Sesame Chicken

 from BrownEyedBaker

Sesame Chicken from BrownEyedBaker.com - Marinated, battered and fried, tossed in a sweet sesame sauce and served over white rice, sprinkled with sesame seeds and chopped scallions

(4 servings)



For the Marinade

1 cup chicken stock

½ cup water

½ cup soy sauce

¼ cup honey

¼ cup rice wine vinegar

3 tablespoons light brown sugar

2 tablespoons cornstarch

1 tablespoon sesame oil

1½ pounds boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into 1-inch chunks

For the Sauce

1 tablespoon sesame oil

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger

1 teaspoon chili paste (can substitute a couple pinches of red pepper flakes)

For Coating & Frying

3 egg whites

1½ cups cornstarch

½ cup all-purpose flour

½ teaspoon baking soda

6 cups vegetable oil, for frying

Sesame seeds, to garnish

Scallions, sliced, to garnish

To make the marinade, whisk the chicken stock, water, soy sauce, honey, rice wine vinegar, brown sugar, cornstarch and sesame oil in a bowl. Of this mixture, place 6 tablespoons into a zip lock storage bag and add the chicken; seal and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes. Set aside the remaining marinade in the bowl.

While the chicken is chilling in the marinade, heat the 1 tablespoon of sesame oil in a large skillet over medium heat until shimmering. Sauté the garlic, ginger and chile paste until fragrant (about 2 minutes). Add 2 cups of the reserved marinade to the skillet and simmer, whisking constantly, until the mixture has become a darker brown and thickened. Remove from the heat and cover.

To prepare the chicken for coating and frying, whisk the egg whites in a shallow dish until foamy; set aside. Combine the cornstarch, flour, baking soda, and remaining marinade in a second shallow dish; mix using a fork until it resembles coarse meal.

Remove the chicken from the refrigerator and from the marinade. Pat the marinated chicken dry with paper towels.

Heat the oil in a Dutch oven over medium high heat until the oil registers 350 degrees.

While the oil is heating, prepare the chicken for frying. Toss half the chicken into the foamy egg whites until well coated, then dredge the chicken in the cornstarch mixture, pressing to adhere. Transfer the coated chicken to a plate and repeat with the remaining chicken.

Fry half the chicken until golden brown, about 3 minutes, turning each piece halfway through cooking. Transfer the cooked chicken onto a paper towel-lined plate to drain. Return the oil to 350 degrees. Repeat with the remaining chicken.

Warm the sauce over medium heat until simmering. Turn off the heat and add the fried chicken pieces. Toss to coat and serve, sprinkling with sesame seeds and chopped scallions.

Recipe by Brown Eyed Baker at www.browneyedbaker.com/

Call & Response - Music

Have you ever heard a song on the radio and instantly been transported back to a different time and place? It may sound a little corny, but for most of us, music provides the emotional soundtrack to our lives. We remember with joy the first concert we attended of our favorite band, the pride of walking down the graduation aisle to pomp and circumstance, or, if we’re parents, the lullabies that soothed our infant children to sleep. We use music to help pump us up through a long run or to help us cry out a failed relationship. The major moments of our life are often marked with a song and remind us of connections with other people.  We add music to so many situations in our lives because of...
 how it makes us feel. A bride walking down the aisle without an anthem, a movie without a soundtrack (remember the Rocky scene with no music from the weekend service?) or an Olympic ice dancer without a melody…these moments just don’t make sense without music. Turns out, there are really good, scientific reasons why music is such a big part of our lives and so very powerful. Since we’re on a school theme, let’s take a quick trip into the Biology classroom.

Researched extensively, music is one of the few activities that stimulates both sides of our brain. Our brains are divided into two hemispheres, right and left. The right brain processes information in an intuitive and creative way. The left brain is involved with more analytical tasks such as verbal communication or mathematical matters. The corpus callosum connects the left and right brain hemispheres and facilitates communication between the two. Studies have proven that music, unlike anything else we do, activates the flow of communication between the corpus callosum, allowing the right and left brain hemispheres to work in harmony rather than in conflict. That’s why it’s so powerful to us.

