We are in the middle of our Stewardship campaign. It is an attempt to get us all focused on giving to the church as a way of expressing our faith in God, our love for God, and our hope in Jesus Christ. We are looking carefully at the words Paul wrote to the church in Thessalonica, “I’m praying for you as I think about your work of faith, your labor of love, and your patience of hope in following Jesus.”
What is our work of faith? As I tried to say last Sunday, faith means all of us giving because we trust in God to use our efforts here at New Hope. Sometimes we may feel that our work in is vain. It is all too easy to get our minds focused on what is not going right: a person who seems never to respond to the call of love, a lack of funds to get done what we see needs to be done, evidence that while some are working hard to move our church forward, other members seem to prefer staying uninvolved. Don’t put you thoughts there. Put your mind on what God is doing. Faith sees the truth that our work is in God’s hands.
What is our labor of love? Our Long Range Planning Committee has been hard at work proposing that we begin a building program when we begin to make ends meet on a regular basis. We are working toward the day when we are giving enough every week to be able to put some money in savings for future ministries. But our plans are not about buildings. They are about the lives of people whom God loves. We want more people to know God as we know God in Christ. We want more people to come into the family of God’s love.
What shows our patience of hope? We don’t give up. We don’t grow weary in doing good work for God. Our hope comes from the fact that we believe God is at work to do us good. We can handle our present momentary troubles because God is renewing us from the inside out every day.
Do you see how God has been at work in your life? Do you see how God is working to lead our church into a bright future? What will you then give out of faith, love, and hope? Will you commit to worship regularly, study the Bible regularly, serve your church, and give out of your income as God has blessed you?
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