Sermon for September 23rd, 2012 - Revision history

Iraneal: 11 revisions

2013-10-14T01:29:53Z

11 revisions

Iraneal at 22:39, 22 September 2012

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Iraneal at 22:36, 22 September 2012

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Iraneal at 22:28, 22 September 2012

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Iraneal at 22:10, 22 September 2012

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Iraneal at 21:39, 22 September 2012

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Iraneal at 20:15, 22 September 2012

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Iraneal at 19:55, 22 September 2012

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Iraneal at 19:28, 22 September 2012

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Iraneal at 19:02, 22 September 2012

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 And now, to our members:  We will soon be entering into our fall stewardship campaign.  I have heard many of you say that you feel a new spirit of excitement and possibility in our church, a new energy and a new hope.  I agree with you, and I believe that God is truly at work here.  But remember that God-sized dreams require God-sized commitment, and God-sized generosity.  That applies to our time, our abilities, and yes, our finances, too.  Bill Burroughs, who was a pastor here many years ago, said "Our whole lives must be God's if our lives are to be whole."
 Every Sunday we respond to God's Word in our worship service with our whole lives, and part of that response is presenting our tithes and offerings.   A tithe is an old English word that simply means "tenth."  So for members of the church, the expectation is that we give a tenth of our weekly, monthly, or annual income to the church.  As simple as this sounds, it is difficult for some, and some of our members are steadily working their way up to tithing, increasing their giving by one or two percentage pints each year until they get to ten percent.  For those of you who are in this category, and really for everyone, too -- I encourage you to take God at his word in Malachi.  He says: "Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be food in my house, and thus put me to the test, says the Lord of hosts; see if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you an overflowing blessing."
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-"Our whole lives must be God's if our lives are to be whole."  --Bill Burroughs.

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 To our visitors today:  Whether or not you give here, I encourage you to give somewhere to what God is doing in our world and in our community.  And I don't just mean putting a few dollars in an offering plate.  Make your gifts consistent, and significant enough that both you and the recipients of your giving feel the weight of the gift.  This is for your own benefit as much for the recipients of your gift.  Some people call it "Karma"--what goes around comes around.  As Christians, we call it the Golden Rule, from Matthew 7:12--Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. It applies to finances as well:  Give as generously to others as you want others (including God) to give to you.
-And now, to our members:  We will soon be entering into our fall stewardship campaign.  I have heard many of you say that you feel a new spirit of excitement and possibility in our church, a new energy and a new hope.  I agree with you, and I believe that God is truly at work here.  But remember that God-sized dreams require God-sized commitment, and God-sized generosity.  That applies to our time, our abilities, and yes, our finances, too.  Every Sunday we respond to God's Word in our worship service, and part of that response is presenting our tithes and offerings.   A tithe is an old English word that simply means "tenth."  So for members of the church, the expectation is that we give a tenth of our weekly, monthly, or annual income to the church.  As simple as this sounds, we realize it is difficult for some, and some of our members are steadily working their way up to tithing, increasing their giving by one or two percent each year until they get to ten percent.
+And now, to our members:  We will soon be entering into our fall stewardship campaign.  I have heard many of you say that you feel a new spirit of excitement and possibility in our church, a new energy and a new hope.  I agree with you, and I believe that God is truly at work here.  But remember that God-sized dreams require God-sized commitment, and God-sized generosity.  That applies to our time, our abilities, and yes, our finances, too.  Bill Burroughs, who was a pastor here many years ago, said "Our whole lives must be God's if our lives are to be whole."
 "Our whole lives must be God's if our lives are to be whole."  --Bill Burroughs.

