No, this Sunday is not a math lesson. It's a spiritual law lesson. When we manage the 90% of God's money that we get to keep, and we give back the 10% God calls us to invest in the church, God blesses our obedience and faithfulness and we reap 100% plus. I know this to be true from my life experience and that of many others. I believe it will be true for you as well.
A common myth that some Christians believe is: There is no way 90% after tithing is more than 100% not tithing. All I can say is those who believe that have never tithed. This is the one matter in which we are told we can test God. So if you have never tried it, I challenge you to prayerfully consider testing God for God has never failed that test.
November is when we conduct our annual Stewardship Campaign and this year it will last for two weeks only. This Sunday I am focusing on how to manage the 90% of God's money that we are called to keep. If you have mastered that challenge then consider volunteering to mentor someone who wants to learn those skills. Just email me and let me know if you want to help.
And to those who complain that all the church talks about or wants is money, all I can say is that we are following in the footsteps of Jesus, who talked much about money:
- Sixteen of the thirty-eight parables were concerned with how to handle money and possessions.
- In the Gospels, an amazing one out of ten verses (288 in all) deal directly with the subject of money.
- The Bible offers 500 verses on prayer, less than 500 verses on faith, but more than 2,000 verses on money and possessions. [Howard L. Dayton, Jr., Leadership, Vol. 2, no. 2.]
Cornerstone has stood at a crossroad for way too long now. The choice is to continue as we are going and barely survive, or grow in the number of people who choose obedience in the giving of their tithes and offerings and thrive. To that end I have set the following goals:
- 5 new First-time Givers
- 2 new Financial Leaders in high-capacity giving
- 2 new Business Owners willing to give
- 15 new Online Givers
- 15 new Volunteers Wednesday Night
- 2 new Ministry Areas Leaders
- 5 new Ministry Team Leaders
- 10 new commitments to spend time with God daily
So pray and then listen - you may hear God calling you! And if you cannot afford to tithe, be sure to be at church Sunday, or watch the broadcast through our website. It is God's desire to bless your time, talent, treasure, and truth...test God now and see!
Rev Sandy, Pastor
No matter how hard we try, each of us experience failures in our lives. We get angry and lose it; we don't do what we say we will do; we stretch the truth; we don't tell the whole story; we enjoy listening to and maybe even repeating gossip. We are unfaithful to our partners; we make decisions we regret; we take things that do not belong to us. We let days go by without communicating with God; we fail to act upon our faith, just to name a few.
The good news of the gospel is that there is forgiveness for our failures. It's God's will that we are forgiven and that we forgive ourselves. Yet most of us have at least one failure that holds us back. We remember, we relive, and we regret. It's important to God that we have a way to move beyond our failures and walk in freedom. How we do that is what I'll be preaching on this Sunday. So bring your favorite failure to church, move beyond it, and go home forgiven. And if you know someone struggling with a failure, invite them to church and lunch afterward.
It's Pot Luck Sunday so make us something good to eat!
Rev Sandy, Pastor
All of us have ended up in places where we do not want to be. And sometimes it's hard to get from there to where you want to be. If that is where you find yourself on your spiritual journey, then Sunday is especially for you. You can bridge the gap between the old for new, heaven and earth, what's working for you and what's not.
We complete our series this week as we take all we've learned and build a bridge to success. We can be who God created us to be, allow Jesus to lead and we follow, simplify our lives, deepen our roots, and do with our lives what God wants us to do. We can experience spiritual success!
The dominion of God is not a place, it is within us. It's not about food, or drink, or material possessions. It's about living successful lives, by God's definition. When we are able to do that, love, joy and peace fill our hearts and minds. God's dominion comes and God's will is done, on earth as it is in heaven. I hope to see you Sunday!
Rev Sandy, Pastor
As we continue with our series, this week we are called to put down roots and go deeper in our faith. As we seek to be who God created us to be, make Jesus the center of all areas of our lives, and simplify our lives so we can do what God wants us to do, our roots grow deeper and we become stronger. And as the scripture records, like a tree planted by the waters, we shall not be moved!
So why do we stumble and fall? Why do we feel less than successful? I would dare say that we have missed something along the way. It could be that we're trying to be something different than God had in mind...or that we have areas of our lives we have yet to give to Jesus....or that we have do not know or live out our holy and sacred purpose. For when we are faithful in all of these practices, no matter what comes our way we can stand firm and survive all storms. We can fall down but we get back up. We can experience deeper success.
Don't live your life root bound with no where to go. Open your heart and mind to the life God longs for you to live. Join us Sunday at 10:45am as we go deeper, deeper, in the love of Jesus.
Rev Sandy, Pastor
At first those two words don't seem to go together. There's nothing simple about climbing the ladder of success. It takes work and determination for most people to be successful as the world defines it. Yet in the spiritual world, it's simple to be successful.
In week one we were reminded that spiritual success is being who God created you to be. So much of our lives are spent being who others want us to be. Try as hard as we might, we fall short meeting the needs and expectations of others. Yet we keep trying. And all the while we are distracted from what really matters to God.
We desire the material possessions that give the world evidence of our success, while Jesus calls us to seek other things first. I like the way Matthew 6:33 reads in The Message (inclusive) "If God gives such attention to the appearance of wildflowers-most of which are never even seen-don't you think God will attend to you, take pride in you, do the best for you? What I'm trying to do here is to get you to relax, to not be so preoccupied with getting, so you can respond to God's giving. People who don't know God and the way God works fuss over these things, but you know both God and how God works. Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. Don't worry about missing out. You'll find all your everyday human concerns will be met."
Simple success. It's possible, it's worth it, and it brings great joy. I'll leave you with a question from the text. Are you so preoccupied with getting that you're not responding to God's giving? Take time to thank God, especially for the blessings money cannot buy.
Join us Sunday at 10:45am as we dig a little deeper.
Rev Sandy, Pastor
