Sermon - 11-19-23

<p>In some churches when I say that we have come to end of our stewardship campaign, people often breathe a sigh of relief. The thought may be that we don’t have to hear money talk again for another year. If you have noticed here at Faith, the past two Sundays have not been about money. It has been about how Faith has embraced people and how we use the resources that we have been given to take care of and are shared with our neighbors.</p> <p>Over the years, stewardship has gotten a bad rap. It is all how we define stewardship. I have said once or twice that the word comes from the old English and means keeper of the pig sty. To be a steward means that we take care of what has been entrusted to us.</p> <p>What has been entrusted to us is time, talent and treasure. This really does include our relationships, with ourselves and others. So, stewardship is about how we take care of all of these things and people. The bottom line is that we as Christians believe that we do not own anything, God owns everything.</p> <p>This way of thinking does not fly too well in our society. We all work hard to get what we have. As Christians, we are called to think about we and not I. We were created to live in community. This is what God in Jesus Christ has been trying to teach us how to do since God put human beings on this earth.</p> <p>Somehow when we can focus on what we are thankful for, it is easier to have the we way of thinking. Thus, it is more than appropriate to celebrate Stewardship/Thanksgiving Sunday together. Stewardship is about living our lives in thankfulness.</p> <p>I would like us to think about how often we have talked about giving back what we own, where in reality, we don’t own anything. I would like us rather to think about, how we use what we have been given to manage. Nothing is permanent, in reality everything is temporary. We are challenged to use our time, talent and treasure to the best of our ability to glorify God in thanksgiving and in consultation with God in Jesus Christ.</p> <p>Worshipping here t