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 The third servant was afraid. And that's too often how we make our decisions about giving:  We are afraid.  What if I give and then I can't afford the house payment? What if I give and then I need that money for groceries? What if I give and then some emergency comes up, and I have to pay hospital bills?  I'd be better off just sitting on that money.  I'll give more when I get more.  But that's putting things in the wrong order, like putting the cart before the horse.  We are supposed to give our tithes and offerings as a response to God's Word, but too often we reverse that order:  We finally turn to God after we've already given our money to everyone else, and we say "Help, God! I need more money!" But that's money leading us to God's Word, when God's Word should lead us to the proper use of money.
-So what is the proper use of money?  Well, that depends on whose money it is.  If it's your money, the proper use is whatever you want to use it for, and then whatever is left over might be enough to give to charity.  But if it is the Master's money, then the proper use is whatever the Master wants to use it for.  And our Master promises us that whatever is left over will be enough for us to live and not fear for tomorrow.  If it's your money, and you give it to charity, that's an expression of what a kind and compassionate person you are.  But I don't think any of the servants in Jesus' parable saw themselves as giving to charity.  They were investors, and when you give to the church or Christian ministries, you are investing in what God is doing in the world.  Make no mistake, God does not need our money to accomplish his plans.  God has a plan for the world, and for the City of El Paso.  God is going to do it with or without us...but he invites us to join in what he's doing.  And so we give, not to show how kind or compassionate we are, not to make ourselves feel better...but because we want to be part of what God is doing.  We want to be on the right team, in the middle of the game, and not sitting on the sidelines.
+So what is the proper use of money?  Well, that depends on whose money it is.  If it's your money, the proper use is whatever you want to use it for, and then whatever is left over might be enough to give to charity.  But if it is the Master's money, then the proper use is whatever the Master wants to use it for.  And our Master promises us that whatever is left over will be enough for us to live and not fear for tomorrow.  If it's your money, and you give it to charity, that's an expression of what a kind and compassionate person you are.  But I don't think any of the servants in Jesus' parable saw themselves as giving to charity.  They were investors, and when you give to the church or Christian ministries, you are investing in what God is doing in the world.  Make no mistake, God does not need our money to accomplish his plans.  God has a plan for the world, and for the City of El Paso.  God is going to do it with or without us...but he invites us to join in what he's doing.  And so we give, not to show how kind or compassionate we are, not to make ourselves feel better...but because we want to be part of what God is doing.  We want to be on the team, in the middle of the game, and not sitting on the sidelines.
-I would like to address separately, for a moment, our visitors and then our members, as I believe the expectations for each are somewhat different.
+As I conclude, I would like to address separately, for a moment, our visitors and then our members, as I believe the expectations for each should be somewhat different.
 To our visitors today:  Whether or not you give here, I encourage you to give somewhere to what God is doing in our world and in our community.  And I don't just mean putting a few dollars in an offering plate.  Make your gifts consistent, and significant enough that both you and the recipients of your giving feel the weight of the gift.  This is for your own benefit as much for the recipients of your gift.  Some people call it "Karma"--what goes around comes around.  As Christians, we call it the Golden Rule, from Matthew 7:12--Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. It applies to finances as well:  Give as generously to others as you want others (including God) to give to you.
-And now, to our members:  We will soon be entering into our fall stewardship campaign.  I have heard many of you say that you feel a new spirit of excitement and possibility in our church, a new energy and a new hope.  I agree with you, and I believe that God is truly at work here.  But remember that God-sized dreams require God-sized commitment, and God-sized generosity.  That applies to our time, our abilities, and yes, our finances, too.
+And now, to our members:  We will soon be entering into our fall stewardship campaign.  I have heard many of you say that you feel a new spirit of excitement and possibility in our church, a new energy and a new hope.  I agree with you, and I believe that God is truly at work here.  But remember that God-sized dreams require God-sized commitment, and God-sized generosity.  That applies to our time, our abilities, and yes, our finances, too.  Every Sunday we respond to God's Word in our worship service, and part of that response is presenting our tithes and offerings.   A tithe is an old English word that simply means "tenth."  So for members of the church, the expectation is that we give a tenth of our weekly, monthly, or annual income to the church.  As simple as this sounds, we realize it is difficult for some, and some of our members are steadily working their way up to tithing, increasing their giving by one or two percent each year until they get to ten percent.
-−
-Every Sunday as we respond to God's Word in our worship service,
 "Our whole lives must be God's if our lives are to be whole."  --Bill Burroughs.