As believers, music has even more power because it can be another form of worship. At its core, worship is when our soul is most deeply connected to God and a song rooted in God’s truth can take us to that place. Music is captivating and when something captivates our heart and mind, it effectively has our worship. As Nate shared this weekend, when we are singing a worship song, we should connect to the lyrics so that we can worship God with the words of the song. In the early church, there were no books, or Bible apps on a phone. Believers set Scripture to music and passed those songs on from person to person as a way to communicate and memorize truth.

In Colossians 3:16 (New Living Translation) Paul says, “Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts.” At the Creek, we don’t just sing to add time to the service or to show off the talents of an amazing musician; a worship song that marries biblical truth with a beautiful melody is a song that God can really use to personally connect with you and teach you in a special, powerful way.

THIS STUDY IS ABOUT HOW MUSIC CAN CONNECT US TO GOD IN A SPECIAL WAY.

Call and Response

Big Point: Worship is a response to God’s love.

Next to the Word of God, the noble art of music is the greatest treasure in the world.

—Martin Luther

Pop quiz! How many different types of music do you think there are in the world? 500? 700? There are actually 1,264 genres of popular music. It wasn’t always that way though.

It started simple. There was rock, pop, jazz, blues, and classical. But you can only play the same songs so many times before someone is bound to say, “Hang on a minute, what would happen if we played those two songs at the same time?” And just like that, new genres are born.

Glenn McDonald, engineer and “data alchemist”, decided to build a website, EverNoise.com in an attempt to build an algorithmically generated map of the entire musical genre-space. We thought we had some kind of idea of just how much music is out there! We don’t. McDonald is trying, but God does.

God made each of us to be unique, so why would our music taste be any different? We are not all moved by the same thing, at the same time. So, whether it’s Gospel, call and response, Christian rock, hymns, Gregorian chants, acoustic, rap—when we’re responding to God, and the work He is doing in our life, then it’s worship.

Worship and music have always been linked in the church. In fact, Scripture encourages us to praise and honor God specifically through signing and playing music. The book of Psalms is literally full of examples of poets and instrumentalists composing songs to their Creator. While our focus will be on worship through music this week, worship is in everything. It’s not something we do, it’s who we are. When something captivates our mind’s attention, our heart’s affection and our soul’s ambition, it effectively has our worship. So everything we have can be a response to God’s love.

READ and THINK… What does the Bible say?

The Temple mentioned in 2 Chronicles was built by Solomon, and it took seven years to build. This Temple marked the first time a place was built for the intention of worshipping God. The verse below documents how the first service at the Temple began.

Question: How did the people begin their praise to God?

2 Chronicles 5:13 (New Living Translation)

¹³ The trumpeters and singers performed together in unison to praise and give thanks to the LORD. Accompanied by trumpets, cymbals, and other instruments, they raised their voices and praised the LORD with these words: “He is good! His faithful love endures forever!” At that moment a thick cloud filled the Temple of the LORD.

Answer:

Music and song were an integral part of Old Testament worship. David was the one to introduce music into Temple services, and we are given the impression that the music was loud and joyous, based on the many instruments and presence of choirs and song leaders.

 Question: While this message is pretty clear, what is the writer telling us to do?

Psalm 150 (New Living Translation)

¹Praise the Lord. Praise God in his sanctuary; praise him in his mighty heavens. ²Praise him for his acts of power; praise him for his surpassing greatness. ³Praise him with the sounding of the trumpet, praise him with the harp and lyre, ⁴praise him with timbrel and dancing, praise him with the strings and pipe, ⁵praise him with the clash of cymbals, praise him with resounding cymbals. ⁶Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord.

Answer:

LIVE… What will you do now?

Read 2 Chronicles 5:13 again. Before presenting their needs to God, they gave Him praise first. Why do you think this is a beneficial structure? Why is it important to praise God for specific things, rather than just say one general mention of thanksgiving?  

In what ways do you worship God? Rate your worship time by giving yourself an A, B, C, D or F. How could you better worship God? What will it take to take the next step towards doing that?

