stewardship2

Stewardship of Time :
Time is God’s most amazing gift,
given freely
as we awaken each morning.
Are we doing God’s will? There is
only one
way to know for certain: by taking
time to
connect with God through prayer.
As children, we learned to recite
prayers. As
adults, we need to make prayer a
two-way
conversation. To take time to quietly
listen,
to allow God to enter our hearts. As
Jesus
said, “Come to me you who are
weary. Take my yoke upon you,
learn my ways and I will give you
rest. I will carry your heaviest
burdens. Trust in me and I will lead
you
every step of the way.” We are all
busy. But are
we too busy to find 10minutes from
the 1,440 minutes that God gives us
each day to pray? The daily decision
to give time to prayer, to listen to
God’s plans for us, affirms the trust
we place in God’s power over our
own.

Stewardship of Talent :
When we think of talent, we usually
equate it to a
special skill like painting or playing the
piano. Or a
personality trait like a knack for
meeting people.
The truth of the matter is all of us are
all packed
with God-given talent, but each with a
different array of gifts. And God, in His
wisdom, has given us free will to
choose how to use our gifts.
Free will doesn’t mean free rein. Our
first and
greatest commandment is, “To love
God with our
whole heart, our whole soul, our whole
mind.” We
do this when we nurture and develop
the gifts God
has given us. And when we use our
talents for the
benefit of others, we are living out the
second
great commandment, “To love our
neighbor as we
love ourselves.”
Nothing is too small or too insignificant
when it is
done in the name of God. As Jesus
said, “The harvest is abundant, but
the laborers are few.” Are
you working for God?

Stewardship of Treasure :

People often equate the word
“Stewardship” as code for “the church
wants my money.” In reality,
Stewardship is our decision to become
disciples for Christ, inviting the Holy
Spirit to work through our lives to
spread the Good News of Salvation.
For some, this means playing an active
role in evangelization programs. For
others, it’s a call to work for social
justice. For all of us, it reflects our
commitment to build the church
through our participation and financial
support. Again, as stewards we
recognize that all we have is a gift from
God. We express our gratitude by
giving back prayerfully and cheerfully
from the first fruits of our labors – not
by reluctantly parting with a portion of
what’s left after other obligations are
met.
There is no minimum gift, nor
maximum. Instead, joyful recognition
that God has and will continue to
provide for our needs. Jesus
expressed it best when he said, “I am
the vine, you are the branches.
Whoever remains in me and Iin him will
bear much fruit.”