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Practicing Abundance | Rev. Katie Montgomery Mears | 10.18.26

Oct 18, 2026  •  Rev. Katie Montgomery Mears

What if the real obstacle to generosity is not how much we have, but how we think about what we have? This message invites us to examine the difference between a scarcity mindset and an abundance mindset, and how that difference shapes the way we live, give, and trust God. Drawing on the parable of the rich farmer in Luke 12, we are challenged to see that the man's problem was not simply that he had too much grain. His deeper problem was that the flow stopped with him. He hoarded rather than let God's gifts move through his life and into the world. The contrast is striking when we look at the image from Luke 6, where God's generosity is described as a measure pressed down, shaken together, and running over into our laps. That is the standard by which God gives, and it raises a question for each of us: do we actually believe that? The sermon also points to the geography of Israel as a powerful symbol. The Sea of Galilee teems with life because water flows in and out. The Dead Sea, fed by the same source, supports nothing because nothing flows out. Both are pictures of what can happen in our own lives depending on whether we keep God's gifts moving or hold them back out of fear.