12 Truths About Stewardship and Giving to Church

12 Truths About Giving, Serving and Worshiping God Through Your Church

 

• Giving, serving and worshiping are first about acknowledging that God created us, saved us and sustains/provides for us. From this should flow our desire to worship, give money and serve. How well does our financial giving, time in worship and serving in and through church reflect our trust in Him as well as our gratitude to God for all that He has done for us?

 

• Connect that we have received an “indescribable gift of salvation (2 Corinthians 9)” and our response to that gift must influence and impact every part of our lives – especially the worldliest parts – including money and time.

 

• Connect the truth that everything we have has come from God’s hand – therefore it’s not ours to “keep” but use what we need and give it back to Him (Deuteronomy 8).

 

• Connect that worship, serving and giving money are all part of this thanking God and giving back to Him. A faithful response to God includes all of these – not just one or two.

 

• Giving to God should be sacrificial. In other words we should be choosing to give money, worship and serve at church instead of other activities and opportunities. The model for this of course is God sacrificing His only Son Jesus on the cross to save us – and Jesus obediently sacrificing himself. Giving sacrificially glorifies God; it causes us to rely on God for giving, worshiping and serving – to trust that He will provide enough for us to live and give;  and is a powerful witness to our children and others.

 

• Every church has a calling and mission. At First Reformed, we are “Joyfully sharing and serving Christ with our friends and community.” Within our congregation there are people hurting and in need; there are young people in our congregation and in the community that need Christ and need ministry and mentors. There are thousands of people in Saddle Brook, individuals and families that need Christ. There are many in Saddle Brook and surrounding communities that are hungry, struggling and need help. God is calling our church to be the body of Christ for them. By giving, worshiping and serving – together we fulfill this call from God; there is no “plan B” – He’s asking us to do this job.  

 

• God has designed a church to work for His Kingdom based on members supplying the gifts, money and time (Acts 2, 4). Not fundraisers, not relying on endowments and surpluses – but on the faithful giving, worship and service of members. For those of you that are faithfully worshiping, serving and giving to the mission and work of First Reformed – thank you!! And a special thank you to the members who committed to increase their giving this year!! And, by this design, when a church is behind financially, and ministries are suffering because of lack of people and worship attendance is not at its full potential – all of this is on us – not the economy, or anything else.

 

• When we join church and are members of a church, we vow to give, support, worship and serve at the church. Members have to find ways to ensure their offering is received by the church weekly and/or monthly. Offerings can be put in the plate at worship, dropping off in person during the week, mailed to church from the home, banks now allow their clients to set-up mailed automatic payments. Members of a church should be held accountable for not giving on a regular basis – even during these difficult times – starting with small amounts and moving to larger amounts over time is fine. Giving nothing, not attending worship and not serving is unhealthy for our spiritual lives and for the health of the church.

 

• Believers and churches should be praying regularly about stewardship and God’s abundance. The basis of this kind of prayer starts with, “Father, please bless me (us) to be a blessing” as well as “change our hearts to reflect Your priorities.”

 

• We are spiritually enriched by worshiping, giving and serving (2 Corinthians 9:11). First, because we are trusting that God will provide. But also, in worldly terms – we are fulfilled spiritually by giving, worshiping and serving. Sometimes we think that we are “losing” when we are giving, worshiping and serving because it is costing us time and/or money. That’s how the world thinks. But what we think is a debit, God sees it as a credit. What we think is subtraction, God sees as addition. What we think is a loss, God sees as a gain.

 

• According to research, most Christians give about 3 percent or less of their income to their churches. Imagine what churches, what our church could do when more members are giving 3, 4 or 7 or more percent – (tithing is 10 percent). Remember the stories in the Bible when Jesus takes fish and loaves of bread (all that they had to give) and feeds thousands – when we give God our money, worship and service, He will use it mightily! There is so much that is possible when a church’s giving is healthy.

 

• If the members of a church, to which God called them to be a part, give, worship and serve as they should, there will be so much money, ministry and grace (“great grace was upon them all (Acts 4)” that we would have to have special meetings to decide how to use it all. God is a God of abundance and He provides so that our cups overflow as a blessing for us but also to share with others!
  

