I. Work the ground Genesis 2:4–8 (NLT) 4 When the Lord God made the earth and the heavens, 5 neither wild plants nor grains were growing on the earth. For the Lord God had not yet sent rain to water the earth, and there were no people to cultivate the soil. 6 Instead, springs came up from the ground and watered all the land. 7 Then the Lord God formed the man from the dust of the ground. He breathed the breath of life into the man’s nostrils, and the man became a living person. 8 Then the Lord God planted a garden in Eden in the east, and there he placed the man he had made.
Genesis 2:15 (NLT) The Lord God placed the man in the Garden of Eden to tend and watch over it.
God is a Gardner. “He planted us in His garden to tend his garden.”
The Church is Christs' church. Colossians 1:18(NLT) Christ is also the head of the church, which is his body. "The ground you work is the ground you eat from."
John 7:38–39 (NIV) 38 Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.” 39 By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive.
1 Corinthians 3:16 (NIV) Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst?
II. What does our garden grow? Our Why/Vision We grow encounters with Jesus. “Overflow Church exists to bring people to an Encounter with Jesus.”
III. Presence-Every time we gather everywhere we go.
Exodus 33:15–19 (NIV) Moses said to him, “If your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here….17 And the Lord said to Moses, “I will do the very thing you have asked, because I am pleased with you and I know you by name.” 18 Then Moses said, “Now show me your glory.” 19 And the Lord said, “I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you..
Psalm 63:1–4 (NIV) 1 You, God, are my God, earnestly I seek you; I thirst for you, my whole being longs for you, in a dry and parched land where there is no water. 2 I have seen you in the sanctuary and beheld your power and your glory. 3 Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you. 4 I will praise you as long as I live, and in your name I will lift up my hands.
A. Presence- Every time we gather
His presence is at the center of our gatherings.
A. Our bible teaching is centered around Jesus.
We don’t just preach words on a page but life in a person.
John 5:39 (NLT) “You search the Scriptures because you think they give you eternal life. But the Scriptures point to me!
B. Our worship is centered around Jesus.
C. Our prayers are centered around Jesus.
B. Presence- Everywhere we go. Our lives are centered around Jesus.
IV. Cultivating a life that values presence.
Prioritize daily.
Lean frequently.
Pray continually.
Aware always.
Ministry: Matthew 13:33 (NLT)“The Kingdom of Heaven is like the yeast a woman used in making bread. Even though she put only a little yeast in three measures of flour, it permeated every part of the dough.”
