Stewardship

Note:  This morning I had the pleasure of speaking on stewardship at my local church.  (It was called a minute for Stewardship and I think I went a bit over.  But no one has stoned me yet!!!:)  Wanted to share here what I did there in this short blog post.


Stewardship is not easy.  As our prayer of confession says today:  “How quickly we judge people…how easy it is to lift our voices in criticism rather than life our hands in compassionate care.”

Like Christianity, stewardship is challenging.  As faithful members of this church, we MUST be devoted stewards; we are charged with the careful and responsible management of not only this building, but of all its people and their missions.  It’s not all about money, well maybe today it is, but it’s about grateful giving…giving of finances, giving of time, giving of talent and sharing love the way that Christ taught us.

To be true Christians, we must be good stewards.  And again this is not easy.  Think about it, when taken out of context  we are simply following the teachings of a man who had two fathers and a surrogate mother; a man who consorted with the lowest of the low; a man who although was innocent and sinless, was a convicted criminal. How easy it would be to just turn away.   But we know that there is more to the story than just those simple facts.  For it was this man, the son of God, who taught us through word AND deed to be care for one another, and not just for those who are like us, but for all humankind. To continue what Christ teaches us we must be good stewards.  This church is and can continue to be a light in the darkness, if we continue to be good stewards.

As it says in 2 Corinthians 9:6-9: The point is this: he who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each one must do as he has made up his mind, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to provide you with every blessing in abundance, so that you may always have enough of everything and may provide in abundance for every good work. As it is written, “He scatters abroad, he gives to the poor;
his righteousness[a] endures forever.”


Let’s keep this in mind as we make our pledges for the upcoming year.  Remember next Sunday is officially Stewardship Sunday.


The road is not easy, but it is an important and  necessary one to travel.  I hope we will all agree that it is worth it.

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