Stewardship Matters! 

   The mission of Zion's Stewardship Ministry is to help God's people grow in their relationship with Jesus through the use of the time, talents, and finances God has entrusted to them.

4 Qualities of a Generous Life -Generosity should be the hallmark of every Christian. Why? Because God has been so generous to us! He sent his only Son to take on human form, live a perfect life, and die a gruesome death so that we might have peace with God, everlasting joy, and forgiveness of sins. God's amazing grace should motivate us to be lavishly generous to others in this life. God also shows us through his word that he has a very generous heart to those in need. Deut. 10:18 says: "God executes justice for the fatherless and the widow, and loves the sojourner, giving him food and clothing." As Christians, our aim is to become more like God and more like his son Jesus in this life. If God has such a generous heart, we should have one too. So here are four qualities of a generous life with some practical ideas of how you can cultivate a generous heart:
1.    Live a Simple Life - Those who are generous should cultivate the quality of simplicity. In other words, generous people are not always looking to build their own little earthly kingdoms with perishing goods, but rather they look to build up everlasting treasure. Generous people look to simplify their lifestyles. It's easy to miss opportunities to be generous when we're overly busy. All too often, we plunge ourselves into self-centered activities, hobbies, and endeavors and give little regard to those in need. Don't get me wrong, activities and hobbies are wonderful. But, my question to myself and to you is, "Are we too busy to give freely of our time and money?" Look for areas in your life that you can scale back a bit. For example, can you cut back on going out to eat so you can give more to your church or to those in need?
2.    Live Like Everything is God's -Nothing is ours. Our houses, cars, clothes, and iPads are not ours. Sure, we bought them with money we worked for, but where did that job come from? Who gave you the health and faculties to perform your job functions? It's only by God's grace that you have what you have. Everything we own is God's. When we begin to realize that, we can start to understand the biblical concept of stewardship more easily. We are stewards – or managers – of what God has given us. And someday, we will have to give an account. Let's ask ourselves, "If everything is God's, what would he want me to do with my money and possessions?" We already know what the answer is. Jesus says, "Lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal." Matthew 6:20
3.    Live With Open Hearts - There are over 2,100 verses in the Bible that talks about God's heart for the poor. Living with open hearts simply means that we develop and cultivate a heart like God's – one that thinks about, cares for, and is generous to the poor, weak, and marginalized of society. Practically speaking, we need to let the gospel sink deeply into our hearts so we have a heart like God's and not like the world, which seeks after earthly goods. Letting the gospel sink deeply into our hearts requires that we spend time meditating on, reading about, and thanking God for the tremendous gift in Jesus Christ that he's given us.
4.    Live With Open Hands - Living with open hands means that we have a loose grip on life. In other words, we don't clutch tightly to our earthly goods, but rather are willing to have a loose grip on all our possessions! Learn to give! It's easier to do this when we view everything as God's. Unfortunately, many things prevent us from living with open hands. Debt is one of those things that is a major generosity killer! Ask yourself, "What is preventing me from living with open hands?" Is it debt, greed, stinginess, or simply a lack of compassion?
What else would you add to this list?
+     These are the overarching qualities of a generous life, but what others would you add?
+     How are you doing with cultivating a generous heart in your own life?
+    Can you share some examples of ways God has changed you in this area?

A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol is more than a holiday favorite, it is also a stewardship story. It is a story of personal transformation and dramatic change in generosity. Through the visit of three ghosts, Ebenezer Scrooge is a changed person. Whereas the "old" Scrooge was a model of stinginess, the "new" Scrooge becomes committed to generosity.
At the beginning of the story Scrooge is very rich, very stingy and very miserable. Dickens describes Scrooge this way: "Oh! but he was a tight-fisted hand at the grindstone, Scrooge! a squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching, covetous sinner! Hard and sharp as flint, from which no steel had ever struck out generous fire, secret, and self-contained, and solitary as an oyster. The cold within him froze his old features..." This Scrooge makes life miserable for his loyal clerk and greets any sort of kindness or cheer with a gruff, "Bah, humbug!"
Then came that fateful night when Scrooge was visited by three ghosts: the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Future respectively. By the time the third visitor is gone, Scrooge is so startled, so utterly scared by the prospect of his future if his present course is unchanged, that Scrooge is changed. But not just changed, he is transformed.
When Scrooge awakes, he has a conversation with himself during which he says, "I am as light as a feather, I am as happy as an angel, I am as merry as a schoolboy. I am as giddy as a drunken man. A merry Christmas to everybody!"
Scrooge then makes the necessary arrangements to send the largest turkey he has ever seen to his clerk, Bob Cratchit. He hires a lad to buy and deliver the turkey and he hires a cab to take them there (for the turkey is simply too large to carry).
Dickens then says this of Scrooge: "The chuckle with which he said this, and the chuckle with which he paid for the turkey, and the chuckle with which he paid for the cab, and the chuckle with which he recompensed the boy, were only to be exceeded by the chuckle with which he sat down breathless in his chair again and chuckled till he cried."
Quite a transformation! He went from solitary as an oyster to chuckling until he cried. Scrooge's story in many ways is our story - with one huge difference. We have not been transformed by three Christmas ghosts. We've been transformed instead by the incredible Good News of Jesus born in a stable. We are so transformed that we can be bold enough to be as giddy and as generous as Scrooge. And when we are, may we find ourselves chuckling until we cry with joy at what God has done for us and for how God has allowed us to have a role in doing God's work in the world. There is a stewardship story in Scrooge's story. May it fill you with joy this season.

