years remaining until the next Year of Jubilee.
The more years until the next jubilee, the higher the price; the fewer years, the lower the price. After all, the person selling the land is actually selling you a certain number of harvests. Show your fear of God by not taking advantage of each other. I am the Lord your God.
If you want to live securely in the land, follow my decrees and obey my regulations. Then, the land will yield large crops, and you will eat your fill and live securely in it.
In the rest of Leviticus 25:
1. The land rests.
2. No sowing or reaping.
3. There are to be family reunions.
4. The people are to obey God’s commandments.
5. No one is to take advantage of anyone else.
6. The poor are to be helped and never made enslaved.
7. The enslaved are to be released.
8. No one is to charge interest on money or land.
POINT: What we have is not ours but God’s.
Psalm 24:1 - The earth is the Lord’s and everything in it.
Luke 4:14-22 NIV
Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about him spread through the whole countryside. He was teaching in their synagogues, and everyone praised him. He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day, he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. He stood up to read, and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written:
“The Spirit of the Lord is on me
because he has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom
for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind,
to set the oppressed free,
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”
Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him. He began by saying to them, “Today, this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.” All spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his lips. “Isn’t this Joseph’s son?” they asked.
2 Corinthians 9:6-7 NRSV
The point is this: the one who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and the one who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each of you must give as you have made up your mind, not regretfully or under compulsion, for God loves a joyful giver.