Here’s inspiration for a sermon on giving and stewardship. This comes from the Rev. Henry Brinton, pastor of Fairfax Presbyterian Church in Virginia.
Many, many great statements within. I like this one particularly. Henry asks his congregation to imagine a scenario in which the congregation receives 10% of the recent Powerball lottery as a tithe, a $140 million gift, and therefore, no longer has to ask its members for giving. Then he says,
But it would actually be a tragedy for our church, and for each of us, if we never had to make another donation. Giving is a part of who we are, because we follow a giving God. We share abundantly in response to a God who shares abundantly.
In the life of a Christians, giving is not about money. It is about discipleship, trust, our relationship with God, faith formation. As U2’s Bono once said, God isn’t short on cash. God doesn’t need your members’ money. God wants your members’ hearts, and “where your treasure is, there you heart will want to be.” That’s the importance of giving.
By the way, I don’t know Henry. Friends send me sermons they’ve come across, and this is a good one. I did discover that Henry is a graduate of Duke and Yale, and also blogs at Huffington Post.