This Children’s Message and Sermon
were presented at Resurrection on April 10, 2011. The title is the theme of the 2011-2012
Stewardship Appeal. April 10 is
Commitment Sunday and the preacher is Pastor Jim Kniseley.
Children’s
Message
1. “Sticks” I have a bunch of sticks to teach us something
important. Each of these sticks can be
broken very easily (break one or two).
But look what happens when I put all these sticks together. Try to break them now. Our church is something like these
sticks. When we’re one our own, we
aren’t nearly as strong as when we band together. That’s why Jesus created the church, which he
calls “the body of Christ.”
2. “Coin Banks” Many of you have brought your coin banks today to church. You have been putting in coins each week to
help a very good cause: helping feed hungry people through Lutheran World
Hunger. I am pleased that you will be
putting them in the basket today when all the folks bring forward their
offerings and sharing cards. What a
great example of being strong by putting our blessings and thank offerings
together.
3. “Flower Seeds” The theme of today is “Share God’s Blessings…Imagine the
Possibilities!” Can anyone here tell me
what you think it means to “Imagine the Possibilities?” (responses from children) To “imagine” is to see into the future and to
hope that something good will happen. I
have a packet of flower seeds. If I
plant these in the ground and water them, what do you think will happen? What part does God have in making these seeds
into flowers?
Sermon
Grace and peace to your from God our
Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
“Lord, save us! We’re perishing!”
“Why are you afraid, you of little
faith?”
I can’t think of any better way to begin
a sermon on Stewardship Sunday. We may
not be in a boat on the Sea of Galilee, but some of us are a bit fearful about
our finances. We too are called by the
Lord of the Church to have faith. Making
a commitment or, as our cards today state,
an “estimate of sharing”,
involves faith that we are in God’s hands and God will provide for our
needs.
Why is it that we can so easily read
about people in the Holy Bible that had faith that God would provide and were
taken care of, and we can’t believe that this applies to us too? The first two lessons today tell us about the
faith of Abraham. When God told him to
move to a new land, he did it, even though he had no idea where the land was
and what he was supposed to do when he got there. The writer of Hebrews gives us the best
definition of faith we will ever hear: Now faith is the assurance of things hoped
for, the conviction of things not seen”
Why did God promise a blessing to
Abraham? The answer in Genesis 12 is
what folks often miss. So he and his people could be a blessing to
others. People of faith ever since
have learned this valuable lesson: Our
blessings on this earth are to be shared with others. God expects his people to be generous
people.
How does the blessing of Abraham
apply to us here today? Many of us have
been imagining God’s future for Resurrection these past several months. The Council has asked for individuals and
church teams to imagine without constraint about what we could be and do to be
a part of God’s mission. What we are
doing today, in fact, is part of that imagining. What if we truly believed that God will
provide and that our limitations are not God’s limitations? What if some folks who have held back because
of fear that they will not have enough or that the congregation’s needs are too
big, would simply trust and respond as generous givers?
Here’s a very recent sign for me that
God brings unexpected blessings: I met
with a group of wonderful Christians yesterday.
They came to look at our facilities and see if this where they might
find a church home as a partner ministry with Resurrection. I saw them as a blessing from God when they
walked in. They are a new and obviously
vibrant group of African American Christians.
They told me they want to be racially inclusive and want to be in a
place where everyone is welcome. If they
came here they would want to worship with us occasionally and were most
interested in partnering for things such as Hope House and School Dressing Days
and feeding the homeless. If they come
here, I believe, it will be because God is faithful to his promises and
provides for our needs in ways he determines, not because we can make it
happen.
The best known stewardship verses in
Holy Scripture are found in Paul’s Second Letter to the Church at Corinth. He writes to say he’s coming to visit and
wants to receive an offering for the saints in Jerusalem. He says, “The one who sows sparingly will
also reap sparingly, and the one who sows bountifully will also reap
bountifully.” Paul explains to the new
churches (including Corinth) that
because of their rich blessings, and all they have to be thankful for, it is
their turn to help others. So he writes
further, “Each you must give as you have made up your mind, not reluctantly or
under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.”
Cheerful giving. What a concept. I like how Frank Jacobeen put it last week in
our Adult Forum: “Some say you should give until it hurts. I like to say you give until it feels good.”
That’s the spirit of this story that
Mark Allan Powell got from a Pentecostal Minister: A young boy, 8 years old, living in a small
town, was told by his mom to walk to the
florist and bring back a bouquet of flowers for the dining room table. He had
to walk through town carrying the flowers on the way back to his house, and he
felt embarrassed that some of his friends might see him and tease him. But he did it all the same; he was an
obedient son, and he did what he was supposed to do. Then, ten years later, he was in love with a
young woman. He saved money from a paper
route, went to the florist shop, and walked the same streets with a bouquet
that he had bought for her. This time,
he says, “I didn’t think about what anyone might think if they saw me. I was only thinking of two things: how happy
she would be to get the flowers, and how fortunate I was to be the one to bring
them to her.” I’d like to think that
everything we do in worship, including our tithes and offerings, are done
because we have a loving relationship with God our Father and his Son Jesus.
Please notice that we are practicing
today what we truly believe. We are not
pledging to a budget. The budget is not
even prepared. What we are doing is an
act of faith and worship. Later we’ll
hear the collective amount that we have as resource for ministries we want to
do. I hope and pray that the offerings
we give and the estimates of sharing we
write, will come as a result of prayer and will be given as an act of worship.
Mark Allan Powell shared this last
week in the Adult Forum Presentation. He
and his wife have grown from folks who gave offerings just when they showed up
at church and just what they had in their pocket or purse when the offering
plate came around, to folks who give one per month electronically in order to
make sure their offerings are given even when they can’t personally be present
at worship. And he also told us this: he
has started doing some sacrificial giving.
During the week he looks for an opportunity to give up something he
likes, and he puts that money in an envelope, and he bringing it to church and
puts it in the offering plate as a part of his worship. And he thinks, “If Christ gave himself on the
cross for me, the least I can do is to make a sacrifice for Him as a small way
of showing my gratitude.”
My prayer for us today is that God
will bless us and we in turn will be a blessing to others.