Zion Lutheran Church Walburg, TX

Christian giving is not a payment we make to God or a way of purchasing His favor. It is our grateful response to the Savior who has already given everything for us. Generosity is not something God extracts from us; it is something His grace produces within us.

When we think about stewardship, we usually begin with what we are expected to give. David begins somewhere else: "Everything comes from You." Although God did not permit David to build the temple, David refused to let what he could not do keep him from doing what he could. He received his abilities, opportunities, and resources as gifts from God's hand, used them faithfully, and entrusted the outcome to God.

We often fixate on what we lack or complain about what our limitations keep us from accomplishing. But stewardship brings both responsibility and freedom. We are responsible for caring faithfully for whatever God has placed in our hands; we are free to leave everything else in His. We cannot even free ourselves from the grip of what we possess—but what is impossible for us is possible with God.

We are obssessed with productivity. Whole consulting firms are built around productivity hacks. But what if productivity isn't always all it's cracked up to be?

In Luke 10, Martha is busy serving, working, preparing, and doing. None of that is bad. The problem is not that Martha works. The problem is that her work has made her worried, distracted, and resentful.

Mary sits at Jesus' feet, receiving before doing. Jesus says Mary has chosen what is better. This is not a rejection of productivity. It is a reordering of the soul. Before we are workers in Christ's kingdom, we are receivers of Christ's grace.

Jesus knows that desire is powerful. It can draw us toward love, faithfulness, and devotion—but when shaped by sin, it can become selfish and destructive.

In this message from our Keeping Score series, we hear Jesus call us away from lust and toward covenant love—a love that honors, cherishes, protects, and serves. Jesus comes not simply to restrict our desires, but to redeem them.

If you're struggling with lust and would like counseling or support, you can reach out to one of our pastors or one of the counselors below:

• Lori Payne: (512) 771-9766
• Jennifer Hicks: (512) 265-6411
• Jessica & Ryan McDaniel: [email protected]

When Jesus arrives in Bethany after Lazarus has died, Martha says to Him: "Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died." It is a sentence full of faith, grief, disappointment, and confusion.

This is where many of us live. We keep score of the prayers that seemed unanswered. We keep score of the losses God allowed. We keep score of the moments when heaven felt silent. Over time, grief can quietly become grievance.

But Jesus does not shame Martha for her sorrow. He meets her in it. His delay was not absence, and His silence was not indifference.

Jesus tells His followers not to worry about life, food, drink, clothing, or tomorrow. He points to birds and flowers as living sermons on the Father's care.

Worry imagines a future where God is absent, provision runs out, and we are left to carry life by ourselves. It keeps score of possibilities, threats, bills, diagnoses, conflicts, and unknowns. Worry does math without mercy.

Peter asks Jesus for a number: "Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?" Peter thinks he is being generous. But Jesus gives him a number so large it breaks the scoreboard.

The parable of the unforgiving servant exposes the absurdity of receiving limitless mercy from God while placing strict limits on mercy toward others. Joseph's response to his brothers in Genesis 50 gives a concrete picture of what it looks like to stop keeping score, not because the offense was small, but because God's grace was greater.

Forgiveness does not say, "It didn't matter." Forgiveness says, "I will not keep using this as a weapon." Forgiveness is not losing your memory. It is losing your ledger.

Paul opens his spiritual résumé. If anyone could win by the normal scorecards of life — background, belonging, discipline, achievement, religious performance — Paul could. But after meeting Christ, he says all those gains are loss compared to knowing Jesus.

That does not mean those things are worthless in themselves. It means they are worthless as a way of making ourselves righteous, secure, superior, or enough. Paul stops counting on his own righteousness so he can be found in Christ. The Christian life begins when we stop counting on ourselves and start being found in Christ.

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Sunday Services every week at 8 A.M. & 10:45 A.M. CT

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Sunday Services every week at 8 A.M. & 10:45 A.M. CT

For more info: https://www.zionwalburg.org