Bible Text: Proverbs 3:1-10; Psalm 127; John 6:1-15 | Preacher: Rev. Monika Bereczki-Farkas | Series: Fresh New Start
Friends,
How many of you like to speak about your money? And how many of you like when a minister speaks about money? See I don’t know about you, but I can tell you that there are certain topics in the Bible which are hard to speak about and one of them is about giving, which is relatively close to our money. I have heard many times “oh I don’t go to church; they are always asking money”. So here we are with this topic, which should be taboo in our church life but when I started to serve God here in Kirkwall there was a special Sunday about giving. It was the planned giving Sunday and because I was pretty new I thought it was better to wait to talk about this topic later. See, I didn’t like to speak about money and I didn’t want to ask for money. This was until our Christmas eve service when we had to decide about the Christmas Eve offering. How many of you were here on Christmas Eve? Do you remember that we had an offering? Because traditionally the Christmas Eve offering is not part of the order of service I had to figure out something about the offering for those who didn’t know about our new addition. I spent time figuring out something when I realized how many times we misunderstand the meaning of the offering. Just imagine that God gave the most wonderful gift to us, which is Jesus Christ, He was the real gift, the real meaning of Christmas and we don’t know what would be our answer to him. It’s not about our money. It’s about our hearts and our lives. That is why on Christmas Eve I prepared white hearts as a true offering to God.
When we give our offering to God it should be an important part of the worship, because offering is part of our answer. But I am not speaking about the five minutes when we collect the gifts. I am speaking about how we answer to God when we get something from Him, when we hear his voice, when he helps us, when he calls us, when we have joy in our hearts, or when we have sadness in our lives. Giving is a kind of worship. How you can give thanks to God will speak about your relationship with God.
In the Old Testament, Proverbs says that we should give our best to God because if we do this the Bible says: “your barns will be filled to overflowing.” Yes, I read it right OVERFLOWING. When we can give our best we will see amazing things. But what does “best” mean? Sometimes it’s problematic. So let’s look at the money question. Is it easy to give offerings? Do we think about how much we should give compared to how much we actually give? And I don’t really want to speak about why we should give the best ten percent to God but I want you to understand why God wants us to answer to Him with our giving.
We all can agree that it’s easy to give when we have plenty. Ok, it’s not true for everybody but let’s see if I have $10 it’s easy to give a cent to God. But I would give him $1, because $1 is ten percent. And I, as a good Christian, will give the $1 to God since I have $9 more for me. But later I realize that I have to pay my bills, I have to pay for my food, my clothing, so I will change my mind and give only 1 cent to God. I am still giving to Him, but I’m in a bad situation, I need money.
But what the Bible says is that before we spend on anything else we should give to God. But why does God need our money? Is it not only about paying the salary of the minister and other utilities? Actually no. If we look at Proverbs again, and closer this time it says that if we give our best we will get more.
I told you already that giving is a real worship to God because if you believe that God will keep this great promise you will give your best. Do you remember last week when Heather, without even a second thought, poured the water on to her hair? She trusted in me. But can you trust in God that if you give Him your best then He will bless you with amazing things?
I hope you understand that’s not only about our money. What is your best? Yes, you can give your “best” money to God and you can see what He will do. Just try for a month and see. But I also wanted to speak about the best part of your lives: the best time, the best thing you can do, do it for God and He will bless you.
Remember the little boy in our New Testament story? We know from the Bible that 5000 men were there to listen to Jesus but we don’t know how many women and children were there too. And they got hungry without food. The disciples were in despair but couldn’t think of how to help. Only a little boy had something to eat.
Peter said: “Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?”Among thousands of people, only a little boy had something to eat and he didn’t want to keep it for himself but gave it to Jesus and through a little boy thousands of people were fed. Do you know what the miracle was? That Jesus used the five loaves of bread and two fish and somehow he multiplied them? Yes, it was a miracle by Jesus. He fed more than 5000 people. But it was also a miracle that a little boy had something that nobody else had and most importantly he was ready to give Jesus what he had.
I read this story again and again over several nights and do you know what my wish was? I would like to be the little boy because through him Jesus fed the hungry. What if I don’t have anything to add or I want to keep everything for myself? The little boy was ready to give his food to Jesus who made miracles from those bread and fish. The bread and fish were the little boy’s best. He didn’t give his clothing or his sandals to Jesus, but what he gave Jesus multiplied.
Friends, do you want to be the little boy who wants to give Jesus his best? On the night I read this story from my Bible I made a note to myself:
A child of God is the one who has fish and bread and through her Jesus can feed the world.
