It is All His

One of the most exciting days as an adult came the day we moved into a home we owned.  Most of our married life we lived in church owned parsonages.  We had mostly good experiences in these homes but there was something different about living in a home that we owned.  With it came new responsibilities like maintenance but also the freedom to make decisions without worrying about upsetting church members.  Mowing your own grass, for some reason, is just a little more satisfying. 

As followers of Jesus Christ, what does it mean to own something? Everything we have belongs to God. As followers of Jesus we surrender every area of our life, including our stuff, to him.   So, in reality we are just the stewards entrusted with the responsibility of using our stuff for him.  We own things for his glory. How we use our possessions and resources matter. He has given the responsibility of using these things as he has called us.

There are a few areas where God has been specific of what he requires.  He calls us to worship him and support his ministry through tithes and offerings.  A tithe is 10% of our first fruits and an offering is that which we give above our tithe. All that we have should be used for his glory.  This is just that which he asks of us to support the church.  God has made it clear in his word that our failure to be obedient in this area is robbing from him. (Malachi 3:8-10).  We are called to be responsible with all he has entrusted to us.

The church also has a very important responsibility to be good stewards of what is entrusted to us through obedient saints.  I am proud to be part of a body of believers who sacrifice for the ministries of this church.  I am also proud to be part of a church who has been faithful to use wisely those sacrifices.  We may be having a difficult financial year, but we do not have to be in a panic because of how the church has been faithful through past years.  We have made sure to carry an emergency fund to help us through down years.  Thank you, Stewardship Team, for taking your job seriously.  They will make adjustments for next year’s budget but rest assured, they are doing what is necessary to continue ministry, so we can bring glory to God.  Let us all remain faithful with what God has given us and we will continue to bring glory to God as we engage Bartlesville and the world with the good news of Jesus Christ.

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