Sermon 126
Sermon by Ian Scott-Thompson at Wonersh on Sunday 20th April 2008
Stewardship Review
This Sunday and next, in every service, we are focussing on Stewardship. By that we mean the teaching that everything we have, indeed everything at all, is created by God and belongs ultimately to Him. He has made human beings stewards of Creation, in other words we look after this world on his behalf. We do not truly own anything, but we are responsible to God for using it well and wisely.
God is, by definition, the greatest being and the highest authority that there is. However, many people seem to live their lives almost entirely without reference to Him. Even if we believe in God, we treat him like an aged Uncle whom we visit if we must, when we have time to spare. I fear that Jesus would have been very severe with us: our heavenly Father cannot be of moderate importance. Spirituality is the search for meaning in our lives, the discovery of who I am, and my place in the wider scheme of things. God’s story is the big story in which we find our own self-worth, our meaning and our purpose. God’s generosity inspires our response, our generosity. Once we put the big rocks into the jar, the smaller ones fit around it fine. God is the big central rock, the one who gives purpose and meaning to our lives. Our overall vision is this, to bring people to God, and God to people. Or, as our current Vision statement puts it: God’s love draws us to himself and inspires us to reach out.
I have in mind four main aims this year: Worship,
Youth work continues to be a major investment for us, accounting for a significant part of our budget to support our Youth Worker and our Children’s Worker. We believe that this produces tremendous value, because of the effect on children’s lives for decades to come, the influence it brings us with their parents and families, and the enthusiasm and vitality it brings to the rest of the church. Lastly, of course, we aim to redecorate the remainder of this building: certainly the Chancel and Vestries, and if possible the Nave also. We need to undo the problems arising from early emulsion paint being slapped on the walls a long time ago: so we’re calling in expert craftsmen, hand-stripping the paint back through about six layers to the plaster, which needs lots of skilled labour, and then building up the correct limewash to give a lovely white finish like the Chapel. It needs to be done in the summer in dry weather, and so we’ve cleared the church schedule of weddings.
To do all that needs Resources. In particular, the Redecoration Project is a major capital investment which will drain our reserves. We will have nothing left to meet a year-end deficit. That’s why we are asking you to increase your regular giving, to meet our regular annual expenditure. We need to balance the books: not as a one-off, but predictably, sustainably, year-on-year.
A member of the Finance Team, no less, tells me that, several years ago, they used to pray and write a cheque each year, because that suited their income; but it did not help the treasurer or budget setter because he could not rely on those cheques until they hit the desk. So they changed to regular monthly Standing Orders.
This Leaflet: “Our Church, Our Challenge, Our Choices” is for you to take home and read carefully, and then please pray about how you can respond.
What should your response be? There are four basic duties for Christians; two of them receiving, two of them giving. Two food, two exercise; two input, two output. Church members should:
To finish, please turn to page 1194.
I chose our reading from 1 Timothy 6 because I thought it summed up the
kingdom attitude to wealth, esp. 17-19.
Verse 17 commands us to turn away from wealth and towards God: the
language is about what we put our hope in, what we rely on for the future. Verse 18 talks about the character of Christ,
especially good deeds and generosity: Christ laid down his life for us, and self-giving
was his nature. One of the best
strategies to free ourselves from the vice-like grip of Mammon is to give: to
be generous, to share what we have with others.
Lastly, verse 19 draws our attention to the true prize, the
And come, follow me!
Oh, and if you go to the website tomorrow, you can read the text of this and other sermons; or even, like the BBC, click on a button and listen again to the recording.