WHAT COLOR ARE YOUR THREADS?

          We’ve spent a few weeks talking about generosity: being a champion, modeling, teaching and celebrating.

          Did you notice that generosity isn’t just a money thing? It’s a heart thing and involves every part of our lives, our personal lives and our church lives.  Church is a fabric (the fabric of our lives), then generosity are the threads that are woven throughout.

          Have you looked at a beautiful piece of fabric where there is a pull? You know, a loop of thread, or a hole, or even a missing piece of thread? No matter how beautiful the rest of the piece of fabric, your eyes focus on the pull.

          If any part of generosity is missing in our churches, it’s just like that thread pull. The beauty of God that should be evident in our churches is a little bit ruined. That fabric is dependent on every thread, so every thread has to be included for the fabric to be complete.

          Every part of generosity has to be included in our church, for our churches to be complete!

          So be a model of generosity for others; be a champion for generosity. Teach it. Celebrate it. Follow the Bible and Be Generous and Giving!

         

 

                    WE MUST BE THE CHAMPIONS!

          The blog series that we are in has been about giving as a heart issue, and we’ve talked about Biblical generosity, modeling, celebrating, and generosity as a mark of discipleship.

          This week we are going to talk about champions. There are champions in sports, where there are medals and other awards. There is the song by Queen, “We Are the Champions”, which talks about being champions and fighting until the end.

          The champions I’m talking about today are those persons who make sure that generosity and giving are a priority. There should always be someone(s) at the table where generosity and giving are a priority. Generosity cannot take a back seat to anything that is going on in our church.

          We’ve talking about generosity being Biblical and part of our theology and our discipleship. This means that generosity cannot be ignored and must be a priority, no matter what. Of course, sometimes there are times when something really, really pressing comes along and generosity takes a back seat to that (and appropriately so). But those times should be few and far in between and those times cannot last forever.

          I know we’ve suffered through a pandemic that has now lasted more than one year; many of our buildings have been closed, some of our folks have become sick or passed away, some of us are vaccinated and some are not. For a while, just keeping a worship service going virtually took all of our energy and our focus. It was about survival. And I get it!

          But…we have to keep generosity before ourselves and before our folks, both those in leadership positions in the church, those regular attenders and those not-so-regular attenders. Giving is part of our worship and part of our being disciples, and important to the work that God is asking us to do in the world.

          We must be champions of generosity; and everyone in leadership positions should be champions of generosity as well. When we are champions, we will reach the world and we will transform it!

 

 

 

          GENEROSITY AS A MARK OF DISCIPLESHIP

          The blog series that we are in has been about giving as a heart issue, and we’ve talked about Biblical generosity, modeling and celebrating. This week we are talking about generosity as a mark of discipleship.

          What is a mark? It is a symbol or indication of something. So a mark of Christian discipleship would be something that indicates being a disciple of Jesus Christ.

          Talking about discipleship is something we’re doing here in our District and in the Conference as well. Our task, as Christians, is to make disciples for the transformation for the world. So, if we’re making disciples, then we must be talking about discipleship in our local churches.

• ·        How do we encourage folks to become disciples?
• ·        How do we help folks to move forward in their discipleship?

·        What are the steps people should follow in becoming stronger disciples, strong enough to start making disciples for the transformation of the world?

          We often talk about marks of discipleship, which include service, prayer, worship, leading, Bible study, etc. But there’s another mark we often don’t talk about, and that’s generosity and giving. Generosity and giving is as important as prayer and Bible study.

          I don’t believe someone can be a disciple if they’re not generous. But I also don’t believe that it comes naturally for a lot of people. If we’re working on our pathways and plans to help people become disciples and discipleship to become stronger disciples, then we need to include conversation and teaching about giving that is as important as teaching about how to pray and how to serve.

          Just as the “offering” during a worship service is a vital part of worship; as important as the singing and the prayer and the sermon, then giving and generosity is a vital part of discipleship, equally as important as prayer and service and Bible study.

          We have a responsibility to encourage generosity and to teach about giving and discipleship! How else will we reach the world and make disciples that will transform the world?

 

 

                                                     CELEBRATE 

          The blog series that we are in has been about giving as a heart issue, and we’ve talked about Biblical generosity and modeling. This week is about celebrating!

          It isn’t the celebration that we sometimes have at the end of the year when finance realizes all the bills are paid and ministry shares were paid in full (although that is certainly worth celebrating!). This is about celebrating what has happened because of people’s generosity. It’s not about the money, it’s about the lives that have been changed and the mission that has been accomplished.

          Every bit of our financial picture tells a story. What is the story that would motivate you to give generously?

• ·        A line-item budget;
• ·        A story about how the light bill might not get paid; or
• ·        A story about a life that has been affected?

I don’t know about how but I’m motivated to give by stories that tell me how generosity has changed lives, and how my gifts will be used to further ministry and mission, and change more lives!

So:

• ·        Tell the stories (there must be many!)
• ·        Thank the givers for their generosity!
• ·        Give thanks to God for the spirit that has moved through your people and how they were obedient to God.
•