CCC Gainesville | Blog
While stewardship certainly includes much more than money, it does not exclude it. In the Old Testament, believers were required to give a tenth of their income to support the Temple and the needs of the poor. While the New Testament does not teach at length on the subject of tithing, Jesus encourages people to continue this Old Testament practice (Matt. 23:23). The Church is told that they should give as they are “able and even beyond (their) ability” (2 Corinthians 8:3). Jesus himself teaches that his disciples’ relationship to wealth should be far more radical and generous than that of the Old Testament. He reminded his followers that God was “pleased to give them the kingdom” which, Jesus says, should liberate us to “sell your possessions and give to the poor…For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Luke 12:33-34). Therefore, a tithe (10%) is seen as a minimum guideline of giving for those of us who have been “given the kingdom.” Of course, there are seasons to economic life that sometimes strain a Christian’s ability to give. In many cases, good planning over time will be necessary to move our giving into Biblical proportions without reneging on legal and personal financial obligations.
(2 of 5 from City Church, Philadelphia PA)
Sunday we’ll continue our Foundations series by looking at God’s kindness in moving towards us to establish a covenant relationship.
The LORD had said to Abram, “Leave your country, your people and your father’s household and go to the land I will show you. I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.” GENESIS 12:1-3
Covenants in Scripture are solemn agreements, negotiated or unilaterally imposed, that bind the parties to each other in permanent defined relationships, with specific promises, claims, and obligations on both sides (e.g., the marriage covenant, Mal. 2:14).
Covenanting with God in response to his covenanting with us should be a regular devotional exercise for all believers, both in private and at the Lord’s Table. An understanding of the covenant of grace guides us through, and helps us to appreciate all the wonders of God’s redeeming love. –JI Packer
The Bible teaches that God is the creator of all things. This has two radical implications for how we live. First, it means that God is generous. Not only did he create a beautiful universe, he generously shares his creation with all humanity. Jesus said that God makes the sun to shine and rain to fall on the just as well as the unjust. Elsewhere scripture says, “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.” Second, because God is the creator, everything belongs to him. Therefore, we have been given the task of managing, or stewarding, everything in our possession. We control our material wealth in the same way a hedge fund manager controls the assets he or she has been given. As soon as we begin to use our possessions any way we want, we are defrauding our creator. So we must ask how God wants us to manage his money.
(1 of 5 from City Church, Philadelphia PA)
In January Christ Community’s financial stewardship includes but is not limited to these numbers:
10 The number of contributors through our website
$49,500 year to date expenses
$50,500 year to date giving
Thank you to each one of you seeking to steward your resources. –Rob
By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread,
till you return to the ground,
for out of it you were taken;
for you are dust,
and to dust you shall return.
– Genesis 3:19 ESV
Holiday seasons, while often marked with joyful anticipation and excitement, are also often accompanied by feelings of sorrow and longing. The death of a loved one, the loss of employment, or the coinciding of a holiday with a natural disaster can take a season set aside for celebration and imbue it with heaviness. With the season of Lent, however, we are invited to enter into a time of contemplation where loss and longing are front and center. Lent begins with the sober reminder that we “are dust” and it is “to dust” we shall return.
At the very beginning, when man and woman enjoyed perfect fellowship with our Creator, a decision was made that had everlasting consequences. Rather than trusting God and His perfect will, Adam and Eve wanted to be the masters of their universe and chose to disobey God. As sin entered the world, so did a loss of harmony in nature, and most gravely, a gulf that eternally separated God and his creatures from one another. In the weeks leading to Easter, the consequences of sin are cause for reflection on what life was supposed to be like. As we face the struggles of our work, the conflicts that arise in our relationships, and the unsteadiness that often marks our day to day relationship with God, we see a world bent by the weight of sin. We are reminded of our “groaning as in the pains of childbirth” and the eager anticipation we have for “our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies.”
We then turn our eyes to gaze upon the God-man, who entered into our suffering by sharing in all of the moments we experience as people. Homelessness, hunger, temptation, rejection from friends, and the loss of loved ones were all a part of the Messiah’s journey. Then, in the culmination of his mission, Jesus is sentenced to death, tortured, and nailed to a cross. We see in the cross that this is the kind of sacrifice and loss that is necessary to make restitution for what was first lost in the garden. The loss of innocence in the garden, required the loss of the One who was truly innocent on the cross.
On the cross, however, is an offering that points to life. In Jesus’s death, we see that the loss is not final and the longing will not go unanswered. After three days, Jesus rose from the grave and pronounced victory over death and sin. In Jesus’ victory, we have been given access to our Heavenly Father, something that was impossible just three days prior. We see that our losses, from those that we love, to the reality of indwelling sin, will not remain forever. We know this because the grave came the empty tomb. Out of death, there came true life. In the end, in Lent we learn to yearn for the promise of Easter. —from redeemer manhattan
*****We will be having Ash Wednesday services at 6am and 6pm. There will be a light meal served following the evening service. Each service is a half-hour of Scripture readings, prayer, Holy Communion and the imposition of ashes. In the sanctuary, on February 13.
Audio recordings of the Sunday evening lectures are going to be available later this week. Check back here on Thursday for the super-secret location for these bootlegged recordings.
Or you can track down and ask one of these people what has gone down so far.