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 So what is the proper use of money?  Well, that depends on whose money it is.  If it's your money, the proper use is whatever you want to use it for, and then whatever is left over might be enough to give to charity.  But if it is the Master's money, then the proper use is whatever the Master wants to use it for.  And our Master promises us that whatever is left over will be enough for us to live and not fear for tomorrow.  If it's your money, and you give it to charity, that's an expression of what a kind and compassionate person you are.  But I don't think any of the servants in Jesus' parable saw themselves as giving to charity.  They were investors, and when you give to the church or Christian ministries, you are investing in what God is doing in the world.  Make no mistake, God does not need our money to accomplish his plans.  God has a plan for the world, and for the City of El Paso.  God is going to do it with or without us...but he invites us to join in what he's doing.  And so we give, not to show how kind or compassionate we are, not to make ourselves feel better...but because we want to be part of what God is doing.  We want to be on the right team, in the middle of the game, and not sitting on the sidelines.
-I would like to address separately, for a moment, our visitors and then our members, as I believe the expectations are somewhat different.
+I would like to address separately, for a moment, our visitors and then our members, as I believe the expectations for each are somewhat different.
-To our visitors today:  Whether or not you give here, I encourage you to give somewhere to what God is doing in our world and in our community.  And I don't just mean putting a few dollars in an offering plate.  Make your gifts significant enough that both you and the recipients of your giving feel the weight of the gift, and then do so consistently, on a regular repeating basis, not just from time to time or when you feel you are able.  This is for your own benefit as much (or more) than for the recipient of your giving.  In some traditions, this might be called "Karma" -- what goes around comes around.  As Christians, we call it the Golden Rule:  Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.
+To our visitors today:  Whether or not you give here, I encourage you to give somewhere to what God is doing in our world and in our community.  And I don't just mean putting a few dollars in an offering plate.  Make your gifts consistent, and significant enough that both you and the recipients of your giving feel the weight of the gift.  This is for your own benefit as much for the recipients of your gift.  Some people call it "Karma"--what goes around comes around.  As Christians, we call it the Golden Rule, from Matthew 7:12--Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. It applies to finances as well:  Give as generously to others as you want others (including God) to give to you.
--different levels of giving: sporadic givers, consistent givers, tithers, sacrificial givers.
+And now, to our members:  We will soon be entering into our fall stewardship campaign.  I have heard many of you say that you feel a new spirit of excitement and possibility in our church, a new energy and a new hope.  I agree with you, and I believe that God is truly at work here.  But remember that God-sized dreams require God-sized commitment, and God-sized generosity.  That applies to our time, our abilities, and yes, our finances, too.
--To our members:  God-sized dreams require God-sized commitment, and God-sized generosity.
--God has a plan for the world, and for the City of El Paso. God doesn't need us to accomplish this plan.  God is going to do it with or without us, but he invites us to join in what he's doing--to be on his side.
--To our visitors:  Principle of reaping what yo sow.  Some call it Karma, Christians call it the Golden Rule, and it applies to finances as well.
 "Our whole lives must be God's if our lives are to be whole."  --Bill Burroughs.

