A Sincere Question to Ask

My wife, Kim, and I, have had an ongoing, careful and prayerful, specific stewardship dialogue going on since coming back to Christ and back to the local church as a married couple in 1980. 

The theme of our dialogue has been a sincere question to ask of ourselves. It goes something like this: "Are we really giving our best to the Lord through the local church He has called us to live out our life of faith alongside?"

As a couple, we attended local church first together in Virginia, and then in North Carolina, and then in Colorado and finally in Virginia again, before becoming district servants where we now reside on the Philadelphia District.

Our local church families have changed but our sincere question has not -- "Are we really giving our best to the Lord through the local church/churches He has called us to live out our faith alongside?"

Recently, I sat with a local pastor who transparently shared that finances and volunteers -- or the lack of adequate finances and enough volunteers -- for the local ministry needs is presently a heavy load on his personal faith. The burden is, at times, even seemingly unbearable. 

As I listened to him tenderly share, my heart was really hurting for him and inwardly I was praying something akin to this: "Lord, move on the hearts of Your people in this local church to ask the sincere question Kim and I have asked for decades: "Are we really giving our best to the Lord through the local church He has called us to live out our faith alongside?"

Kim and I have never forgotten that all of "our resources" are not really "ours" at all. All of our resources are really God’s and He has only entrusted us to be good stewards of His talents and riches loaned to us for our brief lifetime.

Want to be an encourager? Do your local pastor and local church a favor. Yes, ask a sincere question of yourself: "Are we/Am I really giving our/my best to the Lord through the local church He has called us/me to live out our/my faith alongside?"

As you ask the sincere question, honestly, you are indeed doing your local pastor and local church a compassionate favor. And while asking the question may not necessarily impress God, I believe it will surely delight God, as well. 

As you carry out this compassionate favor to bless your local pastor and local church with increased financial giving and volunteer availability, I pray God’s favor will overflow afresh and anew in your own personal life, especially as you begin to practically respond by possibly increasing your local church giving if that proves to be a right answer to “our” sincere stewardship question you have agreed to ask of yourself/yourselves.

Thanks for listening. 

Presence Matters Most! No Invisible People!

UNITY!

Pastor Kerry Willis