EXODUS: Abundance Vs. Scarcity
Pastor Brian Schafer
October 13, 2024
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Psalm 23:1
The Lord is my shepherd. I lack nothing.
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God wants to set us free to be a people of generosity, in a world marked by
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2 Principles of Generosity:
(1) It’s all FOR God. It’s all FROM God.
Take your own notes here…
(2) Generosity is fueled by
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Take your own notes here…
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Exodus 16:2-3
In the desert the whole community grumbled against Moses and Aaron. The Israelites said to them, “If only we had died by the LORD’s hand in Egypt! There we sat around pots of meat and ate all the food we wanted, but you have brought us out into this desert to starve this entire assembly to death.”
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So often, we want God to do a brand new thing while we keep doing the same old thing.
Take your own notes here…
Exodus 16:4-5;15-18
The Lord said to Moses, “I will rain down bread from heaven for you. The people are to go out each day and gather enough for that day. In this way I will test them and see whether they will follow my instructions. On the sixth day they are to prepare what they bring in, and that is to be twice as much as they gather on the other days.”
Moses said to them, “It is the bread the Lord has given you to eat. This is what the Lord has commanded: ‘Everyone is to gather as much as they need. Take an OMER for each person you have in your tent.’”
The Israelites did as they were told; some gathered much, some little. And when they measured it by the OMER, the one who gathered much did not have too much, and the one who gathered little did not have too little. Everyone had gathered just as much as they needed.
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“The Truth of Abundance vs. The Myth of Scarcity” - Walter Brueggemann
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Take your own notes here…
Exodus 16:20
Some of the Israelites paid no attention to Moses; they kept part of it until morning, but it was full of maggots and began to smell.
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“It took one day for God to get the Israelites out of Egypt, but it took 40 years to get Egypt out of the Israelites.”- Scott Daniels
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Trusting God is the catalyst for
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“Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” - Jesus (in Matthew 6:21)
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Money issues are TRUST issues, and Money issues are
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Take your own notes here…
Tithing: Turns “trusting God” into a
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Generosity is not measured by how much you have.
Generosity is not measures by how much you give.
Generosity is measured by how much you
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What does it look like for you to surrender your everything to Jesus? Your time, your talent, and your treasure.
If the Holy Spirit is stirring you today to consider regular tithing (or even reguarly giving at a smaller percentage), check out the GCN Giving Page on our website, or reach out to one of our pastors if you have any questions.
Discussion Questions:
(1) In the message, we mentioned two principles of generosity: (a) It’s all for God. It’s all from God. And (b) Generosity is fueled by Gratitude. Would you agree with those pirnciples as a foundation for generosity? How have you seen gratitude and generosity be connected in the lives of people you know?
(2) Read Exodus 16:2-20. What was God trying to teach the Israelites through the daily supply of manna? Why were some Israelites keeping enough manna for two days? What stood out to you about this story?
(3) Do you suffer from a scarcity mindset? (Not enough money, time, etc.) What do you believe causes this? We said that TRUSTING GOD is the catlyst for generosity. Have you seen this be true in your life?
(4) We described Tithing (giving back to God the first 10% of earnings) as a spiritual discipline that turns “trusting God” into a habit. What has been your experience with tithing? Is this a new concept? What role do you believe this should play in the life of someone folliwng Jesus?
(5) Pray together.