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 #It is something we initiate or choose to do of our own free will.
 #It is something we do with our own property, from what already belongs to us.
 #It is based on what we feel we can "afford" after all other things are considered.
 But today's passage from Matthew calls those assumptions into question.  As is often the case in the Gospels, Jesus takes the way of the world and flips it upside down, shifting our perspectives and challenging the way we see ourselves, our actions, and most importantly, our God.
-In this parable, we have a Master who goes on a journey.  The master, is of course, God. We are the servants. Notice that it is the master who summons the servants to him, the master who decides how much to give each servant, and the master who entrusts them with his own money.  This is a challenge to the first assumption, that giving is something we initiate.  God is the one who initiates the giving process--he does this by summoning us to himself, by assessing how much we are capable of handling, and then by entrusting us with an appropriate amount. Everything we do is merely a response to what God has already done.  And here in this parable, we see three different responses from three different people.
+In this parable, we have a Master who goes on a journey.  The master, is of course, God.  We are the servants.  Notice that it is the master who summons the servants to him, the master who decides how much to give each servant, and the master who entrusts them with his own money.  This is a challenge to the first assumption, that giving is something we initiate.  God is the one who initiates the giving process--he does this by summoning us to himself, by assessing how much we are capable of handling, and then by entrusting us with an appropriate amount. Everything we do is merely a response to what God has already done.  And here in this parable, we see three different responses from three different people.  We'll come back to those in a minute.
-A "talent," by the way, is no small amount of money.  One talent is approximately 6,000 denarii, and one denarii would have been the average wage for one day's labor.  So adjusted for inflation, one talent today would probably be somewhere between $300,000 to half a million dollars.  So the master gives the first servant a few million dollars, the second servant about a million, and the third servant several hundred thousand dollars.  Generous guy, right?  Wrong.  Because he doesn't really "give" it to them--as we learn at the end of the parable, he fully expects to get it back.  But he does give the servants complete freedom
+I would like to address separately, for a moment, our visitors and then our members, as I believe the expectations are somewhat different.
 -different levels of giving: sporadic givers, consistent givers, tithers, sacrificial givers.
 -To our members:  God-sized dreams require God-sized commitment, and God-sized generosity.

← Older revision	Revision as of 01:29, 14 October 2013
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← Older revision		Revision as of 19:55, 22 September 2012
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	#It is a personal expression of our own kindness and compassion to others (i.e. the church or the ministry).		#It is a personal expression of our own kindness and compassion to others (i.e. the church or the ministry).

−	But today's passage from Matthew calls those assumptions into question.	+	But today's passage from Matthew calls those assumptions into question. As is often the case in the Gospels, Jesus takes the way of the world and flips it upside down, shifting our perspectives and challenging the way we see ourselves, our actions, and most importantly, our God.
		+
		+	In this parable, we have a Master who goes on a journey. The master, is of course, God. Notice that it is the master who summons the servants to him, the master who decides how much to give each servant, and the master who entrusts them with his own money. A "talent," by the way, is no small amount of money. One talent is approximately 6,000 denarii, and one denarii would have been the average wage for one day's labor. So if we adjust for inflation and calculate based on the minimum wage, one talent would be close

← Older revision		Revision as of 19:28, 22 September 2012
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	(Gordon's Joke Here)		(Gordon's Joke Here)

		+	I suspect that many of us, whether we are willing to acknowledge it or not, tend to think of giving to the church (or to any Christian cause, for that matter) in the following three ways:
		+	#It is something we initiate or choose to do of our own free will.
		+	#It is something we do with our own property, with what already belongs to us.
		+	#It is a personal expression of our own kindness and compassion to others (i.e. the church or the ministry).
		+
		+	But today's passage from Matthew calls those assumptions into question.

← Older revision		Revision as of 19:02, 22 September 2012
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	If you are a first-time visitor today, I promise I won't talk about money every Sunday. But I did say that this is my "first" Money Sermon, and I promise it won't be my last, either. My plan is to preach on financial stewardship (money) four times a year. Incidentally, that is far less than Jesus himself preached about money in the gospels--but I'm no Jesus, of course. Four times a year will have to suffice.		If you are a first-time visitor today, I promise I won't talk about money every Sunday. But I did say that this is my "first" Money Sermon, and I promise it won't be my last, either. My plan is to preach on financial stewardship (money) four times a year. Incidentally, that is far less than Jesus himself preached about money in the gospels--but I'm no Jesus, of course. Four times a year will have to suffice.
		+
		+	(Gordon's Joke Here)
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		+
		+
		+
		+	-different levels of giving: sporadic givers, consistent givers, tithers, sacrificial givers.
		+	-To our members: God-sized dreams require God-sized commitment, and God-sized generosity.
		+	-God has a plan for the world, and for the City of El Paso. God doesn't need us to accomplish this plan. God is going to do it with or without us, but he invites us to join in what he's doing--to be on his side.
		+	-To our visitors: Principle of reaping what you sow. Some call it Karma, Christians call it the Golden Rule, and it applies to finances as well.
		+
		+
		+
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		+	"Our whole lives must be God's if our lives are to be whole." --Bill Burroughs.