|  Grateful Hearts - Generous Lives
• Generous giving is our grateful response to God for all that we are and all that we have.
The stewardship of our gifts—our time, our talents, and our money—is a faith-strengthening practice just like reading the Bible, praying, worshipping. Our spiritual life and our financial life are not separate. Jesus made that very clear.
We will experience a growing relationship with God when we talk about using the money entrusted to us to show God’s love and compassion.
• On Tuesday mornings at 6:30 a.m. the Gratitude Team is in the Office Conference Room waking up to a new day of gratitude for God’s abundant love and grace. Since we have changed our focus from a stewardship team that concentrated on money, to The Gratitude Team that centers on God as the source of all that we have and all that we are, our lives have been abundantly enriched. From Pastor Kris Linner’s insightful book Women and the Word, the story “A Grateful Word” affirms the power of gratitude. Jesus healed ten lepers, but only one returned to say thank you. Pastor Kris’ interpretation of Luke 17:11-19 is from the point of view of a women who was too busy doing what she was supposed to do to say, “thank you.” In Pastor Dan’s sermon on Feb. 24, story after story affirmed Trinity’s grateful and generous heart.
“Gratefulness expressed is generosity.
Gratefulness returned is generosity.
Gratefulness passed on is generosity.
Gratefulness is fulfilled in generosity.”
If you missed that sermon, you can listen to it here.
How has a word of thanks enriched your life? Share your story. Contact the Gratitude Team via email or leave a message in the offering plate or in the Church Office.
Plain Talk about Money
• Our financial situations are unique, complex, and emotional. We can encourage and support one another by listening and sharing our financial stories. Money is essential and how we use it can be life-giving. How has your giving enriched your life?
Contact the Gratitude Team directly by email or by leaving a message in the offering plate or at the Church Office.
• God is within us, ready to fill our lives completely with abundant love and grace. There are a lot of other forces also wanting to fill our lives. Our culture exerts enormous pressure on us when it comes to money. When our financial lives are broken and unhealthy we cannot be the radiant stars of God’s light in the world. God is within us, ready to fill our lives completely with abundant grace and love. Thank you God.
• It’s important for families to talk about money. Why wouldn’t we? For the majority of Americans, 50% of their waking time revolves around money—thinking about it, earning it, spending it, saving it, investing it, borrowing it, or giving it away. Jesus said more about money than any other single subject in the Bible. Who says talking about money is taboo? Our society bombards us with messages about what we should be buying and doing. Who’s telling our children about the joy of giving? Share your stories of giving with your children and grandchildren, with your parents and siblings, with your friends and neighbors. Fred Hargesheimer and Greg Mortenson told their stories to the world.
Practice Gratitude
• Counting sheep is an old-fashioned remedy for insomnia. Before you fall asleep, thank God for 100 people for whom you are grateful.
• Before you even open your eyes in the morning, thank God. Thank God for God’s presence in your heart, for the night’s rest, the warmth of your bed, the shelter of your home, the love of your family. Open your eyes and praise God for everything and everyone you see and hear and think of at this early hour. Stand up and open your arms to God. Breathe in the love of God to fill every pore of your being. Breathe out God’s love into your home, to your family, out into the world. Respond to God’s abundant love and grace all day with a grateful heart and a generous life.
• Write a thank you note or send an email to someone who has made a difference in your life. Thank God every day this week for this special person.
The Gift of Laughter
• A man and his ten-year-old son were on a fishing trip miles from home. At the boy’s insistence, they decided to attend the Sunday worship service at a small rural church. As they walked back to their car after the service, the father was filled with complaints. “The service was too long,” he lamented. “The sermon was boring, and the singing was off key.” Finally the boy said, “Daddy, I thought it was pretty good for a dime.”
• Before taking the offering the pastor announced that the church had several unexpected expenses in the last month. She encouraged everyone to make a significant offering that morning. As extra incentive she said that whoever gave the most that day would get to pick three hymns.
When the ushers brought the offering forward there was a $1,000 bill on the top of the plate. The pastor asked the donor to please come forward. After a brief pause an older woman came forward, absolutely beaming.
The pastor thanked her profusely and then reminded her that she was entitled to pick three hymns.
Without hesitation she pointed at three handsome young men and said, “I pick him, and him and him."
• On Veterans’ Day Sunday, the pastor noticed a young man standing and staring at the recently polished plaque hanging in the church foyer. He asked, “Who are these people, Pastor?”
The pastor responded, “They are our church members who have died in the service.”
Our Giving
Jesus said, “You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before people, that they may see your good deeds and praise God in heaven.” Matthew 5:14-16
How’s our giving? Of those who pledged in 2008, the average pledge was $3,009. How much should we give?
Do all the good you can,
By all the means you can,
In all the ways you can,
In all the places you can,
At all the times you can,
To all the people you can,
As long as you ever can.
-- John Wesley
How has your giving enriched your life? Share your story. Contact the Gratitude Team directly by email or leave a message in the offering plate or in the Church Office.
• Our giving tells God’s story – money raised for water, schools, roofs in Tanzania and Mexico, time spent shoulder-to-shoulder with people across the globe, at a packing station for Feed My Starving Children, in the serving line at Loaves and Fishes. Trinity’s stories of compassion and community, of outreach and helping hands are stories of gratitude, stories of giving, stories of a growing faith in God’s abundance and trust in God’s sufficiency. Our giving grows as our relationship to the Giver grows.
Books that tell the world about Gratitude
The School That Fell From the Sky...
is a compelling story about Minnesota native Fred Hargesheimer who was shot down in the southwest Pacific on
June 5, 1943. Facing torrential rains, muddy slopes, poisonous insects, crocodiles and wild boars, he was found and rescued by islanders who then endangered their lives to miraculously protect him for another death-defying eight months. Years later Hargesheimer raised millions of dollars to try to repay his debt by building a school, a library, and a clinic. The financial gifts are impressive, but the life of gratitude of Hargesheimer and of his beneficiaries is the real story.
Three Cups of Tea
is another amazing story about Minnesota native Greg Mortenson who nearly lost his life on a 1993 climb on Pakistan’s K2. Poor villagers rescued him and generously gave from their meager portions of food and warmth so that he would live. Overflowing with gratitude, Mortenson has since raised millions of dollars and has built over 60 schools in remote and volatile regions of Pakistan and Afghanistan. Again, the financial gifts are astounding, but the story of the lives that are connected, enriched, and forever grateful, is the truth that touches the reader’s heart.
The Gift of A Generous Heart - Rev. Gary Langness
The story of the generous life of Pastor Gary Langness, as told by him last October at the Lake Elmo Inn Event Center, is truly beautiful and inspiring. If you missed it or would like to hear it again, DVD copies are available in the Church Office. It's a great experience for small groups or individuals. You can listen to Gary's talk right now by clicking here.
The Gift of A Generous Heart - Pastor Dan Poffenberger
Hear what Pastor Dan Poffenberger said about "The Gift of a Generous Heart" in his sermons Nov. 4 and Nov. 11
Prayers
Generous God, may our gratitude be fresh each day and may we express it openly with grateful hearts and generous lives. Amen.
|