PRAY… God, what do you want me to know and do?

Begin by praising God, use Psalm 150 if you need words. Then specifically thank God for 10 things. (Maybe these are things you simply take for granted, like the ability to walk.) Express your needs, concerns, and hurts to God. Then, end your prayer asking for His will to be done.

Thank you for reading today’s LivingItOut! We encourage you to take it one step further by participating in a Daily Bible Reading plan. There are thousands of individual reading plans available and there is ONE that is just right for you!CLICK HERE to download a basic “Bible in a year” plan. Customizable reading plans available at Youversion.com or Biblegateway.com.

How He Loves Us

This Song, How He Loves Us was part of our Church Service lastnight...and it's wonderful.   Kim-Walker-Smith is the one singing this on the YouTube Video at the end of this post.  Here are the Lyrics...

He is jealous for me

Loves like a hurricane, I am a tree...

Bending beneath the weight of His wind and mercy

And all of a sudden,

I am unaware of these afflictions eclipsed by glory

And I realize just how beautiful You are,

And how great Your affections are for me

Oh, how He loves us, oh

Oh how He loves us

How He loves us all

He is jealous for me

Loves like a hurricane, I am a tree

Bending beneath the weight of his wind and mercy

And all of a sudden

I am unaware of these afflictions eclipsed by glory

And I realize just how beautiful You are

And how great Your affections are for me

Oh how He loves us, oh

Oh how He loves us

How He loves us all

Yeah, He loves us

Oh how He loves

Oh how He loves

We are His portion and He is our prize

Drawn to redemption by the grace in His eyes

If His grace is an ocean, we're all sinking

Heaven meets earth like an unforeseen kiss

And my heart turns violently inside of my chest

I don't have time to maintain these regrets

When I think about, the way...

That He loves us

Oh how He loves us

Oh how He loves us

Oh how He loves

Yeah, He loves us

Oh how He loves us

Oh how He loves us

Oh how He loves

Yeah He loves us

Oh how He loves us

Oh how He loves us
Oh how He loves

In Us to Through Us

God wants to do something great in us before He does something great through us.

This week we are shifting from what God can do IN us—through Bible reading, prayer and rest that connects us to Him—to what He can do THROUGH us when we give our time, talents and resources to Him. God wants to do something great in us before He does something great through us. So, let’s review how that can happen:  When we read, study and memorize Scripture, we learn more about God and His principles. It keeps God at the forefront of our life.  Through prayer, we communicate with God, sharing the real us with the real God and looking...
 upward, inward and outward.

1. When we take a Sabbath day and really rest, our will, mind, body and soul realigns with Him.
2. When we give to Him what we have, approaching Him with an open hand, He will multiply it.

This is what it looks like to move closer and closer to Jesus every day. God meets us right where we are, but doesn’t leave us there. As one author wrote so eloquently, “When we give, God reminds us who He is, who we are and what our relationship should be to that which He allows us to manage in His name.” 

READ, THINK and LIVE… Read and apply the Bible.

The multiply mindset starts not in having all the answers, but with a heart that is willing to give. Let’s look again at Genesis 15:4-10.

Question: How does God respond to Abraham’s question about the promise? With what kind of heart does Abraham respond?

Genesis 15:4-10 (New Living Translation) ⁴ Then the Lord said to him, “No, your servant will not be your heir, for you will have a son of your own who will be your heir.” ⁵ Then the Lord took Abram outside and said to him, “Look up into the sky and count the stars if you can. That’s how many descendants you will have!” ⁶ And Abram believed the Lord, and the Lord counted him as righteous because of his faith. ⁷ Then the Lord told him, “I am the Lord who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land as your possession.” ⁸ But Abram replied, “O Sovereign Lord, how can I be sure that I will actually possess it?” ⁹ The Lord told him, “Bring me a three-year-old heifer, a three-year-old female goat, a three-year-old ram, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.” ¹⁰ So Abram presented all these to him…

 Answer:

Think back over this past week:

1. What can you commit to give to God starting today (time, talent, resources)?
2. In what ways could giving this to God grow you closer to Him?
3. Review and pray over any hesitations that have come up. What is one tangible step you can take to move away from hesitation and towards giving it to Him?

