This morning I would like to speak a word that we all dread to hear “Stewardship”

We all need money right, we need it to run our households, the church needs it to stay open and to do work in the community. As you have heard before the church is more than just in this building. Many of you may remember Nayiri Kajian from her visit to us when I was first being licensed. In the newsletter this week she said something that I felt the need to share with you as we talk about Stewardship. She talked about the church as a Spiritual community She said, “A Spiritual community is not exclusive but inclusive and expansive. It is not only tradition centered but balances tradition with innovation to remain relevant to the world in which it lives. It is not membership oriented but invites all participants to be part of the life of the community. It is not made up of separate boards, each with their own agenda, but it is bound by a common vision and leadership toward a common calling for Who, Why and What. It does not serve itself but the wider community, the needs in its neighborhood and even the world. A spiritual community is always in movement as the Spirit guides, inspires and leads it to embody and represent God in the world.”

So, let’s talk about Stewardship.

Today we see God doing a lot of things within our Church:

Hopefully we are helping to change lives, opening up people’s hearts to God’s messages and expectations for us as individuals and as a church. Teachings that help you to understand and feel God’s presence in your life. Opening up our doors and being in the community whenever we can, however we can be during these times. Being a comfort to those around us that need comforting, being a safe space for people to talk about their feelings and what they have going on in their lives and what they may need help with. The list is endless with what we as a church is doing and can be doing.

But we need help to do those things. We all know that without the fair fundraiser our funds are down. It is not a secret to anybody. Thankfully we are still doing ok and able to operate, but we are still a bit down from where we usually are at this time of year.

But There are great things taking place within our Church. and all this is being made possible through your giving!!! Ice cream socials, monthly meals, our basement project all of those were possible because people gave to support them. This morning we talked about Halloween Candy and a Spaghetti dinner that is coming up and we asked for your support for those endeavors so that we can be a “Spiritual Community”

God is doing great things here in our Church, but we can't get comfortable because there are more things that God wants to do.

How is this going to be made possible, through the giving of Gods people!!!

If we are going to accomplish what God has called us to do, then it is going to take a Church with a giving mentality. That is very important.

I wanted to encourage the Church this morning with this message about - the benefits in giving to God.

I want to tell you a story about a young man named Charlie Page. Charlie was broke, penniless and jobless. One day he stopped on the street to listen to a Salvation Army service.

When the tambourine was passed around for the collection, he told the girl who held it out before him that he would like to give something but had nothing himself, even for his food.

She gave him a dollar, saying, 'Take this: put ten cents in the offering, and hereafter give a tenth of all you get to God. Keep this up all your life, and you'll never be penniless again.' He did what she suggested, he got a job, and began giving his tenth regularly.

By and by he became a millionaire, and gave much more than a tenth, building Hospitals and helping in many other ways to carry on the work of the Lord.

See when you and I are faithful in our giving to God there are benefits. Giving draws us closer to God.

How does giving draw us closer to God? Matthew 6:21 reads: "For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."

Wherever you put your money, that is where your heart is. If your money is in investments that is where your heart is, if your money is in your house that is where your heart is, if your money is in your career then that is where your heart is and if your money is in the house of the Lord then that is where my heart is.

See Money is like a magnet - wherever we put it, it tends to pull our hearts.

When you give money to God it’s like a magnet it pulls you closer to God.

So that means if your treasure or your finances are going to God, then your heart is getting closer to Him.

Every time you give - it draws you closer to God.

Giving is the nature and characteristic of God.

John 3:16 reads – “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son.” God gave His best because He loves us.

When we give, we become more like God, Remember, God gave His best.

Giving also draws us closer to God because giving is an act of Worship and when you and I Worship God, it draws us closer to God.

Isn't that true.

Have you ever come to a service and you feel a little down, or you feel a little discouraged, or you feel a little far from God, but then you begin to sing and pray, and praise and Worship Him and put your focus on Him the next thing you know you are feeling a better.

Why because Worship draws us closer to God and just like singing, and praying and praising is an act of worship, so is giving. That is why we set aside a time to give unto the Lord - So we can worship God with our giving. Giving is an act of Worship.

Imagine - someone saying, I felt God breakthrough my gloominess today as I was giving my offering.

