St. James United Methodist Church

Together We Can!

Dear Friends,

Greetings and peace in the name of Christ! The practice of generosity describes the Christian's unselfish willingness to give in order to make a positive difference for the purposes of Christ. Extravagant Generosity describes practices of sharing and giving that exceed all expectations. It describes lavish sharing, sacrifice, and giving in service to God and neighbor.

Congregations that practice Extravagent Generosity view giving as a gift of God and are driven to be generous by a sense of mission and a desire to please God by making a positive difference in the world. This month is for us as individuals and as a congregation an opportunity to grow spiritually in the area of generosity.

Giving generously re-prioritizes lives and helps people distinguish what is lasting, eternal, and of infinite value from what is temporary, illusory, and untrustworthy. The discipline of generous giving is a means by which God builds people up, strengthens their spirir, and equips them to serve God's purpose.

Let us join together in this journey and Together We Can!"

Shalom,

Pastor Mark Klaisner

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Why We Give

"This, then, is how you ought to regard us:
as servants of Christ and as those entrusted
with the mysteries God has revealed.
Now it is required that those who have been given
a trust must prove faithful."

1 Cortinthians 4:1-2

We recognize that all we have belongs to God, and we cheerfully give our time, talents and resources for God's glory. Giving of our substance is a spirtual discipline in which we trust God will provide us with enough. John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist movement, urged the practice of sound financial stewardship. He said that a steward is a person given the responsibility for the care, management and utilization of something that belongs to another. He expected his followers to do three things: Earn all you can, save all you can and give all you can.

WE GIVE TO MAKE MINISTRY AND MISSION HAPPEN

The local church supports us in our life journey - providing a place to know and to worship God. In our time and place, little happens without money. Certainly, we can and should also give of ourselves in nonfinancial ways.

When we give money through our church, not only does it pay for our pastor's salary and our church's bills; it also does good beyond our community. As the church, the most fundamental gift entrusted to our stewardship is the good news that God is at work to redeem the world and restore it to wholeness. What we do and who we become is our use of God's gifts must always be understood as extensions of our response to the gift of God's redeeming work, which we are invited to share

To What Do We Give?

"Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse,
that there may be food in my house.
Test me in this," says the LORD Almighty,
"and see if I will not throw open the floodgates
of heaven and pour out so much blessing
that there will not be room enough to store it."
Malachi 3:10

Everyone is God's steward. Once receives from God more than what one gives to God. We give according to what we have felt in our hearts.

Seven million lay members and 45,000 clergy member in the U.S. are one body. We are organized in local churches and pastoral charges, districts, annual conferences and Episcopal areas, but we are one body.

We are the body of Christ who minister in 109 United Methodist schools, colleges and universities as well as support 13 theological schools to educate our pastors.

We are the body of Christ that bear others' burdens through reaching out in times of need and diaster.

United Methodists identify with the need to be in mission, which is an expression of our stewardship, and an extension of our connectedness.