PRAY… God, what do you want me to know and do?

Ask God to show you the areas of your life where He can work in you so that He is able to do great things through you.

Digging Deeper with this week’s teaching pastor:

Click here to go deeper using the Life Group DVD by the teaching pastor or view the message, including bonus discussion questions.

Thank you for reading today’s LivingItOut! We encourage you to take it one step further by participating in a Daily Bible Reading plan. There are thousands of individual reading plans available and there is ONE that is just right for you!CLICK HERE to download a basic “Bible in a year” plan. Customizable reading plans available at Youversion.com or Biblegateway.com.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS—Answer these questions with your friends and family:

1.  In Genesis 15:5, God took Abram out into the night sky and told him to look up at the stars and count them if he could. Think of a memorable time when you were stargazing and trying to count them. Share the details and why it was memorable.

2.  Throughout Scripture, God repeatedly demonstrates His principles for multiplication as Ben outlined this past weekend. Which of these math equations resonated the most with you? Why do you think growth is so important to God?  

Number X Zero =       ;Number X One =       ; Number X Two (or 3, 4 and so on) =

3.  A multiplication mindset is the belief that life increases with an open hand more so than with a closed fist. Do you agree with this? Why or why not?  Have you seen a multiply mindset play out in your own life or in the lives of those around you? Discuss.

4.  Have you already allowed God to multiply His love and life to others through you? If yes, great! Discuss with the group. Your next challenge is to ask yourself, “Who else could I bring alongside of me?” If you have not, have you identified your spiritual gifts or taken a next step in getting connected through serving?

5.  During this “Back to School” series, we’ve been talking about how God wants to do something in you before He can do something through you. Looking back over the series from Bible reading to prayer to rest to multiplication, have you begun allowing God to use you in a new way in any of these areas? How do you think that may equip you so that He can do more through you?

What is God calling you to give so that His principle of multiplication can become real in your life?

August 2015 Memory Verse:

For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires.

-Hebrews 4:12 (New Living Translation)

How to Count Your Life

Nothing is more satisfying than when you know you are being used by God.  If it doesn’t penetrate your heart; if it doesn’t radically change your life; it does you no good.   - Jan Smith

Debates are all the talk these days. With the presidential primary races in full swing, issues ranging from education to voting systems become all we hear about as experts and candidates debate, disagree over and critique. While these debates often make for great two-minute soundbites, folly between morning news anchors or late night comedy material, it’s a great deal of discussion over “head knowledge” or what people think. Head...
knowledge is great, the pursuit to know something and understand it has its benefits, but for what purpose?

During a political debate, perhaps the purpose is to be the one who knows the most or has answers to all the questions. But when it comes to our faith and trust in God’s multiplication, if that’s as far as most Christians get—just acquiring intellectual knowledge or thoughts about God—then we’ve missed the point entirely.

On Monday, we discussed God’s principles for multiplication. Then over the past two days, we dug into areas of Scripture where that principle played out. So we know it, but what are we going to do with it? As one writer put it, “knowing about a Bible principle is like knowing where a piano is.” Yep, there’s a piano, there in the corner. Does it move us? Does it change our heart in some way? No, not sitting there in the corner it doesn’t! But what about when it’s played? Music from that same instrument now has the capacity to move us, to change us, to penetrate our heart and make a difference. The same can be said for us as Christ-followers when we allow what we know to guide what we do.

We heard the stories this weekend of Creek attenders Tim Strand and Mackenzie Phelps. Tim wasn’t sure how God could use him so he started with what he knew and prayed for his neighbors and neighborhood. Mackenzie felt the nudge to use her skills and talents to lead a LifeGroup and now says, “I could lead a LifeGroup every night of the week.” Through these acts of giving, God’s principle of multiplication started working in their lives and He wants to do the same in all of us.

READ and THINK… What does the Bible say?

