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 Dear
Saints:
I
love a good cartoon. When done well, it can get a point across
better than any long diatribe. When I read this cartoon it gave
me a chuckle—but
not without making its point. I hope it did the same for you, too.
Recently,
here at St. Matthew, we've focused a lot on stewardship—that
is, being faithful managers of the things God has entrusted to
us. At our first annual Summer Sizzler event in August we were
encouraged to share our various God-given gifts and abilities for the
good of our congregation and the wider community in which we carry
out our ministry. The last two Sundays of September have been
shaped by two parables told by Jesus (the Dishonest Steward and the
Rich Man and Lazarus), which have served to focus our attention on
our need to be faithful and compassionate managers of the financial
resources God has given us.
The
reality is that if we at St. Matthew are to be such a congregation
we must have money in the bank. Spiritual gifts and talents are
critical to be sure, yet, without money our ministry cannot go forward.
Now,
I must be honest with you. We aren't receiving the necessary
income to cover our expenditures. Our overall giving is down 11.8 percent.
In dollar amounts this comes to about $18,000. We have had
some attrition in our attendance as well, which certainly has
impacted this figure. I plan to address this issue in the future.
The
fact remains, however, that unless we can increase our financial
giving we'll be unable to carry out our ministry as we would
like. Therefore, as we enter this last quarter of our calendar
year, it's my intention in this article to simply urge us to assess
our offerings to St. Matthew—and
to ask God what he would have us to give in the future.
Some
of us will be able to give more than others. That's not the
issue, as I see it. We're not in competition with anyone.
What's important for each of us to discern is whether or not our
current level of giving pleases the Lord and furthers his kingdom.
With
this in mind, I encourage you to please be in prayer about this as
we close out the current year at church and as you prepare your
personal and family budgets for the coming year.
Grace
and peace,
Pastor
Larry
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