The Stewardship of Our Life and Resources

Sometimes Stewardship can be one of the most difficult Elements of a Living Faith. Our instincts are to protect and preserve everything we have for our own needs and wants. The concept that all we have is a gift from God flies in the face of a society that tells us to put ourselves first. Our Christian faith, however, requires us to regard ourselves simply as stewards entrusted by God with the responsibility of caring for, and sharing, our possessions. That means responsibility for not just our money but our time, our selves, and the talents we have to share.

The theme for our 2009 Stewardship Campaign grew out of the challenge to live our faith through our stewardship. We all feel uncertainty and worry about our jobs, savings, and future in these difficult economic times. But are we living by faith, or are we living by fear? We fear what we don’t know, but God calls us to have faith in what we have come to know, that we are forever in God’s hands. We hope the economy will do well, but that is not where we should direct our faith. Our faith is based on our trust in God and that no matter what, whatever we have is a gift from God.

Martin Luther, when asked once what he would do if he knew the world was going to end tomorrow said, "I would plant a tree." This type of faith to which we are called affirms that life comes from God, regardless of what the secular world does.

Your on-going support with your time and financial commitments is a witness to your faith. Our success as a faith community is visible in the many ways people continue to live out their faith here and in the world. Ways such as our community outreach to support children’s ministries, the Latino Outreach, our new Health & Wellness Cabinet, as well as all those who make our worship together possible. We ask you to prayerfully consider your 2009 commitment to these on-going ministries through God’s call to live by faith and not by fear.

We invite you to consider not just a continuation of your previous commitments but even an increase to Gethsemane’s community and the ministry we will do together in the coming year. Here are some suggestions that may be of help as you pray about your response:

• Assess your giving as a percentage of your annual adjusted gross income and consider increasing your gift by 1% of your income – or whatever percentage seems appropriate and right for you.
• Consider being one of 25 families who will increase their annual giving by $1,000.
• If you have not committed in the past, we ask you to take a "leap of faith" and make a commitment this year. Start somewhere. We want to increase not only our total giving amount, but also the number of families in our congregation who live out their faith by investing in the ministry at Gethsemane.

You will be sent a 2009 commitment card in the mail. Meanwhile we invite you to grow in your understanding of stewardship and to reflect prayerfully on how you use your life and resources. See above for a listing of things you and your household can do to live your faith through your stewardship and grow deeper in faith.

Come grow with us, pray for God's work within our faith community, and live out in your life the love that God has blessed you with.

In Christ Peace,

John D. F. Nelson, Senior Pastor
Laurie A. Eaton, Associate Pastor