Jennifer Simons message she shared on 10/20/13 My husband Craig and I joined St. Mark’s in 2012. I have to admit that I wanted to go to a church where I could be a pew barnacle (a term I learned from Vance), so I could show up on a Sunday morning here and there, soak in some of God’s Word and some inspiration for the week, and go home. Craig, on the other hand, wanted to come here, jump in, and get involved. I had no idea what a blessing that would be to me. So today, I would like to talk to you about stewardship and some ways that might help you develop a plan for reaching your stewardship goals. About eight years ago, I lost 80 pounds. It took a long time to lose it, and it’s still a battle for me. I haven’t kept it all off, but I did learn some things that I’d like to share. If I have a large and important goal, I learned, I need to set up systems to succeed – to make it more difficult for otherwise easy decisions to stand between me and my goal. For example, I know that every Sunday, I need to make a meal plan and a grocery list, go to the store, and stock my shelves and fridge with healthier options. If I don’t, I know that when faced with restaurant lunch options, I will always choose the BLT over the lean protein salad. I also learned that it’s extremely difficult for me to ever choose to work out. At the time, I was fortunate that my gym was in my parking garage, so I would drop my car keys off in my gym locker. At the end of the day, I would have to go into the gym and open the locker to get my keys – and I’d see my workout clothes hanging right there. Once I got that far, I might as well just suit up for a quick workout, right? I’ve found that the same principles work for stewardship goals. I want to decide now, during the stewardship campaign, to set up systems for reaching my stewardship goals. Stewardship is often thought of as a strictly financial commitment, but it’s actually much broader. It means giving of your talents, time, and treasure. We have heard from Eric and others recently about giving of your talents. We see this type of stewardship exemplified in the beautiful music ministries from the chancel choir to the bells, the beautiful LOVE mural, Cindy’s delicious food, and the community garden and wonderful leaders supporting the H.I.M. Food Pantry. We all draw inspiration from our members’ wonderful talents, and that inspiration drives us to make the world around us a better place. Being brave and raising your hand to participate in a way to share the gifts that God has given you – that’s stewardship. Giving of time is the hardest one for me. I guard my time very carefully and quite frankly struggle to give any of it up. When I was asked last year to chair the Communications Committee, I said yes, knowing that it meant I would—in a way—be forced to give more of my time to God. It’s a small group – five active members – but we have really been blessed with the relationships we have made with each other and the positive impact we have had on the church this year. Recently, when we realized we were feeling a bit overwhelmed with the number of tasks required from the committee, someone suggested that we reach out to the congregation for help with discrete tasks with explanations and an estimate of time commitment. Today, I have brought with me a spreadsheet of those tasks. For example, if you’re like me, errors made by other people really stand out. Have you ever noticed that sometimes the church bulletin says that a reading from one of the Gospels comes from the Old Testament? If you’re bothered by errors like that, you might consider offering 30 minutes on Thursday afternoons to proofread the bulletin before it goes to print. This is something you can do from home, and something that will help St. Mark’s be its best. Are you interested in helping keep the website updated with images and information letting the world know about all the wonderful things happening here? Sign up to assist with the website, and we will provide training to you so you can help in your spare time. I will pass this spreadsheet around during the service, and I hope you’ll take time to look at it and consider how you can use this as a system to ensure that you give of your time in a way that’s manageable. Treasure. It’s easier now than ever to set a financial stewardship goal and keep it. Did you know that you can securely schedule automatic giving on the St. Mark’s website (smumc.org)? I know we have talked a lot about tithing and offerings, so I imagine that there is an amount you have realized you can part with. Maybe it’s $5 or $20 a week. Maybe it’s $50 or $100 or more. Whatever the number is, if you make the giving automatic, you’re much more likely to reach your giving goal. This way, even if you have to miss a service, your financial gifts help the church keep up with its commitments and with providing a light and a soft place to land to so many people in our community. I hope you’ll check it out. It’s easy, fast, and you can always make adjustments later if your financial situation changes for the better or worse. Thanks for giving me this time. I hope in this stewardship season, you’ll join me in the quest to return more of the gifts we have received from God to each other, to our church, and to our community.
Posted on: Tue, 29 Oct 2013 17:36:26 +0000
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