|
The Clergy Corner
Please note the new title. Mother Gail and Deacon Steve will be filling this column on an alternating basis.
Dear people of God,
October is a special and exciting month at Redeemer. We are embarking on our next mission trip - Biloxi III. Some of our youth are attending New Beginnings, a renewal weekend for 7-9 grades. We will elect four members to a ministry of vestry service. Many guests will be welcomed into our midst during the Blessing of the Animals. Several of us will help build a house, working with Habitat for Humanity. It is fitting that we also call it Commitment/Stewardship Season, which officially begins Sunday, October 5th.
Stewardship and commitment are matters of faithful living, of recognizing that all we are and all we have belongs to God and is to be given to God as an act of worship, as an expression of faith, and as a spiritual discipline. Such faithful living is a response to the good news that the Kingdom of God has indeed come near, that Jesus Christ is our Lord, and that the Holy Spirit will direct and guide and empower us to be the people God calls us to be.
Stewardship and commitment are spiritual issues. “Jesus was not a fund-raiser. He talked about money a lot, but not because he wanted people to give to any particular cause. He talked about money because he cared about us and because he knew that what we do with our money affects who we are spiritually.” (Mark Powell, Giving to God)
Giving to the church is not the same thing as giving to God. The church does not ask for 100% of our money - God does! God has committed all of himself to us and desires that we in turn respond to him with all that we have and all that we are.
So how does giving to the church fit into our life with God? Giving to the church makes it possible for the parish to carry out the mission and ministry that God has given us to do as a community. It is an opportunity to act out in a very tangible way our response to God’s love. It is a way to practice stewardship and live in a relationship of covenant and commitment to God and one another.
When you are contacted by your Commitment Captain, please take some time and pray about your response. In your prayer time, consider these basic Christian principles:
• Giving is both a duty and a delight. (Romans 15:25-26)
• Giving is to be regular and systematic. (I Corinthians 16:2)
• Giving is a demonstration of God’s grace. (2 Corinthians 8:1)
• Giving is to be voluntary, not under compulsion. (2 Corinthians 8:3)
• Giving should be proportionate to one’s income, as each is invited to contribute according to his or her means. (2 Corinthians 8:3, 11-13)
• Giving can also be undertaken as a sacrifice. (2 Corinthians 8:3)
• Giving is a privilege and a witness to the gospel. (2 Corinthians 8:4,8)
• Giving is to represent a personal commitment - each person is to make up his or her own mind. (2 Corinthians 9:7)
• Giving is to be done cheerfully and in faith that God will provide for those who give. (2 Corinthians 9:7-11)
• Giving brings glory to God and leads us to give thanks to God. (2 Corinthians 9:11-13)
I pray that you will all be present on October 5th to celebrate our life together and learn more about the mission and ministry of our parish - to hear more about the vision of where God is calling us in the next few years - to make a new commitment to Join the Journey.
God’s peace,
Mother Gail+
|