Have you ever had that happen during a certain moment in the service, whether it’s during Call to Worship, or during the prayer, or during the music, or during the bell ringing, or during the message, or during the offering, that you just felt good about what you were doing here!

Have you ever sat there during the offering thinking man that was hard, but it felt good.... When we worship God with our giving it draws our hearts closer to Him.Giving is like spiritual aerobics its good for the heart and it even makes it stronger...We must remember something about money, God doesn't need our money.

He owns all the silver and gold and all the cattle on a thousand hill, but what He wants is what our money represents. - that is our heart.

See when you and I Worship God not only with song, words, or actions but also with our giving it draws us closer to Him.

Wherever your money is that is where you heart is.

So, the first thing that you and I should remember about giving is that it draws us closer to God.

The next thing that giving does is strengthens our faith. See faith is like a muscle the more you and I exercise it, the stronger it becomes.

Our giving proves the reality of our faith.

Sometimes God will use finances to test our faith. Have you ever had to decide between paying a bill or giving your tithes?

You only have so much in finances to work with and you are wondering how is God going to meet my needs if I put Him first. Well that is a test of our faith.

God may be saying do you think I can really meet all your needs, or do you feel you need to take care of them on your own?

God says bring all the tithe into the store house and see if I will not open the flood gates of heaven and pour you out a blessing.

Basically, God is saying - I Dare you to put me first and see how I will bless you.Go ahead I Dare you to tithe - Go ahead and watch how I will bless you... Give... go ahead Give... I Dare you... and watch and see how I will bless your life.

Pastor and Author Rick Warren says – “Did you know there are more promises in the Bible regarding giving than any other thing? Jesus talked more about giving than he did about Heaven or Hell. I believe this is because giving is the essence of being like Jesus.

When you and I give it shows that we trust God to meet our needs.It shows that we trust God and we believe His promises to meet our every need. Giving can and will strengthen our faith, God will stretch, and God will test our faith.”

God promises you and I blessings when we are faithful in our giving.Now when you and I see God come through time and time again it should strengthen our faith.Like I said earlier faith is like a muscle the more and more you and I exercise it, the stronger it becomes. You are only getting stronger,

I read a story in the Sunday School Times about a group of churches that was trying to raise $30,000 to finance missionary projects in Africa and South America. There was a little church whose members lost nearly all of their property and belongings in a terrible disaster, yet they sent a check for $209. The secretary of the missionary society sponsoring the work was scolded for accepting the gift: She was asked, "Doesn't it hurt your conscience to take money from a community of people that are struggling financially?"

The secretary replied, "Did the Lord tell the widow to come back and take her two mites out of the treasury box?

This made me think of the widow woman in 1 Kings Chapter 17. Verse 12 reads But she said, “As the Lord your God lives, I have nothing baked, only a handful of meal in a jar, and a little oil in a jug; I am now gathering a couple of sticks, so that I may go home and prepare it for myself and my son, that we may eat it, and die. Elijah said to her, Do not be afraid; go and do as you have said; but first make me a little cake of it and bring it to me, and afterwards make something for yourself and your son. For thus says the Lord the God of Israel: The jar of meal will not be emptied and the jug of oil will not fail until the day that Lord sends rain on the earth.: She went and did as Elijah said, so that she as well as he and her household ate for many days. The jar of meal was not emptied, neither did the jug of oil fail, according to the word of the Lord that he spoke by Elijah.

She was down to her last meal, but she gave, and God met every need that she had. She never lacked again.

You and I would think that being in such a difficult situation God would excuse her from giving, right?

Horace Bushnell was a New England preacher and theologian.

He said the only ones who may be excused from giving are the ones who are listed below:

1- Those who believe that men are not lost in sin and do not need a Savior.

2- Those who believe that Jesus made a mistake when He said to His followers: "Go into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature."

3- Those who believe the Gospel is not the power of God, and that faith in Christ cannot save.

4- Those who wish that missionaries had never come to our ancestors, and that we ourselves are still unsaved.

5- Those who believe that it is "every man for himself" in this world, and, with Cain, ask: "Am I my brother's keeper?"

6- Those who wish to have no share in the final victory of Christ.

and last but not least

7- Those who believe they are not accountable to God for the money and talents entrusted to them.

