Hannah's dream was to have a child, and she couldn't. What's worse, she was persecuted and ridiculed for her infertility. Even though there were things in her life that might produce some joy, this one issue overwhelmed her life ... and sorrow was her daily experience.

What changed? What ultimately helped Hannah to bear one of Israel's greatest leaders? Perhaps it is because she gave up ownership of her dream ... perhaps she wanted her dreams to join with the dreams of God ...

Each year, we spend a few moments reminding the members of The Orchard of the ways that their tithes & offerings are used. In 2008, members gave $120,000 for the work of God. God's vision we've received for 2009 is much larger than 2008. We are being greatly resourced, and we are growing and expanding.

This vision will require a much larger participation by the members of The Orchard. We estimate at least a 50% increase in financial resources will be needed, or $200,000. This might seem difficult, but God has already resourced The Orchard. The leaders were brought here, and now they are beginning to lead. The people who need God's ministry are coming (sometimes a half-dozen in a week), and they need your care.

God has already distributed his gifts to His people, and now he is calling more of our time, talents, and treasure into His service. He has brought together people for The Father's Business, and when we participate in that God will be glorified, the Kingdom will expand, and God's blessings upon his people will continue.

Setting aside the theology and teaching for a moment, how is God working through the people of The Orchard to effect The Father's Business?

This short message highlights a few of the ministries and missions that The Orchard is doing to advance the Kingdom. In particular, this message highlights the grace and power of God, as one woman has gone from homelessness to becoming a leader at The Orchard.

The PowerPoint slide set contains companion information to the audio.

God creates and relates - that's His business. But renewal is also part of His business. Perhaps renewal would not be needed if God had not given us the capability to choose, or the capacity for free-will. But he did. As a result of poor choices, sin and poor attitudes, we simply get off course from the way God created us, and we struggle to relate.

How? Prophecy is one of God's greatest graces that he provides to help with renewal. Through prophecy, we are given the insight to see how we are off course and then the vision for a path to get back on course. Prophecy seeks to get us back on course, even when we don't realize that we are in the midst of a death spiral.

Where is this prophecy coming from? Why is it that renewal is such a dominant message of Christianity, overshadowing creation and relationship ... is it because we are not following God's prophets? Perhaps, most important is this question: what is God's prophecy for His people in this generation, and are we serious about Jesus Christ to the point that we follow that prophecy?

"Grace is God giving us what we do not deserve, and mercy is God not giving us what we do deserve." (Anonymous)

I think the Church practices mercy reasonably well - that is, we forgive and withhold punishment. However, do we excel at grace where we provide needed resources and opportunities for those who do not merit such privilege? Do we even see ourselves as an instrument of grace (much like what is mentioned in 1 Peter 4:10). I fear that we practice too much inaction when grace is truly needed. I fear that we hoard the wealth of resources, power, opportunity, and nurture that God has stockpiled among the members of the Church.

When we pray for others, the source of the answer may be no further away than ... us.

Would you invest lots of money in a failing company? Would you put someone in charge of your kids if they were irresponsible? Would you continue to give an employee responsibility when they've failed you a dozen times.

Too risky, I would imagine. The consequences are too great. Failure is too much to bear.

Funny, risk is one of the core features of God's relationship with us ... God invests heavily in our lives, he assembles us together into church communities, and he gives us immense vision. I guess we fail 99 out of 100 times. And, then he continues to risk with us, depending upon our success in that 1 time out of 100. He puts us in charge.

Far too many Christians imagine their relationship with God and His mission to be the safest activity of the week. Perhaps that's why we never change, and that's why we never risk with others, and that's why we spiritually fail.

Risk is an essential element of our relationship with the Father, and if we are going to participate in the Father's business, then lots of risk will be needed. We will need to change, we will need to take chances, we will need to put incompetent people in charge of things, and we will need to invest heavily in people that may very likely fail ... just as God is doing us.