A mother gave her 8 year old
daughter a one-dollar bill and a quarter.
"Sweetheart," she said, as they entered church, "you
can place either one in the offering plate.
It's entirely up to you. As they
were driving home, the mother asked her daughter what she had decided to give. "Well, at first I was going to give the
dollar," said the daughter. "But the man behind the pulpit said God
loves a cheerful giver, and I felt I would be a lot more cheerful if I gave the
quarter instead."
A pastor in Salt Lake City was challenging his
congregation to give money so that the church might reach its goal for their
mission. He said: “God gave you talents,
use those abilities to give money to the church and glory to God.” So a member of the church, James Hatch, robbed
a Salt Lake City bank of $2500.00 and gave it to the church. He said he was following the pastor’s sermon
and using his God given gift to give back to the Lord. I have to wonder if being good at robbing
banks is a gift of the Lord? Oh and
please know I that I am not suggesting anything like that today.
It is stewardship time and our
theme for this coming year is: Our Gifts in God’s Hands! Our gifts, your gifts and mine, are from
God’s Hands and for God’s Hands. God is
the author and creator of life. God is
the source of our existence. God
breathed life into us. Everything is
owned by and belongs to God. Our lives
were not an accident, the result of a sudden explosion of some primeval gases. Your life is on loan from God.
The book of Genesis tells us that
God created us in His image and commanded us to be fruitful and multiply. God delegated to us the task of exercising
responsible authority over all living things.
God created us to live purposeful, meaningful and loving lives. God gave us gifts/talents to help us fulfill
His plan and purpose for us. We are God’s stewards, managers, representatives. We have the resources of the world at our
disposal. We are ultimately accountable
to God in terms of how we spend our time, our years upon this earth.
Perhaps that’s one difference
between an atheist and a theist, one who believes in God. An atheist says: “It’s my life, I can live it
any way I choose.” A believer says: “My life is not my own, it
belongs to God.” The one says: “I’m not accountable to anyone.” “The other says: “I am accountable to God.”
What gifts come from God? We hear God’s word in our lesson from I
Chronicles. It’s the story of God
calling the people of Israel
to build the temple in Jerusalem . King David gave generously toward the project. We are told: “Then the leaders of families,
the officers of the tribes of Israel
The temple was to be a sacred
place where God was worshipped, but it was also to be a symbol that Israel was to
be a light to the world. David praises
God: “Yours, O Lord, is the greatness
and the power and the glory and the majesty and the splendor, for everything in
heaven and earth is yours. Wealth and
honor come from you; you are the ruler of all things. In your hands are strength and power to exalt,
and give strength to all. Now our God we
give you thanks and praise for your glorious name. But who am I and who are my people that we
should be able to give as generously as this?
Everything comes from you, and we have given you only what comes from
your hand.”
What gifts has God given you that
you are grateful for? What gifts have
come from God’s hands to you? – the gift
of relationships, families, the gift of mentors, the gift of friendships, the
gift of children and grandchildren, the gift of meaning and purpose and hope, the
gift of freedom to use our minds and hearts, the gift of the ability to plan
for our future, the gift of caring for others and being cared for by others, the
gift of creating, the gift of having the power and courage to make changes in
our lives, the gift of adapting to new environments and to social change around
us, the gift of our body, athletic abilities, leadership gifts, artistic gifts,
gifts of imagination, teachings gifts, the spiritual gift and discipline to
lead a moral life, the gifts of time, and resources.
As Christians we have the gift of
religious belief, the gift of faith, the gift of trusting in one who is our
Lord, the gifts of prayer, the Bible and the family of God. We have the gift of the gospel, that God sent
Jesus to the world to bring repentance, salvation from sin and new life. We have the gift of Eternal life, the gift of
the Holy Spirit. We have gifts of one
another as brothers and sisters in Christ.
We have the gift of being able to love because God first loved us. When we bring our gifts before God, we are
giving back, as King David said, what has come from God’s hands. We offer them
in humble adoration and praise. God
blesses them and our gifts are used in God’s hands for God’s purposes.
The Bible also speaks about our
attitude toward giving. We are to
cultivate and use our gifts and not waste them.