The mission of Zion's Stewardship Ministry is to help God's people grow in their relationship with Jesus through the use of the time, talents, and finances God has entrusted to them.
Praise to God - "You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous n every occasion ... your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God" + 2 Corinthians 9:11
Read: 2 Corinthians 9:11-15

Apply: When we can bless others with our generosity, the praise goes to God. People who receive the generous grace of Christ are able to praise God "because of the surpassing grace of God has given' (vs. 14). They know that such a financial gift comes from an even greater source-the grace of God in Jesus Christ. Giving is just a part of a lifestyle of generosity. Christians always give of their heart, their time, their hope, and their prayers. As we close this twenty week study of biblical stewardship, we reflect on all the different ways that we can give of ourselves. Jesus died for us to set us free from this life of death. By putting to death the old, we take on the new life found in Christ. We trust that God will provide us the strength to be content in all situations (see Phil. 4:11-13) so that we can in turn sacrifice joyfully for the sake of the gospel.

Ponder: Are you content enough in all situations to willingly be generous "on every occasion"? How does giving of your financial resources encourage greater giving of your whole life to God? Looking back, what has been the greatest lesson that you've leamed? How do you think and act differently toward God?

Pray: For a renewed church, full of people with renewed hearts, that is free to risk everything for the sake of the gospel.

Do: Look for other books on Christian stewardship to continue growing in your understanding.

A Life of Joy
The Rev. John Schreiber, Bishop of the Southeast Michigan Synod, tells a story about a visit to a parishioner he made while he was a young pastor. It was one of those stewardship campaign calls in which he knew, at some point, that he was going to have to ask for her coming year pledge. He dreaded that moment, because this woman was a single mother on a very low income – poverty level. She struggled to get by, he knew, but the church council had agreed to an "every member visit" and this woman was on his list.
On the day of the visit, Schreiber found himself sitting at her kitchen table, making small talk and generally avoiding the subject of why he was there. Finally, she got to the point, saying something like, "I suppose you want my pledge." He stammered that he'd been hesitant to ask, knowing her circumstances.
With her pledge card lying on the table between them, she laid her faith on the line: "I want to pledge $30 a week." Schreiber was dumbfounded, saying, "I know how much you make – you can't afford that!"
That's when the loud and clear lesson came through as the woman replied, "It's the least I can do. Jesus gave everything and all for me. Write it down."
It's easy to imagine a broad smile on her face at that moment. The comfort and happiness would light up the room. Think about the emotions flowing through her as she made that sizeable financial commitment.
That woman, who had little in the way of material comforts, who just managed to get by and eked out a hand-to-mouth existence, pledged $30 a week to her church. And she did it with confidence and no small amount of joy. She had been blessed, and she knew it.
Maybe it starts with Luke 21:1-4 (CEV): "Jesus looked up and saw some rich people tossing their gifts into the offering box. He also saw a poor widow putting in two pennies. And he said, "I tell you that this poor woman has put in more than all the others. Everyone else gave what they didn't need. But she is very poor and gave everything she had."
Maybe that's just it, she knew she gave from what she had, or what she had first been given. The woman John Schreiber visited that day modeled the life of a steward. That's a strong lesson she teaches us.

We don't give because we're pretty well off and won't miss a few bucks.
We don't give because we somehow feel obligated.
We don't give because we owe "dues to the church."

The women in the Luke 21 story and in Pastor Schreiber's congregation knew exactly what their reasons were. Do we?
When we give from what we have - and with an awareness of all the blessings we have – that's when we truly become joyful. That's when we become true stewards. God leads us there. As the psalmist writes in Psalm 16:11: "You show me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy, in your right hand are pleasures forevermore." There is a fullness of joy just from being in God's presence, and that joy shows up where we least expect it. We give in joyful response and often it's a joy we haven't known before. After all, it's the least we can do. 

