What's Going On? In the Zone Stewardship
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Are you “In the Zone?”
Are you living in the “sweet spot of God’s grace?”
These are questions currently being asked in our stewardship series.
It’s important we ask them, for two reasons.
First, it’s important that we understand that living “In the Zone” comes from taking steps toward an active relationship with God. That active relationship is confirmed by how we give back to God out of the abundance of God’s giving to us. Realizing that what we have is not ours but God’s, frees us to BRING one tenth of the “first fruits” of what we have received from God into God’s church. That’s God’s minimum requirement. We cannot truly live “In the Zone” without tithing as a spiritual discipline.
Second, as Alton Chambers explained week before last in worship, the church needs to have some criteria by which we are able to estimate our income for next year’s ministry budget in order to be good stewards of your “first fruit” offerings. For that to happen it is VERY IMPORTANT that every family or individual fill out and return an Estimate of Giving Card for 2012 (see below). We are setting as a goal 100% participation by the active member families. Can you imagine what our church could do for others if we each give 1/10th to the church? Can you imagine all of us… Living “In the Zone?”
Please take the time to evaluate, prioritize, budget and plan for, at the very least, moving towards the tithe. We believe that God honors our faithfulness and knows our hearts. It is important for your family to know the place God takes in your heart; for them to know who and/or what you worship most in your life. Take the time to prayerfully consider your response, and then BRING that offering to church.
Commitment Sunday was November 13th. If you were unable to join us for worship, fill out your card and send it in. We will be setting our next year’s budget on the numbers we have by the 27th. Don’t let God down. Don’t let yourself down. Don’t let the church down. God is doing a powerful thing in us.
Help us to continue living… “In the Zone.”
Let’s recap on “Living in the Zone”:
God-Hearted. Philippians 2:3-4
How can I experience the blessings of God? The simple, yet profound, answer to that question is found in the very nature and character of God. If we truly want to be in the zone and life a life to our fullest potential, we must be a people after God’s own heart: a heart marked first and foremost by generosity. Then and only then can we understand the powerful biblical principle that “God is for us.”
Management vs. Ownership. 1 Timothy 6:17-18
We know that all of our stuff is God’s stuff, but how does that practically play out in our lives? There is a spiritual reality that a major aspect of honoring God relates to how we manage and allocate the tangible blessings He has given us.
Steering Clear of Materialism. Psalm 31:19
People up and down the socioeconomic scale struggle with materialism—it doesn’t’ matter how much money you have. But as the world builds the highways that take us out of the zone, God is building bridges that can bring us back. God teaches us how to actively steer clear of materialism and, instead, continue living in the zone.
Bringing to God’s What is God’s. Malachi 3:8-10
The biblical important of returning to God what is God’s. We discover how our lives can be forever impacted when we give first importance to that which is first in God’s eyes, the local church.
