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About Stewardship
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In our new members' classes, we talk about the three "hats" of the church: The Cause - to make more
disciples and better disciples, the Community - the body of Christ forms a community while doing ministry
together, and the Corporation - the structure and systems we put in place to support and resource all of
our ministries. We want to be a church that is about REAL LIFE and we want to grow in our faith so we can make a
REAL IMPACT for Christ! Part of your growth as a disciple is to develop a heart that matches God's heart. Being
a good steward with our resources is one of our spiritual disciplines. It is stewardship time... and time to stop and
evaluate our spiritual growth. Where do you find yourself in seeing all that you have comes from the loving heart of
God? That is stewardship!
The Cause-how are you doing as a steward? Three possible scenarios:
Do you tithe? For those of you who
are tithing as part of your spiritual discipline, we want to share in your joy in knowing that God does not want us
to give to Him out of guilt or a sense of "owing" something! No, we realize that God wants to bless us and love us
and set us free! Therefore, we choose to make giving to God a priority so we can set into motion the laws of abundance,
"Give and it shall be given to you!" You already know that giving to God as a top priority places us in a spiritual
space where God's hands are free to bless us. Congratulations!
Are you faithfully giving to the church but not yet tithing? May we challenge you to consider making God a
partner in your finances? We do that by percentage giving-as God blesses us, we give more but also have more! Somehow
connect your giving to your receiving! It is a disciple mindset to partner with God in your whole life-even with your
checkbook! Maybe a 10% tithe is too big of a stretch, but you want to grow in your faith. In prayer, consider some
percentage-maybe 5% or 3%-and begin to give to God as your spiritual discipline! Guess what? God will end up giving
to you, heaped up, pressed down and running over!
Maybe you are in the group of people who see giving to God and the church as "a tip," or you think in terms of
a "fair share." You might pay all of your bills and if there is something left over, you give. Maybe you dread
stewardship time because you feel the church has its hand out and wants to take from you. You could see it that
way, but we are not a club with dues, we are disciples of Jesus Christ and trying to show the face of God to others.
Giving to God is a love response...not a debt owed. Are you open to a spiritual challenge?
The Community-we are all in this together. It is REAL LIFE and REAL IMPACT for us as a community of believers.
We want to be a spiritually vital, risk-taking center for making disciples. Our children, our youth, you, me-we are family.
This is the place we have committed to be in ministry together. This is your spiritual center. Thus the Bible would
say that it is through this church that you give to God.
The Corporation-ministry does not just happen at LCUMC. To be effective and successful in being the hands and
feet of Christ, in teaching our children and youth, and in creating passionate worship, we need resources. It is God's
concept that out of our gathered tithes, ministry to make a real impact will be resourced! God has a vision for us;
God gives us each other so we do not do ministry alone-and God has a plan to resource that ministry-by blessing us
and tithing those blessings!
With God's way, there is enough! God's way touches our REAL LIFE! God's way provides us a channel to make a
REAL IMPACT! Our leaders believe it will take about $474,000 to do the ministry we envision for 2010.
Have you partnered with Christ in your REAL LIFE so you can participate in making a REAL IMPACT?
Let's stand on tiptoe to see what God wants to do in and through us in 2010!
Grace and peace,
Pastor Lynette Decker, Pastor John Girard, and John Berner, Finance Chair
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