    Where is the joy in your stewardship journey?
Take a piece of paper and write a short paragraph that describes the kind of joy you think
the woman from Pastor Schreiber's congregation felt. How is it similar to the joy you feelwhen you give to your congregation? How is it different?What percentage of her income do you think the woman from Pastor Schreiber's congregation was giving? If you gave that percentage, how do you think you would feel about the income you'd be giving away?
If someone was telling a joyful story about you and your stewardship, what would it be?

On Giving More Than You Can Afford:

They say that sky-diving can be addictive, that once you get up the nerve to take that first jump, you experience such a thrill that you have to keep doing it.  Anyway...

There's a great story in Mark 12: Sitting across from the offering box, he (Jesus) was observing how the crowd tossed money in for the collection. Many of the rich were making large contributions.  One poor widow came up and put in two small coins—a measly two cents.  Jesus called his disciples over and said, “The truth is that this poor widow gave more to the collection than all the others put together. All the others gave what they’ll never miss; she gave extravagantly what she couldn’t afford—she gave her all.” (From The Message: The Bible in Contemporary Language—Eugene Peter-son)

No pastor wanting to preserve his or her own life today would dare to sit down and eye-ball what each of his or her parishioners was giving as they put it in the offering plate, but that is what Jesus was doing that day.  There were probably a few who made very generous offerings, knowing that Jesus was watching, but the one who most impressed Jesus was a poor widow who gave a very modest offering...two little coins.  Jesus said of her that she “...gave more to the collection than all the others put together.”  In a technical sense, of course, that wasn’t true.  But in a faith sense, it was true.

This woman didn’t have much, but she was overflowing with gratitude for what she did have, so, says Jesus, “she gave her all.” Look at that sentence from Jesus carefully: “All the others gave what they’ll never miss; she gave extravagantly what she couldn’t afford.”

Most of us, even the most faithful stewards, build our giving around what we can afford. We are safe, careful, responsible people. We aren’t reckless, extravagant people. I wonder if Jesus isn’t challenging us to give up our careful ways now and then and be extravagant. I wonder if Jesus isn’t inviting us into the adventure of giving more than we can afford to give. I wonder if Jesus isn’t daring us to give in such a way that we have to give something up, true sacrificial giving. 

“Take the leap,” I hear Jesus saying to us.  “Take the leap.  Take the leap of faith.  Just this once...give more than you can afford to give.  But know this: giving more than you can afford can be like skydiving: so exhilarating you have to do it over and over again.

Ready to take the leap yet?

Why I, Pastor Stephen Blenkush, Tithe

Every first of the month and the fifteenth of each month a $200 payment is automatically transferred right out of my bank account into our church’s. It’s all courtesy of Simply Giving, the service made available through Thrivent Financial for Lutherans. 

For me it’s a good deal because it’s automatic. I don’t have to think about it, I don’t have to write a check,  I don’t have to do anything to make it happen. Because it’s automatic, I don’t miss the money. I’ve adjusted to the monthly cash flow.

The $400 a month essentially fulfills my tithe  — the Biblical notion that we contribute to the church 10 percent of what we receive from God’s hand.

My salary, plus housing allowance is $56,000 a year. Tithing would be $5,600 a year. In addition to the $4,800 a year I give through Simply Giving to Zion, I also use Simply Giving to make contributions to life insurance policies that will one day benefit both Luther Seminary in St. Paul and Gustavus Adolphus College, both alma maters. Between these two, my giving exceeds the $5,600, not including the other occasional donations by check for special occasions and purposes (i.e. Camperships, Hunger, Mission Trips, etc.), as finances permit.

The point is not to boast about my giving, but to share with you the fact that I am personally committed to tithing, and that it has made a big difference in my life. Here’s how:

Financial Security

It seems counter-intuitive to say that I received financial security by giving away my money, but it’s true. In the old days, prior to ordination, before I committed to tithing, I would pay all my bills and then decide what I would give the church from the amount left over. My contributions to church were pretty slim and I struggled to pay bills. Now I “tithe” off the top, and although I have occasional tight spots in my finances, I always have enough. Tithing has taught me that God gives me sufficient money for all my needs.

Trust in God

Relating to this, I have gained deeper trust that God is faithful and responds to my faithfulness. More than once while tithing, I have struggled with bills and gotten a check or income opportunity “out of the blue.”  It’s not a “prosperity gospel” thing — that if we give, God will make us rich. Jesus never says God will make us rich, only that God will provide for our needs. I just tithe and trust.

Joy in giving

When I do have those windfalls or extra opportunities for income, I find pleasure giving away 10 percent. After my father died a year ago I came into some insurance money he had designated for my sisters and I. I have found great joy in being able to support additional ministries and mission as well as community programs that I might not have otherwise considered.

Satisfaction

Tithing fills me with satisfaction. I am giving to the church and funding God’s ministries. I believe in the church, both Zion, the ELCA and the wider church. For all its faults and foolishness, it is still the body of Christ and I feel compelled to support it.