Rev. Christopher B. Wolf

Isaiah 42:7

cbrianwolf@gmail.com

www.christopherbwolf.com

 

Christopher B. Wolf is the author of Giving Faith a Second Chance: Restarts, Mulligans and Do-Overs (2007) and the forthcoming, With You: Every Step of the Way (2011).

“It is a matter of sharing and bearing the pain and puzzlement of the world so that the crucified love of God in Christ may be brought to bear healingly upon the world at exactly that point.” N.T. Wright

 

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The Difference – For the Class of 2009

You have picked 😉 an extraordinary time to graduate – war, economy, jobs, and the extraordinary cost of college. Maybe I would be worried in other years – but you are one of the most spiritual, resourceful, and socially conscious generations in history.

 

Still you have to be thinking, “What will make the difference? What will give you an edge…what will help you succeed?”

 

What will make the difference in life? A life of significance…

 

We are told that what really matters is having – confidence, money, material things, and fame.

 

But I think you and I know each of those only go so far.

 

The apostle Paul said, “For I have learned to be to be content with whatever I have. I know what it is to have little, and I know what it is to have plenty. In any and all circumstance I have learned the secret of being well-fed and of going hungry, of having plenty and of being in need. I can do all things through him (Christ) who strengthens me (Philippians 4:12-13).” 

 

This secret, or the difference has three parts – Faith, Purpose and Serving Others.

 

Faith is something to believe in – it’s innate to want to believe in something larger than ourselves – God planted that inside of us for him. Sometimes it gets warped into other things – sports teams, a band, or an idea. Faith gives order to chaos – order to the chaos of life – meaning – make sense of this craziness. When the whole world seems to crumbling – something that is solid on which to stand.

 

But for me, faith is more than this. For me, personally, it is the absolute assurance that because Jesus is my Lord and Savior, I will, without a doubt, be with Him eternally in Heaven. I don’t have any evidence for it – I can’t tell you where it is – but through faith, I know this. But also, I have come to know unconditional love and learned how to love others in this way. I have known grace and mercy and have learned to share these with others. Thanks to my faith, my fears have diminished and I find purpose. I want you to have these things via faith in Christ too. I want you to know that you can contact me if you have questions about this or want to talk more about it.

 

Speaking of purpose. This difference is also about a sense of purpose. It is the one thing that can cut through all the masks and pretense and games we play. We spend so much time and effort trying to please or impress others. With a purpose, all of that evaporates. Life with a purpose is something you never have to explain or apologize for. Once you find it – it’s you. Purpose gives drive and focus. And what follows with a purpose is passion – the difference between good and great in this world. Each of you has a God-given purpose – Jeremiah 29:11 – The Lord says, “I know the plans I have for you…plans to prosper you and to give you a future with hope.” I implore you to use the next few months or years finding it – it is there – you may have to dig, it may surprise you, but it is there.

 

And when you combine faith, purpose, passion – in any situation, it will enable you to risk. And you and I know that all great things accomplished in this world required risk. Risk based on faith, purpose and passion will enable anyone, in any situation to go beyond survive – to thrive!

 

Finally, the third part of this difference is taking faith and purpose to serve others. You have heard, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” You understand that. I want you to know that this world needs you. We adults don’t do a very good job of opening doors for you to serve in our churches and communities. We have to improve on that. We need your energy, your passion, your ideas, and your resourcefulness.

 

Have you ever heard the Ralph Waldo Emerson poem called “Success”? My favorite part is, “To know that even one life has breathed easier – this is to have succeeded.” Each of you is capable of this. Each of you as a person of faith, as a citizen, son or daughter, brother or sister, friend, student, parent, mentor, leader – you will be called on to make a difference – it is in God’s plan. Many of you have already. Will you be ready? Talk about significance. The opportunity to help “a life breathe easier.” I know I have found it to be one of the most fulfilling moments of life.   

 

With faith in God, with a purpose, and through sharing your blessings with others – you will have this “difference” in your life – and you will make a difference. It is the life of significance for which so many people yearn.  

 

Class of 2009 you have all that you need to make a difference in this world – we are counting on you, we are waiting on you with hope for the difference you will make in your community, state, nation and world.

 

Amen.

 

Discussion Questions

1. Are you longing for this “difference” in your life? What can you do about it?
2. What is your purpose? How can you figure it out?
3. Have you ever made a difference in someone’s life? How did it happen?
4. When was the last time you risked in reaching out to serve someone? Has it been too long?

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