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Resolutions for Stewards
I resolve to trust God more, believing that in His wisdom and abundance
He will give me all that I need.
I resolve to spend more time with God, giving a few more minutes of each
day to prayer, worship and spiritual reading.
I resolve to find more ways to share my unique skills and talents so
that my special strengths will make a difference in this world. I
resolve to give a generous share of my treasure to God’s work here on
earth, making this the first check that I write each week or each month.
HOW MUCH TIME DOES GOD GET?
God has blessed each of us with 1,440 minutes in every day and 10,080
minutes in every week. How many of those minutes do we give back to God
each week? Studies show that the majority of our time goes to sleeping,
working and watching TV. In fact, typically over 1,000 minutes a week or
about 10% of our time goes to watching TV. In contrast, how much time
does God get? Typically, less than 100 minutes or less than 1% of our
time is devoted to spiritual activities like prayer and worship. How can
you give God a little more of your time? Consider church attendance,
prayer, spiritual reading, or volunteering.
No
Need to Pledge?
The story is told of a wise pastor who went to get a hair cut. The
barber, who also happened to be a church member, took the opportunity to
tell the pastor all the reasons why the barber was not going to complete
his stewardship pledge card.
“I don’t think we should have to promise to give money to God. We should
give what our heart tells us at the time. I like to be able to just put
in the collection whatever I have that week.”
The pastor listened carefully and after his haircut he handed the barber
$1 for the $10 haircut, saying, “I like to give what my heart tells me –
just whatever I have in my pocket at the time.”
“Father,” the barber protested, “I can’t pay my rent, take care of my
expenses and run my business successfully if everyone would do that.”
“Neither can God,” the pastor replied.
Obituary
Our Church was saddened to learn this week of the death of one of our
most valued members, Someone Else. Someone's passing creates a vacancy
that will be difficult to fill. Else has been with us for many years and
for every one of those years, Someone did far more than a normal
person's share of the work. Whenever there was a job to do or a meeting
to attend, one name was on everyone's list, "Let Someone Else do it."
Whenever leadership was mentioned, this wonderful person was looked to
for inspiration as well as results: "Someone Else can lead that
project." It was common knowledge that Someone Else was among the most
liberal givers in our Church. Whenever there was a financial need,
everyone just assumed Someone Else would make up the difference. Someone
Else was a wonderful person; sometimes appearing superhuman. Were the
truth known, everybody expected too much of Someone Else. Now Someone
Else is gone! We wonder what we are going to do. Someone Else left a
wonderful example to follow, but who is going to follow it? Who is going
to do the things Someone Else did? When you are asked to help this year,
remember -- we can't depend on Someone Else anymore.
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