I’ve received some really positive feedback on our recent Stewardship emphasis in worship. I hope you enjoyed hearing the sermons as much I enjoyed preaching them.
By way of a very quick recap, week one began by recognizing, with the Psalmist, that the earth is the Lord’s and all that is in it. Therefore, we don’t really own our possessions—God does. God gives to us a holy responsibility to be good managers, good stewards, of what God entrusts to our care. In week two, Dan Bagby preached about how closely grace is tied to generosity. When we realize how deeply grace has touched our own lives, that experience transforms our lives into vessels of generosity and love. In week three, I asked us to consider together how our generosity as people of faith comes not out of a sense of responsibility, or compulsion, but simply out of joy and love.
Likewise, I’ve been very proud of the work of the Stewardship Committee in putting a theme to this year’s emphasis: Rooted in Faith, Growing in Generosity. I hope you’ve seen the banners hanging in the Narthex, Fellowship Hall, Lower Commons, and elsewhere. This great theme has provided lots of good fodder for conversation.
Yet I’m convinced there is another side to Stewardship—one we don’t often talk about. We as your church leaders have a responsibility to encourage you to grow in your generosity and to be good stewards of what God has entrusted to you—you’ve surely heard that important message before. The other side to stewardship is the obligation our ministry staff and lay leaders have to be good stewards as well.
We bear a holy responsibility to use your gifts to our church as wisely as we can. We are well aware that your sacrificial gifts fund our ministries, keep the lights (and heat and A/C!) on, and put the proverbial food on our families’ tables. We desire to be thoughtfully faithful stewards of your gifts.
As we seek to prayerfully call you to grow in your generosity, this is our stewardship commitment to you: your gifts to River Road Church will be managed wisely and used to maximize ministry at our church, around Richmond, and throughout the world.
Thank you for your commitment to our church and her visionary ministry!