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An introduction of Stewardship to the congregation
July 2009
Have you ever been in a
quandary about how much to give to your church? Of course you have. Each of us has had to struggle with how much we
will or can give to our church.
Ted Knutson was a farmer dealing with just this problem. He and his wife gave their
time and talent to God, but while considering giving resources to his church he was perplexed by the issues of
a typical farmer … income comes at once after the harvest, but the church has monthly needs. Sometimes it is a
struggle to come up with a plan we can live with.
Ted wondered what he could do about it personally. He and his wife took the situation
to the Lord. As the two prayed and thought about it, they
came to the conclusion that just as they paid regularly
for the necessities of life: food, clothing, gasoline, and
utilities, they too could give weekly to the church. They
also concluded that if they had a bountiful harvest and
their income swelled, they would be able to give a full
tithe or more.
The full story is in this
month’s issue of Stewardship, but with that
plan, they were able to find inner peace regarding their
stewardship. The trouble was that when only small amounts
were given weekly to the church, the church sometimes had
to borrow from the bank to meet current expenses. As
others learned of the Knutson’s new approach to financial
giving, perhaps they would follow suit.
What does the Knutson story
say to us? Surely it says that every Christian family
must work out their own stewardship plan. And it says that
praying seriously about it will enable each family to find
guidance as to what they should do about their own
stewardship.
Prayer: Almighty God, you open your hands and all of our needs are
met. Guide us in the use of all your gifts to us that we
may please you completely in our stewardship. Amen. |