Today I wanted to speak to you about how you can survive financial difficulties. I wanted to show you a way when you can give easily without even worrying about your future. But friends, I have a strong feeling that today Jesus is the One again who gave us His best. He fed our soul. We are so special to Him that He visited us. Thanks be to Jesus.
Bible Text: Genesis 13:14-18; Psalm 95:1-7; Mark 10:13-16 | Preacher: Rev. Monika Bereczki-Farkas | Series: Fresh New Start
A Sunday worship is usually for everybody, but if you are here as a child you have a wonderful opportunity to go to Sunday school. Today we have a different service, and Sunday school is not an option. But if you feel that the service is too long, you can stand up and do some stretches. You are really free to do that.
It’s important that the worship is not only for the adults but for the children as well? Do you know that Jesus wanted the children to come to Him? It’s interesting that the disciples didn’t find this a great idea, but Jesus asked the parents to bring the children close to Him and He said:
“Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. 15 Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.”
We can say so many good things about why it’s good to be like a little child, but today let’s think about this story a bit differently.
So there were the 12 disciples who were close to Jesus and there were also other people who wanted to hear Jesus’ stories, wanted to see Him. When they noticed who Jesus could do miracles and that there was power in His words, they wanted to bring their children to Jesus as well. And this is the most beautiful thing that parents can do.
Imagine the situation, you come to church and hear about Jesus who can change your life, who can wash away your sins, who can make you totally new, who can give you incredible peace and joy. When you feel in your heart how Jesus loves you what would be your next step? Yes, maybe you want to know more about Jesus but as a mother I can tell you about my next step: I would go and tell everything I know about Jesus to my loved ones and want them to know Jesus too. “My loved ones” means my family and also my friends, my neighbours, everybody.
And when in the church more people recognize how Jesus can help us in our families, the whole atmosphere will change and we will start to have worships where we really want to praise and adore God for His love.
But let’s take a moment and think about why we want Jesus to be present in our families. In the Old Testament we can find this passage: Ecclesiastes 4:9-12
Two are better than one,
because they have a good return for their labor:
10 If either of them falls down,
one can help the other up.
But pity anyone who falls
and has no one to help them up.
11 Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm.
But how can one keep warm alone?
12 Though one may be overpowered,
two can defend themselves.
A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.
If we want to understand this text in terms of our families, you have to think about your real family. The Bible is really practical and it says that it’s better if you have somebody who is with you, who can help you when you need help, but the best when a third person is with you also. Let’s think about it with a real family. Can I have a family come up?
What would be the most ideal here in Kirkwall? When all of our families are close to God. That’s why we started the 36 days of prayer today. Family is really important and it’s still important even when you don’t have children or your children are grown up and live far away. We still have to think about our church family. We here in Kirkwall want to be close to each other and to God.
Let’s look at another story about families from the Bible. Abraham’s story is at the beginning of the Bible. He was the one who didn’t have any children until he was one hundred years old. What a story. Abraham’s whole life was about promises from God. He lived far away from the land of milk and honey, Canaan, but God promised Him the land and a big family. And Abraham believed in God. When God told him to go out of his homeland, he left that land but he still didn’t know how he would have a family when he didn’t even have any children. In the old times to have a big family meant everything, especially prosperity in the future. Let’s see why. I need two children to volunteer, who will use only one of their fingers to put a block into the basket…
We hear stories about Jacob having 12 sons, and the kings had more because to have big families was almost the most important thing to them. That’s why it was really important that God promised not only big family to Abraham but a future as well.
Is it easy to believe in somebody being 100? Let’s see. I need a volunteer … I promise that you won’t get wet. You have to follow my instructions and you won’t get wet. Let’s see…
Today we also have a big promise from God, that the Kingdom of God belongs to the children. Who are the children? We, here in Kirkwall. Do we need a future? Do we need blessings? Stay close to God. Stay close to God in your family. Stay close to God in your church family, because everybody matters. Amen
Bible Text: Psalm 121; Matthew 14:22-33; Matthew 8:23-27 | Preacher: Rev. Monika Bereczki-Farkas | Series: Fresh New Start
Fresh New Start Part 2 - "The Storm" - Monika Bereczki-Farkas January 15th, 2017
Psalm 121; Matthew 14:22-33; Matthew 8:23-27
How do you know that a storm is coming? Red flags on the weather network's page, or we can see the signs: dark clouds, darkness, heavy rain. Nowadays we have really bad storms. This summer we were invited for a lunch and while we were eating the phone rang and somebody called our friends to see how they were. That was the time when a tornado hit Windsor and at exactly that time we had been praying together for our food and friendship. Of course we were so thankful but hearing what had happened in different parts of the city was scary. This was the first time I realized that I don't like storms. A couple of days ago the wind was so strong during the night and my first thought was to check my phone to see if a tornado was coming. Of course, there wasn't a tornado, but I didn't sleep very well. You don't have to remind me, I know that God is always with me, I don't have to fear but every time I hear about storms I have to remind myself of one thing, and that one thing can save my life. I will tell you later what this one thing is.
