Malachi 3:6-12, Acts 4:32-5:11 And now, we come to the “or else.” Except it really isn’t an ‘or else.’ It’s more of a ‘follow through.’ In Malachi God wants to know why we aren’t following through on our giving. God asserts that we’re actually robbing God of what is God’s (and it’s all God’s). God asserts that we’re shortchanging God by…
Micah 6:6-8, Matthew 23:23, Deuteronomy 14:22-29 What we return to God isn’t all tangible goods, though. Everything doesn’t have a value that fits on a 1040, or that we can make an insurance claim for. What does God expect of us? Even if we tithe spices, what does God want us to offer from…
Mark 12:41-44, Luke 21:1-4 There is a huge church debate about how much we’re supposed to give to God. Usually this debate circles around the idea of tithe and 10%. Is that 10% before taxes? Is it gross or net? Does it include gifts? Is it 10% of everything, or just 10% of our salary? You’ll notice that this discussion…
Genesis 14:17-24, Genesis 28:10-22 If giving isn’t really giving, then why would we give? If it’s all really God’s, and we’re just giving back to God, then why would we give? These two passages give us some insight into why. Abraham responds to what God has done for him. Jacob responds to what he hopes God will do. Both have…
Psalm 24, Psalm 50 God makes some things very clear in these passages. God considers it all to belong to God. We are God’s, the earth is God, everything is God’s. God is not apologetic about it or shy. God doesn’t need our offering. God will accept no bull from our houses. If God wants what we have, God will just…
Genesis 1:1-2:4a If we’re going to talk about stewardship, we might as well start at the beginning. It’s a very good place to start. In the beginning we hear how things were made, how they were named, and who made them. God made them all. God made it all. God made us all. We…
James 2:14-29, Mark 12:28-31, John 10:11-18 On Trinity Sunday, we think about the Trinity, that really tough and vague doctrine that is somehow essential to our understanding of God. We’ve talked about three leaf clovers, and many other metaphors over the years. All of them fall short of the understanding of the whole. …
The kids and youth show us how the Spirit has been moving in their past year of Sunday School.
Acts 2:1-4, Romans 8:14-39 What Spirit are we blessed with on Pentecost? Slavery, or adoption? Fear, or Glory? Hiding in the upper room, or confronting the crowd? Speaking a powerful story that overcomes the barriers of language, national origin, or hiding for fear of the crowds? Are we gifted with a Spirit that…
Benjamin GVD shares the last year’s mission, ministry, and life from LCC International University in Lithuania.