Stewardship

Stewardship

RISE UP IN GIVING

Week 4

"I am the true vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing." - John 15: 5

We the branches are united with Jesus the vine and are able to grow and bear fruit, thus proclaiming the Easter story of love, of forgiveness, of promises and resurrection for each one of us. We know the story, we live the story and we share the story. He is risen indeed, Alleluia!

In response, we RISE UP IN GIVING of our time, our talents and our treasures. This Sunday we offer up our financial commitments to support Grace's ministries here and now.
Thank you for your involvement in and your support of the ministries of Grace.

The Stewardship team

Week 3

“Jesus is the ‘stone you builders rejected, which has become the cornerstone’.
Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved." – Acts 4:11-12

This verse from Acts is Peter’s response to the authorities when asked by what power or what name do they teach the people. It is Jesus, the Christ, who is our foundation and life force. Jesus comes into our lives and transforms us into holy people. As we share Jesus with others we become an instrument of God’s will.

God blesses us so that we may be a blessing. Like a flowing river, as we give we also receive. By putting God first in our lives we show the world the glory of God. By giving of our time, talents, and financial resources to do the work of God is a demonstration of our belief that Jesus is the Son of God! And the world will want to know by whose power do you live?

Grace membership has been very good in giving of their time and talents. But now is the opportunity to give financially to Grace’s ministries. As our stewardship theme states, Rise Up In Giving, is for each of us to make a financial commitment.

May God bless you abundantly as you bless the ministries at Grace.

The Stewardship team

Week 2

The theme for the second week of our RISE UP IN GIVING Stewardship program is our eyes are open and our hearts burning. Alleluia! Christ has risen!

"Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him; and he vanished from their sight. They said to each other, "Were not our hearts burning within us while he was talking to us on the road, while he was opening the scriptures to us?"
Luke 24:31-32

Now that you know the good news of the Easter story, what will you do with that news? This week, we look to the two men that encountered Jesus on the road to Emmaus. As the scripture reads, "their eyes were opened." What can we learn from this bible story? We too must open our eyes and look to Jesus who is present in our lives every day.

Where do we see evidence of the work of God at Grace? We see growth in size. We see growth in ministries. We see our members giving more of their time and talents. It is now time to see growth in our giving so that our ministries can thrive and multiply. It is now time to grow in giving to reinforce the commitment we made three years ago to support a full-time Pastor.

We ask you to open your eyes and RISE UP IN GIVING to strengthen and solidify our budget for the year.

Your Stewardship team

Week 1

"With great power the apostles gave their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all." Acts 4:33

Alleluia! Christ has risen! It takes boldness to testify to our faith by sharing where our hope and strength comes from with the people we meet along life's journey. But that is what we are called to do as Christians, as followers of Jesus, as disciples. As Pastor Cindy said in her message last week, the writer of Mark asks us the question, "now that you know the good news of the Easter story, what will you do with that news?" We are called to tell the Easter story, to show and tell of God's love. We do this individually through our own actions and words and also through the ministries of the church.

We must act in boldness and confidence in what we believe and know is true which is that all that we are and all that we have come from God as blessings. "Steward" describes our relationship with God the creator. It helps us to see that God has “created me and all that exists” (Luther’s Small Catechism,
Apostles' Creed, explanation of the First Article). As stewards, we trust in God's promises and abundant blessings and share generously these blessings we have received. Acting in boldness begins with us making a personal faith commitment to God through supporting the ministries at Grace. One way we do this is with a financial pledge commitment.

Why pledge? What's so important about pledging? Our pledge:

•    shows that God is first in our life,
•    shows how we can make a difference in the lives of others at Grace and beyond the walls of our congregation,
•    shows what we can do together as one large Body of Christ,
•    shows we are willing to step up to start and grow new ministries,
•    allows the leadership of our congregation to plan and make decisions that are important to the ministry of the church both now and in the future.

United with Jesus the vine, we the branches are able to grow and bear fruit, thus sharing our blessings with the world.

We ask you to RISE UP with boldness and make a pledge commitment.

Yours in Christ,

The Stewardship team

Introduction to Rise Up in Giving Program

This call came out through a recent email from Hope Alliance Crisis Center who develops partnerships and provides services that renew hope, highlight possibilities and change the futures of those whose lives have been affected by family and sexual violence. The subject of the email: Violence doesn't take a break. We need your support more than ever.

At Hope Alliance, they average approximately 180 hotline calls/month. As the temperature increased throughout the summer so did their call volume. For the month of July numbers hit 250 and in August hit a high of 370. Shelter space waiting list has also increased from an average of 15 families/month to 25 for each of the last two months.

In response to this call for help, as a service project during Rally Sunday, 10 decorative bags were filled with toiletries such as a bar of soap, toothbrush, toothpaste, deodorant, moist wipes, a hair comb and feminine pads. Also included in each bag were bookmarks decorated by Rally Sunday participants and handmade flowers that included the message "You are loved". These bags will be used as Sexual Assault Kits given out by Hope Alliance advocates when they meet victims of sexual assault at the hospital.