Weekly Update from the Senior Pastor

November 8, 2006

Dear Family and Friends,

How can you live in the middle of a miracle?  Well, first, remember:

Following God’s heart to your future frequently feels like taking a walk toward the flames of a fiery furnace. Miracle stories tend, at the beginning, to look like scary situations. 

That’s because this living God we serve is so tenaciously interested in growing our faith.  So He engineers these “stretch-scenarios” that take us places we’d rather not go.  His perspective on our life is simple and stunning: “Everything that does not come from faith is sin.”  Romans 14:22

Now here’s the really cool positive aspect of fire-walking obedience (read Daniel 3):

• When trust in God takes you into the furnace, that’s where Jesus is most clearly seen by you, and by all others who are watching your life, and who need Him (Daniel 3:24 -25).
• God uses faith adventures to burn off the cords of Babylon that bind us ( 3:27 ).
• Trusting God (rather than rationalizations for bending our knee in front of an idol of gold) results in Kingdom promotions!  God can trust us with an even bigger assignment and opportunity to be God’s man or woman, because our capacity for trusting Him has grown ( 3:28 -30).  

In God’s equation maturity is a whole life of “walking by faith and not by sight” (2 Corinthians 5:7).   Therefore, you ARE in the middle of an unfolding miracle whenever you decide that trusting and obeying God are your two top-tier priorities.

This, of course, has immediate application to our “time to build” a Light on a Hill. 

NOW is the time that every single adult, every couple in our congregation will or will not actually turn to God with an open heart and say: Please Lord, convict me of my part in this journey—do Your work in my [our] heart.  The specific challenge before us all has two dimensions:

• First, to offer a systematic first-fruits tithe as basic trust in God’s partnership.
• Second, to be a sacrificial giver in this season of building our “Home of Light.”  This is not equal giving, but equal sacrifice, whatever that means for each of us on the continuum between Zacchaeus (Luke 19) who gave half his assets and the widow (Luke 21) who gave her two pennies in faith.

Let me give you some helpful information as you pray through to what your part is:

Personal Commitments through pledges: There are two times that pledges will be made. 

1. Sunday evening, November 19 , is the time when a third of our congregation who has a history of leadership and influence will be asked to lead in this “grace of giving.”  This follows the Biblical model that allows the rest of our committed core “to rejoice at the willing response of their leaders, for they gave willingly and with their whole hearts dedicated to the Lord” (1 Chronicles 29:9).
2. During our Sunday morning worship service, December 3, everyone in the congregation will be invited to fill out a commitment card (for leaders—a time of recommitment) and bring it forward to the place of ultimate sacrificial giving: the foot of the Cross.  Each pledge will be done privately on a folding card and handled privately by our treasury team.  The key to these vows is that we make them with God as our audience of One.

Pledges: How and when are they met?  There are two aspects to fulfilling our pledges:

1. The first is our FIRST-FRUITS sacrificial offering during worship on December 10 that is above and beyond our regular support of the church.  This sacrificial offering helps us front-load our building campaign and insures the bank we are serious about our vows.  Everyone is encouraged to give what they can this day, then we’ll party together “eating and drinking with great joy in the presence of the Lord.” (see 1 Chronicles 29:22)
2. The main portion of our pledge involves a weekly, monthly or quarterly pledge for 2007, 2008 and 2009.  For three years we are saying: “Lord, I choose to honor You sacrificially, please honor my life in fulfillment of Your promise made to hilarious givers in 2 Corinthians 9:8: “Our God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you can abound in every good work.”

This is walking our talk.  This is tasting the truth that we make a great life by what we give, not by what we get. 

Love ya,
Richard

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