Pastor's Note

Faithful Giving, Pt 3: Faithful Giving is in Proportion to your Resources (Money, Time and Talent)

Faithful giving flows from your relationship with God.
Faithful giving is in proportion to your resources of money, time and talent.
Faithful giving is regular.
Giving may include extra opportunities to stretch.
Faithful giving to additional causes is great.
Faithful giving satisfies a deep spiritual hunger.

How often is God present in your life? How regularly does God bless you? Once or twice a year? Every once in a while--when something big happens? When *you* notice?

God’s blessings come daily. One of our elders told me once that every morning when she wakes up and first opens her eyes, she says out loud. “Good morning, Jesus. Thank you for another day.”

God gives to us daily--our daily bread, and so much more. Faithful giving means giving routinely--not only in response to certain events, in response to a crisis, or at year’s end. In decades past, when there was strong social pressure to attend worship every Sunday, the baskets/plates coming around made it easy and convenient to make a regular contribution, a small portion of what God provided.

It’s still easy--most banks and credit unions offer free online banking and you can set up a regular offering to Redeemer Lutheran Church to be drawn out on a particular day each week or month. Even easier (but at a small cost to Redeemer), you can set up regular giving by clicking on the yellow DONATE button on the website and walking through the PayPal steps listed there. VOILA! Regular, faithful giving--and, if you are forgetful enough, you’ll get close to that value shared in Matthew about giving “without knowing what the left hand is doing.”

Does it help your church to spread out your giving in regular “doses”? Yes, yes, a hundred times YES! We can plan better for ministry and attend to ongoing expenses if we can rely on your offering. Just as you want to be able to rely on your income month-to-month, the church does too, as much as possible.

Your regular giving over time will also reveal to you the triumph of an abundance mentality over a scarcity mindset. Only in the rarest of circumstances have I encountered a household that finds it just can’t keep up with regular giving. Best to start with a modest amount on a regular pattern, and see if growth is possible after a year’s time. I am 100% certain we would all experience growth if every household put their giving on a regular schedule. Planned giving offers peace of mind and the spiritual blessing of knowing you have entered into a trusting relationship with God.

Peace, Pastor Lisa