Runneth Over | The Weight of the Plate:Responding to God’s Abundant Generosity

October 13, 2024

Ephesians 1:3-10

Rev. Teer Hardy

Stewardship is less about checking boxes or paying bills at the church. Stewardship is a recognition that God has already given us, given all of creation, the greatest gift of all. Only when we fully grasp this gift – the fullness of Jesus Christ and the grace that freely flows Him and overflows our cups – can we truly understand what it means to give. Giving is not our duty; it is our delight. When we give, we participate in God's Kingdom, joining a story that began before us and, by God's grace, extends beyond us.

The offering plate is a means of grace and invitation to participate in a pattern of grace that begins with God. When we approach stewardship and the financial support of the church in this way, we are no longer giving out of compulsion or guilt. We are giving as an act of worship, as a way of saying thank you for what we have already received because that is what the gospel is all about. We do not leave church with a list of demands. We live with the freedom that comes from the gospel. God has already done for us that we cannot do for ourselves.

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