Stewardship and Discipleship

As followers and disciples of Jesus, God calls us to make intentional decisions about how we spend our time, our talents, and our money (the resources God has given us to steward in His name) – and yet the busyness of life often leaves us making choices based on convenience and familiarity.  When we pause for a moment to listen to God, we begin to see the details of life that might otherwise go unnoticed.

Life in the church is no different: habits and routines can cause us to overlook what God is doing around us.  It’s easy to miss the richness and diversity of what God is doing in our midst; hundreds of people – many “beyond these walls” – are touched, served, equipped, and nurtured every day of the week by the ministries of Central.  It’s amazing to consider all that happens at Central beyond Sundays, and it’s only possible because of the time, talent, and money given by you.

Over the next two weeks, try something – step out of your usual patterns of interaction at Central:

•    Attend a different worship service or time;
•    Witness the Alpha dinner team preparing and serving a meal on Wednesday nights;
•    Stop by on a Thursday night to meditate while the choir prepares for Sunday worship; or
•    Check out Whirlwind (middle school) on Friday nights or Storm (high school on Sunday nights).

You are a critical part of what God is doing here at Central.  God is doing these things at Central through us – through our stewardship, through our giving.

As we continue looking at what it means to be an intentional disciple, we will consider together how God calls His people to be responsible and obedient stewards of His resources.  Over the next several weeks, we will hear from folks at Central who have wrestled with, and responded to, God’s call to be faithful stewards and generous givers.  On November 20th, we will study what Scripture says about stewardship and giving.  Then, during worship, there will be a special time set aside for each of us to consider our giving in response to God’s call.
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October, 2011 Letter to Congregation

Dear Members and Friends of Central,

Last month, we began the sermon series entitled The Intentional Disciple: Taking Our Cues from the Book of Acts, part of our year-long journey on the broader subject of discipleship.  One of the marks of a disciple, and one of the spiritual disciplines, is faithful stewardship of God’s generous provision.

As we reported at the end of July, Central did not make our budget for 2010-2011.  Although expenses were kept below budget, actual giving was less than what had been budgeted.  Because of the giving shortfall, we reduced this year’s budget by approximately $95,000, through downsizing ministries and programs, laying off staff, and reducing giving to missions.

Last year’s budget shortfall was also a sign of Central’s success: for the past few years, one of our mantras has been “beyond these walls.”  In that time, hundreds of visitors and guests – many of whom are new to the discipline of stewardship – have passed through Central’s doors and joined our fellowship.
 
The reality of having to live with a reduced budget grabbed our attention and forced us to look more closely at what Central is doing, why we are doing it, and how we are using the resources God has provided through your generous giving.  We also wrestled with how we, as leaders, have been teaching and modeling biblical truths about stewardship and giving – and we discovered that we haven’t done as good a job as we should.

It is a difficult thing for a church to even talk about money in our culture, but God deals with it clearly and repeatedly in Scripture, and so we must, too.  This November, we will continue the journey of the intentional disciple by taking a closer look at the spiritual discipline of stewardship – the responsible planning and management of God’s resources.  Then on November 20th, we will set aside a special time during worship to wrestle with, and respond to, God’s calling on each of us in regard to how we give of our time and money.

We also want to make the process of giving fit your own style as best we can.  So, in a few weeks, you will have an opportunity to let us know how you prefer to give by filling out a simple survey – keep an eye out for that.  Your giving statement from July 1 through October 14 is enclosed.

God is good and He is faithful.  We are called to listen to Him as He speaks to us, and then to respond in obedience.  Thank you for all that you do for Him and for Central.