Be gracious, loving God, unto this dear reader; make bright the path they seek. In Christ Jesus' Name, amen.
"Our Story" is the title of our new sermon series. It is based on the book of Nehemiah and other scriptures from the New Testament. It is to help tell our story compared with Nehemiah's, as well as to begin our stewardship season. Our goal is to see what it is that God would have be and do as we plan for our financial New Year. Our sermon yesterday was on Nehemiah 1:1-4 on the importance of beginning anything with prayer and fasting. We shared four things that happen when we pray, along with whatever else God does with our prayers: 1) prayer gives us ownership in whatever it is we are praying for/about; 2) It allows our heart to join with the heart of God; 3) Our heart joins with the hearts of others praying with us for the same thing; 4) We are blessed for just being in prayer.
The NT passage was the incredible passage about the spirit of generosity in the Macedonian churches (2 Cor. 8:1-5) and we learned from them the Macedonian Model for Giving: 1) Give from what you have; no promises of shared lottery winnings! 2) Give generously, surprise yourself! 3) Even when facing troubles, give! 4) Show your "true color" as being that of a giver! 5) Be happy though poor or rich! The people of Macedonia were facing economic times worse than ours and yet even Paul could not understand why they were so generous and giving and why they would plead for the privilege of helping out fellow Christians. The church laughed when I asked if they had ever heard a preacher say, "Please stop giving, you've given enough! We don't know what to do with the money we have!"
What is your story? Are you a person of prayer and generosity? Do you find yourself happy for what you have and out of that you give to God? Or are you one awaiting a big windfall, the death of a loved one who's named you in their will? Guess what? God has already put your name in the "will" that counts and we call that the Book of Life, anything else pales in comparison; so give out of the riches you presently have.
PRAYER: Open my heart and eyes to see, dear God, of all that I have already received. I am so blessed to be a part of a praying community, and I am blessed to be named among those who have life in abundance now and look forward to life eternal. Let me be a blessing to You and Yours today. I ask this in Christ Jesus' precious name, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord!
Eradio Valverde
For further study, read Genesis 28:22 and see there what was considered a proper relationship in giving between oneself and God.
