Your Participation Matters!

In my second year I went through the Renewal Lab which is a space for churches who are seeking their current vision to walk it through gaining clarity and gaining language from the neighborhood and from the community.  From this experience of the Renewal Lab the Consistory went through and reviewed our Mission, Vision and Values statements and created 5-Year Goals.  What you have been witnessing is the unfolding of our action planning.  Things like; hiring a worship director, hiring a children’s and youth director, and collaborating with community organizations and neighbors that will help bring about a flourishing community are all a part of the 5 year plan in place.  One area we also identified as a goal is to become a financially flourishing community and that’s what I want to write to you about today.  

In order to become a financially flourishing community; we need your participation.  Or as the title says: your participation matters.  When I say your participation matters, I am not speaking solely about dollars but I am more so speaking about faithful stewardship.  Are we being a faithful community in how we steward the resource of money given to us by God?  Are we a 100% giving community?  

Scripture is very clear about this: all of what we have and are come from God, including money.  Psalm 24:1: "The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it.  This passage is not only speaking about money but “everything” includes the resource of money.  Proverbs 3:9-10 teaches us to "Honor the Lord with your wealth, with the first fruits of all your crops; then your barns will be filled to overflowing, and your vats will brim over with new wine.  In the Old Testament one way of giving was practiced was through the tithe or a tenth of the harvest was given to God, for the sake of ministry and to be distributed to those in need.  Today we do not live in an agrarian culture so it isn’t grain or wheat or produce given it is money.

As New Testament people (we don’t live in an Old Testament culture) that word tithe is often replaced with the word “giving” simply because we are not bound to that culture norm; however we should understand the principle that tithing teaches us as new testament “givers.”

Tithing has deep biblical roots. Across both the Old and New Testaments, generosity is presented as a response of faith, gratitude, and obedience. Malachi 3:10 challenges believers: “Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the Lord, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it.” The tithe—traditionally 10% of one's earnings—has long served as a tangible declaration that everything we have comes from God.

The New Testament adds a posture to the practice. 2 Corinthians 9:7 reminds us: “Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.” Generosity is not just about the amount; it's about the heart behind it.  The heart says I recognize the source or the giver of money and want to be a giver just like the One who gave to me.  The heart behind the New Testament giver is to participate as a “source” to those in need, to community organizations and to faith communities like Maple Avenue Ministries.  

At its core the New Testament goal is for generosity, giving, stewardship to all be a part of our worship.  

So how do you do that?  Participate.  By being a giver you participate.  By being a giver you are being a worshipper.  

If you have heard me talk about giving you’ve heard me discuss my personal struggles (past tense) with giving.  I used to get real tight (and certain dollar amounts still give me that tight feeling) because I never want to experience poverty or a season of immense worry ever again.  So I was honest and am honest with God about how I feel about giving and ultimately what happened was God allowed me to start where my “cheerful heart” was.  I started giving $120 a paycheck, then as the years have gone by my faith has become stronger and now I give whatever the Spirit of God leads me to give.  Hear me well…this took YEARS.  Financial trauma (I’ll teach on this soon) is a real thing.  It took YEARS to get to this place but I’m here and I love it.  So my encouragement to you, the “you” who does not give anything financially is to begin to trust God in the area of financial giving.  Whether that’s $25, $50, $100 a pay period, participate.  Your participation matters.

For me, the easiest way to start is to set up recurring gifts.  It’s a way to remove me from that “wrestling moment” and to be honest, it also helps me trust.  When it was $120, I recognized that I didn’t miss a thing and when I realized I was safe, and the Spirit said “give more” it was easier to change the recurring gift. “Recurring giving honors both. It expresses the discipline of the Old Testament tithe and the cheerful intentionality of the New Testament call to generosity.”   It's stewardship in motion.  

My encouragement to you, who struggle with consistently giving is this: try it.  For me I set it up to come out on the day after payroll hits.  And when the plate is passed at church I tap it, knowing and trusting that the seed I planted will produce a harvest in the season I need and in the way it's needed.  Set it up today and watch God’s faithfulness in action.  We are a 100% giving community!

Pastor Winfred