2 Corinthians 9:6-15 ; Luke21:1-4 I remember an autumn Sunday from many years ago when I sat in the pews of my church, and the pastor stepped into the pulpit. It was the custom at that time for the pastor to make the announcements of the church right before the sermon. He began with an announcement about the budget. At that time in my life I paid zero attention to budget matters, but apparently there were some financial difficulties, budget shortfall, if you can imagine such a thing. I only half listened, but at some point I noticed that his announcement was running really long. About 20 minutes later he stopped talking. He acknowledged rather sheepishly that he had spent too much time on the announcements and would forgo his sermon rather than make us suffer through another 20 minutes of him talking. The congregation laughed, he wrapped up with a prayer, and that was that. But […]
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Go and See
Mark 6:30-44 Recently, I came across this list of the top ten things you never hear in church. Hey – it’s my turn to sit in the front row! Pastor, I was so enthralled, I never noticed your sermon ran 25 minutes over. Personally, I find witnessing much more enjoyable than golf. How long is the waiting list to serve on session? I’ll be the permanent nursery volunteer. Isn’t it great to have the children running around the church making a joyful noise? I LOVE it when we sing songs I’ve never heard before! No, don’t ask someone else. Let me do it. Pastor, we’d like to send you to this Bible seminar in Hawaii. Nothing inspires me and strengthens my commitment like our annual stewardship drive![1] We always hear a few groans when stewardship time comes around. It seems, to many folks, like a necessary evil. We wish we […]
Continue readingWhat We Give
Scripture texts: 2 Samuel 1:1,17-27; 2 Corinthians 8:7-15 Ours is a culture that believes in charity. It’s a value we share, that it is good to give to those who are in need. We believe that it is good to give, but not that we should be compelled to give. It should be something that comes from the heart, so each one should have the right, and should be encouraged, to give freely; to give as much as one has made up one’s mind to give. I think we got this idea from the Apostle Paul. Paul tells the Corinthians that he wants them to be generous, basically for their own sake, but that he does not want to compel them to be generous. Because that would sort of defeat the purpose. He really wants them to want to do good. And you just can’t force that on someone. That […]
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