1. Paul is teaching on the principle of multiplication as it relates specifically to financial giving, a very tangible area where when we give, God multiplies; but this verse can also teach beyond the financial. If it applies to our money, then it certainly applies to our hearts.

Question: What can we take from these verses that applies to all giving?

2 Corinthians 9:6-8 (New International Version)

⁶ Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. ⁷ Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.      ⁸ And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.

Answer:  LIVE… What will you do now?

1. Where have you seen God using you lately? In your time, talent or resources? Where are you making the biggest impact? Why do you think that is?

2.  Do you trust and believe there is nothing more satisfying than using the way God wired you to serve Him? What gets in the way of completely trusting Him on this? In what way can the verse from today help to strengthen you? 

3.  Volunteering is one way to be used by God. It creates connection, can give you a sense of a bigger purpose and make a big impact on your spiritual walk. Is there a ministry or area where you have felt you need to be serving but haven’t taken the step? Have you heard about spiritual gifts but still haven’t done the assessment? If you answered yes to either, take a few minutes to list or consider why that is. Pray over the answers and for the next steps that, in part, can be taken at CedarCreek.tv/volunteer.

PRAY… God, what do you want me to know and do?

Try this prayer today: Dear God, You are what brings the ultimate satisfaction in my life. Show me if I have been content in just knowing You in any area. Help me to not grow any more comfortable there and to understand how I can move from knowing to doing. No matter what area You show me—serving, investing or inviting others, giving of my time and/or resources—I am willing to follow Your lead so that my life counts for You. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Digging Deeper with this week’s teaching pastor:

Click here to go deeper using the Life Group DVD by the teaching pastor or view the message, including bonus discussion questions.

Thank you for reading today’s LivingItOut! We encourage you to take it one step further by participating in a Daily Bible Reading plan. There are thousands of individual reading plans available and there is ONE that is just right for you!CLICK HERE to download a basic “Bible in a year” plan. Customizable reading plans available at Youversion.com or Biblegateway.com.

Making Your Life Count

God’s rules of multiplication point towards the abundant life.

Let us seek to think the way God does about what counts. – Charles Stanley

Close your eyes and drift back to third grade math class. Most of us have vivid memories (or have tried to block out memories) of learning the multiplication tables. Whatever your math class memories entail, let’s dig back into...
the multiplication equations that matter today:

1. Any time we multiply a number times zero it is a loss, nothing...
 nada, zilch.

2. Any time we multiply a number times one it remains the same, no change, same old, same old.

3. Any time we multiply a number times two it grows, or times three it grows, or times four it grows…

Let’s start applying how big this can get. Suppose we have five piggy banks with zero dollars in them—we have lots of empty banks and no money. That’s set one. Now take those same banks and put a dollar in them so we have five dollars. That’s set 2. Now suppose we have those same five banks and double our investment—another dollar in each taking us up to ten dollars. That’s set 3. If we keep applying the arithmetic each week for just four weeks to these same piggy banks, we will have zero dollars in the first set, five dollars in the second set, and that last set of piggy banks is going to bust and overflow! Which would we rather have?

This is the key to the abundant life—giving what we have and trusting its importance, trusting that it’s enough and trusting God with the outcome. According to Christianity Today, “Abundant life is not about what we have. It’s not about what we get. Ultimately, abundant life is about what we receive as a gift from the Lord and to live knowing we are stewards of the blessings of God. At the end of the day, perhaps that is how we know we have an abundant life—when we have shared our lives with others for the glory of God.”

READ and THINK… What does the Bible say?

Jesus had been teaching and healing beside the Sea of Galilee. He had amassed a huge crowd of followers and wanted to test his disciples. He told Phillip to go and buy food for the people. Phillip told him that it would take eight months to earn enough money to feed the people.

Question: After searching the crowds, how much food were the disciples able to find? What was Andrew’s response?

John 6:8-9 (New Living Translation)

⁸ Then Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, spoke up. ⁹ “There’s a young boy here with five barley loaves and two fish. But what good is that with this huge crowd?”

