A Message for Those Who Have Little Left to Give — Carter Conlon

It's so wonderful to celebrate the way we do. I trust that everybody's had a happy Thanksgiving here. Praise God. Pastor Teresa and I and some of the students from Summit International School of Ministry, some of our interns here, and some of our staff went to Staten Island, where you paid for dinner for up to 800 people who were displaced by—many have lost their homes or have no power.

And so it was wonderful to be there to be part of that. So thank you for your kindness to those that are in need at this time. You know, the Lord is interested in the big things and the small things. You know, sometimes we think that God is only interested in the big testimonies.

God’s Care for Small Acts of Faith

Last week I was in India, Varanasi. We won a marvelous victory there. We had to fight through some real thick darkness, but the Lord came in an incredible way. And we won a marvelous victory. And yesterday—on Friday, rather, I had to go—we had to go to our home that's been flooded to find some clothing for today.

And I was up getting some suit, and I saw a single black sock there, and I had this strange feeling to take it with me. And so I did, and I brought it with me. And then when I got home, I don't really need just one sock, so I threw it under the sink.

And this morning I went to get dressed, and I opened my drawer, and I'd forgotten to do the laundry this week, and I only had one black sock. Now I went—I thought, you don't suppose—so I went and looked under the sink, and it was the exact match to the sock that I had, so the Lord is interested in the little things.

That's not a big testimony, but it's mine. It's my testimony. Praise God. I was excited about that sock this morning as about the victory in India, because God is concerned about the little things. I want to show you this in Scripture this morning.

The Poor Widow’s Offering in Mark 12

If you go to Mark chapter 12 with me, please. I want to bring to you a message for those who have little left to give. You've come into this house this morning, and that's your story. It's, Lord, I don't have anything left.

I'm running on fumes, and I hope that the preacher doesn't ask me to give more, because I have nothing left to give. I've come only to get today because I just don't have any strength left. Now, Father, I thank you, Lord, that you'll give me the ability to speak this, and, Lord, you'll give this word the ability to go deep into our consciousness and to make it part of our understanding of the ways and the nature and the kingdom of God.

I ask you, Lord, for an anointing deeper and richer than I've known before. I ask you, Lord Jesus Christ, to make this word live. Oh, God, let it find such life in us. May we never forget it, never put it down, never marginalize it, never consider ourselves unworthy.

Father, I thank you for this, and I praise you in Jesus' mighty name. A message for those who have little left to give, verse 41, and I want to just qualify this message. This is not about money today that I'm talking about.

Quite often when you hear this passage preached on, you can expect an offering to come right after it. Well, that's not where I'm going. And Jesus sat over against the treasury and beheld how the people cast money into the treasury, and many that were rich, this is verse 41 of Mark 12, cast in much.

And there came a certain poor widow, and she threw in two mites, which make a farthing, basically just a few cents. And he called unto him his disciples and said unto them, Verily I say unto you, that this poor widow has cast more in than all they which have cast into the treasury.

For all they did cast in of their abundance, but she of her want did cast in all that she had, even all her living. Now this is amazing because scripture is filled with stories, and if you really study it, you begin to see a pattern in the text of scripture that quite often people seemingly having less than others, yet fully casting into the work of God the little that they have, and great things are done through their sacrifice.

The scripture, this opening text tells us that this widow had no idea that she had caught the eye of Jesus. You know, sometimes we get the impression that God is only interested in the big things. He's only, his eye is on those who can come in, and they've made a fortune in the stock market if there is such a person left in our society.

They take a percentage of it and cast it into the treasury, as if that's what God notices. This widow, though, had no idea that she had caught the eye of Jesus, and that her action and sacrifice were going to become part of the text of scripture, and it would offer instruction and insight into the kingdom of God, and hope for thousands, for millions of people for thousands of years to come.

And we're talking about it still today. Here's a lady who comes in, and she has only a little bit left to give. She trusts, number one, she's got a value system that the kingdom of God is worth giving to and supporting, and secondly, there has to be a measure of trust in her heart that God has promised to provide.

And she is truly seeking first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, believing that all things that she needs will be added to her. And she comes in and gives into the treasury out of her own need, out of her own difficulty.

