Missio Dei

According to one website, one of the major reasons pastors are largely silent on the topic of money, possessions and giving is that there is the fear that members of the church will misconstrue the pastor's motives for talking about giving. Honestly, that is a non-issue for me.  So, here we go…

This morning, Nathan Phillips and I wrestled with a couple of things around the biblical principle of stewardship: we wrestled with how to continue encouraging the church (each and every person – member and attender) to be generous in its giving without guilting or badgering people. We wrestled with whether or not continue receiving offerings for the ongoing work in Haiti after a month of offerings totaling $2450. How do we spur the church on in its generosity for the sake of the Gospel?

As I left the meeting, I asked aloud, “God… will we ever reach the goal of 50% of whatever comes in goes right back out?  Will we?”  Immediately I was reminded of Ephesians 3:20 – 21, where Paul just breaks out into a doxology.  Just listen to these words:

Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

You see, God has, with sovereignty, built His church and will never let it expire (Matthew 16:18). It is through the work of church, through the work of  Missio Dei Church  (our songs of worship, our works, our giving, our whole selves), that he is glorified.

For this reason, as your leaders who love the Gospel and you deeply, we want to continue in encouraging you to remember God's generosity: Christ's sacrifice on the cross and the many blessings God has poured into your life. We all need to seek to express our thankfulness to God by giving as an act of worship, and allow His love to flow through us to others as we act in generous ways.

Missio Dei Church, the work is never over...