Answer:

In Luke’s account of the story, the disciples realize that it’s getting late and the people need to eat. They want Jesus to send them away so they can find their own food but Jesus tells them to feed them. They gave him all they could find and waited.

 Question: 

what did Jesus do with the offering first? What miraculous thing happened?

 Luke 9:16-17 (New Living Translation)

¹⁶ Jesus took the five loaves and two fish, looked up toward heaven, and blessed them. Then, breaking the loaves into pieces, he kept giving the bread and fish to the disciples so they could distribute it to the people. ¹⁷ They all ate as much as they wanted, and afterward, the disciples picked up twelve baskets of leftovers!

 Answer:

 LIVE… What will you do now?

Jesus knew when he asked the disciples to feed the people, they had very little to offer. Sometimes we think that our hands are empty, void of anything “valuable” that could be offered. Or we may feel that there won’t be enough left for our needs or our family’s needs if we give from that area. What specific area in your life do you relate to this the most (time, talents, money, experiences, etc.)?

Now list all the gifts and resources God has given you. Think of each of them as piggy banks like the example from today. When you receive these gifts, what do you do with them? Are they like the banks that look “perfect” but aren’t doing anything or aren’t changing? Or are they like the banks that keep doubling and then overflowing because of all you are giving and doing with them? Why does it matter?

What does abundant life mean to you? What does it look like? Are you willing to trust how God provides abundant life and take the next step towards Him? What does that look like for you?

PRAY… God, what do you want me to know and do?

Ask God to reveal to you areas of your life that you are holding back from Him. Ask Him to show you where you can give to obtain the abundant life that He has planned for you.

Digging Deeper with this week’s teaching pastor:

Click here to go deeper using the Life Group DVD by the teaching pastor or view the message, including bonus discussion questions.

Thank you for reading today’s LivingItOut! We encourage you to take it one step further by participating in a Daily Bible Reading plan. There are thousands of individual reading plans available and there is ONE that is just right for you!CLICK HERE to download a basic “Bible in a year” plan. Customizable reading plans available at Youversion.com or Biblegateway.com.

Multiplication Table at Work

The multiplication principles are at work throughout the Bible.

And if we would only catch as eagerly and sow as diligently the seed that falls from the Prince of Peace, we might soon to cover the whole earth with its increase.  – W.M. Taylor

There was a story in a London newspaper years ago about a single grain of wheat that had fallen from the hand of some...
royalty and was picked up and planted with much excitement, knowing that it was “royal wheat”. Within several years, the single grain of wheat had multiplied into enough wheat to cover a sixteen acre plot of land. Great care was given to this single seed because of it’s “royalty”. This one seed was cared for in such a way that it produced results beyond any imagination!  This is a great reminder of how the spiritual principle of multiplication works.  In the same way, if we were to take the “royal seeds” that Jesus gives us through his teachings and parables, taking extreme care to cultivate and develop them in our hearts and lives, what would be the result?

Even those of us who have never gardened can imagine the harvest of a bumper crop and that’s how multiplication works in us and through us. We can live a life that produces amazing and far-reaching outcomes, better than any sixteen acre plot of wheat.

READ and THINK… What does the Bible say?

In this account by Mark, Jesus is teaching a very large crowd through a parable. Parables are simply stories with a complex or double meaning that the listener has to glean out. Parables were a favored teaching method by Jewish Rabbis of that day, and farming was a topic that almost all of the people listening would understand. This particular story is usually called “The Parable of the Sower”.

Question: What are the three conditions on which the farmer throws his seed?

Mark 4:3-7 (New Living Translation)

³ Listen! A farmer went out to plant some seed. ⁴ As he scattered it across his field, some of the seed fell on a footpath, and the birds came and ate it. ⁵ Other seed fell on shallow soil with underlying rock. The seed sprouted quickly because the soil was shallow. ⁶But the plant soon wilted under the hot sun, and since it didn’t have deep roots, it died. ⁷ Other seed fell among thorns that grew up and choked out the tender plants so they produced no grain.

Answer:

This same parable is told in Matthew, Mark and Luke, each recounting Jesus’ teaching with slight variations. This is how Matthew shares that Jesus concluded the parable.

