In God We Trust?

Pt. 2 - Are you complete?

Philippians 4:14-19; 2 Corinthians 8:1-15

February 12, 2006

A little education is dangerous. But it’s good to be educated about the workings of the church, especially if God has placed you here to be part of our church family.

So it’s family meeting time.  And it’s a meeting about our family finances—where the money goes, and where it comes from.

Without question the topic of money is important. In most cultures; perhaps in our American society in particular, money represents power. We make statements with how we spend our money. We can make our voices heard with our money. We reveal who we really are with our money.
Whether we have a surplus of funds or we’re wondering about how we’re going to make it to the end of the month, our life seems to revolve around money.

There are three conversions necessary: the conversion of the heart, the mind and the purse. Of these three, it may well be that we moderns find the conversion of the purse the most difficult.
Martin Luther
"A religion that gives nothing, costs nothing, and suffers nothing, is worth nothing."
Martin Luther

Our vows as members of the church are to support the church (meaning not only St. Paul ’s, but the church in general) with our prayers, our presence, our gifts, and our service.

If each of us needs to participate in all four areas in order to fulfill our membership vows, then I would say that many of us are incomplete in our task.

Recall what Paul wrote in Philippians 4:18b regarding our offering to God: [the gifts you have sent] are a fragrant offering, an acceptable sacrifice, pleasing to God.

I’m sure that many of us desire to obey and please God, but are unsure how to do it, or we really don’t understand how the church budget works.

Hence, the educational part of our message today.

Where does the money go?  Let’s discuss the church budget.

Review the EXPENSE BUDGET SLIDE (also an insert in the bulletins).

Discuss the DINNER ROLL slide.

Discuss apportionments (Shared Ministry Expense).

Show the WORSHIP-NURTURE video.

(Wrap up church expenses and where it all goes.)

Now, that is where all of our money goes in our annual budget.  As you can see, running a church and doing ministry is quite complicated and costly.

Well, the next natural question then is, where do we get all of that money? 

The answer is mostly from the giving of members and friends such as yourselves!

READ and discuss 2 Corinthians 8:1-15.

Review the INCOME BUDGET slide (also an insert in the bulletin).

Entire budget is $183,033 divided by 193 members is $948 per year, or $18.23 per person per week.

Of that, the total pledge income needed is $138763.

Divided by 193 members is $718 per person per year, or $13.81 per person per week.

However, the pledge income accounted for is $71946; leaving $66727 unaccounted for.  In other words, we are staring off the year over $66,000 short!

But it gets better: we only have 48 persons who have pledged, and so the entire burden of the budget rests on this group of people, which means that each person needs to support the church with $73 per week (or $3813/year).

So I wonder, why don’t people, who have taken membership vows, pledge financial support to the church?

I truly believe that God teaches us that Stewardship is not really about giving—it’s really all about trust.

Our money says “In God we trust,” but do WE trust God with our money?

God calls us to follow him, which requires obedience and trust, especially when we’re called to follow him into uncertainty. He knows what’s best for us, even if we don’t see it at the moment. The unknown can be a career move, a financial commitment, a family decision, or so many other life issues. When the outcome is uncertain, we naturally become afraid and instinctively our guards go up.

In America , the top three fears have been noted as: The fear of flying, the fear of failure and the fear of the unknown.
Fear drives us to control the ‘known’ parts of our lives. We’re comfortable with our current resources, and have things so well planned out and organized that we leave little margin for error. But in doing so, we leave no margin for obedience when we sense God calling us to something out of the ordinary. If we can’t see around the corner, we’d rather not go there.

Our challenge is to fully and completely trust God.
Do we trust God to take care of us and of our daily needs? Will HE really provide our daily bread or do I have to insure that I’ll have my daily bread for today, tomorrow, next month, my retirement and even for my grandchildren.

Listen. God LOVES us. He’s our Father, who art in heaven. He has our best interest in mind. As scripture says, if we ask Father God for bread, will he give us a stone?
One of the ways God extends his love to us is in providing for our needs. Do you recognize that everything you have is NOT yours, but God’s that he has given you?
You see, stewardship is really NOT about giving at all.
It’s about the attitude of our heart.
Giving is an exercise for OUR Benefit, to remind US who we are, and who God is.

It is to remind us where the money came from in the first place.

View CHEERFUL GIVERS video.

When we relinquish our hold on our money, time and resources and we FREELY give, the way we’ve FREELY RECEIVED; when we concede our grip on what we can control and TRUST in a God who truly loves us, ONLY THEN can we be guided by his capable hands, and be rest in his strong, loving arms.
Only then will we be complete in him.

READ 2 Corinthians 8:7.

When we can do this, then surely, in the words of Philippians 4:19, God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.