The Shrewd Steward (10AM)

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The Shrewd Steward (10AM)

November 20, 2022 • Curt McFarland • Luke 16:1–15

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This is Thanksgiving week: family, friends, good food … a great week … except for the 46 million turkeys who will sacrifice their lives Thursday (OK, likely a few weeks earlier). Today is also Stewardship dedication Sunday. This is the final of four Sundays where we highlight our response to the goodness, and blessings, of God. All the good we have, all the good we experience, has its source in Him. How will we take care of (steward) what we have been given? Collectively, as God’s community of faith here at Grace, how will we steward the legacy, the relationships, the resources, the location, the mission, and the ministry, God has given us in our life together?

Wanting to be wise and faithful stewards, this morning we ask for a yearly financial pledge. Pledges are not legal documents … instead they are faith documents, statements of love; our love for God, for each other, and for those we do not yet know but who live around us. Your pledge of support helps us build a thoughtful annual budget. That budget provides for our staff, supports our ministries, and powers our collective mission.

We are committed to be, and to become, a mission-focused church. That commitment is evident through our budgeted support of missions, our additional giving to Ghormley, to Adam’s Elementary, our management of Mabel Swan, and in hundreds of ways, week in and week out, as we involve ourselves in lives across our city, our valley, and our world. There is more we can do, should do, and will do, as He calls us to risk more, spend more, love more.

The passage this morning is troubling and challenging. Why would a dishonest steward (manager) be praised? What can we learn from someone who steals from his boss in order to gain an advantage for himself? How can we live wisely, purposefully, in challenging times?

Found! (11AM)

November 13, 2022 • David Webster • Luke 15:1–10

Jesus taught in parables to teach us about God, His kingdom, and ourselves. He takes common, everyday images and puts them alongside God and the values of His Kingdom. In the two parables of Luke 15:1-10, Jesus picks a woman who does not demonstrate fiscal responsibility, and a shepherd who cannot keep track of his sheep. Odd. These are not flattering comparisons. No one likes to lose anything or anyone. Perhaps you can relate to the Pharisees to whom our Lord tells these parables. They never lost anything. They had their lives put together and knew where all the pieces were. We have a little bit of Pharisee in each of us. Perhaps you can relate to the shepherd who lost his sheep or the woman who lost her coin. ‘Losing’ is what defines them; sometimes it defines us, too. But the thing about parables is that they do not always provide a clean one-to-one comparison. Sometimes there’s even a bit of mystery. Are we to compare ourselves with the one who seeks or that which is lost? Where do we fit? It is hard to say, which is a lot like life itself. Our Lord told us these parables to remind us of who we are in the eyes of God and who others are in the eyes of God. He told them to teach us that the reason He came was to reveal to us our value and worth, and to reveal to us the love of God, which seeks to welcome the lost and sinners’ home.

Found! (9AM)

November 13, 2022 • David Webster • Luke 15:1–10

Count the Cost (11AM)

November 6, 2022 • Curt McFarland • Luke 14:25–35

For the past seven weeks we’ve been asking the question, “Why Church?” It’s a question on the minds of many of those we share life with. We looked at why God created the Church, why God wants His people to be a part of His Church, and how the Church is the best way for us to know God, know ourselves, and know our place in this world. This morning we turn our attention to Stewardship. There was a time I believed that I was self-made, deserving of all the good things that came my way, entitled to enjoy what I could afford. I worked hard, completed my education, tried to be a good citizen. Even the things that seemingly just happened, chance encounters and opportunities, I convinced myself were my due, fate smiling on me for my labors and industry. And then the voice of reason, and a dose of reality, sank in. Yes, I applied myself. Yes, I put in time, effort, and sweat. But literally everything I have: the family and country I was born into, the education offered to me, the opportunities others provided, the friends I have, even my health, has come to me via others, and ultimately, Christians believe, I believe, from God. For Christians, stewardship (which means “taking care of what we have and who we are”) invites us to live our lives recognizing that God is the true source of all things. As Christians we steward (take care of) what God has given us for a purpose beyond ourselves. That purpose is to love Him, and love others. The more we are mindful of that, the more grateful we are, the more we discover a growing love for God, and a genuine love for others growing too. The things that really matter follow: peace, joy, love, eternity, are given to us too. The passage for this morning is difficult and uncomfortable. In a few verses Jesus will challenge, and offend, each and every one of us. At one of the high points in His popularity He did not capitalize on His success, He did not pander to the crowd, strengthen His power base, tell others what they wanted to hear, instead He was brutally honest, warning all to count the cost if they wanted to follow Him. It may not be what we want to hear, but it’s what we need to understand. May God help us count the cost, find the courage, pick up our cross, and follow, live for, Jesus.