Trusting God with What Remains

Ecclesiastes 11, 1, the writer says, cast your bread upon the waters, and you will find it after many days. In other words, one day you'll know what God has done with your sacrifice. How surprised this widow must be when she got to heaven and realized that God himself had taken notice of her and used her as an example of faith and trust, and putting something in that's greater than just putting into the work of God out of our abundance, out of a deeper supply that many of us have.

The scripture says in Luke 6, 38, given it should be given to you, good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. Now if we think about this eternally, I want you to consider how many people with their children will approach you and I one day in heaven and thank us for not giving up, but continuing to give even when we ourselves had so little left, it seemed.

I want you to think of the people, even this holiday season, that could end up at the throne of God through you, even though you only had a little strength. Maybe life hasn't worked out for you as you thought it should or could, and you have only maybe a little hope left for tomorrow, but you take that little bit of strength and you take that little bit of hope and you see somebody in a store, you see somebody on the street, you see somebody that comes up to a counter perhaps maybe where you're working for the holidays, and even though you only have a little bit left yourself, you take that little bit and you tie that little bit of hope into somebody's heart and into somebody's life.

You have only a little bit of strength, but you let that strength be used for a greater good than your own need. And think about one day standing at the throne of God and some mother comes with her children and her husband and a few friends and family members that all came to Christ because you tithed out of the little bit you had left.

You tithed that bit of understanding, that bit of a listening ear, that bit of a word of encouragement, that bit of a scripture that you're having a hard time perhaps to even believe yourself, but yet you know it's true and you tithe it and suddenly it comes back to you when you get to the throne of God and people are standing there and saying thank you for speaking to me.

When did I speak to you? Thank you for ministering to me. Thank you for not giving up. Thank you for continuing to sing your song in the choir. Thank you for bringing your children to church when it looked so hopeless, they looked so disillusioned, they looked so uninterested and they just turned into their teenage years and you had so little strength, but with the little strength you had you kept bringing them to the house of God and one day your sons and daughters will rise up and say thank you and their children will say thank you.

Grandma, thank you mother for not giving up and bringing us to the house of God. With the little bit of strength you had, the little bit of faith you had, you could have used it for yourself. You worked so hard, you could have used the extra sleep on Sunday morning.

You could have used a little bit of a hassle-free day in the seven short days that you have in your week, but yet you got up and you did it faithfully. You read your Bible, you prayed for us, you took us by the hand, you made us get dressed and you brought us to the house of God.

Folks, cast your bread upon the water and one day it will come back to you. You may not know on this side of eternity, this woman couldn't have known that what she was doing was going to have an impact that two thousand years later that we would be speaking about these things, about her sacrifice and as she came in it must have seemed so insignificant, so small, so little, so unnoticed except for the eye of God and the pen of God in the text of scripture.

And you come today to the house of God and he asks now that the little we have we continue to give it even when we don't see how it's going to make a difference. How is it going to make a difference? How does my attendance here really matter?

My singing a song, my quoting a scripture, my looking for a stranger to help or to be kind to, how is that going to make a difference for the kingdom of God? But what about me? What about my needs? Now 1st Samuel chapter 1 talks about a lady called Hannah who came to the house of the Lord frequently with her husband.

Her husband had two wives and the other wife had several sons and daughters and she had none and she prayed and God gave her a child. Now it was the desire of her heart, it was all she'd ever wanted in life.

It had brought her to a place of such desperation at the altar of God that she could barely even speak. It was a whisper the scripture says. It's all she could get out. Oh God please would you bless my life and would you give me a child?

It's all she wanted. It's all she longed for and God granted her request and gave her a child and then the time came when she felt that the Lord would have her as she had prayed. Bring that little child to the house of God to be given for the work of the Lord.

And how difficult it must have been, how hard it must have been to come. Don't I have a right to some personal happiness? Don't I have a right to keep something to myself? Don't I have a right to come to the house of God and expect that my needs should be met first?

She had questions just like you and I do but nevertheless she took this little child that God gave her and out of her own need offered him to the service of God. The scripture doesn't tell us whether she lived long enough to see the effect in this world of what she chose to fully give to God.

But what she gave to God was a prophet whose name was Samuel, one of the greatest prophets in the Old Testament of his generation. A judge of Israel who brought the nation back to the ways of God again.

