We talked a bit about Stewardship at a recent Consistory meeting and I would like to bring that to your attention via this little letter. Let's just see it as a little talk between you and me concerning our support of the church and how we need to look at that now and then. Okay?
The first thing we need to develop is the fact that your stewardship and mine too, are important to the life of the congregation. We all need to take part in giving our gifts back to God so that the church can even function. There are fuel bills, Classis dues (now about $85.00 for every member), and needed supplies such as bulletins, office items, etc. It costs us to have the snow plowed; it costs to pay for electricity and supplies for people like the choir and Sunday School. So, the first thing we need to see is that it costs us to keep the church functioning on a routine basis. We all share in our part of that and a budget is there to guide us but the needs determine our response too.
Secondly, I have always felt that we need to look at our giving to the church to see if we have even given God an increase in the standard of living... It costs more to keep the doors open than it did a few years back and our offerings and responses need to reflect our awareness of that fact. A dollar or two a few years back will not provide what it did then and we need to ask ourselves if the church is important to us and if it warrants an increase in our support…maybe not that much, but just to keep up with the pace of the increase in our efforts to serve God.
Third, I firmly believe that what we give to God does not go unnoticed. As the good Book says, "cast your bread upon the waters and it will return seven fold. " The more we can give to God the more He is aware of our love and our response to His goodness. What is given to the church is given to honor and to serve Him and we all know that we have been blessed in a million ways. Sure, the cost of living is going up and we may live on fixed incomes, but a little more by each of us is not unknown to Him. Times are tough for all of us and we need to still make room for our support of God's working in our midst and to use our talents and gifts to honor Him. We need to ask ourselves, "When was the last time I increased my support for the church?" Maybe now is the time and if each of us do a” little more" then a great deal more can be accomplished and fulfilled by the church.
Lastly, we need to look at our blessings as a pebble in a pool of water. God drops the pebble and it spreads like the rings of the water around it... one ring after another as it spreads and grows more and more in the movement of God's love. The more you and I are willing to serve Him, the more the rings in the pool. He drops the pebble and we will either make it grow or we will simply calm the water. Every little bit we can do or give to the church has an affect in the life of the congregation and the working of God in our midst. We need to make the rings grow, more and more to bring honor to the One who drops the pebble.
Our challenge, Yours and Mine, is that we be good stewards of all that God entrusts to us. I look into my life and see the blessings that God has shared with me and I know the extent of His love and care. My reaction to all that He has given is to not only honor Him by seeing Him as "my Lord and my God" but to also serve Him as a servant. I invite you to join me on that that part of our encounter and to honor Him with our talents, our time, our devotion and our offerings. They will rise like a sacrifice to Heaven to give Him the praise that is due. Take a few moments and answer the question, " How much has God already blessed me?" Now, what will you do in return…?
"Rev"