The question is Are You Excused?

See even though our situation may not be the best to give, we are not excused, because that is the best time to put God to the test.

It is called sacrificial giving. Sacrificial giving is giving when it hurts.

It strengthens our faith, when we see God come through.

How many times have you given in a situation that didn’t seem that it was the best time to give, but you did, and God came through.

We should be willing to sacrifice - because we want to keep growing - and it develops our spiritual faith muscles.

• we can get stuck in the past if we don't keep stepping out by faith in our giving. Remember our scripture reading this morning?

Now as you excel in everything--in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in utmost eagerness, and in our love for you – so we want to excel also in this generous undertaking.

Another thing Giving does is bless us in return.

Time and time again God say in the Bible if you give, I give will unto you.

Luke 6:38 reads “Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap, for the measure you give will be the measure you get back.”

Deuteronomy 15:10 reads “Give liberally and be ungrudging when you do so, for on this account the Lord your God will bless you in all your work and in all the you undertake.

Proverbs 3:9-10 reads “Honor the Lord with your substance and with the first fruits of all your produce; then your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will be bursting with wine.”

Over and over in the Bible we see that there are benefits in Giving to God.

Just like you and I want a job that has good benefits, well there's no better benefits than to giving to the Kingdom of God.

How does God bless us:

by giving us a raise at our job, by decreasing our expenses, by keeping us healthy, by healing us, by comforting us, by providing for us.

Giving feels good!!!

Maybe you are able to pay off a debt faster, maybe you are able to get a new car, maybe you get an unexpected windfall

There are benefits in giving to The Lord

I know that this whole Stewardship message has talked about giving financially, giving a portion of your money to God through your church, and yes as I said in the beginning that is very important in order for us to continue to operate and do God’s work.

But I want to make something clear here, we as a church and church family know that not every person that walks in the doors is able to give financially. Stewardship is a difficult topic for all churches to discuss and as I have sat through my classes these last 6 weeks and as I met with my monthly Pastor group the topic has come up on numerous occasions as October is typically Stewardship month for the UCC. And every Pastor that discussed it, talked about how difficult it is to discuss it in their church, especially during these times of uncertainty with the current pandemic and people losing their jobs and not knowing if or when they will find another one. But one thing I want to make clear is that Stewardship isn’t just about you giving money, if you can’t give money, we get it. Stewardship is also about giving your time. I’m sure we have all heard the quote by Benjamin Franklin “Time is Money.” Time can be equivalent to money when it is used in doing productive works. So maybe you can’t come in here every week and drop something into the offering plate, but can you give of your time? Can you help with things that need to be done around the church? Can you pull weeds, rake leaves, pick up sticks, paint, work at a dinner, cook a meal, make a dessert? Those are also parts of Stewardship because not only do we need money to keep the doors open, we also need people, Stewards who are willing to give of their time to keep the church functioning as a “Spiritual Community”. People who are willing to say what can I do to help, what needs fixed, what needs updated, what needs done in the yard to make us look warm and inviting. Maybe you can’t give money because you are strapped so tight you just aren’t comfortable doing it, but can you give of your time instead? I’m sure if you ask, there are plenty of things that need to be done and we will happily accept your offer of help, your offer of Stewardship.

The world is full of givers and takers.

There are people in life that are constantly giving and then there are people in life that are constantly taking. I’m guessing or church is full of givers, some maybe not knowing what to give. Not knowing what will happen if they give. What will happen if you give is you will be blessed.

See givers are the ones who walk into The House of God and they get Joy to see what The Lord is doing through their giving.

When they walk into The House of The Lord there is a spirit of excitement.

Why because they see and experience how their giving has and is making a difference in the lives of people around them.

Blessings don't only come in material ways, but blessings also come in spiritual ways. Maybe a relationship you lost is restored, maybe somebody walking in the door for the first time becomes a believer. Stewardship brings joy to your heart no matter how you give. Stewardship changes lives and brings joy and excitement to you the giver.

You and I have the privilege of being able to be a part of what God is going to do through our giving. Whether that giving is of money or of time.

Isn't it amazing how God can take a people that were no people - save them, sanctify them, and use them for His Glory and Honor.

Amen

‒ Pastor Pam