Question: What is the positive outcome of throwing the seeds on fertile soil?

Matthew 13:8 (New Living Translation)

Still other seeds fell on fertile soil, and they produced a crop that was thirty, sixty, and even a hundred times as much as had been planted!

Answer:

LIVE… What will you do now?

How does the parable of the sower demonstrate God’s multiplication? Look at the definitions of the types of soil. Do they line up, even loosely, with the equations from this past weekend of God’s arithmetic? Where would you consider yourself to be right now?

Number X Zero = LOSS          Number X One = NO CHANGE (anything multiplied here doesn’t really change)          Number X Two = GROWTH

Tending and readying the soil for planting is considered one of the most important steps in farming. How do you tend your soil? What steps could you take to further ready yourself so that your yield is multiplied?

Mark 4 is filled with examples of how listening and responding to God’s Word produces a great harvest. Read the chapter and record what you want to remember to help you put the multiply mindset into practice today.

PRAY… God, what do you want me to know and do?

Praise God for His incredible precision in creating both the natural and the Biblical principles. Thank Him for giving and teaching examples of how to change the attitude of your heart. Ask Him to help you recognize the multiplication principle at work in your life and in other believers around you so that, together, you can multiply those gifts for His glory.

Digging Deeper with this week’s teaching pastor:

Click here to go deeper using the Life Group DVD by the teaching pastor or view the message, including bonus discussion questions.

Thank you for reading today’s LivingItOut! We encourage you to take it one step further by participating in a Daily Bible Reading plan. There are thousands of individual reading plans available and there is ONE that is just right for you!CLICK HERE to download a basic “Bible in a year” plan. Customizable reading plans available at Youversion.com or Biblegateway.com.

Arithmetic

“God has a way of giving by the carloads to those who give away by shovelsful.”   Charles Spurgeon (British preacher)
When you look up into the sky on a clear summer’s night, you can see a vast number of stars twinkling and dancing in the distance. Ever wonder why this is called “stargazing” and not “star looking” or “star sighting”? Is it because we can’t help but gaze upon the stars, allowing the scene to take us away from our current situations, challenges...
(what we can see) to the realm of possibilities (beyond what we see and know)?

One definition of stargazing is “the act of seeing subtle details, comparing and contrasting what you see from what you know.” Faith sounds a lot like that, doesn’t it? Abraham (whose name was Abram before God changed it) even had this kind of stargazing faith experience with God. Genesis 15:5 says: “Then the Lord took Abram outside and said to him, ‘Look up into the sky and count the stars if you can. That’s how many descendants you will have!’” When Abraham looked up, how many stars do you think he saw in that ancient sky? There was no pollution, no electricity, no unwanted light to obscure the night sky. Think of how glorious that looked!

Scripture then goes on to say, “And Abram believed the Lord, and the Lord counted him as righteous because of his faith. Then the Lord told him, ‘I am the Lord who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land as your possession.’ But Abram replied, ‘O Sovereign Lord, how can I be sure that I will actually possess it?’ The Lord told him, ‘Bring me a three-year-old heifer, a three-year-old female goat, a three-year-old ram, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.’ So Abram presented all these to him…” Even in Abram’s belief, he still asks God how he would know it is true. How did God answer him? God actually doesn’t answer him, but instead asks Abram to give Him something and Abram obeys.

In this way, and time and again in the Bible, God’s principle of multiplication is illustrated. When we put our faith in God and give Him what we have, He multiplies it. Sometimes we see it and sometimes we don’t. Sometimes it feels great and sometimes it doesn’t, but that’s what it means to live with what Ben called this past weekend, a “multiply mindset”. A multiply mindset is living with an open hand more so than a closed fist. It says, “OK God, I’m going to give you my time, talents, resources and all I have so that You can multiply the impact.” The truth is that we all want more. We want a life that matters and makes an impact, but we have to make the first move and open our hands to give.