Just a little person with a little sacrifice bringing that to the house of the Lord and time and again God takes these little sacrifices and multiplies them and does what is impossible to man. And 1st Samuel chapter 2 verses 20 and 21 tells us that God after her sacrifice blessed her and gave her three sons and two daughters.

The Boy’s Loaves and Fishes

That's why the scripture says, seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you. Seek first the kingdom of God. Give first to the kingdom of God. John chapter 6, Jesus was preaching to a crowd of people and he became aware that they were hungry.

There was at least 5 ,000 men the scripture tells us. And he asked a question, how are we going to feed so many and nobody seemed to be able to answer it. And suddenly a little boy with five barley loaves and two fishes walked up to him and I can see him.

He's got it in probably a little sack of some sort and he walks up to Jesus. He's probably 8, 9 years old, hands it to him and it's amazing. I don't know what this was. Was it his lunch? Was he on the way to school?

Was he on his way home from the market? I don't know. There's been a lot of speculation. I've heard a lot of sermons on this particular topic. But all I know it's all he had and it was small compared to the magnitude of the need.

And those older in a sense would never have brought this thinking that God could use this for such a large need. But this little boy, remember Jesus said, unless you have the faith of a child you'll not see the kingdom of God.

You won't be able to understand how the kingdom of God works unless this kind of faith gets into your heart. And he took this little lunch and he multiplied it and fed 5 ,000 men plus women and children and there were 12 full baskets left over after everybody was fed.

Now on a local level, there's a little girl. Her name is Emily Skelding. Emily, I hope you're listening this morning. She's from Alabama and she and her mom and dad, brothers and sisters quite often stream this service on Sunday morning.

And even though she's 11 years old, her birthday is on December the 6th if you remember to pray for Emily. And even though Emily's fought a long and difficult battle with leukemia, she saw online that we're feeding children through a program in this church called Child Cry and felt in her heart, I've got to do something about this.

And she wrote the most magnificent story, children's story. It's called Picnic Pals. And folks, I'm telling you, it so touched my heart when I read this story. We're going to publish this story and we're going to, Pastor Teresa and I, Emily are going to buy the first 50 books as soon as it's published.

And I'm believing that your little story is going to feed 5 ,000 people in this church. Through this church, I believe that with all my heart. And this is a little girl in spite of her own need, in spite of her own difficulty, in spite of seemingly, what could I do?

I'm 11 years old. I've fought a long, hard battle with my own illness, my own struggle, but yet moved upon to write a story and they just send it in, not ever thinking perhaps that anything would be done with it, but it did come to our attention.

And we read it and saw it. And it is an absolutely delightful story that is going to be multiplied and sold. And I have no idea how far this is going to go, but I have a sense it's going to go quite far.

And I thank God for the Emily Skeldings of this world, who will take the time out of their own need and pain to bring a little offering into the house of God and perhaps feed thousands of children with it.

Elijah and the Widow of Zarephath

Miracles still happen today, folks. God is still the God of miracles. He still takes that which is small and multiplies it. In 1st Kings 17, there was a major confrontation going on between the powers of good and evil, light and darkness.

There was a spiritual apathy had gotten a hold of the nation of Israel. And because of it, false prophets were leading them astray from the truth of the worship of God. And God had a man called Elijah that he had prepared for a confrontation on the top of a mountain.

And God was going to do the miraculous in that confrontation and for a short season, turn the nation back to the worship of the true God. But in the journey of preparing this prophet and leading him to the top of this mountain for a confrontation, there was a widow involved in this process.

And God led Elijah to this widow in the time of famine. And all she had was a handful of oats, as it is meal, it's called, and a little bit of oil. She had hardly anything left. She had hardly anything left for her own family, for herself and for her son.

Yet God took her sacrifice. Elijah came to her and he said, give me a cake to eat. And she said, listen, I don't have enough for me and my son. I'm just going out to gather a few sticks. I'm going to bake what I have left.

And then I guess we're just going to die at this point. And Elijah said to her, no, you give first to the work of God. Elijah at that point was the work of God. You give first to the work of God. You give the little bit that you have to the work of God.

