In his Growing in Generosity, Rooted in Faith words on August 22, Bill Rusher reminded us of many of the mission opportunities that our monetary gifts to the church make possible. It is an amazing list and causes a little pride to raise its head.
We were still feeling good about that list as we were listening to Daniel Glaze’s sermon on September 10. Daniel used several phrases like:
- “…give your life away to something that really matters”
- “Everything we have came from God and belongs to God. God entrusts it to us. He wants us to be his partners.”
- “He expects us to live generously.”
- “The purpose of stewardship is to help us become more like Jesus.”
- “A sermon on stewardship is not about pledges or money. It is how about how we live in God’s world.”
If that were not enough, Dan Bagby, in his sermon, on September 17, added another layer by giving several examples of when “grace becomes generosity.”
- “Grace overcomes the experience of selfishness. By grace we want to be generous.”
Because we have been members of River Road Church for such a long time, we have experienced grace in amazing ways and have been blessed immeasurably. The wisdom and leadership of our three pastors have led us to ponder grace and our call of commitment. Maybe we are not to the point of true generosity of ourselves and our resources as Dan described it, but it is a worthy goal.
Certainly a part of stewardship is the giving of our financial resources. That is a must and we don’t want to minimize it. However, giving of our financial resources does not exempt us from giving of ourselves, or as Daniel reminded us: stewardship is how we live in God’s world.
We hope you will join us on this journey.
Written by Bob & Diane Shoemake
This series is designed to give RRCB members an opportunity to reflect upon their own generosity to God. In reading their stories, we pray that your own life of generosity is encouraged and challenged as well.