Graciously Given
As you begin to look forward to your giving in our stewardship process for the next year, I want to challenge all of you to begin to wonder what God can do with all your gifts.

Giving and getting!  Which one is your favorite?  Growing up in northern Minnesota, I am often more comfortable to give than to get.  It feels weird to have people give us stuff sometimes.  Many of us would rather give. 

But if you push me… deep down I will tell you a secret.  I LOVE TO GET, TOO!  The good news is this:  In our stewardship work for the next year, it’s about both. Let me introduce to you the new words you will be hearing for the next several months: Graciously Given!   The words “graciously given” have a double meaning in case you have not already guessed.  Let me open them up for you and tell you how these words will be guiding us in the days and months to come. 

1. Graciously given refers to God.  God has lavished upon us grace upon grace.  We are the recipients of amazing grace.  Every breath we take is a gift; every beat of our hearts is a gift.  Shelter from the rain, food to drink, hands to hold, and songs to sing are gifts from God, who, in Jesus, gives us life abundant.  It is in that grace we find not only life but redemption.  In the life-saving work of Christ crucified and Christ resurrected, we find our only hope and all life.  Here is our starting point, here is where we find all meaning and propose.   Nothing we can do or will ever be able to do will earn those gifts – they are freely given.

2. It is from that place we are called to bring our gifts back to God and give them freely.  As Christians we are called into a gracious way of giving.  We are called to give as freely as we have been given. To give back to God and his people in our ministry of generosity through tithing.  The gifts we give back are used by God for the work of God.  We are created in the image of a giving and gracious God. 
 
As you begin to look forward to your giving in our stewardship process for the next year, I want to challenge all of you to begin to wonder what God can do with all your gifts.  This is a call for us to model the Giver of all life by giving lavishly to the work of God.  Not because you have to or because you feel guilty, but because you were created to give.  Let us be a giving community.

Pastor Mike Carlson