We are to share our gifts and not hoard them. We are to give thanks to God for our gifts
and not be smug about them. We are to
honor and glorify God with what we do with our gifts and not only please
ourselves. We must not become overly
attached to our gifts, that is, turn them into idols which we worship or become
slaves to them. We are expected to be
disciplined and responsible in the way we use these gifts.
Further, I think we must watch
out about being ungrateful, unappreciative, about not being content with our
gifts. Like the story about the mother
and son who were walking in a forest. One day when they were outside a tornado
surprised them. The mother clung to a
tree and tried to hold her son. But the
swirling winds carried him into the sky.
He was gone. The woman began to weep and pray: "Please, O Lord, bring
back my boy! He's all I have. I'd do
anything not to lose him. If you'll bring him back, I'll serve you all my days."
Suddenly the boy toppled from the sky, right at her feet, a bit mussed up, but
safe and sound. His mother picked him up, brushed him off, paused, looked
upwards and said, "Oh one thing more Lord, He wore a hat?"
Our gifts in God’s hands. We honor God when we are involved in and
sharing in the work of His Kingdom, that is, when God’s will is being
accomplished. Like our weekly Youth
program where youth from the community and our congregation are growing in
their Christian faith, led by Robert Gerow and his dedicated volunteers. And our weekly Kingdom Kids program, where
children from our preschool and community, led by Grant and Kat, and volunteers,
learn about Jesus and the Bible and enjoy games, meals, crafts and music. And our wonderful Pre-school under the
capable leadership of the director Brigitte together with her dedicated
teachers. Our Preschool now has an
enrollment of over 55 children and babies.
It provides a healthy spiritual, intellectual and social foundation for
children and builds community among the preschool families. Some of those families have joined the church.
Our Sunday Evening Roots worship
service and ministry, reaches young adults in our community under the
leadership of Grant. Some of these
young adults have joined our church. We
celebrate our music program, the Sounds of Worship and our Chancel Choir, under
the talented leadership of Esther Jordan and our organist Anne Bay
We see God at work in our prayer
and healing ministries and in our congregational care ministry under the
leadership of Donna Pierce and volunteers, which brings Christ’s love to
members and friends. We offer Bible
study and Christian education opportunities for all ages during the week and on
Sunday mornings. We have faith-filled
and committed leaders – deacons and elders, who enthusiastically serve Christ
in our church. We serve in partnership
with the Lord in reaching out to our community in events such as Pacific
Beachfest and Graffiti Day. We see God’s
hand at work in military and other families which attend our Friday Pizza and
Movie Night ministry.
God has blessed the community
through our congregation's Sunday Night Ministry, by providing meals for nearly
100 homeless people each week for over two decades under the leadership of
Janice Minor and Neil Charette and many volunteers? We weekly serve nearly 300 homeless people
through our mail service, where we provide our church address as a way for
homeless people to receive mail, from government checks to personal mail. No other churches in our community offer this
service. I often hear homeless people
say: “God bless you, thank you for this mail service,” as people pick up
their mail under the direction of our office manager Meri
Murch and the office volunteers.
We see God’s hands at work as we
provide clothing and food, volunteers and financial support to CCSA, Meals on Wheels, Monarch school, Voice
of the Martyrs, Baja Presbyterian Ministries, Military Outreach Ministry, Intervarsity,
Heifer Project, Presbyterian Urban Ministry, Presbyterian Disaster Assistance, and
international missionaries like Esther Wakeman in Thailand . We are greatly blessed by your generous
giving to our Endowment Fund which annually contributes money to our ministry
under the leadership of George Shoemaker and other volunteers.
I want to both personally and on
behalf of the elders, thank you for your faith, your generous commitment and
your support this year. We are asking
for your prayerful support of your time, talents and money for this coming year,
as together we reach people for Christ's Kingdom.
Jesus Christ cares deeply about
your life, your growth in faith and your participation in His Kingdom. Christ will use your giving for His work in
our community and world. Every pledge, every
donation, every gift, every offering counts.
Commitment Sunday is next week, October 30. We will have a basket on the chancel and
invite you to place your pledges of commitment into the basket. And be confident, knowing that your gifts are
securely in the Hands of God. Amen!
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