We are currently having our Stewardship Campaign at church along with Operation Christmas Child for this upcoming Holiday Season.  Both are focused on sharing and giving of our God given resources, so I thought I would focus on those this week.

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Christian views of Stewardship refer to the responsibility of how we use the gifts that God has given us.  Usually when people hear the words stewardship drive in a church they know they will be reaching for their wallets.  BUT, our God given resources also include time and talents.  The very first example of stewardship though referred to taking care of God's creation, this earth that we inhabit.  In Genesis 2:15, "And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the Garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it."  So environmental stewardship was part of God's plan also.  Those vast resources that He gave us for our enjoyment.    

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The only way that we can grasp and understand stewardship is to understand that God has ownership to all of it.  Psalm 24:1, "The earth is the Lord's, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it."  We have to humble ourselves and realize that if it weren't for the Grace of God we couldn't and wouldn't exist. 

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In one of the lessons in this year’s Stewardship studies the Pastor pointed out how, when you see people from those third world countries, how satisfied they seem with their lot in life.  They are satisfied because they aren't aware of what they don't have.  They aren't bombarded daily with the messages that are trying to sell them things they don't need.  How many times do we see ads on TV that make things look so appealing that we go out and buy one? (Those as-seen-on-TV product ads are compelling) Good stewardship requires good judgment. 

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For the church it really does comes down to how much you will give this year.  (Time and talent are still huge but the bills still have to be paid.)  When this tithing began back in the Old Testament it was usually a tenth of the harvest, but today most people associate it as a tenth of my income as offering to the church.  When you think about it, you have to agree that God is more than fair and very generous; you get to keep 90%. 

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The other topic, Operation Christmas Child, is filling a shoebox with necessary items plus a small toy for a child in one of those third world countries.  When Emma and Danika heard that talked about in church they were all over it, they both want to do one.  It’s nice when kids that young want to do something that caring for someone they don't know.