Oct. 26, 2025 - Expression of Your Heart

In a world where every transaction comes with an expectation of return, we've grown accustomed to a simple equation: give money, receive product. Pay for coffee, get coffee. Order online, receive package. Invest in retirement, expect growth. This consumer mindset shapes our daily interactions with money, and if we're honest, it sometimes creeps into how we view our relationship with the church.

But what if we've been thinking about giving all wrong?

Redefining Stewardship
The word "stewardship" carries a powerful meaning that often gets lost in translation. At its core, stewardship is "the job of supervising or taking care of something, such as an organization or property." It's about management, care, and responsibility—not ownership.

This distinction matters profoundly when we consider the church. The building where we worship, the ministries that serve our community, the organization that brings hope to a hurting world—none of this belongs to us individually. It's not "our" house in the possessive sense. It's God's house, and we've been entrusted with its care.

Think about that for a moment. The church isn't a business we patronize or a service we subscribe to. It's a sacred trust, a divine assignment to steward something far greater than ourselves. We're caretakers of God's property, managers of God's organization, supervisors of a mission that extends beyond our lifetime.

The God Who Gives
The foundation of Christian stewardship rests on a profound truth found in one of the most beloved verses in Scripture: "For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him will not perish, but will have eternal life" (John 3:16).

This verse reveals something essential about God's character: God is a giver. Not a reluctant giver, not a transactional giver, but an extravagant, sacrificial, generous giver. God gave the most precious, costly gift imaginable—His own Son—to all of humanity.

When we witness Jesus dying on the cross, we see God's hands extended from heaven, offering the ultimate gift. This wasn't a business transaction. There was no invoice, no payment plan, no return policy. It was pure, unconditional love expressed through radical generosity.

But God's giving doesn't stop at salvation. Consider all the gifts God continuously pours into our lives:

- Grace that forgives our failures minute by minute
- Unconditional love that doesn't depend on our performance
- Peace that passes understanding in a world filled with chaos
- Healing for our bodies, minds, and spirits
- Strength when we feel weak
- Guidance when we're lost
- Presence that never leaves us

God is fundamentally, characteristically, eternally a giver. And since we're created in God's image, we share this capacity to give generously.

The Membership Question
When people join the church, they're asked to make commitments—not as conditions for acceptance, but as expressions of genuine participation in God's mission. These commitments center around five areas: prayers, presence, gifts, service, and witness.

These aren't arbitrary categories. They represent the fullness of stewardship:

Prayers connect us to God's will and align our hearts with divine purposes. Are we faithfully praying for our church, our community, and our world?

Presence means showing up, being engaged, participating in worship and community life. Physical or virtual, our presence matters.

Gifts include our financial resources, but also our talents, skills, and abilities. Everything we have comes from God and can be used for God's purposes.

Service calls us beyond the pew into active ministry. Whether at rummage sales, feeding programs, or countless other opportunities, service transforms us from spectators into participants.

Witness shares the hope of Christ with a world desperately seeking light in darkness. Not through political affiliation or self-righteousness, but through authentic faith and commitment.

These five areas work together to create faithful stewardship. We can't pick and choose which ones feel comfortable while ignoring the rest.

Beyond Condemnation to Love
What follows John 3:16 is equally important but less frequently quoted. John 3:17 reminds us: "Indeed, God didn't send Jesus to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him."

God's disposition toward the world isn't anger or vengeance—it's love. God doesn't want to condemn us, though we've certainly done enough to deserve it. Instead, God wants to shower love, hope, and peace upon the entire world. God wants us to see His smiling face in the heavens, to experience His radiance and joy.

When we give to the church, we're enabling this message of love to continue. We're making it possible for people to encounter God's smiling face through the smiles of fellow believers. We're creating space for hope and peace to flourish in troubled lives.

The Practical Impact of Giving
Stewardship isn't abstract theology—it has concrete, real-world impact:

When you give, you enable free meals for community members struggling financially. Families who can barely afford food receive nourishment through church feeding programs.

When you give, you provide clothing through rummage sales where families stuff bags full of clothes for five dollars because that's all they can afford.

When you give, you support Bible studies, small groups, choirs, and ministries that help people grow in faith and knowledge of God.

When you give, you keep churches from closing. In an era when "For Sale" signs appear in front of church buildings with alarming frequency, your giving ensures that this particular house of God remains open.

When you give, you honor those who gave before you—the people who built the building, purchased the pews, installed the air conditioning. You're part of a chain of faithful stewards.

When you give, you invest in the future—enabling people decades from now to worship in this space and hear the hope-filled message that God so loved the world.

The Invitation
The question isn't whether giving is important—it clearly is. The question is personal: Will you be a giver? Will you give from your heart because God first gave us Jesus Christ?

This isn't about manipulation or coercion. It's about recognizing that we're created in the image of a giving God and invited to reflect that character. It's about understanding that the church exists through the faithful giving of God's people. It's about being good stewards of what God has entrusted to us.

Your personal financial situation is unique. What God asks of you may differ from what God asks of others. The invitation is simply to pray, reflect, and respond with whatever God places on your heart.

For God so loved the world that He gave. How will you respond to such extravagant generosity?