Stress. Anxiety. Fear. How well these words capture the current state of mind of many of us in America today. We have witnessed dramatic market losses, the collapse of the world’s largest insurance company, many bankruptcies and mergers, failed stimulus plans and government bickering. Every day seems to bring another dose of economic uncertainty.
A recent survey on CNN reports that over three in four Americans are stressed about the economy and their personal finances. Half were worried about providing for their family’s basic needs. Over half of respondents reported feeling angry and irritable, and reported lying awake at night worried about this. The report concludes that, “The declining state of the nation’s economy is taking a physical and emotional toll on people nationwide.”
Our nation is experiencing what many have described as the “American Nightmare.” Increasing consumer debt, declines in savings, lower income growth, and a volatile stock market are all a part of our economic insecurity. We have lived in a society that tells us “you deserve it now,” whether or not we can afford it or really even need it.
All of us have struggled with these issues at one time or another. They are important issues that we cannot ignore.
This is why we have settled on a Fall Stewardship Campaign called Enough: Discovering Joy Through Simplicity and Generosity.
Beginning Sunday, October 9, our study and worship will together explore what the Bible teaches us about financial management. We’ll hear expert advice and stories about what others have learned by working through financial challenges. Each week we will provide you with some practical tools you can use to assess your financial situation and develop a financial plan with a biblical foundation.
At the conclusion of our campaign, we will have the opportunity to make personal commitments of our offerings to God through our church in the coming year. We will consecrate (“bless”) these commitments in the worship services on Consecration Sunday, November 13.
We hope you will join us as we look at how we can manage our financial resources and truly experience simplicity, generosity, and joy.
October 9, 2011
The Contentment Prayer
Lord, help me to be grateful for what I have,
to remember that I don’t need most of what I want,
and that joy is found in simplicity and generosity.
Thoughts for this week from our study…
God is our refuge and strength…
and God’s sustaining power is not tied to the stock market.
“Command those who are rich in this present world not to…put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God.” (I Timothy 6:17 NIV)
This is a remarkable and frightening time for our economy. The current economic crisis is also a crisis of faith. When we can’t trust our financial institutions, the stock market, our banks, or our government we find ourselves afraid, and that fear often leads to either cynicism or panic… [However,] As Christians our credo or trust is in God. The Apostle’s Creed begins, “I believe (credo) in God the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth.” Throughout the Bible we find words of hope and promise that remind us we have no reason to fear, for God is our refuge and strength:
Isaiah 41:10, Psalm 46:1-2, Matthew 6:25, 33, Matthew 14:27,
Philippians 4:6-7, 1 Timothy 6:17, Romans 8:37-39
People are anxious all around us. We are to be beacons of hope and light. The church, the body of Christ, is to be a beacon of light inviting people to find deliverance, redemption, salvation, hope, love, and a new way of life.
PRAYER: O God, we trust you with our lives. This world belongs to you. We remember how you promised you would never leave us or forsake us. O God, help us to be ambassadors of hope this week, bearing your light to others, helping them have a perspective on life and helping them see You in us. Calm our anxious hearts. Help us to trust in you. Teach us, sanctify us and perfect us. In your holy name, AMEN.*
Study Guides
Principles for Christian Conversation
Introduction: Faith in the Midst of Financial Crisis Participant Handout
Sermon: Open Invitaton
October 16, 2011
God’s vision of financial management brings joy
that the American Dream never can and never will bring.
Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith, and pierced themselves with many griefs. (1 Timothy 6:10b, NIV)
Key Insights
Thoughts for this week from our study…
Christ works in us as we seek first God’s kingdom and strive to do Christ’s will. As this happens, we begin to sense a higher calling—a calling to simplicity and faithfulness and generosity. We begin to look at ways we can make a difference with our time and talents and resources. By pursuing good financial practices, we free ourselves from debt so that we are able to be in mission to the world. A key part of finding financial and spiritual freedom is found in simplicity and in exercising restraint. With the help of God, we can:
- Simplify our lives and silence the voices constantly telling us we need more
- Live counter-culturally by living below, not above, our means
- Build into our budgets the money to buy with cash instead of credit
- Build into our budgets what we need to be able to live generously and faithfully
PRAYER: Change my heart, O God. Cleanse me and make me new. Heal my desires. Help me to hold my possessions loosely. Help me to love you. Teach me simplicity. Teach me generosity and help me have joy. I offer my life to you. AMEN.*
Week 1: When Dreams Become Nightmares Participant Handout
Sermon: Trick Questions and Ambiguous Answers
Chris Garmon Essay – as featured in Sermon: On Money and Faith
October 23, 2011
Key Insights
Thoughts for this week from our study…
We do not exist simply to consume as much as we can and get as much pleasure as we can while we are here on this earth. We have a higher purpose. We need to know and understand our life purpose—our vision or mission or calling—and then spend our money in ways that are consistent with this purpose or calling…The Bible tells us that we were created to care for God’s creation. We were created to love God and to love our neighbors as ourselves. We were created to care for our families and those in need. We were created to glorify God, to seek justice, and to do mercy. Our money and possessions should be devoted to helping us fulfill this calling. We are to use our resources to help care for our families and others—to serve Christ and the world through the church, missions, and everyday opportunities. We have a life purpose that is greater than our own self-interests, and how we spend our God-given resources reflects our understanding and commitment to this life purpose or mission.
PRAYER: God, you know what we don’t know. We don’t know where every dime went, but somehow you know what we did with all that we had, last year and the year before that. You don’t forbid us from having joy in our possessions. In fact, you delight in our having joy. But what you know is that just acquiring more and more stuff isn’t where we find joy. Lord, forgive us for being wasteful. Forgive us for leveraging our future in order to have pleasure in the present. And help us to be good managers of the talents that you’ve given to us. Help us to be generous and willing to share, kingdom-minded and focused on accomplishing your purposes for our lives. In Jesus’ name, AMEN.*
Study Guides:
Sermon: What Matters Most
My Life and Financial Goals Worksheet
October 30, 2011
Thoughts for this week from our study…
Simplifying your life requires the practice of self-control. Solomon wrote, “Like a city whose walls are broken down / is a [person] who lacks self-control.” (Proverbs 25:28) When a city’s walls are broken through, the enemy can march right in and destroy it. There is no longer any protection. Likewise, self-control is a wall around your heart and life that protects you from temptation and from things that can ultimately destroy you. Self-control comes down to making a choice between satisfying an impulse to gain instant gratification and choosing not to act upon the opportunity for instant gratification for some higher cause or greater gratification later. Self control is about forgoing instant gratification by stopping to think about the answers to three questions:
- What are the long-term consequences of this action?
- Is there a higher good or a better outcome if I used this resource of time, money, or energy in another way?
- Will this action honor God?
Choosing contentment means we look to God as our Source, giving thanks for what we have; we ask God to give us the right perspective on money and possessions and to change our hearts each day; we decide to live simpler lives, wasting less and conserving more; and we choose to give more generously.
PRAYER: Loving God, forgive us for the times we’ve offended you by our discontent. Forgive us for being content with the things we were not supposed to be content with. Help us have a hunger and a deep longing to pursue righteousness and holiness and justice and love, to long for you and for your will for our lives. Help us in this. Help us to simplify and to find in you our peace. We ask these mercies in your holy name, AMEN.