But first let's speak about your one thing. What is in your mind right now? Are you really here worshipping God, or is your mind somewhere else and you can not control your thoughts? what is on your mind? Are you worrying about something? Did you hear something that is bothering you? Did somebody tell you something? or Did you read something interesting? Or are your thinking about your next week? What is on your mind? Or do you not want me to ask you because its your secret "just don't ask me, I don't want to talk about it".
To focus on one thing is really important if we know what the most important thing is.
Do you remember when Jesus talked to Martha and said to her: "you are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed - or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her."
I bet some of your know this story. Jesus visited Mary and Martha's home, but Martha was way too busy to sit down and listen to Jesus so she wanted to ask Mary to help her. But Jesus also spoke about one thing to her which is really important. And today when I want to speak to you about the storm and how we have faith that endures the storm, I have to speak to you about one important thing.
So, let's look at the storm story again. We have two stories and both of them take place on the sea. In one of them Jesus was sleeping while a storm came and the disciples were worried for their lives. in the other one Jesus walked on the water toward his disciples, and when Peter wanted to walk too, he started to sink, because the wind and the waves.
If you look at these 2 stories you can notice the one thing which is really important. What is common between them? When the disciples didn't look at Jesus but instead at the surrounding situation they were in trouble and they were worried about their lives. Today I want you to focus on this one thing, that when a storm is coming you have to look out for Jesus. This is the most important thing.
We can watch for other things. Do you remember I asked you what is on your mind? When you are worrying about something or you don't know something or when you don't know what to do, Jesus wont be your one thing and you will sink like Peter. You will worry like the disciples. You have to notice to watch for Jesus.
That is why Jesus asked Martha to watch only for the important thing, which is Jesus himself.
In the story when the disciples got into the storm while Jesus was sleeping, they didn't focus on who Jesus is. That the wind and waves know Jesus' name, and when He speaks to them, there will be silence. In the other story while Peter looked for Jesus he could walk on water, walk on those waves but when he focused on something else he started to sink.
Storms are coming with different names like illness, depression, loneliness, marital problems, cancer, shame, sexual wishes, etc. I want you to know what to do when the storm is here. I want you to recognize the one thing, which is to pay attention to Jesus. You have to know where He is. This is the only thing which can save you. Trust me, it's not only a sentence that sounds good.
How many of your have goals for 2017? I have five goals for 2017, but I am a bit hesitant to share these goals with you. Not because these are my secrets but because during the year you can check my progress. So, if you are gracious to me I am ready to share my goals.
Here is my list:
Deepen my relationship with God - faith building
Deepen my relationship with my husband and children - family building
Deepen my relationship with my congregation
Love more
Put everything into God's hands - finances
Do you know why I put God into the first place? because I was in storms several times in my life and my relationship with God saved my life. I know what you think, that here is Monika, who is young and always smiling; what does she know about storms in life. But I know. I have never ever spoken about this storm in my life and I don't think I'm ready today, but I know that I have to share my faith with you. I know I have to do this because I don't know how many times I can speak about God to you, so I want to grab this opportunity and tell you how you can survive a storm.
I know what it means to lose friends or loved ones.
I also know how it sounds when you loved one, in my case my Dad, calls to say that he has "Cancer".
At this point, my grandma is dying and I can not be with her.
But - the biggest storm hit me in 2009. I can not tell the whole story, not because I don't want to, but I can not speak about it. Its still like an open wound. I almost gave up everything. Do you know what saved me? Those friends who prayed with me and helped me focus on Jesus. They helped me to focus on Jesus. But its still like an open wound. But I learned that if I focus on Jesus, I am at peace, I can take a breath.
Was that storm from God? I know you have similar questions. Is Cancer from God? Is pain from Him? You know I don't want to answer these questions, even though I know that these are our questions. But God is greater than simple answers and he is also much greater than our questions.
What I know is that with Jesus you can survive the storm, you will live through it.
Today I have a wonderful husband and 2 beautiful children. And I'm here with you, with those whom I love. That's why my goals for 2017 look like that list; deepen my relationship with God, my husband, with you and love more and more. I really believe that because God loves us we can survive the biggest storm. He loves us, that's why He send Jesus Christ.
Friends, if the storm is coming, look at Jesus. This one thing will save you. Amen.