And I promise you that your supply is not going to fail. God is going to be an endless source of supply to you. And so she did as she was asked to do. And God grafted her sacrifice into the testimony of scripture as a necessary part leading to the spiritual renewal of the nation.

I want you to hear this. It was a necessary part. God grafted her in. It was his choice. And it's his choice to have you and I at this point in the history of this nation and this generation we're living in.

And you are highly unwise if you count yourself out in this battle. If you say, I only have a little bit. So what could God do through me? How could God use my life? Don't succumb to that thinking. All through scripture, God takes those things that are nothing to bring to nothing.

Those things that are in their own strength, their own wisdom, their own power. He takes the weak. He takes the marginalized. He takes that which is foolish to the natural man and touches it with his hand and brings about one more time the miraculous for this sole reason that only he can get the glory.

Nobody else can get the glory for this. In first Samuel chapter 14 was another instance where there was a major battle going on in the nation. And it seemed like Israel was going to go down to its enemies one more time.

Jonathan’s Small Victory and God’s Power

But the king saw his son Jonathan and his armor bearer climbed up on a hillside on their hands and knees to take back a half acre from the end. A half acre would be about the size of this downstairs of this sanctuary.

This is as big as the parcel of land was. Essentially, it's 110 feet by 110 feet. The offering of their lives must have looked to the natural eye pathetically small in contrast to the scope and strength of what they were up against.

That's why the Philistines looked over the brow of the hill and said, look at all the Hebrews have come out of the holes where they were hiding. Come on up here, they said, and we'll show you a thing or two.

And Jonathan said, let's go to his armor bearer. The Lord's given them into our hand when he saw the mockery of God, when he saw the mockery of the ways of God, when he saw this evil had come to the point where it was mocking that which God always uses for his glory.

Something got into his heart and said, let's get up there quick as we can. The Lord's about to do something marvelous. And the scripture says they went up and they fought and they took that half acre.

And it was in the scope of what they were battling. It was just a small and seemingly insignificant victory. But when you read in 1 Samuel 14 verses 14 to 16, the scripture said a trembling went through the host of the Philistines.

There's hundreds of thousands of them and a trembling went through the host. These enemies of Israel are demonically inspired. And all of the demonic powers know that they're being threatened now because somebody of faith has risen up again.

Somebody who doesn't see their sacrifice is small. Somebody who's just willing to stand and say, God's ways are not our ways. God's thoughts are not our thoughts. God is able to do miracles. He's still the God of the impossible.

He doesn't change. He's the same yesterday, today and forever. So I'm going to get up and I'm going to give what I have to the kingdom of God. I'm going to throw my life into his kingdom. I'm going to take my five cents and I'm going to take my little bit of strength.

I'm going to take my little bit of encouragement that's still left in me. I'm going to take the little bit of energy I still have. I'm going to take my testimony. It might look small in comparison to everybody else's, but God can take it and use it for his glory.

And it can be multiplied and great good can be done. Folks, God's ways are not our ways. They never have been our ways. We have succumbed in this church age to strategists and boardrooms and plans and surveys and committees.

And I say, for the sake of Christ, let's throw the whole thing out into the street where it belongs and get back to faith again in God's house. Hallelujah. Your life is not too small. You're not insignificant.

You're not a non-player in the kingdom of God. You take what you have and you sow it into the kingdom of God. And I promise you one day multitudes may gather at the throne of God and you'll be shocked and surprised at the numbers of people who came to Christ because you didn't cave in to every lie of the devil that tries to tell you your life is too small and what you have is too insignificant to make a difference in his kingdom.

You can send trembling through the hosts of hell. You can cause demonic powers to shudder. You can cause them to begin to melt and beat each other down as they did in the day of Jonathan and his armor bearer.

It's time again for God's people to rise up in faith. It's time for you and I to take the little faith that we have with the little strength that is ours and the little song that is still left and bring it to the house of God on Tuesday night and lift up our voice and be counted among them that come to the throne of God for who knows whose prayer it is that God will answer.

God Sees the Overlooked

Scripture shows us that his eye falls on those things that the church world has a tendency to overlook but his eye doesn't overlook it. His ways are not our ways and one day when we get to heaven we're going to see the last are first and many of the first are going to be last.

