There is no fear in love…
#5 They gave out of uncertainty
series: Cultivate the Romance
title: They gave our of uncertainty
teacher: Jacob Bender
date: January 31, 2016
scriptures: Luke 24:13-32, Nehemiah 10:35, Acts 20, James 4:17, Romans 11:16, Numbers 15:17-20, 1 Kings 17, Deuteronomy 26:1-11, Leviticus 23:11, 1 Corinthians 15:20-21, John 12:32, Luke 23:46, Psalm 31:5, Matthew 27:28,
The Root
Paul says, “if the root is holy, so are the branches.”
The principle of the first fruit originated with the Hebrew wordBikkurim. When you read in Nehemiah when he says “we obligate ourselves to bring the first fruit…” or anywhere in the old testament when it says “bring the first fruit,” the word is bikkirum.
Bring the bikkirum.
The bikkurim is the part of the harvest that ripened and came forth before the rest of the harvest did.
The part that ripened and came forth first… God said, that part is mine! and this is an absolutely fascinating fact about Jewish history.
What they would do in those days, is the farmer would notice that a branch would have the bikkurim on it, and he already knew the principle of the first fruit, he already knew “this part is for God” so what would happen is he would take a little scarlet ribbon and he would walk up to the branch that had the fruit on it, and he would tie this scarlet ribbon on the branch as to say “THIS IS FOR THE LORD.”
He was marking it. He was setting it apart. He was saying, “God we give you the first.” He was asking the Lord to bless it. That is why we gave you the little red ribbons this week when you walked in… You can keep it as a token to remember, or you can take it and wrap your offering or offering envelope in it if you are giving a physical offering.
But the bikkirum was the first. It wasn’t just any piece of fruit… a good batch or a bad batch. It was was came first.
it had to be the first! It was the part that came before the harvest…
The farmer didn’t know whether the harvest was going to be large or if much of the fruit would not survive. All he knew for sure was that he the bikkurim. The only certainty was the bikkurim.
He didn’t give out of poverty or out of lack, he gave out of not knowing what it would be,
he gave it out of uncertainty.
He gave the only thing that was certain, out of uncertainty.
#7 False Witnesses
Series: Realities
Title: False Witnesses
Date: November 1, 2015
Teacher: Jacob Bender
scriptures: Matthew 12:33-37, Proverbs 18:21, James 3:1-12, Proverbs 6:16-19, Proverbs 26:17-26, Romans 10:13-14, Matthew 27:46, James 4:6, John 3:16
“The things said in confidence, spread in confidence.”
False witness is the Hebrew word שָֽׁקֶר׃ šā·qěr (shek air) – and it means “a lie, or a breach of faith.”
It is so much more than just a lie. It is so much more than making something up. It is also an abuse of information. It is not being trustworthy. It is not controlling your tongue. It is lying, and it is gossip. And it destroys communities and it destroys churches, and it destroys trust faster than anything else I have ever seen.
It is the 9th commandment, and the Hebrew letter that represents nine is the letter “Tet” and the word picture for “Tet” is a picture of a snake. Now think about this. What does a snake represent? You can take this one all the way back to the fall of man… How does the serpent manage to get man to fall?
He bears false witness against God.
He convinces Eve, “yes, God said that, but that is not true. That is God’s paranoia that you are only one step behind him and if you eat of the fruit your eyes will be opened. If you eat of it, you will level the playing field.”
He lied about God. He made Eve think that God has an insecurity issue. He painted a picture that was not true, and she bought into that picture.
From the beginning of time entire worlds were being destroyed by the stupid words that are said. It is the devils only weapon, but unfortunately, for a lot of us, it is the only weapon he needs. So that is why we are taking an entire message to talk about it. Because words shape people.