Why don’t we? Sometimes we think that our hands are empty, void of anything “valuable” that could be offered. Or we may feel that there won’t be enough left for our needs or our family’s needs if we let it go. Truth is, God is the only one who can simultaneously give us the satisfaction of an abundant life, multiply the impact of what we give and ensure we have all that we need.

The next time the sky is clear, take some time to stargaze and remember how God used the stars to show Abraham, and us, how His arithmetic works.

THIS WEEK’S STUDY IS ABOUT WHEN WE GIVE TO GOD, HE CAN MULTIPLY THE IMPACT.

MONDAY— God’s Principles of Multiplication

Big Point: It’s important to know God’s multiplication principles first.

Mathematics is the language with which God has written the universe.  -Galileo Galilei

   In creating the earth, God created certain physical laws and principles that we have grown accustomed to through everyday living and through teachings in school.

For instance, you can rely on gravity keeping you held down to earth and you can anticipate the sensations you will feel when you dive under water. We have grown to understand His created laws of motion and states of matter. Not only did God create these physical principles, but He also created spiritual principles that can be held to the same merit and truth and are revealed through His Word. God’s spiritual principles are practical, beneficial and life-transforming for those who choose to know them and then apply them in their lives.

     For instance, as we talked about a few minutes ago, Abraham had to give for God to then fulfill His promise to multiply his descendants. This    principle of give and then multiply is shown again and again and God wants us to do the same, to trust and believe that life increases with an open hand more than with a closed fist, and that the principles He reveals to us in Scripture are at work and real today. Remember the equations from this weekend that remind us of this —if we multiply a number by zero, we lose because we always get zero as the product or end result. Multiply by one, and you have no change. But if you multiply by two or more, you get growth and multiplication.

READ and THINK… What does the Bible say?

God had chosen Noah to build the ark and, along with his family, to survive the flood because Noah was a righteous man, the only blameless person living on earth before the flood. God had just stopped the rain and allowed the flood waters to recede so they could leave the boat.

Question: What were Noah and his family instructed to do after giving thanks and worship?

Genesis 8:20-9:1 (New Living Translation)

²⁰ Then Noah built an altar to the Lord, and there he sacrificed as burnt offerings the animals and birds that had been approved for that purpose. ²¹ And the Lord was pleased with the aroma of the sacrifice and said to himself, “I will never again curse the ground because of the human race, even though everything they think or imagine is bent toward evil from childhood. I will never again destroy all living things. ²² As long as the earth remains, there will be planting and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night.”

9 Then God blessed Noah and his sons and told them, “Be fruitful and multiply. Fill the earth.”

Answer:
The book of Psalms was written for the purpose of expressing praise, thanks and confession to God. If you are given a writing assignment at school, which paper will you do better on: one about something in which you don’t feel a purpose or passion, or one about something in which you feel convicted? Of course, you will do best on the one you feel passionate about! 

Question: What emotion is associated with the willingness to obey and trust Him?

Psalm 112:1 (New Living Translation)
Praise the Lord! How joyful are those who fear the Lord and delight in obeying his commands.

Answer:

LIVE… What will you do now?
      1. What does “be fruitful and multiply” mean to you? What does God’s new covenant with Noah, his family and all future humans tell you about His character? (Hint: It doesn’t just mean reproduce!) Do you feel you are being fruitful in your life? How can you better allow God to multiply His love and life to others through you?

2. How often do you think “obey” and “joy” appear in the same sentence? How does this tie in with understanding God’s multiplication   principles and then doing them?

3. It takes us fully offering something to God for Him to work with it and bless it to its full potential, beyond what we can see or often     understand. God can take something that seems so small and use it for something huge. Is there a skill or aspect of your life you feel you should offer up to God, giving Him full control and use of it? What can you see as potential fruit from this?

PRAY… God, what do you want me to know and do?
Pray for the strength to give everything you have toward multiplying God’s kingdom: spreading the Gospel of Jesus and offering up all of your skills and gifts towards that purpose. Thank God for His ability to use something so small for great purpose.
Digging Deeper with this week’s teaching pastor:

Click here to go deeper using the Life Group DVD by the teaching pastor or view the message, including bonus discussion questions.

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