That which is esteemed in the sight of man is not esteemed in the sight of God. Hallelujah to the lamb of God. I still have this vision in my mind of one day we stand at the throne of God and rewards are given out for loyal service for bountiful fruitfulness the kingdom of God and names start to be called that you and I have never heard in our whole lifetime.

All heaven stands. Angels start shouting and rejoicing and people start coming forward. You and I don't know who they are. We never took notice maybe. They weren't the big players in the kingdom of God.

Our eyes didn't see them but the eyes of God saw them. The eyes of God saw their sacrifice. The eyes of God sees the single mother bringing her children to the house of the Lord. The eyes of God see you making a sandwich for that child across the hall who doesn't have a lunch.

The eyes of God see it folks and God will reward us everyone who gives to his kingdom. Glory to the lamb of God. Glory to the lamb of God. There are days when you and I only have a little bit left to put into the treasury.

A little bit of energy. A little bit of joy. A little bit of hope but if we'll take it and put it into the work of God and bring it to him and give it all for others. Put it all at the altar like Hannah did.

Like Jonathan did. Like Emily is doing. We simply put it there and believe that God is going to use it for great good. Hallelujah. The one thing about having nothing is that when God multiplies it you know who did it.

Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Maybe that's why he had me bring that sock. I got goosebumps over that. I honestly did because I thought folks none of my socks match. You have to understand the miracle of this.

Most people don't know but I'm colorblind. I am seriously. Close colors I can't distinguish them. So my socks never match. Ever. I can't match blue or black or various shades of brown and gray. I can't see the different colors.

So I literally have nothing that matches in my sock drawer. And these matched. They even had the same name on them. Lord knew I'd be speaking this today. How he cares about the little things. How he cares.

The Widow’s Faithful Gift

It's just as important to him as the big things. Sometimes even more. Scripture tells us that this widow came in and she was a poor widow. And many many were throwing it out of their abundance. An abundance of joy.

An abundance of hope. An abundance of life. An abundance of dreams and visions and things for the future. But she had it seemed to be all gone. And all she had was just a little wee bit left. And she had needs.

She had deep needs in her own life. But she took this little that she had and put it into the treasury. The scripture says even all her living. That's what Jesus said. And God took it and multiplied it.

And she got four verses in the New Testament out of it. How many would like that to happen to your life? Four verses that for the rest of eternity she's going to walk into heaven and say that's me. That's me right there.

That's me. That's me. See right there. Look at that. Mark 12. 41 to 44. That's me. That's me. I came in and I was so down. I was so finished. I was so exhausted. I'd lost my husband. I had hardly anything left to give.

But I somehow knew that if I would be faithful to God, He would be faithful to me. I just knew it in my heart that God cannot fail. And that somehow He could take what I have and He could use it. It seems so insignificant when you look at the temple and all the gold in it and all the glory and all the sacrifice and people were coming in with whole cows to, you know, in the Old Testament to give to, not necessarily in this situation, but the history of what they had to give.

And I had so little, but somehow I just felt that God would take it and use it for His glory and how right she was. And folks, don't let your circumstance rob you. Don't let natural thinking rob you of what the Lord is able to do through every life here.

That you have something to give to somebody, even if it's only words of encouragement, you have that. And even if you can't muster that much, you can still quote the scripture. There's something you can give.

You lead one person to Christ, just one person to Christ this holiday season. And when you get to the throne of God, you'd be amazed how many people are going to be behind that person who came in because you led one person to Christ.

And that person leads their husband or wife to Christ. And then they lead their kids to Christ. Then their kids marry Christian people and they lead people to Christ. Some go to the mission field and suddenly you've got 500 people standing there saying, thank you for not giving up.

Thank you for not letting the devil cause you to keep your mouth closed and to keep your hands in your own pockets. Thank you for taking the time to give, for look at the good it did in the earth. Look at the lives that were changed.

Look at the people that were fed. Folks, we've got to pray for the eyes of faith now. We have to have the eyes of faith. The days of strategists are over. Those days are finished. They're done. We're going into a season of storms and difficulty.

We have to have the eyes of faith. And with those eyes will come joy. And with the joy will come the miraculous. And with the miraculous will come songs of praise and thanksgiving to God. For he alone is the one who's deserving of it.

The Altar Call: Bringing What We Have to God

If you only have a little to give, bring it to God. Give it all for others. As weak as you and I might be, believe that Christ can use us. And keep going forward until the day that his name is glorified through us once again.

Keep going forward. You are not a marginal player in the kingdom of God. You'd be amazed what God can do through your sacrifice. Don't let the devil make you think otherwise. Praise God. Thank you, Jesus.

Thank you, Lord. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. This morning, I'd like to give an altar call in the annex and here in the main sanctuary for those in Roxbury as well, who this is your life. You come in this morning saying, God, what do I have to give to your kingdom?

I want you to think about what you could give this morning. And like Hannah, and like Jonathan, and like Emily, I want you to get out of your seat in a moment and bring it to the altar. This front of this auditorium and between the screens in these other places.

And for those that are listening at home, it can be right in your living room. Just give what you have to the work of God. Whatever it is that the Lord speaks to your heart. If you don't have anything else, you can be kind to somebody, but bring that to the kingdom of God and give it to him and say, Lord, it's all I have, but I give it to you.

And I ask you to take this and multiply it and use it for your glory. And if that's the cry of your heart, especially as we come into the Christmas season, when so many are living in such despair and God has put in your hands the answer for many in our time.

And if that's the cry of your heart, when we stand in just a moment, I'm going to ask you to slip out of your seat and please just join me here at the front of this auditorium and bring that which you have for the use of the kingdom of God.

Let's stand, please, if you will. Just come while we worship, if you will.

Prayer for Strength, Faith, and Multiplication

Lord, this Sunday after Thanksgiving, a weekend of Thanksgiving, a holiday, Lord, birthed in a time of civil war, when it was declared there needed to be a day to give you thanks and praise. On this Sunday, Lord, we've come to give you thanks and praise, Lord, because you do understand and you truly understand the offering of little.

You understand the offering of empty. You understand, oh God, the trials and the tribulations of a human heart for you gave yourself one when you came and became a man. So, Lord, we come by faith, offering, Lord, sometimes something so small, something so insignificant, and yet, Lord, you will do something with that.

So, Lord, I thank you, Lord, that you will stir us to not give up. You will stir, oh God, to keep us. You will stir us, oh God, to offer the little because you will be God in it. You will do the miraculous.

I pray now, Lord, that you would fill, Lord, every hurting heart, every weary heart, Lord, every heart, Lord, that just has come to the end of things, that is battling a discouragement, Lord. I thank you, Lord, as we just offer ourselves.

Oh God, you will be faithful and you will glorify yourself with little. You will bring it, Lord, and you will multiply it. I thank you the enemy is not defeated through our weariness, oh God, through our emptiness, Lord, through our self-preoccupations, for every time your spirit comes upon your body, oh God, and we bring it back to you, Lord, sometimes what seems so little.

Lord, you will be faithful and you will do something with it. So, thank you, Lord. Thank you, this weekend of thanks. Thank you, you are still God. Thank you, you will stir us, Lord, to serve. Thank you, you will envision us every time we look up.

Thank you, Lord, we cannot be condemned because there are times we have so little. For, Lord, you are great and you are greatly to be praised. So, today, oh God, put a blessing upon your people that the enemy cannot rob because you love us and you are with us.

And, Lord, you will do much with little. Bless your people today, Lord. I thank you, Lord, for those that came, Lord, with very little or nothing to give. You've still been faithful to yourself and you love us and we give all that we have, Lord.

And I thank you, you will take it. You will be faithful to take it and you will do something with it, oh God. And souls and this city will feel the force of it, oh God, because you are that great and you are that good.

Bless us today. Put your anointing, Lord, of joy and faithfulness upon us, for you are worthy. And we thank you for it all in the mighty and the precious name of Jesus. Amen.

God, we need to sing that song. Rejoice in the Lord always. And again, I say rejoice. We have to rejoice. God's ways are not our ways. Hallelujah. You know, you need to leave today and turn to somebody in this sanctuary and then when you get outside and say, will you see what God's going to do through this little life of mine?

Hallelujah. Tell somebody that right now. God bless you. We'll see you at three o 'clock and again six o 'clock this evening.